This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #GigglesAndWiggles #CollectiveBias. Because of my partnership with Gerber, my little one is ineligible to win the Gerber Photo Search or a weekly prize, but you may be eligible so make sure you submit a photo of your baby and/or pet!
There is a special bond between a little one and their pets. We see this daily with Emma and both Piper and Riley. And it’s so funny, because she loves them each differently and they have such unique little relationships. One thing we want to teach Emma from a very young age is that she is very capable of doing anything and everything – including chores! Teaching responsibility from the get go is something we want to instill in her. We believe in in work, hard work. And we want her to share these values. So one way we teach her responsibility is by teaching her as a toddler how to care for her pets! Here are some simple ways to do that, PLUS, two fun sweepstakes opportunities at the end as well with some incredible prizes you won’t want to miss out on!
Show them how to pet animals sweetly | hugs and “soft” scratches (not pulling/squeezing). Emma loves to pet both Piper & Riley, but sometimes needs a little prompting to be sweet and gentle. She doesn’t quite understand pulling the kitty’s tail or the puppy’s ears is painful, so we have to show her how she needs to love on her furry besties by example! Now she keeps her little palm open and says “pat pat” and “soft” and know how to be gentle and show them both love and attention!
Let them help with chores | including feeding the dog & cat. We are all about everyone pulling their weight, including little miss! Get ready for an upcoming post on toddler chores, but I’ll go ahead and share one – feeding the animals! Emma will go to the door where Riley’s food is and open the container, fill up her scoop, and walk it over to her bowl to fill it up. And not only is it helpful, it is so stinkin cute! The only thing we really need to monitor is her portions sizes!
We’ve always gotten Purina® with all of our animals, but we were recently told Riley needed to lose a few pounds (hello eating all of Emma’s leftovers) so we wanted to try out something a little different for her. So naturally we stayed in the Purina® family, and decided to try Purina® ONE®. Real meat, fish or poultry is always the first ingredient, plus there are no added artificial flavors or preservatives. And she seriously loves it! People generally think (ok, I totally thought) that Purina ONE is more expensive (at Target or anywhere else), when in reality it is competitively priced. In fact there was a great deal going on in store as well on on the Chartwheel app!
Encourage playtime | throwing the ball, chase, etc. Emma LOVES running around chasing after Riley and Piper and I hope this continues. She’s starting to play fetch with Riley a bit, but we’re still working on distance throwing 😉 Anything that keeps them all active and interacting together teaches your child the responsibility of caring for the health of their furry friends!
Rewards for helping | treats for your toddler for doing those chores and playing sweetly. Food (and evidently now coconut water!) is very motivating to miss Emma when it’s something tasty. So make sure to reward your little ones for helping out! I don’t want to always turn to candy or chips, plus we want to have items we could use out at the park or somewhere else too. Lately she has been in a complete independent phase, so anything that we can give her that’s on the go and not super messy is a plus. Insert these Gerber® Grabbers Fruit and Yogurt Strawberry Banana pouches. Each pouch has one 1/4 cup toddler serving of fruit from 1/3 apple, 1 1/2 strawberries & 2 tsp banana and includes 2 1/2 Tbsp of yogurt, so you know exactly what she’s getting, and it’s healthy! Plus, the Smart Flow spout helps her to regulate her sips, meaning fewer messes. And since Target is our complete favorite for all the things, I love that I can grab some of these to toss in her diaper bag while we’re getting our weekly groceries.
Photo Contest Information (two contests to enter):
Every parent thinks their baby is the next “Gerber baby” and every year Gerber parents anxiously await the announcement of the next Baby Search. Now in it’s 8th year, Gerber is ready to shake things up and to make sure that this program is new, relevant and bigger than ever. This year’s program will leverage social sharing for parents to enter their baby’s photo using the #GerberPhotoSearch2017. So head over to Instagram to post a photo – but make sure your account is public! You can enter up to 10 times, so keep those precious pictures coming!
Gerber.com will feature a dedicated promotional page, announce surprise and delight weekly contests, and share many of those precious photos of babies. One Grand Prize winner will receive $50,000 plus the title of 2018 Gerber baby. You can do a lot with $50,000 – including put towards your child’s education!
Additionally, there will be Six (6) weekly winners for the Gerber/Purina Giggles and Wiggles Baby & Pet photo search. Each weekly winner will receive a $500 prize pack, 1 year supply of Gerber baby food (valued at $600), 1 year supply of Purina pet food (valued at $540). Parents may enter a photo of their pet and baby for a chance for the weekly Giggles and Wiggles winner and will be featured on Gerber.com or social media channels for the week. Make sure include both hashtags, #GerberPhotoSearch2017, and #GerberGigglesandWiggles.
Refer to Official Rules for additional info and questions.
- NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Legal residents of the 50 United States (D.C.) and Puerto Rico, who are 18 years of age or older, have a valid Instagram account and/or email address, and are parents of a child 48 months of age or younger and meet certain background check requirements. Enter search by: 11:59:59 pm ET on 10/27/17. For Official Rules, including eligibility and entry requirements, judging criteria and prize descriptions, visit official rules. Void where prohibited.
