Want free baby swag? Start hosting neighborhood baby swaps!
To start your swap, invite people with kids who are within a few years age of your kids. Invite pregnant couples, friends of friends with kids, neighbors, people from playgroup, etc. It’s ok if some people don’t have anything to donate — there is always plenty of stuff. I use Facebook events but any means you use to get the word out will do. I like to host our swaps potluck style, and I usually provide coffee, tea, and juice. But you know… mimosas might be fun.
Taking a trip out of the country without my kid rocked my world
I feel I’ve done a great job (or at least, one that I am very happy with) maintaining a sense of ME since becoming a mother, but it’s good to see that my son also has a sense of HIM that doesn’t depend on whether or not I’m there, physically guiding him through it. It’s a comforting thing to know that if you leave for a day or seven that your child will keep trucking on — and to know that he or she will also be over the moon when you get back.
An easy fix for slipping bra straps
Call me a prude, but I really can’t stand it when my bra strap starts to wander, letting the world know just what color and condition said bra is in. (Answer: generally not great.) In fact, it drives me nuts. I don’t want to have to constantly be adjusting and digging around. It’s just not… dignified.
How can I maintain ownership of my body while I’m pregnant?
I’m experiencing a bit of a problem — it seems like everyone wants to “own” my baby. What I mean by this is the off-hand, “Hey that’s my grandson in there, be careful,” when I walk down the stairs, or “My nephew should have an apple,” when I’m picking out my lunch. I know it is coming from a place of love but I’m struggling both with the immediate reaction of “What if I don’t want a freaking apple?” and the lingering feeling of flags getting staked on my belly from people claiming my child before he is even born?
Talk to me about your exciting pregnancy-friendly sports, and post-baby sport motivations
I recently had taken up breakdance, boxing, and roller derby in one go (sometimes all three consecutively on the same weekday evenings). I just found out I’m pregnant, and the downside to the pregnancy is that I’ll have to put some of my sporting activities on hold. How have other moms found the motivation after baby arrived to get back into sports again?
Our great adventure: traveling and starting a family
We left Seattle/Tacoma to try out Eastern Oregon rural living a few years ago, thinking that we would probably settle down and start a family shortly thereafter. We became small-town homebodies of a sort, and if there was ever a form of “adult nesting” out there, I think we were trying to practice it. We even rented a larger home expecting that the guest room would eventually turn into a nursery. All of this completely great because it was a future that we both truly wanted — a family life.
A day in the life of an organic farming family
I have been working on a photo documentary for a few years now. The subject is local natural and organic farmers/farming, and the concept is something that my husband Nick and I have been passionate about for the last six years. I am not exactly sure where it started… or how.
So you just found out your teen is gay? Rule one: don’t freak out
My parents “discovered” that I might be gay when I was 14. I left a Yahoo! chat conversation with my first mutual crush open, and my mother (being the vigilant snoop that she is) happened upon it. Now, don’t get me wrong — I absolutely think monitoring your children’s online activities is an ok thing to do. However, based on my own experience with my parents, I recommend calmly discussing any “questionable” behavior instead of attacking your child when he or she is expressing their inherent sexuality.