Gates Galore

I do not love baby gates. I mean, I love that they allow me to take a shower with the kids safely contained in their play room and keep the baby from falling down the stairs, but they are not pretty. And they rarely fit at the bottom of the stairs. And the good ones are $60 each and they still break quickly. Only two of my gates survived the move-plastic parts broke and I had to salvage parts from two gates to rebuild the gate at the top of the stairs. Boo. I decided to build something a bit more fun (and stylish and cheap) for the first floor gates.

Quick Fix: Conflict of interests, snow day

We had a conflict of interests this morning. Kiddo wanted to play in the first snow of the year (sans pants), Baby wanted to sleep in, Mommy wanted to take a shower (solo) and curl up with some tea on the couch.

So we got out my daytime parenting partner: the activity tray.

Animal Cruelty.

This looks like a sweet picture of a boy and his dog. It is not. This is a picture of a boy who has run a dog around in circles until she's too tired to move. The poor creature is just relieved that all he wants at the moment is a pillow.

Kiddo is filled with LOVE. Big, big, love. Rough and tumble, flying leap to hug your head when you aren't expecting it kind of love. Climb on your back until it gives out just to be near you love. Big, BIG love. My body doesn't like it, but I get it. Softie, our dog, well, she deserves a medal.

Guest Post: What Most People Don't Understand About Food Allergies

While Jen is dealing with her own egg allergies and trying to get her toddler's CSID under control, Jane reveals what it's like to live with an adult with serious food allergies.  While most of us can graze on whatever is on the free food table at work (really who doesn't say "Doughnuts..!  I shouldn't but....") And many of us can freely orient our social situations around drinking, snacking, and eating.  For some, meals are a gauntlet.

 Jane is a 30-something teacher who lives with her husband and naughty cat in Wisconsin.

Double Your Donation Challenge.

It seems like tough times are going viral these days. The recovery never really happened, pay for the working and middle class has been stagnant, and the price of everything has gone up. At my house, (and we can't be alone) the usual money stress (let's be real, every house has money stress) has been increased by an onslaught of medical bills (we are on track to meet two individual deductibles this year) and some urgent household repairs (the pipes backed up, the washer broke and had to be replaced, and a gutter cracked and must be replaced before winter), we need to save for my upcoming, unpaid maternity leave, and the holidays are coming. But still, we are the lucky ones. We have more than most.

Creating Life

While Jenny is busy creating real people life, we have ventured into the land of Sea Monkeys!  I am having an ethical dilemma regarding the little critters.  First of all, as evidenced by my fails to even grow bean sprouts and carrot tops, I'm a little shaky in the life sustaining department.  And then, my son was given a Sea Monkey "kit" for his birthday.