From the category archives:

Month 4

Activity #301: Host an ugly baby (clothes) contest

June 20, 2011

Dress up your baby in the worst, ugliest gift outfit and invite over some other poorly dressed babies for a costume party and ugly-clothing contest. Dorky gifts, ratty hand-me-downs, and hopeless mismatches can finally have their day. Try not to be offended if your idea of cutest-outfit-ever winds up on one of the other models. [...]

Activity #80: Let your infant dress himself

May 18, 2011

I used to see 3-year olds around town dressed in wild combinations of stripes, gingham, rainbow tights and superhero capes. I wondered when my baby would look that creative and charming.* Then it dawned on me and I began to create wild combinations and increase the creativity in my infant’s wardrobe. If your baby is [...]

Walk into nature

April 18, 2011

Hiking with your baby is easier than you might think. Oh sure, you’ll need to be prepared just like when you go practically anywhere, but the exercise and fresh air are a little bit magical. Your challenge for this week is to find a pal (or a whole moms’ group), choose an easy hiking trail, [...]

Activity #263: Enjoy modern art

March 21, 2011

A fun suggestion from our friend and fellow rookie mom, Rosa, is to pack yourself up and head into the city for a museum outing. Assume you go to a cocktail party sometime soon. When someone asks what you do, instead of mumbling about maternity leave or bursting into tears when you think about how [...]

Activity #30: Turn your sleeping baby into art

September 14, 2010

The other day Milo fell asleep in his car seat, and I took his picture. Then I put a few props around him and shot a few more. I stopped at a stuffed pig and Whitney called me the under-achiever version of Mila’s Daydreams. (Or a G-rated version of PutStuffOnHerBadMother.com) Have you already heard about [...]

On being alone, even though you are probably not alone

August 24, 2010

I saw this video “How to Be Alone” on my friend Andrea‘s blog and it stuck with me. I like the style and the tone, so there’s that. But mostly I wanted to share it because I believe loneliness is the aspect of new motherhood that is most surprising. Do you agree? I thought some [...]

Activity #235: Do baby bench press

June 30, 2010

Do you want to squeeze in some exercise during your day? But also just want to lay around? While lying on the floor, hold baby above you and rhythmically lower baby to your face, kiss baby’s face all over, and raise baby back up again… I used to like to say “kiss the baby” when [...]

Go to the drive-in (movie)

June 14, 2010

Rookie mom, Emily, suggested hitting the drive-in movie as a great baby-on-board date night. The last time I went to a drive-in I was driving cross-country with my pal, Rachel, and we actually watched the movie Twister (in which a drive-in theater is decimated by a tornado). I only wish the drive-ins near Berkeley were [...]

Activity #373: Get more out of Goodnight Moon

May 3, 2010

When we first added Goodnight Moon to our bedtime ritual, I thought, “This book is sort of boring.” After a few months, I thought “This book is painfully boring.” One day, my friend Sunny said, “I see new things in that book every time I look at it.” Um, what? So I started paying more [...]

Activity #188: Cook and freeze

April 28, 2010

When you bother to cook, double it and freeze half. Make sure to freeze in portions that you’ll want to use because nothing bums me out faster than trying to defrost the entire basketball-size brick of beef stew because I can’t snap off a portion for me and Alec. Ideas for meals to cook and [...]

5 Super green baby activities

April 22, 2010

You know how everyone wants you to buy green stuff in order to do your part for the Earth? Well, being green is more than just buying more crap we don’t need, it’s also getting our hands dirty planting a garden, annoying your family by turning out the lights when they’re still in the room, [...]

Activity #300: Be in love

February 13, 2010

Scrounge around for some pictures of you and your mate together from when you first started out dating and wooing. Make a collage and put it on the fridge to remember your pre-baby lives. It can be as easy as tacking up a few old favorites that have been sitting in a drawer (bungee-jumping, wine [...]

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