The SuperV is Super Gone

Allow me to pull back the curtains for a moment and reveal that there is an honest-to-goodness PROCESS that happens when I get a product to review. I get the product. I try the product. I write about the product. It's not a complicated process, but IT EXISTS.

And yet here I sit with a product to write about, but I DON'T HAVE ANY OF IT.

There was a whole bunch of Capri Sun Super V in my house. A WHOLE BUNCH. But it happened to arrive while Alexis and I were out of town. By the time we returned, it seems that a few of the pouches of the new, healthier juice drink had vanished. Like magic. And then Alexis got wind that there were juice pouches in the fridge, and the rest vanished. Like magic. POOF!

I never even got to try one. I live with savages, clearly.

So I guess that means that the savages were fans of the Fruit Punch flavor? They have both requested I go buy more, so I guess that's what it means.

The weird thing is that Alexis isn't generally a fan of juice. She has her moments, but for the most part, juice pouches can last months in our fridge. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that the reason she likes the Capri Sun Super V juice pouches is they aren't filled with water, sugar, and artificial junk.

No. Really. They aren't.

The ingredients: Water; Grape, Apple, and Sweet Potato Juice Concentrates; Soluble Corn Fiber; Carrot Juice Concentrate; Citric Acid; Strawberry Juice Concentrate; Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C); Natural Flavor; Vitamin E Acetate; Beta-Carotene.

Somehow, some way, the little alien who prefers lima beans to cheese puffs can sense that the Capri Sun Super V juice pouches are healthy.

HOW DOES SHE DO THAT?

I quizzed the little health nut to see if she could taste the healthy. Her response?

"It tastes like mixed fruit juice. Like . . . fruit punch. Let me think here . . . this juice is so yummy I didn't want to stop drinking it! It tastes a little bit sweet and it's good. It's really good."

So I guess she can't taste the healthy. She just plain likes Capri Sun Super V.

Considering the ingredients, I'm OK with that.

BlogHer is giving you a chance to win a $1000 Visa Gift Card. A runner-up will win a $500 Visa Gift Card. If you'd like to throw your name into the hat, just tell me your favorite juice flavor (or your kid's favorite!) in the comments below. If I were playing along, I'd say Fruit Punch, which is ironic because WOULDN'T IT BE NICE IF I HAD GOTTEN TO TRY SOME? Ahem.

Learn more about the new Capri Sun Super V on Facebook and check out BlogHer.com to find more Capri Sun Super V reviews!

Rules:

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You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

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d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

Entries from all participating blogs will be pooled for winner selection; only two entries per household. This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 8/16/2012-9/16/2012.

I was compensated for my time in conducting this review, but the opinions are my own.

Raindrops And Giggles Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

Somewhere in the Book of Life there is a law that states that if the husband goes out with friends, the mother and daughter are required to have a date night. Right? Right.

So that's what Alexis and I did when the husband had plans one night this week. We jumped into the car on a mission to get dinner and do some shopping and to generally have a good night. As we drove down the road, I asked Alexis, "Chinese or Mexican?"

"Mexican!" she yelled with delight. After some negotiation, we settled on a place not terribly far away.

Just as we began to pull into the parking lot, it started.

Drip.

Plop.

Drip.

Plop. Plop. Plop.

The raindrops grew bigger and bolder and louder as they splashed faster and faster and faster. As we drove past the entrance to the restaurant, a steady rain fell from the sky.

"Oh, man! We don't have an umbrella!" Alexis whined from the back seat. It was a true whine, precisely the sort of whine that makes me want to park fourteen miles away and force her walk through the rain just so I can imagine each little raindrop as a tiny form of punishment falling on her sassy little head.

But it was my fault the umbrella wasn't in the car. I had left it in the house a week prior and I really should have remembered to take it back out to the car.

"Do you want me to drop you off at the door so you don't have to walk in the rain?" I offered. The parking lot was nearly empty, so it would be saving her perhaps ten steps. I figured if those ten steps were enough to make the night better for her, I could handle it.

"Yes, please!" she squealed with delight.

