The Next Kid Thing

Having spent the past few weeks at the grandparents’ house near the beach, we’re in full-on summer mode here.  With this crazy heatwave we’ve been having, we’ve been so fortunate to be able to spend so much time at the pool and out on the beach.  In addition to all of our summertime essentials, I have to say, we go through quite a few towels, too—not only for beachtime, but for bathtime too.

Several weeks ago, manufacturer of fine children’s products, Zoocchini sent us a product sample of Marvin the Monkey, one of the fun designs in their hooded towel collection.  At 20″ x 50″, the Marvin the Monkey hooded towel is generous in size, making him big enough for younger school-aged kids, yet cozy enough for babies.  The towel is soft and playful, and features cute details like an embroidered face, ears, and tail.  I love that this towel is suitable for bathtime and also great to take along to the pool.  These hooded towels are fun, practical and cushy-cool.

There’s a variety of cute animals and original characters to choose from in the Zoocchini hooded towel collection, but Marvin the Monkey is definitely a favorite!  The towels are in the $30 price range, and it looks like Fanny, Clawd and Ollie are on sale for just $20!

Zoocchini has offered NKT readers an exclusive discount 20% off of their products.  Just use the code  ZOOC20 at checkout.

Giveaway

Zoocchini was kind enough to also offer any one of their hooded towels as a giveaway!  To enter, tell me which towel you’d like for your kid(s) and why.

For extra entries:

Subscribe to Zoocchini’s newsletter (get +5 extra entries)

Tweet about this giveaway and be sure to @jenrab

Fan NKT and comment on the post associated with this giveaway

Please comment below for all entries.

This giveaway will end on July 16th.  All winners are picked via random.org and will be notified via email and the NKT Facebook Fan Page.  Only entries with a valid email will qualify.

A sample was provided to facilitate this review, but opinions herein are my own.

The Boom Boom Room, the luxe gifting suite for celebrity moms in Hollywood, made its way to NYC yesterday to showcase some of the most innovative baby and toddler gear.  The Baby Issue highlighted over 45 baby & toddler products for media, bloggers and celebrities to take it all in.

The Baby Issue event was hosted by Jayneoni Moore, who made the lavish Baby & Toddler Boom Boom Room Gifting Suites the go-to spot for celebrity moms to check out the latest and greatest in gear.  I was excited to attend the Baby Issue Event to learn and network with some of the brands that I already feature on The Next Kid Thing.  There were several brands that I can’t wait to introduce to you as well. Here’s just a few of the brands that were at The Baby Issue Event Yesterday:

Stokke, Teutonia strollers, Umi Shoes, Shutterfly, Skip Hop, Fisher Price, Plum Organics, Scholastic, Mustela, Happy Heinys, Nourish,  nursing clothing line Larrivo, Organic Kidz, Loved Baby, Goodnight Light, Aprica, Origany,  Dapple, Organic Kidz, Mabel’s Labels, Zoli Baby

And in case you missed it, I posted a few more sneak peek pictures over on the NKT fanpage.

The Baby Issue event got me thinking, too… With all the events that I’ve been attending (which is good!), but have been falling WAY behind on updating posts (not so good), I almost overlooked The Next Kid Thing’s 1st birthday! Those that know me well, probably know that I’m not big on over the top parties for first birthdays, but I wanted to do something special to mark our big 1-year celebration next week.  I have a few things lined up and will make an announcement to share with you tomorrow!

I typically review and talk about kid products and services, but I thought I’d start something new. I thought I’d overlap Mama Likey over here on NKT and feature products that might not be geared TO kids, but are still used FOR kids or, in essence, products that make our jobs as parents easier.

So, with that, I’ve got laundry on the brain today. With Spring in full bloom, we’re finding ourselves outside for hours at a time usually playing in dirt, getting sweaty and adding to the laundry piles. And I mean PILES.

Because we’re still city dwellers, at least for another few weeks, doing the laundry at the laundromat continues to be quite the chore. Gather, lug, schlep it a few blocks, unload, wait…and wait… It’s such a tedious process, to say the least.

And so, when a new laundry product designed to streamline this process makes its way onto the market, I’m usually the first in line to try it out. In this case, a few months ago, the husband* brought home a smallish, slender bottle not too long ago. The packaging, itself, was eye-catching because of the sleek modern design.

The cool bottle was none other than Method Laundry in Fresh Air.

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With the NY Toy Fair less than three weeks away, I’ve been starting to get my game plan in order.  While I research new companies and new products, I will be posting some picks that I find along the way.  This product is one that I found while reviewing the exhibitor list.

As a parent, there’s nothing less desirable than changing diapers—well, besides cleaning up barf.  But nevertheless, smart products make these tasks much easier to bear.  A line from yet another mompreneur, Cooshee products from BabySmart are constructed from micro-cell foam, which gives them their soft, yet sturdy frame.

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