Bed, Brush, and Beyond

There are few things that I am consciously grateful for everyday. Seeing the O and the Happy Elf at the end of my work day and sitting on the couch with Sugarpop once the boys are bedded and rehashing our day and planning our tomorrows tops my people list.

But there are two things that I think "this is the best thing I've ever bought" everyday. E v e r y d a y!

You've gotten the mailers, you've seen the commercials. You may have seen cheaper knock-offs. Folks I'm talking about the Tempur-Pedic bed and the Sonic Toothbrush.

First the bed:

Shortly after the Happy Elf's arrival Sugarpop began experiencing back problems. Our 5+ old nice mattress wasn't holding its weight anymore. This was early summer and with the W on unpaid leave, baby bills coming in, and expenses rising we were in no position to purchase a major item such as a "sleep system".

Attending a wedding one weekend in which Sugarpop was a bridesmaid, we were seated with another bridesmaid at the reception. Talked turned to beds and she said how much she loved her Tempur-Pedic. The W and I have had Tempur-pedic pillows for several years and were big fans, but to spend thousands ($2,700 to be exact) on a bed that we didn't know we'd like . . . yah, no. But she kept talking about how great it was. We were intrigued. That next weekend we went to Slumberland and laid on a real Tempur-Pedic bed for 10 minutes wondering if we liked it or not. The opinion that day--indecisive.

Sugarpop's back problems continued and we continued to go to Slumberland every few weeks to lay on the bed. August came and we decided to go for it. We ended up buying the bed on-line. One king-size deluxe model Tempur-pedic (including the Tempur-pedic box spring). The company threw in a free mattress, cover, two tempur-pedic pillows, no tax, and discounted shipping. Our credit card groaned under the weight of the purchase and we wondered what we were doing.

The bed arrived a week later. We set it up, made it up, and laid on it . . . did we like it? Not sure. The next morning the W woke up with her back feeling better. From that day on we were drinking the Tempur-pedic kool-aid. No more flipping the mattress. Twenty year warranty. Two and a half years later Sugarpop's back problems are gone, at least the non-prego ones. We both think we toss and turn less at night. And the boys can jump all they want on it, but since it's memory foam they sink instead of spring. As we lay us down to sleep each night our last thoughts are, "what a great bed."

Now on to the brush:

As Sugarpop and I headed for matrimony we were trying to consolidate our things. She had the better cookware. I had the better TV. She had better linens, towels and such. I had a better telephone, dvd, and vcr. We had both switched to the cheap, electric throw-away toothbrushes in the past year, but didn't think much of them. So before the Tempur-pedic was a glint in our eyes we bought a Sonic-Care toothbrush. It has a rechargeable battery, comes with two brush heads, and is a dental cleaning in your hand.

I remember the first time I used it. Like Wow! It was the same feeling of clean that you get after a dental visit. We've had the same Sonic-Care (minus new, replacement brushes) for 5+ years.

In that time due to a busy schedule and laziness I had neglected getting to the dentist for 18 months. Upon visiting the hygienist was impressed with how little tartar had built up. I told her I use a Sonic-Care and she and the dentist both attributed a good check up to the brush.

Again one of the few things that everyday I think, "I love this!"

The beyond part of this post will have to be carried over to my next post. But a short preview:

TV & kids. As parents we feel guilty turning on the telly so that the kids are sucked into the programming and we can fix dinner, pay the bills, put away laundry. We used to fire up Noggin or PBS Sprout and let the boys zone out. For the last year we've consolidated our kids' dvds and favorite shows into a single device controlled by us. Details to follow . . .