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Remember the Colgate Slim Soft Bloggers Party that I was talking about a couple of weeks back? That happened 2 weekends ago and congrats to those who managed to snag the tickets – it was a pleasure meeting you guys there!

Together with the Colgate and Nuffnang folks, all 5 of us Colgate Bloggers were there to host the event. That’s Beatrice, Melissa, Maureen, Brad and yours truly.

We were asked to color-coordinate and thankfully, Colgate’s colors are red and white, not something far out like green and purple. Even Kirsten picked out a pretty red and white dress to be all matchy-matchy. She was a little shy at first with all the attention but she warmed up once the activities started and the food was served.

Speaking of food, it was held at Skyve Elementary Bistro & Bar, a cosy little place at Winstedt Road. We arrived to find the place decked out in red and white as well. There were flowers, balloons, ribbons and cupcakes – very pretty.

On top of the usual icebreaker games, we also had a Colgate version of Trivial Pursuit, which was actually quite informative. Like I found out that the world’s first toothbrush was made out of… wait for it, horse hair. That’s gross on so many levels I don’t even know where to begin. I guess it gives new meaning to the phrase “straight from the horse’s mouth“, except it’s straight from the horse to your mouth.

We also got useful toothbrush care tips like the importance of keeping your toothbrush at least 6 metres away from the toilet bowl as germs can travel from the toilet bowl to your toothbrush and into your mouth.

Ok, to round up the post, here’s one final bit of trivia:

When I get a stalk of Gerbera, I honestly don’t know what to do with it except hold it gingerly like it’s going to turn around and bite me. The husband was like “it’s a flower, not poison ivy” and I was all “just stop talking and take the picture.”

When Kirsten gets a stalk of Gerbera, she smells it, cradles it and walks around like it’s the prettiest thing she’s ever seen. Well, she obviously didn’t get that from me.

This is part 3 of a series of sponsored conversations on behalf of Colgate. All opinions and text are my own.

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It’s been over 2 weeks since my brutal dentist check up and if there’s anything good that came out of that excruciating experience, it’s an increased sense of dental paranoia awareness. Apparently fear is extremely effective as a deterrent so I’ve been extra diligent with my oral care in the hope that my next check up will be less terrifying.

For starters, I’m brushing and flossing my teeth 3-4 times a day instead of twice. I try to do it after every meal, and if not, at least an extra time in the afternoon.

I’ve also switched from my regular toothbrush to the Colgate SlimSoft toothbrush. This is one product that nailed the name because I was actually quite surprised by how slim and soft (heh!) the bristles are. Each tapered bristle tip is literally 0.01 mm thin and the softness means that it feels a lot less painful on my sensitive pregnant gums. And thinner bristles mean that there’s room for more bristles, which in turn, will be able to touch and clean more teeth.

So the result is a deeper yet gentler clean.

Most noticeably, my gums have stopped bleeding as much. From the start of this pregnancy, my gums have been bleeding almost every day but over the past 2 weeks, I’ve only had 2-3 times of gum bleeding. Which is quite impressive given the increased frequency of brushing.

On the topic of teeth-brushing, I’ve been teaching the kids proper brushing techniques so here’s what they’ve been learning.

And yes, they’ve hijacked my SlimSoft toothbrushes even though it’s a little too big for their baby teeth. I was doing a comparison with their kid toothbrushes and they were like “WOW SO SOFT, IT’S MINE NOW!”

Looks like I’ll be getting a couple more of these babies. And by babies, I mean toothbrushes, not actual babies, aight? Just so we’re clear.

To wrap up, Colgate is having a Finale Party at The Arts House on 30 June and I’ve got 10 invites to give away. It’s a gorgeous venue (incidentally, it’s also the place I got married) and it’ll be a nice, cozy afternoon get-together. If you’d like to get your hands on an invite, just sign up by filling up the form below.

This is part 2 of a series of sponsored conversations on behalf of Colgate. All opinions and text are my own.

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I’m generally averse to medical professionals who prod and poke at my various body parts with with scary-looking implements but I have a special level of aversion towards dentists.

