Rookie Moms

Hey small town folks — this one’s for you! Christi from small.town.fun wrote up a bunch of excellent suggestions to get you through the good days and the rotten-weather days with your small child in Iowa.

She writes:

Des Moines is a small, but fairly cosmopolitan town. We’re surrounded on all sides by larger cities such as Chicago, Minneapolis and Kansas City, so we have a little bit of a complex. Being surrounded has its good points - we have lots of opportunities to see how the other half lives and welcome anyone who brings a new flavor to our small town. We were one of the first cities to take in refugees from The Sudan and Bosnian genocides, and are lucky to have exposure to their cultures, as well. The weather here is super unpredictable, so there’s as much to do indoors as out. I’ve left Sunday up to your imagination, since there’s good and bad weather listings.

MONDAY — Play around or stroll around
Bad Weather: The Playground For Kids in Ankeny (open 10am – 8pm Mondays, hours vary other days) is an indoor romper room that kindly features a toddler area for kids 6mos - 3yrs. They have foam blocks and such that small children can climb/lean/lay on. $5 for children under one; $7 if they’re older.

Backyard Adventures is a playground showroom that also offers open play times (9:30am – 7:30pm, Mondays) during the week (closed weekends). It’s not ideal for little, little ones, but it is kid-friendly, has the hugest collection of Melissa & Doug paraphernalia I’ve ever seen and is populated by other moms. It’s free for kids under 2, and $5 if they’re older. You can bring lunch to eat in their lunchroom, use their refrigerator, and they even have paper plates/utensils if you need them.

Both offer private party times.

Good Weather: Take a stroller around Gray’s Lake or Raccoon River Park’s paved trails. This is a great way to meet other moms and get some exercise in. It’s perfect for those of you who have early risers, and you can hit one early and the other later in the day. Both have playgrounds, but Raccoon River has separate facilities for smaller kids, is newer and is semi-covered. It also features sprinklers in the summer and a very nice sand pit.

TUESDAY — Hit the mall or the fairgrounds
Bad Weather: Jordan Creek Mall and play area. After a baby, you learn pretty quickly to only care what other people think when you’re actually doing something wrong. That is why spending an entire morning or afternoon at the mall is okay. Let your little one play with the offerings at Pottery Barn, show them the computer games and music at the Apple store, check out minnows at Scheels Sporting Goods, nurse in the Nursing Rooms (I think there are at least three), eat at the food court Subway and “fake” shop while they nap in their stroller. (I say “fake” shop because I managed to run my credit card up into the millions by engaging in this very behavior at Target during my son’s early days. That said, Target is a great place to entertain very young children.) They also have a Mommy Movie on Tuesdays. PS. Do not under any lack of sleep bad decision-making, take your precious gift to the play area on a Friday night. To quote my husband on our one ill-fated attempt, “It’s like Lord of the Flies in there.”

Good Weather: The Iowa State Fairgrounds are an under-utilized, but ideal place to take little ones. Paved sidewalks for strollers, lots of grassy area and there’s usually some animal show or another going on. It’s free in the off-season and opens at 8am. During the Fair, go during the early morning hours to get a close-to-the-farm experience and to avoid crowds. Discount tickets available. Evenings feature free entertainment, so grab some other parents and head out for a babysitter-free night on the town. PS. We love to hit the area county fairs. Most are free, have a ton of kiddie rides and sell good food at half or less the price of the big state fair. Try the Warren County Fair in Indianola for starters.

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As part of the Mother Talk Blog Tour for Arianna Huffington’s book On Becoming Fearless, I wrote up my thoughts on the book and posted them on our blog. Huffington’s new book focuses on big picture fears, the ones that hold us back in life: fears of success, of heartache, of dying, of failing.

Once I moved past my rookie year of motherhood, I was ready to work on some of those issues. That first year, however, my world was so small and my fears were so sharply surprising and unfamiliar, I was not able to look beyond my immediate surroundings. I could only focus on my baby and surviving my new role as a working mom. I feel ok about that now. I can’t apologize for it, and I fully expect to repeat that experience when my second child arrives this summer.

All over again, I might be afraid to leave the house, to nurse in public, to commit to a social engagement, or to wear anything that makes me look worse than I already feel.

So, in honor of Fearless Friday, I invite our newbie mom readers to do something that scares them. Whether it’s drive into the city with your baby, take a shower while she’s lying in her crib, breastfeed at a department store, mix up a bottle during an errand, or change a diaper in the trunk of your car.

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I just read about the service, Flipclips.com, in Real Simple magazine, so the next long nap I get to myself will be spent on the computer messing with the video clips I have of Julian.

They let you upload a video and then make some selections to customize your flipbook. It costs $9 and apparently the length and format of video you can take on your digital camera is sufficient.

I love this idea as a way to capture physical milestones like sitting up (make sure to end with the falling-over part), clapping, or pulling up to a stand. I know a flip book is small enough for the grandmothers to carry in their purses. Plus it allows them to not only say “how cute is my grandson?” but also “how clever is my [step] daughter [in-law]?”

Some videos that I already have that may be Flipclips-worthy are: bouncing like a crazy man in his Jumparoo (month 7), smiling while swinging at the playground (month 5), playing peekaboo with Ryan’s boxer shorts (month 10).

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Put your baby on the floor and walk away… Hmmm, it can seem strange to set your precious bundle in the middle of the floor, but the best exercise is back time and tummy time so get used to it. Apparently, swings, chairs, and jumpers are for our convenience (you know, so we don’t have to keep the floors as clean).

When the kid is on his back, he will naturally exercise his little body. And without the straps of the bouncy chair, the poop is less likely to explode out. And if you need just one more reason, this gives you an excuse to lay down, too.

ps Use a blanket and keep your floors as dirty as you want.