During the pandemic, single-use items reigned supreme as families doubled down on sanitation to protect themselves from the virus. With a little planning, we can still be planet superheroes while keeping ourselves safe and protecting our planet against the massive deluge of pollution stemming from the needless use of disposable masks, gloves, wipes and other trashy plastic items.

Small things we do every day can make the planet a greener and cleaner place for people and animals today and for future generations. Check out these 4 easy actions to give a KA-POW! to plastic pollution during a pandemic.

1. Villain: Pitiful Plastic Polluter / Superhero Action: Pick it up
If you see a face mask fluttering by in a park, washed up in a gutter or lost in a parking lot, you can safely help dispose of it so it doesn’t wash into our waterways and pollute our planet. Blue face masks and many other face coverings are made from plastic textiles like polyester. They don’t biodegrade. Don’t touch the waste with your bare hands to protect yourself from potential viral contamination. Instead have on hand a reusable garden glove, kitchen glove, trash picking stick or something else to take it safely to the trash for disposal. Follow the same steps for any other trash you see lost in the environment! Plastic trash isn’t just ugly, it’s also dangerous to wildlife who commonly mistake garbage for food.   

2. Villain: Gross Garbage Gyre / Superhero Action: Pack a litter-less lunch
It’s time to reboot your lunch! For many of us, school and work have been happening at home, so we’ve fallen out of the habit of packing food to go. Remember to prevent plastic pollution in the first place by reducing or eliminating it from your daily routine. A perfect place to start is lunchtime. Pack reusable containers that are designed to be easy to use and easy on the environment. Packing your own containers to school every day can prevent more than a thousand pieces of trash.

3. Villain: Trashy Takeout / Superhero Action: Refuse Single Use Takeout Items
When you purchase takeout, make sure you leave a note in the online ordering portal or with the telephone order taker specifying that you do not want any single-use extras packed with your meal. Say goodbye to making single-use plastic cutlery, single-serving ketchup and other condiment packets, and disposable napkins the new normal. You can go even further and ask restaurant managers to stop automatically including these single-use throw-aways with orders and provide them only upon customer request. Recommend biodegradable birch or bamboo utensils in lieu of throw-away plastic cutlery.

4. Villain: Ugly Online Orders / Superhero Action: Choose Plastic-Free Shipments
When shopping online, choose companies with planet-centric shipping practices that carbon offset shipments by packing all orders plastic-free (kraft tape instead of plastic, recycled dunnage paper instead of peanuts and plastic pillows, recyclable cardboard boxes instead of trashy padded plastic envelopes).

Insider Tip: If you’re buying from Amazon, go to amazon.com main search bar and enter keywords “Amazon Customer Service,” select chat, and request that you want your account flagged to receive plastic-free shipments. (Note: Requesting may or may not result in plastic-free shipments depending on your service area, but at least you’re sending a message to Amazon that you don’t want plastic waste in your shipments.) For other stores, add a customer note at checkout requesting a plastic-free, carbon offset shipment or send an email to the company.

For more tips, check out “Say Goodbye To Plastic: A Survival Guide For Plastic-Free Living” and help make plastic-free living a reality in your home.

Sandra Ann Harris is the author of "Say Goodbye To Plastic: A Survival Guide For Plastic-Free Living" and the founder of ECOlunchbox, a mission-based consumer products company. Her passion is protecting the oceans by reducing people's dependence on plastics. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family.

If you’re still working on checking off that wishlist, never fear––Target is here. The retailer just announced a few special options to help you wrap up that list with a bow on top.

Up through 5 p.m. on Dec. 24, you have two options to get your list-minute gifts in hand: Order Pickup and Drive Up, or same-day delivery with Shipt. Keep reading to see all the deets!

photo: Target

Shoppers can place orders through the Target app or website up to 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve to get free pickup in the nick of time either by walking into the store or opting for Drive Up. This year, Target doubled Drive Up spots to the tune of 8,000 more, so there’s plenty of room for all.

If you can’t make it to a store, be sure to place your orders by ASAP for deliveries up to 5 p.m. on Dec. 24. Delivery times will vary by location and shopper availability.

