Thursday, July 31, 2008

PT#15: Your Child's Health

Your Child's Health

This nice heavy tome, or one like it, is a great relief when your child gets ill in the middle of the night. It tells you what to look for, and whether to call the doctor tomorrow, now, or hop in a cab to the ER.

Look, the 1991 edition (which I have) can be had used for a penny (plus shipping)! Aaak! All my bargain-hunting synapses are exploding!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

PT#14: Take Books with a Grain of Salt

You can drive yourself nuts trying to figure it all out from books, and here's why: for any and every approach to parenting, there is a book. Most of them contradict each other, and most of them take the tone "if you don't do it this way, you are ruining your children." Talk to people you trust, and most importantly, trust your own instincts.

I remember early on with my oldest, there was some issue we were grappling over, and I asked a family friend who had 6 kids of her own and has run a pre-school for 30 years. What should we do? "Whatever works," she said.

That said, my next few tips will be for the books I found most helpful.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

PT#13: Perchance to Dream

Sleep now. Get as well-rested as you can before the birth. Maternity/paternity leave sounds like a nice break, but you will not sleep a solid 8 hours for a long time.

Monday, July 28, 2008

PT#12: Rob-ease or Roe-Biz?

Best baby shoes, do not come off, and allow the foot to develop naturally. Totally unnecessary until baby starts to "pull up" to standing. Available at Nordstrom's and Amazon.com and lots of other stores--also, Target has pretty good knock-offs.

Friday, July 25, 2008

PT#11: Rubber Baby Buggy Sockies

Best baby socks, the only ones I've found that don't come off almost instantaneously. (They come in different brands - they're the ones with little puffs around the ankles, like baby pom-poms.)

Thursday, July 24, 2008

PT#10: iPoddity

When you're packing your bag for the hospital, don't forget your ipod - it was very nice to be able to shut the whole world out for a while.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

PT#9: Loosey-Goosey

Being pregnant makes all your joints loosen. If you go to get a manicure or pedicure, make sure you tell them you're preggers (if you're not showing yet), so they don't over-massage your joints. And only go to a very well ventilated place - nail polish fumes smell ten times worse when you're pregnant.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

PT#8: Take Care of You

This one needs no explanation: Elizabeth Arden Red Door Pregnancy Massage. Ahhhhhhh...

Monday, July 21, 2008

PT#7: Quick Change Artist

Babies spit up. No getting around it. You can have a burp cloth permanently on your shoulder, but you're still going to get nailed from time to time. I came up with a solution that worked for me: I kept a pile of clean t-shirts right in the baby's room. (They were the nice men's XL t-shirts I'd worn throughout the pregnancy.) When you get splurched on, you can have a fresh t-shirt on in about 5 seconds.

Friday, July 18, 2008

PT#6: The Smell of Poop in the Morning

Diaper Genies use expensive refills. The Diaper Champ uses ordinary kitchen-size garbage bags.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

PT#5: Those Essential Crotch Snaps

Ok, I've got a bunch of these tips saved up, and not much time (or headspace) to write anything else right now, so I'll start posting a pregnancy tip per day 'til I run out.


Babies don't walk til about 1 yr. So for the first year, they spend a lot of time being picked up by their armpits. Don't even bother with any clothes that don't snap under the crotch, because they'll just bunch up when you pick the baby up.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

PT#4: We All Scream

People crave different things - for me it was ice cream. My favorite thing that my husband got me during my whole pregnancy was this. Did you know it is possible to love an ice cream scoop? It is.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

PT#3: When Hearts Burn

Heartburn is a fact of pregnant life. Believe it or not, there is a limit to the number of TUMS you're supposed to eat in one 24-hour period. But there's no limit to how many Stoned Wheat Thins you can eat, and they work almost as well!

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Hey, It Works....

If you're happy and you know it, kiss your mama
If you're happy and you know it, kiss your mama
If you're happy and you know it, then you really ought to show it
If you're happy and you know it, kiss your mama

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

PT#2: Comfy, Comfy Troll Shoes

Buy crocs. They may not be stylish, but they're heaven on swollen, sore pregnant feet.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Zen Mama

Embrace your exhaustion. Do not count the minutes until the baby falls asleep, for they are as numerous as the grains of sand on the beach that you will not see for quite some time, because you swore that you would never be the mother sponging spit up off the flight attendant with some soda water. The baby will sleep when the baby sleeps; you will sleep when the baby goes to college.

Yogurt on the tray. Yogurt on your blouse. Yogurt on the ceiling. Yogurt on Aunt Mabel’s antique sideboard that your sister keeps offering to take to her house “to preserve the heirloom.” Yogurt is everywhere; the universe is yogurt. Be one with the yogurt.

The tantrum is an illusion. Only the soul is eternal. Repeat—the tantrum is an illusion. Contrary to appearances, the child will not die if his crackers are in a green bowl instead of a blue bowl. Attachment brings suffering. His attachment to the blue bowl is bringing you suffering. The tantrum is an… OH FOR CRISSAKES, HERE’S YOUR STUPID BLUE BOWL.

The happy dance of a toddler is eternal.