Since my daughter started kindergarten last year I have turned into an escort service. Paris Hilton she is not, but it seems like I am RSVPing to something for her every week. She’s been to skating parties where I had nightmarish flashbacks of preteen angst and fretting over watching the couples’ skate from the sidelines, inflatable jump up and down in your sock feet and give mama a heart attack parties, and junior miss diva in training karaoke makeover parties.

Here are some of my tips for managing the kids’ party circuit relatively stress free:

RSVP promptly. If your house, car, and purse are like mine, a paperwork black hole trifecta, you should RSVP as soon as you open the invitation. Plus you’ll earn brownie points with the mom organizing the party.

Record the date in your planner. As soon as I RSVP I add the party to my planner along with the RSVP info (phone number and/or e-mail address.) I can’t tell you how many times that has come in handy when I am searching for one of my daughter’s classmates’ phone numbers. I keep our school directory at home, but I always carry my planner with me.

Use the invite as a shopping guide. A lot of times we get somewhat generic invitations in the mail with balloons and no hint at what the birthday child likes. However, if the invitation is a theme invitation, you know you can’t go wrong with selecting a gift that goes along with the theme (i.e. Spiderman, Barbie, High School Musical, etc.) You can also ask what types of things they like when you RSVP, provided you don’t get voice mail. Gift certificates are a good choice for last minute gifts.

Buy duplicate gifts. If your 6-year-old is like mine, she is probably obsessed with Barbie, My Little Pony, Littlest Pet Shop, Hannah Montana, or some other girly girl character. When you’re out shopping for your child’s friend, go ahead and pick up two of whatever item you buy if it is on sale. Webkinz are also a great choice, since they are usually less than $15. You could also toss in a pack of stickers or temporary tattoos or lipgloss from a dollar store. I typically will not spend more than $20 on a child’s birthday gift.

Be prepared to hang around, or not. My daughter is still at the age where she wants me to hang out at the party. As luck would have it the one time I left to run a few errands (always check with the parents first and make sure they have your cell phone number if you drop your child off) while my daughter was at a party, she wasn’t able to participate in a rock climbing wall because the facility required parents to be present. She was crushed, and I felt like a jerk.

Save on birthday cards. My daughter always makes a homemade card for her friends. It’s cheaper than buying a greeting card and it helps reinforce the positive nature of a handwritten sentiment. We also recycle gift bags.

Do you have any tips for surviving the kids’ party circuit?

Got your weekly Wubbzy fix?

If  you don’t know what the heck I’m talking about, chances are you don’t have a kid under the age of 8 or so and you think Nick Jr. is the greasy haired, pimply faced teenager behind the counter at the neighborhood 24-hour gas station and market.

My girls love Wubbzy, Widgit, and Walden and they couldn’t wait to watch the first ever Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! DVD release, A Tale of Tails, which came out September 23 and includes eight fun-filled episodes from season one. Get it today (it’s on sale currently at Target for $9.99) and save it for the holidays or for a stormy fall day when you need a boredom buster for the kids, and a sanity saver for you (and it’s too early for tequila).

One lucky Savvy Housewife reader will win a fantastic Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! prize pack which includes this new Wubzy DVD, a fun interactive book with sounds from Scholastic, AND an adorable soft Wubbzy plush toy. Simply visit the Wow Wow Wubbzy official website and then come back to this post and tell me your favorite character from the show or a favorite episode. For two chances, either blog about this giveaway or subscribe to my feed. A random winner will be drawn from all eligible comments left by midnight, Wednesday, October 22.

Every night I entice my 3-year-old with all sorts of bells and whistles to brush her teeth for more than 3 seconds: fancy pink sparkly toothpaste, a colorful toothbrush, a five dollar bill (OK I’m kidding about that last bribe, but whatever works I say!)

Flipper toothbrush holders are not only adorable (we were sent two and my daughters couldn’t wait to open them), but they are functional. They are a handy way for your kids to store their toothbrushes hygienically and encourage dental care. They’re also great for tossing in little suitcases for those overnight visits with grandparents or let’s order pizza and watch movies until midnight sleepovers and they come in an assortment of fun designs featuring a virtual menagerie of animals, from adorable dogs to zoo animals to dinosaur eggs.

Features of the Flipper toothbrush holder:

• Opens and closes automatically
• Hygienic
• Suction cupped so it adheres to your bathroom mirror
• Patented design
• Award-winning mechanism
• Over 10 million sold

Feeling a little Flipper envy and wondering if it would be too weird to bring a pink hippo Flipper on your next business trip? The Flipper also comes in two understated floral designs that are appealing to adults. The Flipper family also includes handy razor holders.

