Toddlers, of course, want to do everything themselves. Parents would love for them to! But often, the path to independently performing day-to-day tasks is bumpy. Wherever we can create opportunities for our little ones to feel successful throughout the day, we should. It boosts their confidence and self-esteem, and reduces frustration- for everyone! Here are the products (below the video!) I brought to “The 10! Show” that help do just that!

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• Kid’Sleep clocks $30-$50 – www.livelovedream.com.  Have a little one who wakes you up too early or climbs in your bed? Help them understand when it’s wake up time with the Kid’Sleep Classic clock. It functions as a night light and an alarm clock, but best of all has a wake up indicator. Toddlers can’t tell time, but the can look to the Kid’Sleep to see if it’s “wake up” time; if the character on clock is sleeping or awake. Parents can set the time they’d like for the playing image to illuminate. The Kid’Sleep line also includes the Globetrotter battery-operated, travel version of the Classic, and the My First Alarm Clock which has both a digital and analog clock as the main focus, but still has a mini wake up indicator as well.

• Aqueduck Faucet Extender $12.99 www.peachyco.com.  Kids need to wash their hands so many times a day, the easier you can make it for them, the less likely they’ll fight it! The Aqueduck helps kids reach faucets. It’s super-easy to use, portable, BPA/PVC/Phthalate-free, and fits most faucets.

• Skip Hop Soapster Foaming Soap Dispenser $24 www.skiphop.com. Kid will love getting their own soap for handwashing or tubby-time! Fill the Soapster will any baby wash and water and it will create foamy soap. Kids just press on the penguin’s belly to lather up! Installs with suction cups to tile or mirrors or with screws for permanent wall-mounting.

• Myself Belts $9.99 and up- www.myselfbelts.com . Lots of kids fit pants length-wise but are skinny minis and need a belt. Traditional belts with buckles require two hands and a fair amount of dexterity to manage. Myself Belts are are Velcro belts that use a patented design that allows wearers to fasten their one hand belt using a simple three-step SNAP, SLIDE and SECURE process. Myself Belts are great, and especially useful for potty trainers who are often in a big hurry to get undressed! Available for kids in sizes 2 to 12 and there is an adult line as well. They come in a variety of designs and materials and can be personalized as well.

• Original Ba $14.99 www.newinnovashun.com.   When little ones are ready to self-feed, bottles can be awkward to grasp. The Original Ba bottle holder is designed for small hands to hold their bottle securely and easily. A frame made of FDA approved food grade approved silicone, the Original Ba is BPA-, Pthalate-, Lead-, & PVC-Free.

• My Plate-Mate $7.50 www.myplate-mate.com.   My Plate-Mate is a spill guard for toddlers (ages 2) through age 6 who are getting the handle of scooping food onto utensils. It’s a great learning tool that prevents spills and increases the child’s confidence & independence at meals. It easily slips on a child’s 8-9 ½” plate and is dishwasher safe. The My Plate-Mate is made of FDA approved plastics and is lead-, BPA- and Phthalates-free. Great for at restaurants, too!

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In this “The 10! Show” segment, Premier Baby Concierge founder, Shannon Choe, brought some tips for parents to encourage their little ones to eat healthy.

Read books with themes about food and healthy eating.

Books are a great way to broach a new topic or developmental stage with little ones. Whether you’re getting ready for a first trip to the dentist or hoping to instill good eating habits, books offer kids a context for new adventures, characters to identify with, vocabulary to discuss what’s happening or any concerns they may have.  There are LOTS of great books for kids of all ages at your local library or bookstore.  A few Premier Baby Concierge faves:  Bee- Bim- Bop, Little Pea & The Secret Life of Mitch Spinach.

The Secret Life of Mitch Spinach.  $16.95.  www.MitchSpinach.com.  Mitch Spinach drinks high-powered fruit and vegetable smoothies which give him special powers to solve mysteries and help out at school.  Written in collaboration with renowned physician, Dr. Joel Fuhrman, M.D., this book has been shown to influence over 96% of children, ages 3-9 to eat more fruits and veggies!

Involve kids in growing, shopping for and preparing food.

Studies have shown that kids who are involved in growing, shopping and preparing meals and snacks are more likely to try new foods.  Makes sense!  After shopping, they can identify more fruits and veggies.  Kids are proud to be involved and some can be quite interested in the science of how foods change color or texture when they mix with others or are heated.  The once foreign foods are not quite as “suspicious” looking when they arrive on a dinner plate co-mingled with other items.

For playing store or hitting the real farmer’s market in your town, try Reisenthal Parent/Child carry bags $29.99 – $39.99 www.reisenthel.com.  They are light weight, yet have the capacity to carry more than 6 gallons and can store easily, as they collapse to one inch thick.

When it’s time to cook, grab a personalized quilted apron and cook set available from Timeless Designs and Monograms.  Let kids pack their own lunches (maybe the night before if your AMs are too hectic!) in a matching lunchbox.  $13.95-19.95  Timeless Designs and Monograms is offering 10% off orders with code: 10show. www.tdmembroidery.com

Make it fun!

