I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for LISTERINE. I received samples for this review and a promotional item to thank me for participating.

Our kids are pretty obsessed superheroes so we try to use that theme when encouraging them on good habits. We want to make sure our kids are eating healthy so their superhero bodies are growing strong and we want them to have superhero attitudes which for us means being super kind and friendly to others and trying to create happy times with happy attitudes. Like most families we want our kids to have "heroic habits". So when it comes to oral hygiene we use that same principle and let our kids know that part of being a superhero is also having awesome healthy and strong teeth. This is point really hits close to me because on my side of the family we have a long history of bad dental genetics and we are prone to cavities and other issues, so I knew that I wanted it to be different with my kids and I wanted them to have super healthy teeth. With that in mind our kiddos know that a huge part of their "superhero responsibilities" includes keeping their teeth healthy and clean. Normally that just entails brushing their teeth for two minutes, but we recently started to use LISTERINE SMART RINSE and at first I was concerned if my kids would even use it or like it, and it turns out they LOVE it! They beg to be able to use it every night and love swooshing it around in their mouths. Be sure to grab some next time you are at the store, your kids will love it!

My husband and I have also "upped" our superhero tooth cleaning skills by flossing more often. This is something I have always had an issue doing, I don't know why, but I have just always hated flossing. I do understand how important it is though... it is really embarrassing for me to tell people this but when I was younger I lost two of my back teeth due to poor oral health care and bad genetics. And while I can't do anything about genetics I can do a lot more about my oral health care routine and I can make sure I am doing what I need to do so I don't lose any more teeth. This includes flossing which I personally love using the flosser, I feel it makes it a little easier to floss and ease makes me actually do it and not put it off! And speaking of easy... you can also buy all of your favorite LISTERINE products from the comfort of your own home!

After flossing and brushing the last step of our "heroic oral health habits" is to use mouthwash! Now, as you can tell from the pics above my kids absolutely love this step and so do I! I love feeling like my mouth is completely clean and I don't have any lingering food pieces left in my mouth. You can also use LISTERINE HEALTHY WHITE to help get those pearly whites you want!

So do you think your family is  ready to be oral health care superheros? What do you use or do with your kids to enforce good oral hygiene? Let us know!

You can learn more about LISTERINE and heroic habits by visiting their website.

Also be sure to subscribe to the LISTERINE YouTube channel to learn about new products and promotions and to watch the LISTERINE heroic heroes video series!

This is a little embarrassing to admit, but I come from a long line of family members with bad teeth.

I swear I have had more fillings than I have teeth and our family has definitely sent a few dentists children off to college. lol

So when I had my own kids I knew it was going to be an uphill battle to keep their teeth healthy.

My little girl was the first one to start rebelling over brushing her teeth. She would brush for all of two seconds and then claim she was done.

No matter what I tried she just didn't want to brush her teeth long enough.

Her dentist gave her a little timer so she would know when two minutes was over.

And let me tell you... two minutes can feel like FOREVER!! I sat with her the first time she used her sand timer and I thought that last grain of sand was never going to fall! lol

I knew that if it felt like a long time for me, it probably felt even longer to my 4 year old.

Needless to say she stopped using the sand timer pretty quick and we were back at square one.

So when Mom It Forward approached me to try the ARM & HAMMER™ Tooth Tunes™ and also informed me I would be compensated for participation, I thought it was worth a try to see if it could remedy the problem. What mom doesn't deserve compensation when trying to get a stubborn 4 year old to do something they don't like doing.

And FYI getting paid didn't sway opinion of the product, all opinions are mine and crazy as usual!

The Arm & Hammer Tooth Tunes toothbrush encourages a 2 minute brushing time by playing music while your child is brushing their teeth.

Once the music stops, they can stop brushing. The first time she tried it she loved it! She was brushing her teeth along to the song and she didn't want to stop.

I found that she would push the button again and end up brushing for four minutes! Not that it was necessary, but I am just so excited that she loves it so much!

I love that I don't have to hover over her while she brushes, making sure she goes for 2 minutes.

As I pass by the bathroom I can hear if the song is really over and I know that she is doing it right.

Beware it also encourages dancing as well and you might end up with toothpaste all over!

Brushing teeth would always get lost in the shuffle of the morning for us, but not anymore. What kid wouldn't want to start out the day with music?!

Now it's the first thing she does as soon as she gets up, and her little brother copies her all the time and follows suit by brushing his teeth as well. BONUS!

ARM & HAMMER Tooth Tunes features hot songs that kids love, including chart-topping singles from One Direction, as well as a range of other great songs, including:

“What Makes You Beautiful” performed by One Direction 

“One Thing” performed by One Direction

“All Day” performed by Cody Simpson

“Dynamite” performed by Taio Cruz

“I Gotta Feeling” performed by Black Eyed Peas

“If I Ruled the World” performed by Big Time Rush

“Round & Round” performed by Selena Gomez & The Scene

“Tonight, Tonight” performed by Hot Chelle Rae

“We Will Rock You” performed by Queen

ARM & HAMMER Tooth Tunes also offers a Tooth Tunes Jr. toothbrush designed for smaller hands, perfect for kids between 3 – 6 years of age!

The brushes have a suggested retail price of $9.99 and are available at mass, drug, and food retailers nationwide.

Does your kiddo need a little help in the brushing department? Why pay more $ at the dentist if you don't need too!

Check out the ARM & HAMMER Tooth Tunes Website or their Facebook Page here!

As much as I don’t want to admit it summer is coming to a close. August is upon us and it is time to start readying the little ones to get back into the school routine. 

For my household, this means more than just buying school supplies and warmer clothes. 

We start lesson plans with the kids to get them back into the swing of formalized learning and homework.  

During this month, my husband and I do not have the benefit of the teacher’s learning plan as a guide so we are on our own with regards to finding content and a forum for at home learning.  

This summer I am lucky enough to have had the opportunity to review PowerMyLearning and use it as part of my planning for August and beyond.

The sign up process is easy and free – all you need to provide is your name and email address. 

After the quick sign up, the landing page is displayed. 

From here my daughter and I opted to view activities by grade although we could have looked at them based on the subject (there are 8 categories). 

As we scrolled through the activities available under the K-2 category, my daughter easily zeroed in on a word play game within the language arts discipline. 

Even from the main screen, I could see that the activity had received four stars based on one vote. 

At this point, my daughter is easily navigating the website while I observed.  Upon opening the activity she was excited to see an activity from the PBS character, Martha! 

After playing with the Martha word activity for a bit my daughter wanted to continue looking at other activities. 

Together we found activities for drawing/art, learning Spanish, exploring a guitar/music and counting/math. 

Before I knew it, we had completed 35 minutes of learning, discussion and fun!! 

PowerMyLearning is a one stop shop for educational websites and activities that would otherwise take the average person hours to find. 

The website is categorized in a common sense manner that makes it very easy to find the correct grade level of activities. 

It is easy to see the user feedback on the various activities and participate in the voting process by adding feedback. 

For parents with older children, there is a feature to link accounts to track progress and the ability to create “playlists” that set expectations of completion for the student. 

There are also many features geared towards educators so it is a good idea to see if your child’s teacher or school district is using this tool.  

PowerMyLearning is a powerful platform that is growing and changing based on user feedback. 

The landing page is currently advertising a substantial update to the site slated for September 3rd and I am quite excited to see what the site will have to offer in the future.