The Flipper retails for $6.99 and would make a wonderful stocking stuffer this Christmas.

The fine folks at Luvli Foods, the same company behind Luvli organic juice, sent us a few samples of their new USDA organic Smashies in snappy apple flavor to try. Basically Smashies is organic fruit sauce in a nifty, convenient, and easy to toss at the kids in the back seat, package, although my 3-year-old insisted on putting hers in a bowl and eating it with a spoon (she does that with squeeze packets of yogurt, too.)

Best of all, parents monitoring what our children eat will love the fact that Smashies have zero added sugar or high fructose corn syrup, oh ye elixir of the junk food devils! You’ll also find the portability of Smashies handy for tossing into a tote bag or lunch box for meals on the go, which seems to be happening more and more at our house lately. Smashies Snappy Apple is also kosher, vegetarian, and gluten free, making it the perfect portable snack food for little ones.

Kids will love the fun little squeeze pouches (inspired by NASA) as well as the taste, especially if they are already big applesauce fans, like my 3-year-old. My 6-year-old didn’t want to try Smashies, BUT she does not like applesauce. However, she was also intrigued with the cute and clever packaging, which is totally recyclable.

Smashies can be found in stores starting this month, and you can also order a 10-pack sample from their website for $14.99. New flavors are in the works, too, so stay tuned for more Smashies to make a smash at a lunchbox near you.

Everyone’s favorite destination from childhood, Sesame Street, has teamed up with K’nex to release a wonderful new line of colorful, and educational, building sets just in time for the 2008 holiday season!

K’nex Sesame Street Building Sets retail starting at just $10.99 and feature all of the popular Sesame Street characters, from my childhood favorites Cookie Monster, Oscar, and Bert and Ernie, to newer friends on Sesame Street that my daughters have grown up watching, from Abby Cadabby to Elmo and his pet goldfish Dorothy.

Sorting and making patterns with K’Nex rods, connectors, and blocks encourages thinking and problem-solving skills. The K’nex Sesame Street Building Sets are made for children ages 2 to 5 and aid:

Physical Development

Social-Emotional Development

And Cognitive Development

Not only are they educational, helping promote independent play and hand-eye coordination, the sets are completely adorable. They all come with their own handy storage tub (some look like the actual Sesame Street characters). The colorful chunky parts are easy for small hands to handle, snap, stack, and plug together. They are also fun for mom and dad to reminisce on growing up with Sesame Street. My daughters and I had a blast trying out the Elmo piano building set, thanks to this review opportunity from Team Mom.

K’nex Sesame Street Building Sets are available on the K’nex website (which is currently offering free shipping on order over $75), as well as online at Amazon.com and at national retailers such as Toys R Us and Target. They would make perfect gifts for this coming holiday season.

The fine folks at LeapFrog were nice enough to send us the new LeapFrog® Tag Reading System and I can say it is one of the best educational toys that we’ve introduced to the girls. I was concerned it might be a little too old for my youngest daughter, who is 3 ½, as the recommended age is 4 to 8, but she has truly enjoyed playing with it. My oldest daughter, who is in first grade, has literally taken the Tag books to bed and read them without the aid of the special Tag pen and they both love to sit and play with the system.

The Tag Reading System features a special pen with a tiny camera on the tip that reads Tag books with the simple touch to the page. It’s a wonderfully fun, interactive way to engage young readers. Children can click on an icon so that the Tag reader pen plays audio, reading the entire page. Or, they can click word by word. Even the illustrations in the TAG books are interactive. The characters come to life with a click of the TAG pen, talking, making noises, etc. My girls love this feature. The volume is adjustable, but kids can also plug headphones into the Tag pen, although headphones are not included with the system. (That is honestly my only criticism of the system.)

The Tag Reading System works with a library of more than 20 books and games that includes such classic children’s books as The Little Engine That Could or popular characters like Ariel from Disney’s The Little Mermaid (which is definitely on my “must buy next” list). Leveled learning activities in every book adjust automatically to your child’s pace, helping build confidence and a love for reading. An Ozzie and Mack book comes with the system.

The nifty Tag Reader pen holds audio for up to five books at a time and connects to your computer with a USB cable, which is included with the system. You can also see your children’s progress in recent books by creating a free LeapFrog Learning Path online at LeapFrog’s website. The Tag Reading System is one of three new LeapFrog Connected learning systems that connect to the LeapFrog Learning Path, which enables parents to get regular insights into their child’s learning.