Mark Schindele, Target’s chief stores officer., “Target teams across the country are ready to help guests get their last-minute items safely and easily. All season long, our nearly 1,900 stores have been delivering holiday joy to our guests no matter how they want to shop, and we’ve dedicated even more team members to our same-day services to make sure guests can get their online orders in plenty of time to celebrate.”

––Karly Wood

 

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Now you have even more reasons to head to ALDI. Your kids love to play basketball and soccer in the back yard, but imagine if the games doubled in size. These jumbo inflatables are coming to an ALDI near you on May 20.

Summer Waves Jumbo Inflatable Game Bowling

Summer Waves Jumbo Bowling

Summer Waves Jumbo Inflatable Game Basketball 

Summer Waves Jumbo Basketball

Summer Waves Jumbo Inflatable Game Soccer 

Summer Waves Jumbo Soccer

Each of these inflatable sets retail for $14.99 and are only available for a limited time.

—Jennifer Swartvagher

All photos courtesy of ALDI

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Parenting in the digital age is filled with all kinds of challenges and questions our parents never had to face, like what’s the best age to give kids their own smartphone? New research suggests most kids are getting their own phones by the time they reach middle school.

A new study conducted by Common Sense Media investigated media usage and habits by kids ages eight to 18 included over 1,600 participants across the nation. So what did they find?

 

photo: Pexels 

The study found that 53 percent of kids have their own smartphone by the time they are 11 and by age 12, more than 69 percent of kids have one. The research also showed that 19 percent of eight-year-olds already have their own smartphone.

It’s been four years since Common Sense conducted a similar survey and since then, smartphone ownership and usage by kids in this age group has risen dramatically. In 2015 just 24 percent of eight- to 12-year-olds had smartphones. The average age at which kids received their first smartphone was between 13 to 14 years old, versus the average age now of 11.

photo: Blake Barlow via Unsplash

In addition to phone usage, the 2019 Common Sense Census also looked at overall screen use, as well as gaming and social media habits. The report found that on average, eight to 12 year olds spend nearly five hours a day on entertainment screen media, while teens spend an average of nearly seven and a half hours doing the same. This is fairly consistent with the findings from the previous study.

Online viewing among tweens and teens has increased significantly with more than twice as many viewing videos online than four years ago and the time spent viewing nearly doubled from 25 to 56 minutes a day among tweens. On the flip side, however, television watching among the same age groups has dropped dramatically, with both tweens and teens watching an average of half an hour less of TV per day.

The report did conclude, however, that overall when compared to the last 20 years, the rate of change in media use among kids appears to have slowed down. “For the first time, this wave of the survey indicates that the pace of change in young people’s media lives may have slowed. The survey has revealed some interesting and important changes over the past four years: increasing connectivity among tweens, rising screen media usage among teens, an explosion in online video viewing at the expense of television. But given the revolutionary pace at which young people’s media environments have been changing over the past 20 years, it is also noteworthy that for the first time in quite a while, the pace of change appears to have slowed.”

—Shahrzad Warkentin

 

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They can go from being your best friend to your worst enemy and back again in a matter of moments. Brothers and sisters love you like no one else, and they also know exactly which buttons to push. Siblings teach invaluable lessons of camaraderie, survival, rivalry and humor as you journey through life’s ups and downs side by side. Read on for 30 things only siblings will understand and then give yours a call to share a laugh about childhood memories.

Patrick via Flickr

1. Knowing what it's like to be the oldest child, middle child or baby of the family.

Yes, birth order really does shape your personality to an extent. Just ask Jan Brady.

2. You suffered through eating what your mom or dad made for dinner, even if you hated it.

Back in those days you ate what was served and smiled the whole time, all the way to the clean plate club. But you haven't touched a pork chop since you left home.

3. You never missed a golden opportunity to learn from your older sibling's mistakes.

You eavesdropped on your bro or sis experiencing your parents' wrath so you knew exactly what NOT to do in the future.

4. Being known as the “little brother” or “little sister.”

Apparently, outside the home, your older sibling is a legend and you’re just the runner-up.

5. Where exactly the root of all your phobias stem from.

No one else can sympathize with your fear of spiders more than your siblings, who were there for every spider sighting and subsequent scream along the way.

6. You know what it’s like to have to live up to your sister/brother’s star status as a student when you got the same teacher.

Or … you had to prove that you were their total opposite.

