Product Reviews

I started “no buying new things” month on Friday. And it’s going pretty well. Except for I’m not exactly saving money since things like “expensive exercise class” are not *things* and are allowable.

Some highlights:

• I found a never-worn skirt in my closet for my fancy dinner date with Alec. I even wore it with the tags on in case it didn’t work out so I could make it look more desirable at the clothing swap (but that was weird of me).
• Talked two co-workers into joining me on my mission and we celebrated by eating lunch out at a restaurant. At least it wasn’t take-out but maybe we should have walked to the cafe if we’re really trying to reduce our global footprint. Hmmm.
• My sister-in-law birthed a brand new (VBAC, you go girl!) niece for me on Friday and I’ve assembled a nice gift box of a home-made baby wrap, baby necessities (like infant tylenol and zinc), and a gift certificate for food.
• No other shopping. Yet.

I also found a great list for fresh inspiration on making toys out of ordinary objects Unclutterer.com; Milo’s first birthday is this month, so he may be cashing in on this find.This site has so many good ideas to clean up my life. If I get around to it. Maybe while I’m lying around the house not buying new stuff this month, I’ll make time? Nah.

Ok, now that I think of it, we have a bunch of related RM activities:
Activity #221: Play choo choo in a laundry basket
Activity #222: Have a (yoga) ball
Activity #80: Fake em out
Activity #123: Introduce the Tupperware

And then there’s the whole free/cheap ideas category for outings and non-toy fun.

My second son, Milo, is a very active 11 months now. He likes to climb, pull up, scoot all the time.

But that sort of gets in the way of my plans for him.

Our normal getting out of the car routine includes me bringing him inside the house, plopping him into the exersaucer or jumperoo (depending on what room of the house I want him to be in), and going back outside to fetch Holden from the car so we can wrestle with shoes, jackets, and stuff. I like Milo to be safely contained (and possibly entertained) while this is going on. But am I relying on these crutches too much?

Do I need switch things around and let the two-year old come in the house first? Should we all enter together and forget about the stuff? How old is too old for the exersaucer? Can I wait until he can climb out of it or tell me in words that he’s sick of it?

Since Heather is doing one of her crazy I-have-lots-of-systems-and-rules projects again (see post below), I am going to try to support her. She wants to buy nothing new in February. Have fun with that, H.

I won’t mock the fact that you are buying extra stuff now in preparation of not buying anything later.

I respect her project and hate to throw away landfill-bound crap like an infant bathtub or cell phone charger for a phone I no longer use, so, inspired by Heather, I’m sort of on a Craig’s List/Freecycle kick myself. We are about to move into a 3-month furnished sublet while our house is demolished, er, remodeled, and I don’t want to pack up, move, unpack, repack, move and unpack anything I don’t really need.

So I have been packing up clothes, donating baby blankets, selling stuff on Craig’s List, and hoping for the rain to stop so that I can put a “free” box in front of my house with some cast-off items in it. Even with this attitude, I find it hard to work quickly through my piles of posessions. I get caught up in where things should go, wondering if I’ll miss them later. We’ve lived in this house for five years and have boxes of books and CDs that we never unpacked from our last house, but still somehow believe we should own. I sit down to attack a pile and get sidetracked by a million different aspects of this process. Clearly my process is faulty.

Here’s an example: I look at a vase. I think, “I don’t like this much now. Maybe I’ll like it later.” And then I look for a place to store it. On my way to looking for a place, I spot some things that seem easier to pack than the vase I don’t care for. I pick them up. Do you see the downward spiral happening? Do you think I should keep a vase that is nice, but just not my taste?

Today I saw this collection of books at Barnes and Noble. Boy was I tempted to buy all of them. I know Heather and I would have a lot of fun with a Closet Organizing book that comes with a DVD (birthday hint!) But then I remembered that I shouldn’t bring anything new into my house.

It’s All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff

Closet Control: The Ultimate Guide to Revitalizing Your Wardrobe and Revolutionizing the Way You Store It (Book & DVD)

Absolutely Organized: A Mom’s Guide to a No-stress Schedule and Clutter-free Home

The Little Author will make professional note cards out of your kid’s artwork. You can scan artwork that’s up to 11×17 inches, which they will shrink down for you, and you can enter whatever text you want. Of course, they come with matching envelopes.

I would be dead impressed if I went to a kid’s birthday party and got one of these back as a thank you note. I would think that kid had some of the cleverest parents around! At $15 for 10 note cards, I definitely feel it’s worth it to go this route instead of trying to make them yourself at Kinko’s or something. I would absolutely use the service, and I’m a person who has a) no kids and b) plenty of time to go to Kinko’s.

If you’re willing to splurge, you can get also get a 24-page hardcover book for $68. Check it out at theLittleAuthor.com

Related Rookie Mom Activities:
Activity #250: Make personalized thank you notes
Activity #337: Use your baby for greetings
Activity #506: Facilitate thank you notes with a personal *touch*

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Thanks to Karen for this fun discovery.

I’m sad to report that Scarlett’s “Downtime” hat is getting too tight. Her head must be growing faster than her body, because she doesn’t seem ready for many of the 6-12 clothes that I’m so anxious to put her in.

