Rookie Moms

Girl parents, I know: you didn’t think your little baby, so bald and androgynous for a whole year, would begin crawling, walking, then talking about princesses and demanding tutus — but it happened. Well, you just have to learn to live with it. But here’s an easy project - no sewing or glue - that will allow you to make a tutu in lightning speed. So you’ll have more time to spend lecturing your daughter on other, non-princess, career paths she might consider, like software engineer or urban planner.

Bonus for those who need an outing with their new baby (hit the fabric store) and a surprise to share with a little girl (or boy, although my son will not put on a dress even for dress up but says when he grows up he is going to be a daddy and a ballet dancer). Emily, a rookie mom to 10-month old Logan, has posted this amazingly simple tutorial on The Little Window Shoppe. You can make a tutu with just some strips of tulle (that’s light-weight fine netting fabric for you non ballerina types).

And PS, nothing featured on The Little Window Shoppe is more than $50. Thanks, Emily!

In celebration of the launch of our book, we’re offering two sweet prize baskets to folks who join in the fun by blogging about a baby-friendly outing that worked for you during your rookie year as a mom.

We’ll also feature three favorites on our site right here.

Blog about your favorite outings from your rookie mom year. Post anytime this weekend - Friday, May 9 through Sunday, May 11. Make sure to link rookiemoms.com and blog.parentbloggers.com somewhere in your post. Then email the link to your post to parentbloggers AT gmail.com.

They’ll be keeping a running list all weekend long, so be creative with your title (like “Petting lizards with a four-month old” or “Salsa dancing in my sling”)!

Find out all the details here about the blast: blog.parentbloggers.com.

Prize baskets include: Baby Bjorn Synergy Carrier, Miracle Blanket, RatzerFratzer burp cloths, Bellybars, Scout Organic Baby T, Smith+Hawken gardening kit, Trader Joe’s New Cookbook, and of course a Rookie Mom’s Handbook! [see more details on the loot here]

Most music classes for children provide a free trial class. Take advantage of these freebies before committing to a paid class. Try to talk your other mama friends into joining you so it’s the most fun for YOU.

• Kindermusik Village classes are for babies under 18 months and each class is 45 minutes long.
• Music Together is mixed age classes up to age five and the classes are an hour long.
• In Berkeley, Jingle Jamboree is for ages 6 mos to 15 mos.

Yes, I’m talking about your baby’s other grandparents.

It seems like there are only two ways to go: the high road and the low road.

High road: Become bff’s with your mother-in-law and never ever put your husband in the middle. Learn how to defuse even the most irritating situations with your good humor and self esteem in tact.

Check out the new book The Daughter-in-Law Rules: 101 Surefire Ways to Manage (and Make Friends with) Your Mother-In-Law! for ideas on that path. Heather read the whole book in one sitting and is eagerly awaiting Carol’s next visit to kill her with kindness.

Low road: Bitch to your girlfriends and turn to the Internets for anonymous support. I might be inviting criticism here, but may I suggest that one way to deal with someone who annoys you is to complain about them to others who do not know them.

Either way, venting to your partner is a really bad idea when it’s his parents you’re bitching about. That’s, as Dionne Warwick would say, what friends are for. And today, that’s what the Internet is for.

A friend asked me to start this thread because Read the rest of this entry »