Joshua Miller via Flickr

7. The insanity of sharing a bathroom to get ready for school in the mornings.

Who used all the hot water in the shower … again?

8. The magic that was trick or treating together and trading and sorting your candy loot.

You wordlessly exchanged all your Tootsie Rolls for all of your sister’s Twix.

9. Only your bro or sis can decode your drawings in Pictionary and win via telepathy.

You have the shared mindset that a drawing of two squares = a washer and dryer set.

10. Your parents always asked if you starved in your last life…

… because siblings have to fight for the lion’s share of the yummy foods in the house.

11. You made pinky promises swearing "don't tell mom or dad!" All. Day. Long.

Then you sealed said promises with healthy doses of blackmail.

Kate Loweth

12. Road trips were constant chaos in the land of the back seat.

But your siblings also doubled as human pillows and kept you entertained with a neverending rotation of fighting, laughing, game playing and napping.

13. The importance of being the first one to yell “front seat” or “shotgun” to sit in the car’s passenger seat.

This outcome changed the entire course of any car trip.

14. Siblings have inside jokes and references no one in the world would ever understand.

Don’t get us started.

15. Having a built-in playdate is worth its weight in gold.

Friends busy? You’ve got a friend in your bro or sis.

LorileeAllanna via pixabay

16. How to make up really quickly and play nice if you’re fighting and your mom or dad walks in the room.

You could go from punching each other to best friends in less than one second.

17. Or … how to pull off an Oscar-winning performance of impromptu tears to get your sibling in trouble.

We all know who the award goes to …

18. Being called by the wrong name by the people who gave you life.

On a daily basis, your mom or dad called you by the first syllable or two of your sibling’s names or by the wrong name entirely: “Kel-Mar-Karrie!”

19. Always having a fall guy and someone else to blame when your parents get mad … just say “that was Sara!”

“NOT ME! It wasn’t me! Sara did that.”

amyelizabethquinn via Pixabay

20. The power trip that goes hand in hand with being left “in charge” of your other siblings.

Getting to be in charge while babysitting either made you an insane ruler or you and your siblings bonded under the pressure of surviving without parental supervision.

21. You know the gift of unspoken communication.

A mere look or gesture from one of you to the either is rife with secret codes and special understanding.

22. You know your sibling’s fears, and you’re not afraid to use them against them.

Like waiting until right before bedtime to remind them of that scene from the scary movie you both watched.

23. Cringeworthy memories only you share.

Like that time you accidentally slammed dad’s hand shut in the sliding door of the minivan.

24. You’ll always have someone to commiserate with about how crazy your parents are.

You can imitate the look your mom makes when she’s mad and all your dad’s catchphrases.

Bruno Nascimento via Unsplash

25. Make-believe outdoor games only your siblings know the rules to.

No one else would ever be able to make sense of the silly antics you kids got up to in the yard.

26. Sharing clothes meant double the wardrobe or dreading the hand-me-downs.

You either couldn’t wait for your big sis to outgrow her designer duds or you hoped they wouldn’t fit you once she did.

27. You always had a bed to jump into if you were scared during an overnight thunderstorm.

But no one spoke of this the next morning. You weren't scared... you thought they might be.

Greyerbaby via Pixabay

28. What it’s like to wear matching outfits for holiday photos.

You had to smile countless times to capture the perfect snapshot, all while donning the exact same or coordinating clothing as every one of your siblings. It was a rite of passage.

29. You always had someone in your corner to stick up for you.

Even if you were at each other’s throats at home, once out in the world, you had each other’s backs through thick and thin.

30. What it’s like to be accepted, understood and loved unconditionally by someone who knows you better than anyone else in the world.

Priceless.

––Beth Shea

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Study after study has weighed in on the effects related to babies and screen time, but an eye-opening new report examines just how much our youngest viewers are actually watching.

A new study published by JAMA Pediatrics has revealed that screen time among babies has doubled in the last two decades. Mobile devices, like smartphones and tablets, have changed how the world accesses digital content and the study looks at the differences in viewing habits among babies before and after mobile devices became widely available.

photo: Rawpixel

According to the study, in 1997, kids ages zero to two spent 1.32 hours each day staring at screens. By 2014, that amount shot up to an average of 3.05 hours. Despite the focus of the study being the impact of mobile devices, the study found that 86 percent of that recorded screen time by 2014 still came from television.

