Labor Day Sales or Are They?

This is one of those holiday weekends that we get excited.  It is a furniture holiday.  For whatever reason, people tend to buy more furniture during this holiday than others.  And all the retailers know it.  Let's take a look at what's going on around here, discover the hype, help you find a great deal.  This is a web crawl if you will, and it is interesting the hype we found.

"Our Lowest Price Ever!"  This is hype, but true.  Yesterday their lowest price was $299.  With 420 coils, and a firm rating this bed should draw some attention.  The warranty is 5 years!  And probably covers any dip in excess of 1.75 inches.  Manufacturers rarely write warranties they expect to have to perform on.  As a result, this manufacturer thinks the mattress should last the average person 5 years.  Considering this firm suggests you replace every 8, it doesn't even make it that long.  They of course will have a better (more expensive) deal waiting nearby.  And their rating at the BBB is F, but they are the largest retailer of mattresses.

Next let's surf on over to our next one.  See what we can find there.

This one is scary, huh.  No pricing on the main page, but it is the best sale ever!  Oh, and they have some cool videos to watch.  When we went deeper, their current sale is pretty comparable to last months.  And they do have great beds.  Graphic hype, but this is one of the better beds available, you get what you pay for.  You will not find any $297 Queens here, but you will find beds that are substantially better.

Here's another one.  This store sells furniture and mattresses.  What do you think?

Here again we see a lot of hype.  An extra up to $100 off.  But off what?  Wow, if we could get that $297 mattress for $100 off, that would be a deal!  And it's "factory roll backs".  What a deal, well maybe.  One of the problem with spring makers is that they have dozens of different models, and rarely can you find the same model from a different store to compare the price, they only true way to know if it is indeed a good deal.

This is another low price store.  Wow we have a new low price!  $94!  That's 50% off!  They are so proud of the brand, that they forgot to name it.  And, better hurry because there are limited quantities!  Which if we translate hypeze means, we bought 2 just to get you in the store and sell you a better, more expensive, brand name model.

As mentioned in other editions, we own a small mattress store in the St. Louis metro area.  We try not to hype.  We try to be different.  All of our beds are on sale, just like these major players, but we won't lead you to believe that they will be gone soon, we will order them for you.  Every one of our sales is the best, only because we strive to put the lowest price possible on our great mattresses.  And we maintain those prices until the manufacturer increases prices.  We constantly have people asking when the sale is over, and we tell them that this sale is available to you until the manufacturer raises prices.  That's what we consider value.  $94 or $297 or any other price is not value unless it is for a good bed.  Instead of a 5 year warranty, ours comes with a 20 year limited warranty, and our manufacturer is rated very high in reviews, and by the BBB (A+), but they do not have a $297 queen bed.  However if you are looking for a bed that will last 4 times as long, our queens start at $699.  To match the expected longevity is it not logical to take the $297 (for 5 years) and multiply by 4?  Would not the value of that $297 over 20 years be $1188?  Is $699 less than $1188?  Is it also better to not have to go shopping again for a number of years?

And yes, we are having a Labor Day Sale, if you like you can see it here:  Hannah's Labor Day Sale.  Otherwise, enjoy your holiday and...

Sleep Well!



School Days and Sleep

It is important that kids get enough rest.  At young ages, they are easily distracted, and frankly do not even consider sleep an option a lot of times, they just drift off when ever they are tired.  The problem is that when they are young, it is important to set habits that will follow them through their lives. 

If our kids do not get the proper amount of rest, they will be tired during the day.  This alone will cause them to lose valuable teaching time by not being in peak condition to learn.  But it goes farther, at night when we sleep, our brains process information from the previous day.  It stores the stimuli in either short or long term memory.  That process can get jumbled without the proper amount of time (sleep) to complete the process.  So what can we do?

How about first a consistent routine.  Our bodies, and theirs, are programed on a roughly 24 hour clock, broken into 12 hour segments.  If we are not consistent, then our bodies get confused and when we do sleep it is not the best quality.  This is also what causes jet lag.  A certain bed time and wake time is important (and it should be 7 days a week, 365 days a year).  Then our bodies will react and thrive. And the benefit to a consistent sleep schedule will carry forward in to adulthood, which can improve their abilities to work productively and make the most money for their skill set.



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When we are sleep deprived, our bodies make products related to stress, which among other things can cause us to gain weight, and be less productive than if the stress is controlled or eliminated.  In the case of kids,  we know that many are concerned about childhood obesity, while other things like overall activity would help improve that, a simple thing like a consistent bed time can help them be more active, because they got great rest.  In kids we have a great way to judge productivity, maybe better than adults do, its called grades.

So getting the proper amount and quality of sleep may help two of the biggest problems our kids face today, obesity, and grades (could all the ADHD be sleep related as well?  Is it not?).  Grades will affect their choice of college, or job opportunities as will their appearance.  So as my Mom always said "It's your bedtime, no discussion..."

Sleep Well!

Back to School Sleep

The time is nearing, it's time for the children to go back to school.  Another exciting year of learning and fun needs a good base to build on.  It's a little exciting here as our first grandchild, and namesake of our business is heading to kindergarten.  The other night we got to meet the teacher, and that is another blog entirely!  Things have certainly changed since we went to kindergarten.  More importantly, it is time to review things that will help your child thrive in school.  Click on the links to see more detailed information about individual subjects.

This blog is about sleep so we will concentrate there.  And we feel that sleep is critical to effective learning.  It is during sleep that we process stimulus (learning) from the just finished day.  Ineffective sleep, or too little sleep can impact the ability to retain knowledge, and affect grades.  Schools do a pretty good job of not overloading the hours kids are there, and as parents or grandparents, it is important that we give those we love the best chance to excel.  When it come to sleep, here is what you can do.

• Set a bedtime for school nights and encourage the same time throughout the week.
• Make sure there is wind down time prior to bed time to make sure that sleep starts on time.
• Get home work and projects done earlier in the day, so as not to cause the sleep hormones to short circuit.
• Make sure the bed and room are optimal for sleep.
• Set expectations early, to form a habit for later years such as college.
• Encourage a "normal" wake time as well, as tough as that will be with teens!
• Make sure that the kids get the appropriate amount of sleep for their age.

Setting bed times, wake times, with the right amount of time in between is important.  The sleep cycles must complete in the normal time associated with them over the course of a night.  If the bed time is too late, then the child will not perform well.  We understand that there are video games to be played, TV to watch, or computer related activities that attempt to steal sleep.  Please be firm about the bed time, in 20 years they will understand, even though they are angry now.  I remember once, my mom said "I don't care what the other kids are doing, you're going to bed!"  What a declaration of love, thanks Mom!



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Proper sleep can help your child learn, but it can also help the teacher with classroom discipline.  Well rested children do less things that were not thought through.  Enhancing the environment of learning.

Sleep can also help them perform better in sports and PE.  Sleep is when the body is conditioned to respond to the needs of the muscles.  While it will not add muscle mass, it can help coordination.

Finally, make sure the kids are not too busy.  We all want them to experience everything, but that will impact sleep and they will be less able to perform at all things.  Let them choose, encourage them to do what they are good at doing.  And don't let the schedule affect total sleep or bed times.

They are only young once, and life offers no do overs, so help them do it right the first time, and start with sleep. 

Sleep Well!