People always think I’m exaggerating when I say that dental visits are more painful than childbirth but it’s true because at least in childbirth, there’s epidural. Whenever I ask the dentist for anesthesia during scaling and polishing, he always looks at me like I’m a big baby. It’s never stopped me from trying though, on the off-chance I finally get a dentist who has some compassion and gives me Novocaine.

Last weekend, I was scheduled for another one of those dreaded visits to the dentist.

I was more nervous than usual because ever since I got pregnant, my gums have been extra sensitive and I bleed quite often during brushing. It’s a vicious cycle as I tend to ease off on brushing as thoroughly, which leads to even more sensitive gums. I knew I was in for some serious pain.

When I got settled in, the dentist took his time to observe my teeth and started shaking his head.

“This is bad, your gums are severely inflamed,” he said grimly.

Then without warning, he reached out for a very pointy device and started scraping at my teeth and gums. Ok, scraping doesn’t quite describe it. Imagine like the device was making terrible sounds and he was attacking my gums with it. Seriously, I’ve had my share of uncomfortable dental visits but this one was epic in terms of pain levels. After every 5 or 6 teeth, he’d let me spit out mouthfuls of blood and rinse a little before resuming the torture. But I can’t be certain because I might have passed out during the process.

So according to the dentist, pregnancy hormones can cause gums to be more sensitive to the bacteria in plaque, resulting in swollen, tender gums that bleed during brushing and flossing. He also gave me some handy tips on oral health care tips during pregnancy.

1. Brush more frequently (but gently), using a good, soft-bristled brush.

2. Floss regularly, and also gently.

3. Schedule regular visits to the dentist, who can remove the plaque and tartar that regular brushing can’t get to.

To help with the gentle brushing, Colgate will be sending over their latest SlimSoft toothbrush, with 0.01mm super slim bristles that provide deep and gentle cleaning. I’m going to try this for a couple of weeks to see how it works. Hopefully it keeps me from having to go through that excruciating process again.

This is part 1 of a series of sponsored conversations on behalf of Colgate. All opinions and text are my own.

Over the past 4 years, I’ve changed some 10,000 diapers for both kids combined. That pretty much makes me a pro.

In fact, I’m so skilled at changing diapers, I can like win awards doing it with my eyes closed and with one hand tied behind my back. Unless it’s the poopy kind, then all bets are off. Those usually get handled by the husband, who’s the resident poop pro.

To keep things um, fresh around here, we like to engage in some friendly competition. So this latest bet we’re having is to find out who’s the faster diaper changer around here.

Winner gets bragging rights and loser gets to change diapers for a week.

Here’s the lowdown on how it went.

A decisive victory, if I might say so myself. Looks like I’m off diaper duty for a week. WOOT!

On the topic of diapers, Drypers has just launched a new and improved version of their Drypers Wee Wee DRY Diaper. The kids have been on Drypers (only in the day) since they were born and what we really liked was that it hit the sweet spot between quality and price.

The only thing was that the fastening tape used to be a little annoying, especially when we had to struggle to yank it off or reposition because it would lose its adhesiveness. We also couldn’t use it as a night diaper as it wasn’t absorbent enough to last through the night.

All that has now changed because the new Drypers Wee Wee DRY comes with a Zip Dry Core ^TM that contains more absorbent particles, keeping baby’s skin drier and more comfortable; as well as 4 botanical extracts for skin moisturizing. It also has a 100% breathable cloth-like cover, pretty new designs and a new Flexi-Tape ^TM that allows multiple fastening. The best part is that even with all these new features, the price remains compelling.

The kids have been trying out this new version (even at night) and I’m glad to say that it’s been leak-free so far.

One last thing, I’ve got 10 priority passes to Drypers Little Day Out, a family event that’s happening at Playground @ Big Splash on Saturday 23 June. These passes allow access to the VIP area and a priority queue. There will be lots of fun rides and games from the kids, as well as an outdoor movie screening of Alvin and The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked in the evening. If you’d like to get a priority pass, just leave a comment telling us your name and the number of people attending (maximum 4 per pass) by 11 June 2012. Winners will be announced on 13 June 2012.

*Open to Singapore citizens and PRs only.

This is part 2 of a series of sponsored conversations on behalf of Drypers Singapore. All opinions and text are my own.

