My daughter is at the stage where she hugs everyone that she meets and sometimes she hangs on them. Although it’s a very sweet gesture, some of these people are people that she does not know well. My daughter is a very personable and social child. While it’s a beautiful character trait, sometimes it scares me.  

Over the weekend, we went to a Target in the Valley. This older lady who was clearly Korean (I am Korean, so I know my people) was walking by.   My daughter who misses her grandma immensely ran up to her and gave her a big hug. Then she proceeded to have her sit down at her table and offered her drink and popcorn.   The lady was really nice and we chatted for a good 30 minutes, but there are some psycho freaks that do run around in this world. You just don’t know and you can never judge a book by its cover.

I am super paranoid when younger and older males are overly nice to my daughter.   They could be fathers themselves who relate, but I always think about those sickos that we see on Dateline’s “To Catch a Predator with Chris Hansen.”   If you watch the show, a lot of these socially trustworthy males are the ones committing these sick acts.   So I do not want to stick around to find out.

I am very protective of my children, but I am extra-extra protective in public environments because unfortunately we don’t have the capabilities of having every stat, background info, on each individual we come in contact with.   As a parent, I have to keep an “eagle” eye out, and do everything in my power to keep my children safe.

Just the other day, my real estate agent could not make it out to the property we were viewing, so he had his associate come out for the showing.   I met him briefly on one occasion, but I do not know him.   When he walked up to the house, my daughter ran up to him with open arms and hugged him.   She was very sweet but I was super paranoid that she gave a stranger a hug.   The entire showing, I was thinking about the “talk” I was going to have with my daughter.

Could you imagine if I turned around for a second and some stranger snatched her?   It makes me sick to my stomach to think about that.   After the showing, in our car ride back home, I had a conversation with her.   I told her that although she was being nice, there are bad people out there, and that she should not hug or talk to people that she does not know well.   She is still very young and does not know the realities of  ”bad” people.   To her, everyone is pure, innocent, and nice.   Unfortunately, there are crazy people in this world who do crazy things.

With all the recent kid-snatching here in California, it’s been a wakeup call for a lot of parents. You really cannot trust the strangers that are out there. As parents, we have to take all precautionary measures, for our children.   I would love for my daughter to be free and be able to do what her heart inclines to do (give hugs), but the realities of our society is that there are dangerous people out there!

Well, if you are looking for a really nice gift to give someone or their family this Christmas, this next find is definitely a must.  Your whole family will get excited over it and will create everlasting memories.  What am I talking about?  I would like to introduce to you, SodaStream Soda Makers. It’s amazing, innovative, and eco-friendly.

When our family received the Pure Sodastream Soda Maker, it turned our so-so just-another-day into a fascinating, eye-lit, eye-brow rasing family event.  My daughter was interested in seeing what this cool looking machine would do, I had curiosity spelled all over my face, and there was my husband who was for the most part,”the skeptic.” 

We all sat around our kitchen table and started to set up the machine.  Let me tell you, I am always the one that installs things backwards, misses vital parts that are needed for the product to operate, and at times, the instructions are so hard to follow that it becomes one giant science project.  So when I say something is easy to install, it really is that simple, and something that doesn’t require you to sit around for hours, to figure things out.  With this soda maker, I snapped in the top to the base, then I screwed in the carbonator to the top, and it was ready for use.  Very easy and literally took seconds!

Once we did the initial setup, we filled the bottle with water (to where it is indicated), then we screwed the bottle in, pressed down on the handle (three times to which you hear a loud buzz), and we got fresh homemade carbonated water.  My daughter was so excited about all the Sodamix flavors that we received, we decided to add the flavor to our carbonated water.  After we carbonated the water, we took a capful of Cranberry-Rasberry Sodamix, and added it to the bottle.  Automatically, you see and hear the water fizzle up (very cool to see). We shook it once and then opened it, and had a little foutain action coming out of the bottle.  It took us by surprise and we just had to smile and laugh (my daughter couldn’t wait and started to lick the drink off the table).

We poured our homemade cranberry-rasberry carbonated drink into three cups and took our first sampling.  Wow!  It was crisp, light, refreshing, and delicious.  After having the first taste, I wanted to invite all my friends to show off my new baby.  I don’t think I could ever go back to buying store bought carbonated drinks.  You can’t beat anything that is made in the comfort of your home.  Plus, you know what’s going into your water or shall I say what is not going into your water.

The SodaStream Soda Makers come in a variety of models, but I love the one I received.  The Pure model is sophisticated in design, giving you that added modern-sleek touch, and gives functionality to even to the smallest kitchen because it takes up very little countertop space and very easy to clean (stainless steel).  Since you don’t have to plug it up to any electical outlet , you can pretty much place it anywhere you please.  Some of the noted features are: automatic access gas release mechanism, customized carbonation level, and metal dip tray.  I also love their Sodamix Flavors which come in 30 different flavors and include Diet and Energy flavors as well.  For those who want a hint of taste to their seltzer or sparkling water, there is also the Mywater Flavor Essence, which comes in Berry, Lemon Lime, and Orange.

SodaStream is also a “conscious” and “active green” product. Every time a soda or sparking water is made at home and not purchased from a store, we are reducing our carbon footprint.  On top of that, there is less packaging waste from cans and bottles and less pollution caused by the transport of bottled beverages.  I’ve said this before and I will say it again: As citizens of this world, we have the responsibility and obligation to take care of the world we are living in. We are not perfect, but we have to make a conscious effort in reducing our individual footprint on earth and being active in that process.  I love that Sodastream is enviromentally friendly and gives consumers the option to make that conscious choice and actively take part in conscious living.

After the first use, I was sold on the SodaStream Soda Makers, especially my Pure Model.  I love the sophistication in design, the fuctionality in any kitchen, and the portability that it has because it does not use electricity.  It’s easy to use and clean.  The added bonus, it’s environmentally friendly, and gives you that one step up from the next product, letting you become that conscious consumer.  For those reasons, I think this would be a great gift for yourself, your family, or just anyone you care about, for them to enjoy and use for years to come!

 (Disclosure: Product was provided free of charge for review purposes and does not affect my views or feedback of the product.  This review is based solely on my personal opinion and experience and results may vary person to person.)

The Flipper Toothbrush and Razor Holders make great stocking stuffers for the upcoming holidays.

Please read my past review for the Flipper. I love it and so does my daughter!

They are offering my readers up to a 45% discount on select items. The following styles have had their prices slashed.

Fun animal category – bear, lamb, puppy, duckie
Animal World category – rhino, koala and piggy
Dino Egg category – paras and rex
Puppy category – boxer, poodle, labrador, terrier, shih-tzu,
retriever, shepherd, schnauzer

Order by December 15th to receive your products in time for the holidays.

To order you can visit www.myflipperusa.com