Review: French Toast Uniforms are Durable and Accessible

The kids have been in school for a few months now, and I wanted to circle back on some gear that has been sustaining us thus far. My older son, like many kids, wears a uniform to school. I tell you, the uniform, in many aspects, is our saving grace.  As much as I love fashion and kid style, the daily routine of a school uniform streamlines our day.

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Prior to the beginning of the school year, I had the chance to get to know French Toast, a well known school uniform brand. I’ve bought French Toast branded uniform pieces in the past, so it was a thrill to get a closer look at other items that this company offers.

 

French Toast sent us some uniform pants, an oxford shirt and vest, a look that my son wears day-to-day at school. A few items were bigger than I anticipated, but the pieces that he fits have worked so well thus far. I appreciate that French Toast has such an expansive selection of school uniforms on their site.

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Here in New Jersey, I’ve found French Toast to be quite accessible at several discount retailers. French Toast also features personalization with select schools, and you’re able to shop the site by entering your school code if it’s available.

We weren’t able to try the personalized feature, but did notice our school was listed in French Toast’s database. At my son’s school, they wear custom sweaters and a certain type of plaid to denote their school. It certainly helps when there’s a more affordable option when choosing school uniforms.

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We found French Toast not only to be accessible and affordable, but also durable. Like many little boys, my guy always comes home with holes in his pant’s knees. I can’t even count how many pants he’s destroyed from just being a rough and tumble little boy. It’s great to know French Toast offers pants that are durable, especially with their reinforced knees! As for shirts, I appreciate the quality and how the shirts tend to grow with the kids.

 

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There are several features that help with the never ending growth spurts, but I especially love the expandable neckline. It’s like this shirt has growing buttonholes. My older son has always been off the charts, in terms of size and growth, so a feature like the expandable neckline is helpful when it comes to extending the wear of clothes. Just like the adjustable waistline found in most boys’ pants, this expandable waistline is a definitely a great reason to opt for French Toast uniforms.

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All in all, French Toast uniforms continue to serve their purpose for our daily routine. Affordability, accessibility and sustainability are great selling points for these uniform pieces. Two months into the school year, I’m proud to report that our uniform pieces have been holding up well, and I have no holey pants in sight.

To check out French Toast’s line of uniforms for kids, make sure to head to their site.

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Full disclosure: samples were provided to facilitate this review. As always, opinions on NKT are my own.

Give Your Heart a Valentine

The PBS Kids web property, Fizzy’s Lunch Lab, has launched a fun music video, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

“Give Your Heart a Valentine” is an ode to your actual heart, as in the organ that thumps in your chest. Just like all the interesting concepts that come from Fizzy’s Lunch Lab, the music video combines education and a little bit of fun. This new music video provokes kids to learn the significance of the heart and the benefit of healthy eating decisions.

In addition to all the sweet and lovey fun this week for Valentine’s Day, be sure to check out this video and give a little love to your heart!

Best of ’09: Polliwalks

The first ‘Best of 2009’ and companies and products to watch in 2010 is Polliwalks.

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To be upfront, we are not a clog kind of family. Y’know, as in Crocs and the like…well, until we tried Polliwalks on for size.
Clogs, personally, are not my style, but for kids, I think they’re functional and they seem comfortable. True story: the summer when the kid started to cruise, I brought a pair of clogs home. The next day, I was asked to return them. That’s right, the clogs were vetoed.  And of course a few months later, at a family outing, we learned that the kid has a fondness for clog. (pastel pink ones to be exact!) They always want what they don’t have; funny how that works!

And so, this fall when Polliwalks approached me to check out their line of clogs, I happily obliged. Polliwalks has a wide variety of animals, bugs, creatures and character-themed clogs, so it was hard to choose which shoe to try. Since it was around the time of my trip to Sesame Street, the characters were even closer to our hearts, so we went with Cookie Monster.
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NKT’s Best of 2009

Without a doubt, in 2009 I researched, tested and reviewed more baby and kid products than I could comprehend—truly.  Some of the products I wanted to share with you just didn’t make it on to the blog because of time, especially with the madness of the holidays and wrangling an active kid.  And because of this, I wanted to do my roundup of innovative gear, gadgets and goodies of 2009.  These are all products that I thought made an impression to me and certainly companies that I will watch in 2010.

I’ll post the products in the following days in no particular, with a few giveaways to boot.

First up:

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New year, new horizons

Happy Monday and happy 2010, everyone. I hope you had a lovely holiday break and are recovering/transitioning ok! Our family enjoyed a very nice Christmas and quiet New Year; it was just the right amount of family time. After a hectic fall and holiday season, I took a much needed break from blogging and writing. Apologies for the lack of posts, but things will be back to normal this week.

