September 2008

A couple of months ago, I wrote on the Rookie Moms blog (where we write about whatevs, as opposed to this site which is just activities) about my husband Ryan using RSS feeds to find Tickle Me Elmo and Wii. A few people wanted more details. Here they are as explained by Ryan:

An easy way to keep an eye on Craigslist for stuff you are looking to buy is to set up what they call a “personalized RSS feed”. That way you’ll be able to keep an eye on new items being listed on Craigslist directly on My Yahoo, iGoogle, Bloglines, or whatever you use to look at to RSS feeds on your PC, Mac, or Iphone. (Editor: I use Google Reader)

Simply go to Craigslist.org for your local area, and search for the thing you want (make your search as specific as possible so that you only see what you care about; you can also include a price range when searching). In the lower right you’ll see an orange “RSS” button. Click it.

At this point, your browser should help you add this search to your RSS reader, but you can also do this manually by copying the URL up in your browser’s toolbar, and then pasting it into your feed reader yourself.

Once that’s done, keep an eye on the results as they come through. Once you’ve found and bought what you needed, just delete this feed from your reader and all is forgotten.

Really Hard to Find Stuff

For that extra-hard-to-find item (video game consoles like Wii, Elmo craziness, etc.) there are services, many free, that will send you a text message or instant messaging alerts once the item you want becomes in-stock at some online store.

Good example for Wii is http://wiialerts.com/

There are also forums where people obsessively track deals, including for hard to find items. One of the best is SlickDeals. You can see all of the kid’s deals by clicking here.

… but be careful not to start convincing yourself to buy things that you don’t need!

Somewhere in Connecticut, totally unbeknownst to us, a pregnant Jessica Rich started looking for some peers and pals having babies around the same time and created the first ever Rookie Moms Meetup. Now the group is up to 18 moms. And Jessica is set to have her baby any day now.

They get together for strollercize, playground playdates, and other rookie-mom challenges that Jessica sets out for the group. How awesome is that? And why didn’t we think of it? A group of rookie moms is using our book as a springboard for their new mama adventures. We couldn’t be more thrilled.

To create your own group:

1. use meetup.com (like Jessica), mothersclick.com or even Craig’s List to find local, like-minded mamas.
2. pitch out ideas with locations and dates (not everyone can do everything, but try to get and keep dates on the calendar) — you’re the Julie McCoy
3. go with the vibe of the group.

Sometimes it can be hard to be a ringleader for a group of sleep-deprived and busy women trying to keep to nap schedules. We’ve both tried it. For years. With mixed levels of success.

I asked Jessica all about their group (and how they found the book) and how it was going and she told me:

I honestly don’t remember where I heard about your book, but I remember thinking “I need a copy of this!” and went out to Barnes and Noble that day and picked one up.

The northeastern part of Connecticut is kind of sparsely populated and there are not a lot of mom’s groups in the area. To be honest, there’s not a lot of anything in our area. This part of the state is called “The Quiet Corner”…We’re getting a Target this fall, its a big deal.

When I got pregnant, I started looking around for a mom’s group. I wasn’t surprised when I didn’t find anything right here. All the groups were in Rhode Island or the southeastern part of Connecticut.

I wanted something in my backyard, so I started a group. I really didn’t have the faintest idea what I was doing (still don’t, to be honest). I was surprised and excited when someone joined my group (nobody wants to be that kid in school that’s all by themselves on the playground, especially since I really was that kid…I didn’t want to be her all over again as an adult). Now there are more than a dozen of us, which is saying something given how small the overall population is here.

Obviously, necessity is the mother of invention. Whitney and I created this website as our means to cope with boredom and loneliness and to reach the goal of having something fun to do with our babies every day. Jessica and her friends found their own forum. You go girls!

If any other readers are in rookie moms meet-up groups, we’d be happy to feature you on rookiemoms.com, drop us a note.

• Learn how to do anything in 5 steps with AlphaMom’s new Guide to Everything
• Fix a t-shirt that’s become too tight for your, um, curvy body with this idea I found on craftster.
• Get some tips for breastfeeding on a plane.
• Plan one of these ten free date ideas — or send them to your partner as a hint.
• Download this hood pattern to make a costume for yourself or your little one. Photo and pattern by Teresa Franco.