by Whitney
Tomorrow night (April 30, 2008) from 5-10 pm is “$0.31 Scoop Night” at Baskin Robbins, and sadly I am way overthinking whether or not our readers will be interested in this. Why? Because I am immersed in anti-sugar parenting trends, and my friends who do treat their toddlers to ice cream go to fancy pants stores where organic milk is coupled with seasonal fruit and all natural ingredients to produce gourmet ice cream. I’m not kidding.
So when I’m offered dirt-cheap ice cream and an outing that will surely make my 3 year-old three and a half year old (whose half-birthday is today, so clearly we should be celebrating all week) jump for joy, and I feel guilty instead of delighted, I have to remind myself “don’t be an idiot”. Moms and preschoolers deserve ice cream.
And if your baby is too young for ice cream, like seven weeks old, or not even born yet, then you really have no excuse to not hit the local B&R. Place baby in sling and go inside and spend $0.31.
by Whitney
If you don’t have the mental space to read a non-parenting book, Operating Instructions could be your compromise. Have you ever gotten in the shower with your underwear on? So has the author.
Heather read this book cover-to-cover while visiting her in-laws. But it can also be enjoyed in bits and pieces if you don’t have a solid block of time.
by Whitney
Taking the baby in the pool is both scary and funny.
If you are alone, think carefully through the logistics of how you are going to change your clothes, change baby, get in the pool, get out of the pool, get on dry stuff and get back in the car. You are not as smart as you used to be and you will probably mess up part of this process and end up walking out to your car in just a bra and towel holding your baby in one arm and a diaper between your teeth. Let me just help you out: Take your stroller with you into the dressing room. That way you have someplace to put the baby, towels, wet bathingsuits and diaper bag while you get dry yourself.
In El Cerrito, there is a beautiful saline community pool and we take the babies in to splash around during family swim. At Berkeley High, there’s a warm pool reserved for seniors and babies. Friday afternoon there’s a drop in class for $4.50. Check the PDFs linked from this page for details.
Here’s a list of all the San Francisco public pools… only $3.
This is also a fun activity for a very pregnant friend.
by Heather
As I stare down the gun barrel of being alone with one toddler and one newborn while my beloved husband returns to work, I simply don’t know how we’re going to eat dinner anymore. But I think I have it covered for at least one night a week.
I’m going to declare next Monday (and all Mondays forever into the future) Crock Pot Night.
On Sunday, when we’re having our regularly scheduled family time and Holden is napping, we will choose a meal from Not Your Mothers Slow Cooker Cookbook and chop our vegetables. On Monday morning, I will throw everything into the crock pot at some moment of leisure (or during several stolen fragments of moments) and let the food just stew until dinner time. Voila!
If all goes well, Monday’s dinner will be hot and edible and the rest of the week we will have delicious leftovers for lunches. Also in this fantasy, Holden will happily eat what we eat and stop spilling his big-boy cup on purpose.
