Our Mommyhood

Archive for August, 2010

By Shandal, Contributor, My Life In 3D, (@Shandal)

I think many moms who have daughters have the same inner dialogue with themselves as I have had recently.

“I wonder when it would be appropriate to pierce my baby girl’s ears?”

My only daughter is 1 1/2. Quite frankly, I think my little drama queen would FREAK OUT from the pain! I know she would eventually calm down, but would she understand what’s going on?

Will she think that I’m a mean mama for making someone hurt her?

I need to ask myself if I would I really be doing this for her or me.

After much debate, I’ve come to the conclusion that I would want it for myself because I think it would look pretty; it’s not like my daughter has any idea what earrings even are!  I’ve decided that I won’t have her ears pierced until she asks for that herself. That way my daughter knows what’s going on, and knows that it was her choice to have the pain involved with the piercings.

So, what are your thoughts on this controversial topic?  Do you think it’s selfish for a parent to make that decision for their baby, or completely reasonable?

Kristi, Guest Writer, Live and Love…Out Loud (@TweetingMama)

Marriage is a sacred union – one that thrives on love, honesty and a mutual respect. Two people with two totally different personalities come together as one in the name of love. Promises are made. Rings are exchanged. They kiss and ride off into the sunset.

Then all hell breaks loose.

You know, no one ever told me that marriage would be so tough. Sure they said that it was hard, but no one mentioned that I’d be tempted to rip my husband’s face off on occasion.

So… In an effort to rid the world of its happily-ever-after view of marriage, I present you with a few simple rules to surviving marriage without ripping your husband’s face off. You can thank me later.

1. Compromise sucks. Specifically when I’m doing the compromising. Keep a mental record of every single compromise you’ve made. You may need to use it against him in the future.
2. Let him think he came up with some of those brilliant ideas. Look, you and I both know the truth. That’s all that matters.
3. Sharing a bathroom with your husband can be hazardous to your health. For the love of God, look before you sit. Doing a quick toilet seat and toilet paper check is worth the extra effort. I learned that the hard way.
4. Televised sports are your best friend. He’ll enjoy watching the game while you enjoy a few hours of freedom. Send the kids to Grandma’s house and take a bubble bath or something.
5. When in doubt, it’s the hubby’s fault. Duh.
6. Keep those secret shopping sprees on the DL. Get a secret charge account, rotate your shopping bag hiding spot – so as to avoid suspicion – and dispose of all evidence away from your home.
7. Forget the I-have-a-headache excuse. Diarrhea, Aunt Flo and hairy legs will get you out of just about any of those pesky wifely duties. Trust me.
8. And speaking of wifely duties… Never underestimate the power of seduction. Have your honey-do list on hand and slip it to him post-coitus. It works. Every. Single. Time. But be warned, you only have a ten minute window before the post-coital effects wear off.

These tips are simple, effective and guaranteed to ensure the survival of your marriage and your husband’s face, but I’m pretty sure I missed a few. Tell me… How have you survived marriage without ripping your husband’s face off? I’m all ears!

Read Kristi’s tips for surviving teenagers.

………………………………………

Kristi’s navigating a sea of teenage hormones, dirty diapers and a family with ever-changing needs and finding humor in it all. She blogs her butt off at Live and Love…Out Loud. Oh, and she loves her husband. Even if he says and does stupid stuff sometimes.

by Brook, Contributor, Baby & Sofia (@babyandsofia)

Being green is something that I have always taken very seriously. When I became a mother, I took it to a whole new level.  (I blogged about this last month here.)  I also dwell in fairly small living quarters.  When my husband accepted a 10-month long position at Iowa State University this spring, we opted to move into a 2-bedroom/2-bathroom apartment for our temporary stay in the Great Midwest.

I love to decorate, so I have done my best to give our apartment a sense of light, airy, and functional style.  To avoid cramping our living space, I had put off purchasing a bulky highchair for our baby and instead used a bumbo seat and tray. When he grew out of that, we used a portable booster seat that we attached to one of our dining table chairs.  I quickly realized that the booster seat was not the ideal safety situation. The time had come to buy the dreaded highchair.

I did my research. I looked for highchairs that had a modern, streamlined look that were green and also safe for my baby.  When I stumbled upon the bloom website, I couldn’t believe my luck.  This Europe-based company was just my style.  All bloom products have low voc (volatile organic compound) finishes, have solid and pressed wood from sustainable sources, and are formaldehyde-free, lead-free, heavy-metal-free, AZO dye-free, BPA-free, and phlathlate-free.

Did I mention their baby gear is gorgeous? Modern, clean lines define their style.

I ended up choosing the bloom nano highchair in coconut white.  The highchair is beautiful, and fits nicely into our dining area.  No bulk, and no ugly teddy bear designs.  And it folds up nicely when I need to free up space when we entertain.

An added plus: Paolo loves it. He is happy to sit up high in his highchair next to the table. After he finishes his meal, the tray is plenty big to stack toys as entertainment for him, while we finish our meal.  And the tray is dishwasher safe.