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photo credit: Selva Ganapathy

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Music Monday: A Family Christmas

Way before tracking trends and kid’s products even became a blip on my radar, I stumbled upon Putumayo Kids music at a local gift store.  A huge advocate for diversity and lover of all things music-related, falling in love with Putumayo Kids was a given.

There are children’s music compilations and then, there is Putumayo Kids.  Putumayo’s various cds, which are geared to entertain, educate and inspire cultural curiosity in children, boast upwards to 3 million cds sold and stands apart from other children’s cds.  The compilations are well-thought out and enjoyable for both kids and adults—a must for our music-loving family.

616FLxA340L._SL500_AA240_This fall, Putumayo released A Family Christmas, which I found to be one of the best recent kid-centric Christmas music collections.  Putumayo’s A Family Christmas is a melodic departure from all the character-based songbooks, shows and cds that seem to monopolize the storeshelves, especially this time of year.  The songs on this cd are ones that we know and love, but the artists featured are none that I can recognize aside from Big VooDoo Daddy, (though you might recognize a few) which makes it even more appealing.  Can you think of a better way to enjoy the songs you hear a billion times over during the holidays than with a new fresh take on the classics for kids?

From Johnny Bregar’s acoustic take on “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” to Big Bad Voodoo Daddy retro-swing version of Louis Armstrong’s song, “Is Zat You Santa Claus?,” to The Christmas Jug Band featuring Angela Strehli and Maria Muldaur’s “Boogie Woogie Santa Claus,” Putumayo’s A Family Christmas covers all the music genre on one fun collection.  This compilation truly appeals to music lovers of all ages and from all walks of life!  My only complaint is that I can’t seem to locate Putumayo on iTunes.  Maybe the next one?

My personal favorite on the cd is definitely Mele Kalikimaka by Debbie Davis & Matt Perrine, which I consider a kind reminder and shout out to one of our family’s highlights of the year—our trip to Hawaii this summer to celebrate the kid’s Godmother’s wedding!
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Be sure to check out the Putumayo Kid’s site to check out their other award-winning cd collections.  Also, head on over to Amazon to give a listen to A Family Christmas, which is where I sampled this cd myself.  Music is a wonderful gift for everyone, especially cd compilations that have garnered awards like, Parents’ Choice Awards, National Parenting Publications Gold Awards, iParenting Media Award and Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award.

Without a doubt, after I pick up this cd from Barnes and Noble, Putumayo’s A Family Christmas will be blaring from our speakers on our drive back to Virginia for the holidays.  Putumayo is so cool, they’re offering a free MP3 download!  Just sign up here to receive your free download of the song “Jolly Old St. Nick” by Brave Combo from the new Putumayo CD A Family Christmas.

A Family Christmas can be found at retailers like Barnes and Noble, as well as online.

Gift Glossary: great video games

In the video game sector, titles and technology are constantly evolving. With many new handheld titles and fun family titles to choose from, I had a tough time narrowing down NKT picks. I could go on and on with this exhaustive list for great family video games, but I chose many of the ones below because I had the unique chance to experience them first hand. For the ones that I didn’t try out myself, I felt that their family-friendliness and entertainment value coincided with NKT’s scope.  And as far as giveaways go, this is a biggie!  Enter for a chance to win these recently released video games and NKT picks!
So, here they are:

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See this: Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas

As a huge fan of Jim Henson, naturally, I love all of the quirky characters, including Emmet Otter! Moms and dads, do you remember Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas from the Muppets? I sure do! Who could forget Emmet and his Ma and their take on the “Gift of the Magi.” This holiday season, especially in these economic times, Emmett and his Ma’s story hits home even more.

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And how cool is this? The Goodspeed Musical Theatre is now featuring A Goodspeed Christmas, their theatrical adaptation of Jim Henson’s Emmet Otter. The Goodspeed Theatre is located in East Haddam, CT and the Goodspeed Christmas is playing now until January 3.

Over on Twitter, it’s Emett Otter Day on the Jim Henson Company’s feed, so be sure to check them out for cool updates and giveaways! My guy is loving Emett Otter and friends because of the cool music; I can’t wait to watch it again with him!

NKT Gift Glossary: great games

Finally! I’m just now getting all caught up and posting my much delayed Holiday Gift Glossary! Over the next few days, I will be unveiling my favorite top picks for the NKT Holiday Gift Glossary. And oh yeah, I’ll be giving away a few goodies, too!

Today’s installment of the Holiday Gift Glossary is all about games! Check them out here or under the Gift Glossary tab above!
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