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When I was a kid, I didn’t really pay much attention to protecting my eyes. I always figured that they’d be fine and the worst thing that could happen was myopia, which sort of wasn’t a big deal because we have things called spectacles and contact lenses these days.

Looking back, I broke practically every eye-protecting rule in the book. I would hide under the covers with a torch to read late into the night, have the book far too close to my eyes and watch TV excessively. My mom used to tell me to read under a proper reading light but I hated it because the glare would be too distracting, so I’d end up reading in a variety of positions and under all kinds of bad lighting.

Which pretty much explains why I’m now practically blind without my glasses. This one time I broke my specs when Kirsten was a month old and I had to jab contact lenses into my eyes several times throughout the night to get through the night feeds.

After discovering first hand how annoying it is to have bad eyesight, I’m doing what I can to not abuse my eyes further.

And with my own kids, I find myself becoming very particular about protecting their eyes, just so that they don’t become as myopic as I am. I’m now like an Eye Nazi, barking orders like “no watching the iPad while lying down” and “turn on the reading light guys, you’re going to go blind”.

So I was actually quite pleased to find out that 3M now has a range of 3M^TM Polarizing Lights and even more pleased that they sent over a set to try.

What’s a Polarizing Light, you say?

It’s basically a reading light with a Polarizing Filter that illuminates better, reduces the glare and absorbs UV rays, thereby protecting the eyes. It got a very cool On/Off touch pad instead of a regular switch and it swivels easily so I can change reading positions and swivel the light accordingly. I know that’s a lot of geek talk but my inner geek is feeling a lot of love for it.

The kids are also taking very well to it, so much so that they’ve staked claim to it for their reading corner.

3M is now giving away 5 pieces of 3M Polarizing Light (BL 5100 Lamp) worth $189 each. To join the contest, all you need to do is tell us in 100 words or less, why you need a 3M Polarizing Light (BL 5100 Lamp). Send your answer, name, I/C number, mobile and email address with the title “3M Polarizing Light Contest – Mother, Inc” to officebiz@mmm.com by 17 June 2012 and winners will be announced on 29 Jun 2012.

*Open to Singapore citizens and PRs only.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of 3M. All opinions and text are my own.

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Interior design (or any kind of design, for that matter) is not one of our strengths, so when we bought our first home 5 years ago, we had no idea what to do with all that space or how to make it homely. Well ok, we did have some ideas but a lot of those ideas weren’t very practical so after all the renovation work was done, we realized that we had made some very amateur mistakes.

Like having a wooden kitchen table top. I like the look of a wooden finish but apparently it’s not very durable when it comes into contact with water, which happens all the time because it’s right next to the sink. Now I have to wipe up every drop of water from the counter top whenever it gets wet and that is a real pain.

And you know what else is a bad idea? Smooth bathroom tiles. When we went tile shopping, we wanted black tiles to create a mysterious, romantic hotel sort of feel.

It didn’t occur to us what a bad idea smooth toilet tiles is until we finished taking our inaugural shower in the new bathroom, stepped out onto the wet, smooth tiles and did a slow-motion naked-arm-flailing-try-not-to-fall routine. Over the years, we’ve had to do the same routine (some successful, others not so much) after every shower. On the bright side, we’ve developed a fantastic sense of balance.

When 3M offered to send over some anti-slip floor stickers, we figured it would be nice not to have to face the imminent threat of falling on our bare bottoms multiple times a day.

These 13cm x 13cm stickers come in a pack of 4 and there are a bunch of colorful kid-friendly designs to choose from. The application process was easy enough – just peel and stick on a clean, dry surface. It’s also been extremely durable and a breeze to clean. I just scrub over the stickers with my brush whenever I wash the bathroom and I haven’t had to deal with frayed edges or a loss of adhesion.

The best part is that they do the job they’re required to quite effectively, which is to prevent slips and falls. I can step out confidently after my shower and focus on perfecting my hair-flick like one of those shampoo commercials instead of having to worry about doing an unglamorous backflip.

The stickers can also be used in the kitchen, wash areas or common toilets – basically anywhere that gets wet and slippery.

Because we all know that not falling is always good.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of 3M. All opinions and text are my own.