A true dream of a highchair.

To see bloom’s entire collection, please visit www.bloombaby.com.

By Working Mommy, Contributor, Lessons Learned (@lessonslrndblog)

Not many people know this, but I am a wedding planner by trade. Before you get all giddy – no, it is NOT like the Jennifer Lopez movie. I mean, some big clients do act like that – renting statues and live trees and such – but the majority just don’t have the expendable money. (*Just a side note…I love the ones with expendable money, though!  They usually give me the most leeway when selecting over-the-top decor!)

Moving on…as a wedding planner, I have had the pleasure the privilege the opportunity to wear multiple hats for one event. These hats include – but are not limited to – minister, caterer, bar tender, psychologist, family therapist, pre-marital counselor, lion (mother/mother-in-law) tamer, seamstress, photographer, chicken wrangler (babysitter), florist and, most recently, security.

In my 10+ years of experience I have learned that not every event is the same, and THAT is what makes each one unique and interesting.

So, after all of my trials and tribulations, I can honestly say that I finally have the ability to pass on some knowledge when it comes to self-planning an event. The example I am going to use is my daughter’s recent first birthday.

The most important part of this shin-dig, besides the food, was the guest list. I opted for an e-vite because they are just so dang useful! I mean, you save money on postage, can email it to anyone you want, and update as often as you need to with information for your guests. It is a FREE one-stop-shop for smaller gatherings.

When it comes to menu planning, make sure you serve things that are either easy for you to make (like a family recipe you could whip up in your sleep), able to be made and brought by someone attending, or can be bought for relatively little money.

The menu for The Babe’s party was:

* Cheese and Crackers (this is super easy to do)
* Fruit Balls (again, super easy and can be prepped days ahead of time)
* Beef Kabobs (with peppers and onions – marinated in garlic and teriyaki sauce)
* Potato Salad
* Deviled Eggs (ridiculously easy)
* Broccoli Salad (a la my mama)
* Egg Rolls (another famous offering by my mama…luckily she makes HUGE batches and freezes them)
* Birthday Cupcakes (The Man even helped me decorate them the night before…YUM)
* Birthday Cake (it was my first time decorating…LOVE how it turned out)

For a party of 30 people, everything cost about $150 total, which really isn’t bad considering all the food we had available. No one went hungry and we had left-overs for days – always a plus!!!

Add some great friends and you will have one of the BEST parties ever!!! I mean, this face doesn’t lie…yet!!

By Betsy, Contributor, Funky Mama Bird (@funkymamabird)

It’s a hot summer day and the toddler has run you into sweaty circles. He’s bored, you’re bored and you’ve run out of things to do.

Never fear; in your house this minute are some inexpensive supplies that you can use to create some fun, outdoor activities for your toddler. Some will need some preparation; others can be done in minutes. Intrigued? You should be. Now, head into your kitchen and gather up the following supplies:

·         Food coloring – or, if you have it and your kids are past the eating it stage, liquid water color paint works well, too.

·         Several large bowls filled with water

·         Scoops and measuring cups

·         Ice cube trays

·         Paper

·         Paint brushes, sponges or q-tips – whatever’s on hand

·         Shaving cream

·         Rice

·         The foam trays meat comes packaged on (washed and dried first, natch)

·         Any plastic bakery or salad container marked with a recycling symbol “6″

·         Markers

·         Scissors

·         Your microwave (OK, you can just leave that where it is, and go find it when you get to that point)

Got all that? OK. Mix up some water with food coloring and fill the ice cube trays with different colors, freeze for later.
Mix up some more food coloring and water with a different color in each bowl. Head outside where your toddler is unlikely to stain things. Now, you have several options for colored water play:

1.       Dump one color of water into another to watch the color change

2.       Paint or sponge the colored water onto the paper

3.       “Draw” with a frozen colored cube

4.       Place a frozen colored cube into a different color of water and watch the reaction as it melts – have your toddler swirl to see the effects

Next, mix up some food coloring with some dry rice and hide small toys in it – you have an instant, colorful “sand box” that can be used to mix colors, hide objects or just play in.

You can also add food coloring to shaving cream – either let the kids just plunge their hands in, or put it in large plastic bags they can squish to watch the colors change and mix.

When you’ve run out of food coloring, or your kids are older, make some homemade shrinky dinks. Cut some shapes out of the foam trays and plastic containers. Have your toddler color them in with markers. Foam trays go in the microwave for a few seconds, while the plastic goes in an oven heated to 200 degrees for 3 – 5 minutes. For best results, cut the shapes really large so your toddler can get the full effect of the shrinking.

If your toddler is old enough and has fun engaging in water play, he or she is old enough to add some color to the mix. I’ve found that a plastic art smock aimed at a 5 year old keeps my 1 year old clean from the splashes, and his hands clean up with just a little scrubbing. Raid your cabinets the next time you’re looking for something cheap and fun to do and bring some color to your day.