LeapFrog’s Tag Reading System retails for $49.99 and comes in the standard green and white pen or a new pink and white pen. The Tag books retail for $13.99. National Geographic also has a line of activity cards that work with the Tag pen. We have several LeapFrog toys at our house and I highly recommend this new LeapFrog system this Christmas for the young reader on your shopping list.

Anyone who has flown with young children will tell you that they’ll try just about anything to keep their offspring happy, content, and away from other passengers, provided it is legal. I still remember the first time my oldest daughter flew. She and I traveled from Tennessee to Massachusetts to visit my older sister. She was 23 months old and I packed every conceivable little toy, snack, and distraction known to man.

Love to Travel Products by Hope and Marie offers an ingenious little tray cover that turns a simple airplane tray table into a clean place for your child to eat and play during airplane trips.

The Kids TRAYblecloth minimizes your child’s contact with the airplane tray surface and provides a clean space for snacks, drinks, and activities. The convenient front pockets keep track of small items and the large mesh pocket underneath provides room for books and snacks. Most importantly, the Kids TRAYblecloth can stay on the tray during the entire flight, even when the tray table is up.

The Kids TRAYblecloth activity center includes:

• An erasable drawing and writing surface
• Four dry erase markers
• A fun, resuable activity shee

The Kids TRAYblecloth is small, making it easy to slip into your carry on bag, purse, or a child’s backpack.

Check out the Hope and Marie website for the Kids TRAYblecloth, which retails for $19.99.

Plush Gift Set

My girls are 3 and 6 and a bath is an event. They can’t clean up without bubbles, toys, and all sorts of bath time bells and whistles.

Tiny Tillia’s adorable cast of characters are fun additions to bath time. From waterproof bath books to character bath mitts to all natural head-to-toe foamy wash available in fun Tropical Blast and Flower Power scents, bath time should and can be a fun adventure and not just mom reminding the kiddos to scrub behind their ears. The scents are anything but boring: cucumber mango wash and cherry blossom hair detangler (we should buy stock in hair detangler at our house) are just two of the Tiny Tillia offerings. Tiny Tillia also features a handy 8 oz. hand sanitizer that can easily be tossed into a purse or tote bag for kids and moms on the go, which at our house is like 99 percent of the time. I hear the Boo Boo Gel Packs are especially great, too. All the packaging is whimsical, fun, and will put a smile on your face, as well as your child’s.

Duncan Dog Bath Mitt

All the Tiny Tillia formulas are ultra-gentle and paraben free. The Tiny Tillia collection of character-themed personal care and bath and body products was created by London-born designer Tiffany Lerman, daughter of novelist Jackie Collins. These adorable characters are all based on Tiffany’s family members. Each animal in the Tiny Tillia collection has a trait and story that directly relates to someone she knows and loves. Since launching in 2006, the collection has gained a huge celebrity following. You can find Tiny Tillia at specialty boutiques and nationwide at Target stores and online at shoptillia.com.

Disney DVD has two new releases this fall for Mickey and Pooh fans. The thing I love about Mickey and Pooh is that both my daughters, ages 3 and 6, love them. It’s great that they agree on these two classic cartoon characters, since they can disagree in so many other areas.

Your favorite classic fairy tales from childhood have been brought back with a new twist from Mickey Mouse and the gang in Mickey’s Storybook Surprises, the latest Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD release. The DVD features four episodes: Minnie’s Mystery, Donald the Frog Prince, Minnie Red Riding Hood, and Sleeping Minnie. Visit the official Mickey Mouse Clubhouse website for a sneak peek of this adorable video.

Order your copy today from Disney’s website (it retails for $14.99.)

My Friends Tigger & Pooh Hundred Acre Wood Haunt is a new release from Disney. I’m 39 and I still remember how much I loved Pooh as a child. Rumor has it, that Pooh just might have been part of my childhood nickname.

If you’re looking for a sweet, and not scary, Halloween DVD for your kids (hey the stores have been celebrating Halloween now for a few weeks!), Hundred Acre Wood Haunt is a perfect addition to your movie library. The official DVD website offers some fun downloadabale games and activities for kids.

Buy both DVDs from Disney’s website and save $6. These are perfect DVDs for younger kids.

With my oldest daughter now in first grade, I’m always on the lookout for online educational games and learning systems.

