Must Have Monday’s 35

Welcome to Must Have Monday’s. Every Monday our reviewers will let you have a sneak peak into what we use in our homes and our lives. Here we will tell you about the things we can’t live without. If you have a “must have” item to pass along please e-mail us. We welcome contributions from our readers and are always looking for new reviewers.

All three of my children loved Fireman Sam from the first moment we caught a glimpse on TV. The adventures in safety and not crying “wolfe” are told to children in settings which are familiar (even if you aren’t from a small English village) such as carnivals, birthday parties etc. The friendly atmosphere of the village engages children and the misadventures of Norman Price are always a cause for quite a laugh.

One of the things that the DVD Fireman Sam: To The Rescue! does a really nice job of is showing how items around the house can be dangerous if used inappropriately - usually through Norman Price’s misbehavior. Fires can start, people can be lost - if we don’t follow the rules of safety.

We love Fireman Sam around here, and it always generates good conversation which I think is the best part. “Why did those kids go by themselves?” “Why did he lie about that?” and then we can talk about why that behavior is dangerous, and what would have happened if Fireman Sam hadn’t been there to save them.

While that might sound a little morbid, the lessons of safety are some of the most important ones we can teach. And neither I, nor Fireman Sam, believe you should skimp on the message.

by Gidge

We’ve reviewed the OFF! Smooth & Dry product on here before, but now they have a new PowerPad Lamp that is a great center piece on our patio. Using a small pad that you place inside the lamp and then lighting the included citronella candle will give you up to 15 feet of protection outdoors. I do like the idea of using a lantern instead of spraying our bodies down.

In the past we’ve had a citronella bucket on our patio, but quite frankly I didn’t find them to work very well. OFF! claims that these scented little repellent pads have more than 15 times the protection than the buckets we previously used. Each candle and pad combo will last about 4 hours which for us is one evening’s of use.

I do detest products that require you to buy refills. Not because I don’t see the reason behind purchasing refills instead of wasting most of what can be reused by starting over. I just can never remember! So if there is one thing I don’t like about the OFF! PowerPad it is that I’ll need to remember to purchase the refill pads, but it was a product that worked. Plus it didn’t look as intrusive as the old bucket candles.

by Emily