From the category archives:

Free/Cheap

‘Nuff said.

Publish your own I Spy book

January 16, 2012

We are big fans of the I Spy books, starting with the board book versions I bought when Julian was a baby. We play “I Spy” with regular books, too, and now we’ve graduated into Where’s Waldo? territory. When Julian was four, he and I did a little photo shoot with big plans — still [...]

Toddler fun: sitting in boxes

December 28, 2011

To accommodate our holiday guests in our tiny dining room with its four-top table, my husband ordered a new camping table from Amazon.com. It arrived in a cardboard box big enough for a 7-year old boy and a 4-year old girl to lie down in. How do I know this? Because my kids got in [...]

‘Nuff said.

Before and after: a baby gift transformed

November 15, 2011

I hope the person who gave this stool to us can forgive me for what I have done. We received this stool as a gift when Julian was born. Six and a half years later, the boy had zero interest in sports, and I felt like the stool just doesn’t suit him. And so I [...]

Activity #328: Host a clothing swap party

November 14, 2011

Nine months on, nine months off? Something like that. Your 46th weekly challenge is to obtain some new-to-you clothes that you’ll enjoy along with an afternoon of girlfriend hilarity all for the cost of some cucumber-scented spa water. The end of the year is a perfect time to plan a clothing swap. Whitney totally hates [...]

‘Nuff said.

Activity #507: Order dough at a restaurant

November 2, 2011

By the time you have a toddler, you probably know the best way to keep a small child occupied is to show them something they’ve never seen before (no, not TV). And how about something that they can smoosh, squeeze, or secretly taste a tiny nibble of? Even better! In our not-so-recent blog blast, SusieJ [...]

Try a half-sleepover

October 24, 2011

When our kids were younger, Heather was a little bit obsessed with putting them to bed at each other’s houses in order to allow us to have nighttime plans with each other. We pulled this off quite a bit when we were rookie moms. With two kids each now, it’s not really worth the hassle; [...]

‘Nuff said.

Take a pumpkin picture

October 17, 2011

Your 42nd weekly challenge is a seasonal photo assignment. You can’t take a bad picture in a pumpkin patch. Good assignment, right? Find a pumpkin patch. Go. Take pictures. Use hay as a background, too. If you do this, we would LOVE to see your photos on our rookiemoms facebook page. Is your baby [...]

Mom and baby costume idea: Owl in a tree

October 14, 2011

This homemade owl beanie is so cute, I had to share. Not only is it a simple sewing project, similar to the make a baby hat out of a tshirt post I did a few years ago, but the whole Owl in a Tree is a clever mom and baby costume idea. The mom behind [...]

‘Nuff said.

Test drive some baby classes

October 10, 2011

Most classes for babies provide a free trial experience. Take advantage of these freebies before committing to a paid class. Try to talk your other mama friends into joining you so it’s the most fun for YOU. Your 41st weekly challenge is to contact a local music, dance, or exercise class for moms and babies, [...]

Activity #109: Explore all the senses

September 19, 2011

Whitney ran into my friend Jeanine outside her house. Jeanine was helping her 9-month old daughter, Pepper, touch some furry lavender sticking out from Whitney’s garden, and didn’t realize whose house it was. The girls had been going on a sensory tour of the neighborhood. Try it yourself to keep the neighborhood walks interesting: Stop [...]

‘Nuff said.

Activity #257: Meow, bark and tweet at the pet store

September 12, 2011

My friend Mary (who had her son Del in the same hospital the day after I had Julian) gave this idea to our moms group. She said that 13-month old Del loves the pet store where he can check out the animals, especially the birds. Does your baby love animals? Mine really did (and still [...]

Is time-out a waste of time?

August 23, 2011

I bet you are hoping that I know the answer to this question. I sure don’t. The school that Julian attended for his bridge-K year asked us not to use time-outs at home. We stopped using that term, but called it “taking a break” and it meant pretty much the same thing. Now that Scarlett [...]

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