This shouldn’t be very surprising, however, considering that tablet use was still rising in popularity in 2014, when the study concludes. Further research is needed to see what screen habits have evolved into over the last five years; chances are, they might be radically different with traditional television rapidly giving way to digital streaming.

—Shahrzad Warkentin

 

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What mom isn’t looking for 100th Day of School ideas that don’t take an exorbitant number of hours to create? Well, one super-smart mama found a completely creative way to get around the whole counting thing. Read on for this oh-so-useful parenting/school hack you need to know about.

We’ve all been there. The 100th Day is creeping up and your kiddo is charged with bringing in 100 of something. Anything. And most likely, whatever they choose is tiny, hard to handle and epically tricky to count. Ugh. Oh and did we mention that even though your child is supposed to actually count the marbles, Cheerios, toy cars, crayons, pom poms or pen tops they’ve chosen to bring in, you’re the one doing the real math work. Double ugh.

Photo: Amazon

Of course along with wanting you to do all the work, your kiddo probably waited until the night of the 99th day of school to remind you about this massive project. And that’s exactly what happened to Florida mom Rachel Ellsworth. In an interview with TODAY, Ellsworth said, “The night before the 100th day of school, my daughter reminds me at bedtime — of course, at bedtime — that she needs to bring 100 items to school the next day.” Yep, sounds about right.

So what did Ellsworth do? After scavenging her home for anything she had 100 of to no avail, she hit the kitchen. “I was rummaging through the pantry when I saw my 100 calorie packs of Oreo crisps…my daughter thought it was hilarious and her teacher thought I was a genius. It also doubled as her snack that day.” That’s right. The absolutely genius mom used 100 calories as 100 “items” for the 100th Day celebration. Now that’s pure inspiration!

—Erica Loop

Featured Photo: Pragyan Bezbaruah via Pexels 

 

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Pregnancy comes with many fears and anxieties, including worrying about job protection. If you’re wondering how—and when—to tell your boss you’re pregnant, you’re not alone. A new study shows a record number of women fear the talk.

According to Bright Horizon’s annual Modern Family Index report, 21 percent of women are afraid to tell their boss that they are pregnant. This number has doubled from 12 percent just five years ago indicating that the workplace is getting more challenging for working moms.

photo: iStockphoto

The report also found that 65 percent of women without kids worry what having a child will mean for their career. Americans surveyed perceive working dads to be more dedicated to their careers than working moms and they also believe dads who work are better able to manage their responsibilities without being stretched too thin than moms who work.

Clearly there’s plenty of room for improvement when it comes to how moms are treated in the workplace. Nearly nine out of ten working Americans feel that companies can do more to help foster moms in leadership positions. Creating a more friendly work environment benefits companies as much as employees. According to the report 39 percent of working moms say they will stay with a company if they get assurances that they will have the same growth opportunities as those without kids. Almost one in three (32 percent) will also stay if they are guaranteed that no responsibilities will be taken from them.

—Shahrzad Warkentin

 

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If you have a job that involves staring at a computer screen, or are just REALLY into your phone, you probably already know what too much tech-time can do to your eyes. Well it looks like your mini me isn’t exempt from the computer-tablet-smartphone eye effect. According to the eye experts at the American Academy of Ophthalmology, excessive screen time can affect your kids’ vision too.

Nearsightedness (not being able to see closely clearly) is becoming increasingly more common. The rates of nearsightedness among Americans has almost doubled since 1971. So what’s going on here? New research published in the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s journal Ophthalmology found that near work activities (both screen and non-screen-related activities) may be one of the reasons for the increasing epidemic of nearsightedness.

Photo: Frank McKenna via Unsplash

Along with too much screen time, researchers also found that engaging in activities outdoors may have something to do with vision. The more time children, especially young children, spend outside, the slower the progression of nearsightedness is.

Along with blurry vision, experts also believe that too much time staring at screens can contribute to childhood dry eye, eye strain and headaches.

What can you do to help your child find relief from dry, strained computer/smartphone eyes? Forget about prescription computer glasses. Unless your child has a doctor’s diagnosis of nearsightedness, they don’t need special spectacles. Instead, make sure that your child takes 20 second breaks from serious screen-time every 20 minutes—the same goes for you!

