Plan Toys Push Along Duck Review

02/25/2016 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

You know those toys you had a long time ago but forgot about until going through some mystery stash in the corner of a room? Then, all of the sudden they are a favorite once more? Our daughter’s Plan Toys Push Along Duck is one of those toys.

We first got the duck, Quackers (original, I know), around the time our little girl started walking over a year ago. I remember growing up with one of those plastic push along poppers with balls enclosed in a bubble and how much I enjoyed running around making the most obnoxious noise and knew I did not want something like the Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Corn Popper for Avery.

Fun toy for kids, but we try to limit the amount of plastics in our home, so this was an easy one to avoid. Just not a fan of everything that comes out of China to begin with. Plus, how cool is it to have a wooden duck with flappy feet to push around instead?

Yeah, it's pretty cool, Dad. — Yeah, it’s pretty cool, Dad.

When Quackers first waddled his way into our home, Avery enjoyed the new toy but didn’t seem too impressed.

baby, toddler, parenting, funny, humor — **Yeah, I see the duck, but do YOU see I took off my sock?**

I think Going Mom and I were more excited about the cute rubber feet flip-flopping along as it was pushed around the house; usually by us. One of Avery’s friends was instantly drawn to it during our NuttZo tasting party last year, and that’s all she played with the entire time. Obviously kids love once they see, feel, and hear it in action.

The natural rubber feet, which are easy to clean (trust me, this is a wonderful thing!) don’t make as much of an audible flappy noise as I’d expect. Guess it’s not such a bad thing, but when compared to the noise a Corn Popper makes, the feet are almost ninja-like. One reason is that the wooden wheels are very squeaky, almost to where you can’t even hear the feet flapping, and can quickly become irritating when your kid goes on a marathon duck pushing jaunt. An easy fix for this is something like WD-40 or, as I used, coconut oil. Problem solved!

Just the look and feel of the Plan Toys Push Along Duck proves it was built with quality care. Our destructive tot further proves this as it has stood up to the vigors of daily abuse. The paint has yet to chip and all of the parts are just as sturdy as the first day we bought it.

The latest use for Quackers is for him to “help” Daddy every time I vacuum. It’s cute, but when Quackers winds up between my feet and knocking into my legs multiple times as I clean around the house, it gets old….fast. But hey, if it makes my girl happy and not crying, I’ll take it!

We love having fun, eco-friendly toys like the Plan Toys Push Along Duck, and I’d highly recommend one for any kid aged 1 and up. I wish the handle could be detached to make it easier for travel, but that’s a minor issue. I’m more concerned with getting hit by the rounded end on the handle, which happens A LOT. But again, just a minor thing that’s easily overlooked when it comes to the safety and happiness of our kid.

Plan Toys is one of our favorite eco-friendly toy companies as they use a variety of material like organic rubberwood, e-zero glue, water-based dyes, recycled and recyclable materials, soy and water-based ink and their proprietary PlanWood. All good things when it comes to what our kids are playing with all day.

Pros

High quality, eco-friendly construction that will last years
Sturdy, but light enough for little ones to easily push and maneuver
Makes for great imaginative play….like a vacuum, for instance
Freakin’ cute duck on a stick, what else can I say?

Cons

Wheels are very squeaky (can be fixed with a little oil as I mentioned)
Wish the stick could be removed for traveling
Can become a dangerous duck when it gets airborne or pushed into your legs, knees, and sometimes head.

If you’re looking for a great gift for an upcoming toddler birthday, this is a perfect choice. At just $24.99 on Amazon, it won’t break the bank but will warm the heart watching those little feet push their duck with a big grin!

I purchased the Plan Toys Push Along Duck and full price and was not compensated in any way for this review. All thoughts are strictly my own. Although I never collaborated with Plan Toys for this or any review, I’d love to work together for future product reviews. *Hint* *Hint* to any Plan Toys associates who happen upon this post. 🙂

Avery Talk, Life, Parenting, Vlog

What Happens When You Ask Your Toddler Not To Whine?

02/24/2016 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Just had to share this with you today. Our toddler daughter has a habit of honing in on us and asking to be picked up. Daddy doesn’t get the whiny request as much as mommy, but it’s usually when my wife and I are trying to have a discussion. Such is life with a toddler, huh?

toddler, funny, humor, cute, parenting — Helllllloooooo, is anybody paying attention to me?!

Lately, we’ve been telling her not to whine when asking for “Please mommy, up.” and trying to teach her to say please and thank you. She’s usually good at using manners, but we happened to catch a different response that, technically, isn’t wrong.