We recently had the chance to try out the award winning e-learning system for kids in grades K-6 from BigIQkids. I love that BigIQkids rewards your child for completing lesson plans by depositing coins that can be redeemed for fun games (there are more than 35 strategy and educational games in the online arcade) and parents are e-mailed progress reports after each completed lesson. The goal of BigIQkids is to foster an appreciation for hard work and study habits and members who devote 15 to 25 minutes a day the e-learning system have seen the best results. After signing up for BigIQkids, my 6-year-old actually asked to “play” on the site and it was exciting to see her learning while having fun.

The annual bundle package is $99.99 (and includes Spelling Time, Big Math Time, Big Vocab Time, and Big States Time). That’s just $5 a month to ensure your child gets in the routine of doing regular lesson plans that enhance their school work. And they offer a 14-day, full money back guarantee so you and your child can test it out. You can also purchase individual bundles, should your child just need to focus on a particular area, such as math. The individual bundle packages vary, and can be purchased on a monthly basis, starting at just $7.99 a month for Spelling Time.

Parents will see the best results by making BigIQkids.com a habit like brushing your teeth. Each lesson takes between 10-15 minutes to complete and the programs will not advance the student until they have achieved mastery of each individual lesson.

Parents also have complete customization ability on all Big IQ programs. This is a unique and exciting aspect of what sets BigIQkids.com apart from other e-learning tools. For example, a parent or teacher can easily enter their own word lists and Spelling Time will automatically create a week’s worth of lessons, quizzes, and tests based on your custom list with the goal of achieving 100% on the Friday spelling test. You can also set up a child’s lesson to mirror what they are doing in their current curriculum. For example, if your child is just mastering simple addition and subtraction like my first grader, then Big Math Time can focus on just these two areas.

If your child needs a little extra help developing good study habits, BigIQkids is a fantastic e-learning system to make part of your evening routine. Check out the online demos of the programs to see how fun and engaging they are for your kids!

Deb Wallin who commented, “I have never tried them, but they sure look good. we usually eat shredded wheat,” and Denise who commented, “All my kids love Reece’s Puffs” are the two winners of the Cocoa Puffs Combos giveaway. Thanks to everyone who entered!

Like many things, cereal from a box has come a long way baby since I was a little girl.

Savvy Housewife was sent free coupons for vanilla and chocolate Cocoa Puffs Combos. One 3/4 cup serving has 11 grams of sugar, which is actually less sugar than the whole grain cereal bars my girls love to eat, which was a surprise to me. The entire Big G line of General Mills cereals, which includes Cheerios, Lucky Charms, and Total, is made with whole grains.

What can I say? My girls are crazy about this cereal. Sometimes it’s like herding cats to get my girls to actuallyl sit down together peacefully at the kitchen table on school mornings, but the Cocoa Puffs Combos practically has them running to the table.

Two Savvy Housewife readers will win one coupon good for a free box of new chocolate and vanilla Cocoa Puffs Combos cereal. Simply visit the General Mills cereal website and tell me what brand of cereal your family likes to eat best. Two winners will be chosen randomly from all eligible comments left by midnight Monday, September 22. You don’t need a blog or website to enter, but you do need to leave a valid e-mail address so I can contact you, should you win.

Did you know that Mondays are giveaway days at Savvy Housewife? Next week’s giveaway is for a fabulous t-shirt from Chickatees Boutique. Be sure to stop back by!

The ultimate dress up day, Halloween, will be here before you know it! If you have little girls like me, you know they love anything twirly and sparkly. My oldest daughter started taking ballet this summer so the tutu factor is alive and well at our house.

Prissy Poofs, based in South Carolina, features the most fabulous line of tutus that any little girl would love. Their line of Spooky Poofs would be perfect for this Halloween. Even the tiniest little girl can wear a Prissy Poof as they come in sizes ranging from newborn to child’s large (7/8). They sent my girls each a poof and I have put them aside for Christmas since they are so adorable. I know they will love them!

Each week between now and Halloween, Prissy Poofs will feature a different poof on sale. This week’s featured poof is the adorable Lucky Pony Poof, which comes with a fun headband.

I also love the little devil poof. There are days, nay weeks, that this would be very appropriate for my 3-year-old!

Order an adorable Prissy Poof for your little girl now through October 15 and enter code SPOOKY at checkout for 15% off your purchase. And with the holidays just around the corner, be sure to check out their seasonal line. So what are you waiting for? Get your poof on!