Back with Illumibowl

IMG_7143Illumibowl is back at it again after there recent appearance on Shark Tank and with their awesome Illumibowl motion-activated toilet night light. I have been using the Illumibowl since I previously wrote about it back in February. It still holds up great and has been fantastic for those late night bathroom trips for everyone in my family. Well Illumibowl just completed a successful Kickstarter and sent over the Illumibowl 2 for me to try out.

What I really like about the Illumibowl 2 is that the product is just great. The product just seems so down to Earth and doesn’t claim to be anything other than what it is. The new version is a great example of how you can still improve a good thing without going overboard. The Illumibowl 2 easily attaches to my toilet and is ready whenever needed. The device easily attaches and stays secure without a problem. Changing the light colors is just as easy as pushing a button. Be sure to check out the Illumibowl online or at local retailers Bed Bath & Beyond as well as Wal-Mart!

From the two clips below you can see that the guys from Illumibowl are just as cool as their product and seeing how motivated they are to get their idea out there can inspire many others to think big.

A tested and true to it’s name product, I’m happy to make sure all of the toilet bowls in my house are set with an Illumibowl.

 

Illumibowl provided St. Louis Dad with this product as compensation in exchange for an honest review. Please visit Illumibowl.com for more awesome products that can help make your life better!

Why Should Mom Have All The Fun?

IMG_4711This has been the tagline of St. Louis Dad since I created this website almost two years ago. What does it even mean; Why should mom have all the fun? I will tell you exactly what it means.

Over time mothers have typically been the primary caregiver for children. They have done an amazing job raising the kids. Children over the existence of mankind have grown up and have done great things thanks to having a positive motherly influence in their life.

There is absolutely no doubt that the majority of mothers know what is best for their children. There is a lot of truth to the saying, “mother knows best”, “choosy mom’s choose Jif”, “kid tested, mother approved”, etc, etc…

Times however are changing and fathers are now becoming more involved than ever in their children’s lives. Even more fathers are now staying at home with the kids while mom does the 9 to 5. It is changing the landscape of parenting and it is time for many to recognize this.

IMG_4580The stereotype used to be that dads are always mucking everything up. There is no way for them to be able to handle all of the same responsibilities as a mother. While this may be true for some dads at home, and most dads on sitcom T.V., the number of dads who do actually have their shit together has increased substantially. I don’t have any data to back up my claims but look around. You will see changing tables in more men’s restrooms, more dads at the park, store, you name it. This is because us dads want to be a part of kids lives and they’re not just babysitting! They are parenting!

Many of us dads spend all day at work stressing over whatever it is we do to help pay the bills. Then we get home and get to hear about all the fun stuff mom and the kids got to do. I know moms do not have it easy being at home all day. It’s a beautiful mess managing kids. But they do get to have some fun. They get to enjoy a good portion of the sunshine. Toys and games and dance parties… And here I am monitoring firewall logs, auditing user accounts, and hard drive usage… important but boring. I’d rather help make a mess at home with some play-doh or slime. Granted a mom’s life isn’t all fun and games. I know all about it from my own wife’s gripe sessions. But ya gotta admit there is some fun to be had!

So why should mom have all the fun? It shouldn’t be an exclusive club. All should be welcomed. Dads are awesome too and many of us are doing what needs to be done to get involved with our kids. If you’re a dad and you’re not having fun with your kids then it’s time to get started. Don’t miss out on getting into your child’s world. It’s a big imaginative play place and you’re totally invited!

Getting That Majestic Beard

IMG_6941As a dad and a husband I usually get a lot of flack about my beard. It hurts, it tickles, it’s gross, it’s tangled, it’s itchy, etc, etc… I have heard all of the complaints from my wife and kids as well as received some stranger than usual looks my way while rocking out my un-managed facial masterpiece. One night my daughter would not give me a bed time kiss and while she was smiling and giggling about it I asked her why doesn’t dad get a kiss and she pointed at my beard as if it were a monster. My heart broke. It was at that point that I knew I needed to do something. I felt like I only had two options, cut it all off or start actively managing this mess. I chose the latter.

Luckily for me LovelyBeards.com reached out recently wanting to send me some organic beard oil and balm to get my dad-ish opinion. I have never used any sort of oils or balm on my beard before so I wasn’t exactly sure of the best way to approach this nest so I did a little research on YouTube and reached out to a few buddies that have some magnificent beards and asked what would be the best way of going about this.

Lovely Beards sent over some incredibly nice smelling vanilla sandalwood oil and balm. Holy smokes these both smell amazing. I had always though my Old Spice was nice but this scent is just spectacular. I can’t stop taking in the lovely aroma. But enough of that, how does the actual product stack up against my birds nest beard?

IMG_6940It stacks up very nicely I must say. The oil and balm are easy to get into the beard and almost immediately you can notice a difference in feel. I would like to imagine that with continued use of these two products my beard will eventually be as free flowing as Fabio’s long hair. This is definitely some of the best beard facial balm that I have ever tried!

LovelyBeards.com is filled with several different scents of all natural beard care products of oils and balms. I’d definitely recommend checking them out the next time you are looking to smooth up your facial hair with a scented beard balm and/or oil. Also, because you are a St. Louis Dad reader I have a special discount code for you! Use the code  Lovely10 to get 10% off!

LovelyBeards.com provided St. Louis Dad with oil and balm product in exchange for an honest review. Check out LovelyBeards.com for more information about all of their beard care products!

Save Money While Shopping with Skout Deals

skoutdeals2Saving money is probably one of my favorite things to do. I am a big penny pincher, so if I can not spend money that I don’t have to spend then I am going to be a happy daddy. With Christmas just around the corner and the onslaught of gift purchasing will soon begin in the St. Louis Dad house. One app that I have been using lately is called Skout Deals. It is fantastic in that it has over 140,000 merchant locations available within the app! Every deal is going to be at least 25% off or more, plus the more you use the app the more chances you have to get surprise freebies! Who doesn’t love free stuff?!?!

The application was developed by Skout Deals Inc and is available for iOS and Android so no matter which device you use you have instant access to savings. The app itself is completely free so there really isn’t any reason why you shouldn’t add it to your stash of apps.

I have been using this app for a few weeks now and I can’t tell you how many times I have checked to see if the store I am at is listed and they are! Walgreens, Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, PetSmart, Steak N Shake, Pizza Hut, Target and more! And always the deals are awesome, each and every time. Saving me a bundle with each shopping trip. This holiday season won’t stand a chance with Skout Deals working for me and not against me!

Check out SkoutDeals.com for more info or watch this great little video they put together to give you an idea of how the app saves you money. Download the app today!

Are you a business wanting to get in on the Skout Deals action? Check out this page on Skout’s website so you can learn how you can easily add your business’s deals to their app. It is completely free!