Keeping food interesting, by presenting it in new ways can bring new life to a familiar food and make new foods more enticing.  Use toothpicks, placemats, fun tableware to spice up mealtime.

Check out Mr. and Ms. Food Face plates, $12.95 www.amazon.com

Empower kids to make their own choices.

One way to do this is to make your own food “bank” to help your kids learn how to balance snack choices.  At our house, we use a recycled circular plastic carry out container on our counter as our “bank.” Each morning, each child gets three poker chips to put in their own container, with each chip representing one sweet snack or drink.  Tired of being asked all day long about juice and snacks, I decided to put the decision in their hands.  We talked about which items would require payment of a chip and why: juice, pancakes with syrup, a cookie, etc.  Whenever they choose to eat or drink something that requires a chip, they take it from their bank and pay it to the mine.  If they choose to spend all three by 9AM, so be it.  When they ask later in the day for a treat, I simply say, “Do you have any chips?”  They quickly learn that they are in control.  As an added an incentive to not spend chips on sugary snacks, chips remaining at bedtime may also be traded for extra books to be read at storytime.

Chart & recognize healthy choices.

It’s been said that new habits take about two weeks to become habits.  Charts are not only a great way to set goals, but also offer kids a concrete way to chart success.

The Today I Ate A Rainbow Kit was create to encourage kids to eat a variety of fruits and veggies each day.  The kit includes a book that introduces them to why this is so important, 4 sets of magnets, the chart and a shopping list notepads that kids and parents can make together to ensure that a “rainbow’s worth” of fruits and veggies are available.  Each time they eat a fruit of veggie, they put the corresponding colored magnet on the chart. I was actually amazed that within minutes of opening the kit, my kids “got it” and ran to the fridge to see what else they could eat!  $25 www.todayiatearainbow.com

Be flexible.

Every day doesn’t have to be perfect.  It’s hard to get kids to eat fruits and veggies at all sometimes, let alone a great variety of them daily which is ideal.

For those days (or stages!), fill in the gaps with nutritional “insurance” like JP+ Soft Chewables). $22.75 www.FoundationalNutritionwithJuicePlus.com It’s an all natural, whole food based nutritional product made by juicing a wide variety of fresh fruits and veggies, drying the juices and  offering the powders in capsule and chewable form.  It contains 17 raw, juiced fruits, veggies, grains.

Philadelphia’s premier baby planner, Shannon Choe of Premier Baby Concierge, was on “The 10! Show,” highlighting some favorite products for families to get organized! Whether toys are taking over your living room or looking for hints to help you  keep on track with New Year’s Resolutions, we have some great tools to share!

• Great toy organization is key!  There are countless bins and shelves and baskets out there.  It’s a great idea to survey the options before jumping in because, as with all organization, you need the right tools for the job. (Not to mention, some organization items are a bit of an investment!)  Thinking ahead can lead to a better looking playroom (consistently colored or shaped bins that really fit what you are trying to sort and store), and can save you from having to re-vamp your system to grow with your child(ren).  One great option:

• Skip Hop Bin-go & Bin-go Soft Diaper Caddy.  www.skiphop.com.  ((Note: We love these, and are sad to learn that although they were just sent us, they are no longer available on the Skip Hop website.  You can find most colors (higher price tag, though) at Albee Baby.)  These tote-able, sturdy canvas bins are great because they are super kid-friendly and fold flat when not in use.  Bonus: Bin-gos are monogramable (Think names, or better yet, types of toys!  ”Cars” “Dolls,” etc. Ah, our OCD side is showing!)  TIP:  In addition to labeling by word, try labeling by photos for toddlers to encourage them to help in the clean up process!

• The Bin-go Soft Diaper Caddy holds plenty of diapers (up to 36), a wipes case and other essentials in the outer pockets.  These are great for by the changing table, for setting up a secondary changing station in a family room, even for keeping a stash of diapers and change of clothes in the trunk.

• The Glow Baby, “Baby’s First Journal” www.glowbaby.com ($15.99) is a great way to track baby’s basic needs: feeding, sleeping, diapering and bathing.  It allows exhausted new parents to not have to remember all of these details and also to take note of patterns that may develop.  It’s a great communication tool to share with a care giver or grandparent as well, who can see at a glance what the day has looked like and will become a keepsake.
• Glow Baby’s “Baby’s First Foods” www.glowbaby.com ($15.99) is another great log for when parents introduce solids and track reactions to new foods.  It’s divided by common food groups and again, offers a terrific way to be sure that everyone has access to important info regarding baby!

• Boon offers many great organizational products.  Frog Pod www.booninc.com ($34.99) offers parents a cute and efficient way to keep the bathtub toys and baby wash tidy.  It adheres to the the wall and the scoop had holes to let water drain out, reducing the chance of toys getting mildewy.  Again, the scoop is a great, developmentally appropriate way to involve kids in clean up and train them that it’s the final step in playtime.