Alexis was overjoyed to crawl out of the car right at the curb. She laughed a little as she closed the car door and told me not to get too wet. She ducked under the cover of the overhang above the entrance to the restaurant.

As I pulled into a parking spot, I watched the little person grin as she marveled at the raindrops falling just inches from her face. I imagined that the soundtrack in her head went, "Nanny nanny boo boo! You can't get me!"

With each step I took towards Alexis, I could see her inching forward. And forward. And forward.

And forward a little more.

I paused just a few feet away so I could bask in the moment. Alexis had inched forward just enough to be able to stick her tongue out and catch raindrops. Her eyes were squished shut and her toes were wet and raindrops splashed on her face as she giggled and grinned.

"I thought you didn't want to get wet," I finally said.

She smiled as she grabbed my hand and walked into the restaurant with me.

"I was thirsty!" she replied.

All Dentists Should Just Line Up So I Can Punch Them

In the dark of the night, I have nightmares. Often the nightmares are often twisted and eerie and beyond interpretation, but there is one that doesn't require a psychology degree to understand. When I wake up shaking and clenching my jaw, it's because I had that nightmare where all of my teeth have fallen out.

The nightmare is going to come true some day. Really.

For as long as I can remember, I've had ridiculously stupid teeth. There are lots of explanations (not enough fluoride and childhood poverty issues are high on that list), but they don't matter. What matters is that no matter what I do, I get cavities. Lots and lots of cavities.

There's a pattern that I've fallen into where I go to the dentist, learn I have five or so cavities, and then return over and over again to have all of the decay fixed. Then it comes time for a routine cleaning and I'm all NO WAY. I know what will happen. I will be told I have five new cavities and I'll have to start the cycle all over again.

So I delay.

And delay.

And delay some more because at that point, it's downright embarrassing how much time I've let pass.

When I can't put it off any longer, I finally trudge into the office and listen to remarks about how Super! Very! Clean! my teeth are, but that I have a ton of new decay. If I can't go to the dentist without being told I need thousands of dollars worth of work, why bother? It's a one-sided battle that I can't win.

Just hand over the dentures and let's get it over with, you know?

I'm at the beginning of the latest cycle right now, with two extractions (I'm very attached to my wisdom teeth, but apparently two of them don't want me anymore), three root canals, and two crowns on the horizon.

JUST SHOOT ME NOW. GAH!

Sorry. I hadn't really pieced all of that together in one phrase before. Now that I'm staring at all of those words, I'd like to go grab a pair of pliers and just cut out the middle man. I hope my dentist enjoys the new car he'll probably buy with all of the money he's making from me.

ANYWAY.

During the first visit of the latest cycle, I was bitching and moaning and groaning to the dental hygienist that she can just shooooosh with her, "Your teeth are so clean!" commentary. I know that it's a compliment and that there is some value in my diligent brushing and flossing, but the compliment is worthless when I know what comes next.

Somewhere in between all my kvetching, the hygenist dropped a little bomb on me. "Have you ever researched xylitol?" she asked.

That sentence earned her my very best "WTF?" face, so she continued on to explain that xylitol is a sweetener that the government has been using to prevent tooth decay for soldiers that are deployed to places where regular brushing just isn't possible. The long of the short is that she was all, "Check it out!" and I was all ... I guess I can.

And now I'd like to punch a dentist or ten in the face.

WHY DID NO ONE EVER MENTION THIS TO ME BEFORE? WHYYYYYY?

Go ask Dr. Google for yourself (including researching the potential side effects), but I basically found that I will be investing in a heck of a lot of gum with xylitol in it. You have to have at least five exposures of xylitol per day for it to work, so I'm popping a piece of gum in my mouth every time I have something to eat or drink. In theory, it should put an end to the never-ending cavity invasion.

I'll let you know if it works for me. You know, after I've had the extractions, root canals, and crowns. Oh, and after I punch a dentist or ten in the face.

(This is the greatest thing to ever happen to Alexis, by the way. I am suddenly willing to let her have gum. Sometimes.)