Now that she knows it’s cute and sees mommy and daddy getting a kick out of it, she does it all the time. And, well, it’s hard not to just laugh and accept our deep-voiced daughter.

If we could manage, I’d love to share her request for more goat cheese, green smoothie, or anything else in this low tone. Maybe we shouldn’t feed her sarcastic tendencies, but it’s just so hard to resist!

Have you ever had your kid respond in a way you weren’t meaning but was still correct as a technicality?

Going Healthy, Life, Nootropics

Forget Power Naps, You Need a Coffee Nap!

02/22/2016 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

I’m sure we’ve all heard of power naps, but what about a coffee nap? If not, you’re probably thinking the words coffee and nap simply don’t belong in the same sentence. Well, unless you’re saying “Geez, I drank too much coffee and now I can’t nap.” I thought the same thing at first, but then I read about this conflicting yet science-backed nap which turned me into a believer.

coffee nap, coffee, nap, caffeine, biohack

It started with a study performed to find a way to tackle driver fatigue/sleepiness and found that consuming caffeine right before taking a 15 minute nap worked much better than napping or having caffeine alone. This means that if you like to nap, investing in some coffee pods will help make it easy to get your pre-nap caffeine. Nowadays, you can purchase coffee pods from a wide range of different stores. Some retailers and manufacturers like SS Nutra even allow you to purchase wholesale coffee pods in bulk. Ultimately, buying coffee pods in bulk is a fantastic way to stock up on your coffee supplies while also saving money. So, what exactly is the relationship between coffee and sleep all about? I could re-hash what I’ve read on the topic, but figure the Sleep Junkies do a much better job than I, so, please read and learn:

Why is it so effective?
The reason it works so well is because it takes around 20 minutes for the body to respond to the effects of caffeine. By taking a short nap immediately after consumption, the stimulant effect kicks in just as you are waking up. Not only will you feel revived from your power nap, you’ll also have the added benefit of the caffeine boost.

How to take a caffeine nap
You can use this technique any time, but it’s most effective in the afternoon to combat the the mid afternoon energy slump. It’s a great productivity tip for work and works wonders for drowsy drivers. If you don’t like coffee you can use a caffeine supplement – the kind of pill that students use to cram all night before their finals.

1) Find a suitable environment to take a nap.

If you’re at work, try to find the most relaxing environment, somewhere quiet that you’re not going to be disturbed, ideally with dim lighting, and not too noisy. A comfy sofa or armchair will do. Useful nap-cessories are foam ear plugs, an eye mask or maybe you could even splash out on an Ostrich pillow

2) Grab your favourite caffeine laden beverage or pill.

Coffee is ideal, as are caffeine supplements like Pro-Plus etc. Coke and Pepsi are no good, they don’t contain enough caffeine. The scientists used a dosage of 200mg but you can experiment on what works best for you. Also watch out for sugar drinks, you might get a glucose-rush that prevents you from napping altogether. Use this caffeine chart to pick your poison.

3) Set your alarm to go off in 15-20 mins.

This is very important because you need to wake before you enter deep sleep. If you nap for too long you could end up drifting off into a slow-wave sleep pattern and run the risk of felling groggy when you wake up. Also you want to wake up before the caffeine hit kicks in. Watch this video on the science of napping for more tips.

4) Don’t delay, take your nap straight away.

Now the easy part. Kick off your shoes, get your head down and enjoy a nice relaxing snooze!

After reading, I was sold. I have yet to test it myself since I’m not a napper to begin with, but maybe for our next long distance road trip, I’ll put this to practice. I’m confident working and stay-at-home parents alike could put this to good use in order to keep up with our non-stop miniatures running circles around us. You can read more from Dave Asprey, a long time biohacker and creator of Bulletproof Coffee.

As a self-proclaimed budding biohacker, I find this very interesting and love delving deep into the science of natural chemicals and how they work for or against us when consumed. One area I’m seriously into is the use of Nootropics which are very similar to smart drugs used to enhance cognitive function, mood, learning, and energy without prescription drugs and very little negative side-effects.

With my newfound interest, prepare to see future posts on nootropics to help with anxiety, energy, motivation, and brain health. As a parent, I know these will be extremely beneficial in helping to manage a full day of stress-inducing issues at home, work, and even on the playground. I’m currently testing a few on myself and will report back soon.

Will you give a coffee nap a try?

Have you tried already?

Are you into biohacking or interested in nootropics?

Big thanks to Sleep Junkies for the informative post on coffee and napping……together!