—Erica Loop

Featured photo: Rawpixel

 

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Composite image by Keiko Zoll/Source photo: Ryan McGuire

I remember when it seemed like just yesterday that Twitter users had to contain their witticisms to 140 characters or less. Oh wait, it actually was almost yesterday: in November 2017, Twitter doubled its character count to 280 characters.

While many bemoaned the possibility of boring, longer diatribes, longer tweets have proven to be a boon for parents. Instead of trying to confine the daily insanity that is parenting small humans to a mere 140 characters, we can now practically compose daily memoirs with 280 characters! This of course means that your favorite funny moms of Twitter have become even funnier thanks to those extra 140 characters they didn’t have before.

If you’re looking for some serious motherhood hilarity to get you through those days when you’re freezing gum out of your kid’s hair (again) or fishing the tablet out of the toilet (again), look no further than these 15 moms who are absolutely killing it on Twitter in 2018.

vodkamom (@vodkamom)

From her Twitter bio: "I am a first grade teacher, writer, blogger and exhausted mother. Don't bother calling me because I never answer the phone." Follow @vodkamom on Twitter.

Mommy Cusses (@mommy_cusses)

From her Twitter bio: "5% lady, 80% pervert, 90% awkward." Follow @mommy_cusses on Twitter.

Kim Bongiorno (@ LetMeStart ))

From her Twitter bio: "Took away TV privileges from my daughter as punishment so now both our afternoons are ruined." Follow @LetMeStart on Twitter.

Susan McLean (@NoDomesticDiva)

From her Twitter bio: "Somewhere between love & madness lies... Motherhood. Humorist, Author, Blogger. Sharing the lighter side of parenthood & rockin' what I've got left." Follow @NoDomesticDiva on Twitter.

SpacedMom (@copymama)

From her Twitter bio: "Writer of freelance copy. Cultivator of small humans. Documenter of absurdity." Follow @copymama on Twitter.

The Magnitude of Margaretude (@Bollingmargaret)

From her Twitter bio, she hails from "Queen of the Double Entendre." Follow @Bollingmargaret on Twitter.

Mommy Owl (@Lhlodder )

From her Twitter bio: Don't let "Writing and literature professor" lure you into thinking she's not funny because boy howdy, she's funny. Follow @hlodder on Twitter.

MotherPlaylist (@MotherPlaylist)

From her Twitter bio: "I was told there would be snacks here..." Follow @MotherPlaylist on Twitter.

Paige Kellerman (@PaigeKellerman)

From her Twitter bio: "Writer, humorist and mother. People say I'm a bad cook. They're right. If you ask nicely, I'll write something for you. But you'll have to give me money too." Follow @PaigeKellerman on Twitter.

Chrissy Teigen (@chrissyteigen)

Celebrity mom she may be, but she is one helluva funny Twitter mom, too—with baby number two on the way, no less. From her Twitter bio: This mega model and wife of singer John Legend is a self-described "de-motivational speaker." Follow @chrissyteigen on Twitter.

Amy Flory (@FunnyIsFamily)

From her Twitter bio: "Named one of @Mashable's 17 Funny Moms on Twitter, one of @Parenting's 10 Handles to Follow, and World's Meanest Mom by my kids." Follow @FunnyIsFamily on Twitter.

Mommy, for real. (@MommyisForReal)

From her Twitter bio: "Wordsmith. Humorist. Seriousist. Getting real about motherhood with a cocktail of humor and neuroses." Follow @MommyisForReal on Twitter.

Mom of All Capes (@MomOfAllCapes)

From her Twitter bio: "We're life-nerds searching for the answers through experience." Follow @MomOfAllCapes on Twitter.

Jennifer Lizza (@outsmartedmommy)

From her Twitter bio: "When my kids grow up I'm going to knock on their doors & demand to know what's for dinner. Then I'll cry & use all the ketchup." Follow @outsmartedmommy on Twitter.

Ponies and Martinis (@PonyMartini)

From her Twitter bio: "Herding kids and dogs daily. One day, I hope to complete something I start. Or, at least complete a thought." Follow @PonyMartini on Twitter.

Who tops your Twitter list of funniest moms? Share your favorite Twitter parent personalities in the comments.

—Keiko Zoll

 

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