This hat is the softest cotton and the eyelashes on it are so dang cute that we get comments wherever we go. Although the intended use is for the parent to slide the brim down over baby’s eyes to facilitate a nap, I kept it on her awake as well. I wish I had a hat this soft and stretchy for me.

Downtime hats were invented by a mom. So if you’re down with moms (ha ha) check out her little business. She sneakily suggests that if your baby doesn’t like hats, you slide the hat on over her head and eyes after she’s already asleep to help extend the nap. If your baby is crazy stimulated like mine, this might help her get to sleep faster when you’re on the go.

I don’t know if you’ve had the opportunity to work with Play-Doh lately, but my niece Mitra loooooves the stuff so I get to play with it all the time. It comes in all kinds of crazy colors these days- you can actually buy a pack that claims to have 50 different colors! Oh, and it smells disgusting.

I never knew about REAL Play-Doh as a kid, because my resourceful mom made my sisters and me play with homemade play-dough. It’s cheaper, it’s safe, it’s edible, and it’s great for people like me who don’t have too many toys in their house. It only takes a few minutes to make, and can even be composted afterwards (if you’re into that sort of thing.)

You don’t need the fancy toys and accessories either- you can find all kinds of great substitutes around the house. A garlic press was our personal favorite as kids. Plastic cookie cutters and rubber stamps are really fun as well. With littler kids, anything that makes a texture is fun and educational- a pot scrubber, a mesh strainer, etc.

To make play-dough: In a saucepan, combine 1 cup flour, 1 cup water, 2 teaspoons cream of tartar, 1 teaspoon oil, and ¼ cup salt. Stir over medium heat until smooth. Remove from pan and knead until blended. Store in a plastic bag or airtight container when cooled.

If you want to add colors, you can knead in food coloring pastes or liquids. It won’t be as vibrant as the store-bought stuff, and your hands will pick up the color when you mix it in. If you don’t want to risk blue hands, just let the kid mix it in!

> Related: A gallery of sculpting ideas from Play DOH

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Karen is our friend and the sneak behind the gift Heather and her husband both got this Christmas: mailboxtees and a very colorful Auntie.

A holiday round-up for last minute wannabe gift-givers

1. Thingamababy shares the five hottest (and freeest gifts for small ones. Reminds me I’m still planning to nab one of those appliance boxes from work for a giant fort!
2. The Mighty Goods Gift Guide is the mother of all gift guides (and sort of the opposite of our first pick). We love fellow rookie mom Andrea’s superhero necklaces.
3. Dutch’s 2006 Holiday Shopping Guide for the Indie Sonofabitch Parent — ‘nuf said.
4. Uncle Mark’s Gift Guide and Almanac — he narrows down all the choices to the best pick of cameras, phones (the same!), and now a baby gift guide that looks suspiciously like our own registry list. Right on.
5. Design*Sponge Bloggers Wishlist is what Whitney would have put together if she had more time and less children. Gorgeous, handmade, and fun.
6. Cool Mom Picks have both the Holiday Gift Guide and Safer Toy Guide in case you wouldn’t be happy just giving your baby a cardboard box.
7. Gastronomic gifts that rock from the Food Section gift guide — I’d like to see what Milo would do with that Loopabowl!



8. Urban Outfitters has collected three pages worth of gifts under $50, including these brightly colored Lomography fish-eye cameras for the sibling who fancies himself hip and artsy. Whitney will be buying the Florida Gators tee for her husband.
9. CityMama’s easy and cheap (and local) guide to homemade gifts. Now step away from the mouse and make something.
10. The Design Public Gift Guide is another favorite for well-designed adorability. If you’re too cheap to shop here, start a wishlist.
11. The Mominatrix holiday gift guide is like none other on our list. Oh snap.
12. Auntie Karen’s guide of potentially impractical but completely fabulous gifts for families
13. More? Check out 39 mom-tested holiday gift ideas in the Rookie Moms Holiday Shopping Guide.

Read more lists of thirteen items at ThursdayThirteen.com

I know I practically complained about all the gifts that would be coming into my house this month, but I’d like to apologize for that because my stepmom did all of her shopping for us at Uncommon Goods, and we love it all.

I’ll just tell you about a few favorites.

This Pooki doll has fleece backpack straps on it, so when Scarlett toddles around, she can bring her cute buddy with her.

The monkey slippers arrived in baby size for Scarlett and toddler size for Julian. Totally cute. I made Julian a scarf to match, but I’ll save that for another post.

For me, a set of three zipper pouches for cosmetics or whatnot. They are made of recycled bags.

We are loving this memory game with faces from around the world. Great for 3+. I love the style of illustrations and the tiles are high quality to withstand the ungentle hold of grubby hands.

Are you so jealous? Do you wish your Hanukkah looked like this?

So, although I feel the need to go to a mall sometime this week, I think I could probably get away with one big order from Uncommon Goods for most of my shopping list.

The Parents Magazine gang at goodyblog is having a phenomenal holiday giveaway and everyone’s invited. As much as I would love to enter all the contests myself and win my pick of prizes, it’s already too late for that so come on by and join me.

They’re giving away (should I say gifting?) a bazillion prizes until midnight December 14.

And this party is way easier than real holiday parties. You can show up in your pajamas (like I am right now) and all you have to do is comment. I’m also pretty sure you can win the prizes without being terribly witty.