An advent calendar: It always sounds like a good idea. The chocolate ones are easy, until you have more than one mouth clamoring for each day’s candy. The homemade ones with a daily Christmas activity look great, too — until you sit down to come up with 25 Christmas activities, let alone 25 activities suitable […]
Mom guilt is real, but don’t let it steal from this special time: 10 practical ways to combat it
Maybe you’ve seen the meme: (Some of us have to shorten it to “I kept the kids alive.”) Most moms on the planet feel that deep-down nagging that they aren’t perfect parents, I think. “Mommy guilt”: that they’re coming up short on shaping their children’s character, intellect, happiness or opportunity; that they might be […]
The Messy Test Kitchen: Which common window cleaning method is most effective?
The sun is shining, birds are chirping, flowers are blooming — time to throw open those windows and air out the house. Those filthy, filthy windows. There must be some sign on them that only kids can see that says “wipe your grubby mitts here.” Window cleaning is a chore that I don’t get […]
The Messy Test Kitchen: A Comparison of popular baby wraps & carriers
And now, straight from the laboratories of … well, my messy kitchen: a highly scientific review of four best-selling contraptions for wearing your new (needy, unpredictable) baby. Some parents are looking for a carrier to take their child hiking. Others want a hands-free way to hold a fussy baby and get dinner on the table. […]