• Created by a mom of four, AboutOne.com www.aboutone.com ($5/month or $30/year) is an awesome new family information management system that allows busy families to keep all of their info and memories in one digital filing system.   It’s a game-changer, unlike anything I’ve seen before.  The best three points of this service are that your information is accessible anytime, anywhere from a computer, cell phone, etc., all the while offering bank-level security.  We’re talking all of your contacts, household repair receipts, report cards, kids artwork, etc.!  You can get started at any point, storing new info in seconds (by emailing or scanning) and you don’t have to go back and enter previous history.   And my personal favorite, is the awesome reports and newsletters and other products the system can auto-create, pulling from the info you’ve already entered.  (Want to send Grandma a monthly update with photos but never find the time?  This means you!)  You can even send snail mail cards to an individual or your entire holiday card list with free envelope labeling, standard postage rates and 10% off cards through a partnership AboutOne.com has with card companies!  So cool.

• We feature a lot of diaper bags throughout the year, but of course for a segment on organization, we’ve got to select carefully!  This was surprisingly easy as the Skip Hop Bento Bag www.skiphop.com ($99) is a no-brainer for the win in innovation and functionality for the family on-the-go!  It comes with their insulated Mealtime Kit with Clix containers and a perfect-fit freezer pack keep food fresh.  Of course there are plenty of pockets, a padded changing pad, an adjustable strap.  It’s BPA-, PVC- and Phthalate-Free and has patented Shuttle Clips so it can attach to any stroller.

• A great find for organizing your purse is the Card Cache www.thecardcache.com ($13 and up).  This ingenious little gadget organizes all of your cards big and small that may be cramping your wallet’s style or floating around your purse.  You pick your Card Cache, then personalize with a little pen, hook, calendar, etc.  Carefully punch holes in your various cards and add them to your Card Cache and you’re off!

We always have too many finds to share in our segments!  Will share more great organization products in the coming days…

Philadelphia’s first & premier baby planner, Shannon Choe, founder of Premier Baby Concierge shared some “last minute” holiday gift ideas for the whole family.  As of airtime, all of these were available for Holiday delivery- but deadlines vary, so move quick!

Don’t make it all about the bump or babe!  Pamper the new mom or mom-to-be on your list with a gift certificate to a local spa.  This is one gift card that doesn’t say, “I wasn’t sure what to get you!”  If you’re in Philly, I suggest the Tommi Lifestyle Boutique. My wedding photographer, Tom Wong, and his wife Nikki are the founders of this new one-of-a-kind spot offering services for wedding and non-wedding clients:  photography (including maternity photos!), salon & spa services, even cosmetic dentistry, all under one roof!  Their new 7th & Chestnut location is beautiful and tranquil.  www.tommistudio.com

The Go Gaga  Slide ($118) is a really unique, unisex bag that will appeal to the diaper bag toting set, as well as anyone who buckles under the pressure of an ill-fitting strap!  Introducing the patent-pending Urban Sherpa Strap designed to distribute weight over your shoulder and back.  The Slide also sports a very practical insulated bottle pocket that fits adult water bottles or baby bottles and is easily accessible with one hand.  Comes with the Stuff Sack (great “wet bag”) and Nomad Changing Pad.  The Urban Sherpa Strap alone is a great stocking stuffer at $28 for anyone on your list!  Shop at www.diapers.com and use the code:  GOGAGASAVE to save 10%.

Wooden toys for all the girls and boys on your list!  With all of the concern around plastics, BPA and lead paint, you can’t go wrong with wood toys and teethers.  They’re natural and durable.  HABA of Germany has long been the name in great developmental wooden toys and can be found on www.amazon.com.  We love their tagline:  “Inventive Playthings for Inquisitive Minds.”

Little Passports is a great gift for the big bro and sis on your list! ($11.95 and up).  This award-winning, educational gift introduces the child to a new country each month through goodies, letters, souvenirs, stickers delivered by mail and paired with online games.  It’s a gift that starts with a special Little Passports suitcase and stimulates all year long!

We love these cute personalized ornaments from Timeless Designs & Monograms!  Choose from Big Brother or Sister; Baby’s 1st Christmas and more!  Add up to 2 lines of personalization (included!). Enter code: “the10show” on www.tdmembroidery.com to receive 10% off your order!

A great gift for those far or near!  Send a Recordable Storybook from Hallmark ($29.95)!  With three holiday titles and twelve every day titles available, these books are super easy to record, and more importantly, to set and save from accidental erase (hello little fingers!).  From grandkids to grandparents, far away relatives to baby, parents to child, these books are great keepsakes and a great way to share a story all year long, even when loved ones can’t be there.

Our suggestion for teaching kids about being thankful and a time-saving Thank You note solution:  Print Art Kids notecards. Every year we do an assembly-line production of handprint thank you notes so the family can have this keepsake and to start the conversation about the importance of being appreciative of gifts and expressing thanks.  This year, we can send one such creation to Print Art Kids to create custom thank you notecards.  They can turn any artwork or photograph into custom note- or postcards, return address labels, note pads, etc.!  There are no limitations to artwork:  glitter? googly eyes? oversized paper?  No problem, just take a digital photo!   Bonus:  they use earth friendly products and recycled paper.

Shannon Choe, founder of Premier Baby Concierge, brought some great baby gear selections and possible Mother’s Day gifts to the 10! Show.

Did you miss it? Check out the video and specific product info below!