Rookie Moms

Surely someone has angered you in the past few months, whether it is an individual such as Lindsay Lohan or a company like Sprint. An open letter will allow you to get your rage out and share it with a wider audience. When you use an open letter to start a dialogue, the best part is that you got to go first and get it all out there, uninterrupted.

If you are reading this web site, you have probably searched on a term like “6 month old activities”, “dream feed”, or “hospital packing list” so I will jump to the conclusion that you are hormonally imbalanced. You may have even searched on “what the fuck does my newborn want from me at 3 am she just ate at 2 am.” I know that’s what I’ll be googling later tonight. With all that craziness running through your pregnant or postpartum body, you surely have an open letter that needs to be written. Need to inform Shannen Doherty why you just cannot watch anymore 90210 reruns? Are you disappointed in Target’s summer fashions? Want to convey your position on Windows to Bill Gates? Did Continental Airlines treat you bad just one too many times?

Here’s mine, directed at Mimi Maternity. If you blog yours, please paste the URL here so we can all enjoy! Who will be the target of your wrath?

I never really cared much for beer (which doesn’t mean I haven’t consumed my fair share of it). I kept trying, though, because a lot of women who I think are cool have a taste for beer. Then something weird happened: I grew a baby inside me, birthed him and began to breastfeed. Next thing I know, I want me some beer. Pretty much every night. Even stranger, more than a year later, I finish up my job as a milk-maker, and once again, no taste for beer. I’ve heard similar stories from other people.

Well, we already told you to drink beer once, back when you were crying more. But now, maybe do it for fun.

My recommendations in the East Bay:

• Kensington Circus Pub - mediocre food, but very kid friendly. Eat early, drink early, go to bed early.
• Parkway Movie Theatre - pizza, movie, beer — hurry, you’re about to graduate! No babies past 12 months old allowed.
• Albatross on San Pablo - better when the kid’s not there I think, because you can play board games without worrying about choking hazards.
• Your neighbor’s house - make friends with someone who lives within walking distance and bring a six-pack in your stroller’s under-carriage when you go for a visit. Place baby next to toys and enjoy.
• Jupiter - lovely outdoor space on Shattuck.

Let me first tell you that we don’t do this nearly enough. Hosting a webcast is a great way to show your family what handling the baby is really like. He may be adorable and make faces, he may try to flip out of your arms, or he may cry his head off… so much better than a still photo!

If you have a webcam at home, you can use Yahoo! Messenger to host a private video conference call with junior as the star. Grandparents, uncles, aunts will be delighted.

The service is totally free and doesn’t require any special hardware on their end.

When Julian and I walked into the house at 7 pm one day this week, Rookie Dad remarked that it was the first time in months that he got home from work to an empty house. I was happy for him. I thought he should have been laying on the couch, but we found him chopping vegetables. Oh well, we did our best.

The challenge is to pack up, hit the road with a friend, and stay out of the house until bedtime. Heather and I went on an awfully big adventure recently. We put both carseats in her car, packed in the boys, their snacks and various milk sources, and went out to do some random activities that have already been suggested on this web site. We put the boys in a photo booth and as you can see on the left, we struggled to keep them both in the frame.

Note: If you are going to try this one, allow yourself half an hour to deal with the carseat adjustments the first time. The second time we did it, it took less than ten minutes.

In our excitement over being in one car together, we both forgot to bring our strollers, so we rented them at a mall. Yes, we felt like superfreaks with these bumper-car strollers, but the boys were happy.

Part of the adventure is discovering what you have forgotten to bring and making a scavenger hunt out of finding a solution.