I recently discovered that my 3-year-old LOVES having tea parties. His play is an uncomplicated exercise that basically involves repeatedly pouring out pretend tea for those in attendance, while asking over and over and over (AND OVER), “Want MORE?”. If these parties were based in reality, his stuffed animals would be long expired, their bladders having burst and their systems succumbed to electrolyte imbalance triggered by water intoxication — but as long as he’s not practicing for any upcoming fraternity hazing activities, I find the practice fairly charming. 

Well, for the first ten minutes, anyway. It tends to get a little old after that. Oh, did I mention that I am a Honored Invitee of these events? And that I am expected to say “YES PLEASE” over and over and over and over, while knocking back cup after cup of invisi-tea? Not only that, but I must supply the squeaky voices of the bears and so on, because they too would like some tea, MORE PLEASE!

Anyway! So: tea parties. We’ve been using random cups and things from around the house, but I’ve been considering the option of giving him his own tea set. I know, a tea set for a boy? WHY NOT JUST BUY HIM A BRA.

In poking around online, I came across a number of cute sets that aren’t too, well, girly. Not that there’s anything wrong with a boy using a girly tea set, mind you, but some are even too foofy for ME. In case you happen to be looking for your own Non-Floral Tea Set, here’s what I found: Read the rest of this entry »

I seem to be on a roll recently with disappointing purchases.  One person’s bad purchase can be another person’s good purchase, especially when the problem is with a purely subjective things such as scent or flavor, but it can still be helpful to know what someone else wouldn’t buy again.  I’ll tell you mine, and then you tell me yours and maybe I can get off this roll.

This one was totally my own fault:  I KNOW I don’t like fruit scents.  But I love Consumer Reports, and they rated the Gain Joyful Expressions fabric softener very highly, and Target only had it in Apple Mango Tango scent.  In the washing machine, it smells like apple cider.  After the clothes are dry, the scent reminds me of a faint lingering mildew smell.  It’s a great fabric softener, though, and someone who likes apple-scented stuff would probably love it.  Er, perhaps not after I’ve said it smells like mildew. Read the rest of this entry »

I recently received a request to cover gym bags as a topic, which made me happy because O, how I love looking at bags. Diaper, laptop, purse, it doesn’t matter — bags are one of my favorite things to web-window-shop.

I actually could use a new gym bag, since I’ve just been carrying my purse when I go to work out. It’s a tote shape so it works decently for carrying the things I need (iPod, towel, water bottle, keys) but I do notice I’m the only person mincing around the weight room with a, you know, purse. I have a largish duffle bag I could use, but that seems like overkill — I don’t change at the gym, so I don’t need to bring along clothes, shoes, and toiletries.

Don’t you think I need a new bag? COME ON TELL ME I NEED TO SHOP FOR A NEW BAG.

Ahem. Anyway, here are some bags (big and small) I’ve been looking at: Read the rest of this entry »

I love my handheld vacuum cleaner. My regular vacuum cleaner is almost completely unemployed, while my handheld vac is called into service half a dozen times a day. The regular vacuum has to be hauled out, plugged in, set up; the handheld just has to be grabbed out of its perch. The regular vacuum has choked on a coin, a piece of dental floss, a small flat metal star; the handheld can eat all those things AND an entire crayon and not even flinch.

I have the Black & Decker 15.6V Dust Buster. (Me to my mother, when a sale on the 15.6V brought it to almost the same price as the 14.4V: “What’s the difference?” My mother to me: “Larger number = noisier”) I like it a lot; it’s been a great vacuum. But we broke the piece that keeps stuff from falling back out of the hole it gets sucked into, and so I’m in the market for a new one and looking for input. Read the rest of this entry »

As far as I’m concerned, one of the best investments we’ve put into our house is the corner soaking tub in the master bathroom. It wasn’t cheap, but I use it every single night, and it’s big enough to fit all four of us in its soapy depths.

(Sure, someone’s toes might kick you in an unpleasant location, and sure, someone is bound to produce a thrilling arch of pee, but still: a toddler, a baby, and two adults in one tub! As long as no one poops, it’s all good.)

My solo bathtime is right before bed, and I can literally feel the stresses of the day melting away under the hot water. It is one of my favorite rituals, and one that can only be improved by the right consumer products.

Which leads me to: bath soaps! Let me discuss my favorites with you: Read the rest of this entry »

Last summer I went on a car trip with a toddler and a newborn. Um, that was really fun! As you might imagine!

One thing that made a world of difference was the DVD player. Sweet, peaceful Steve bought us several happy hours during the day in the car, particularly toward the end of the day when traffic got bad and no one was in the mood for another car game or car song. I really, REALLY recommend an in-car DVD player of some sort (and a few fresh DVDs) if you are driving a long distance.

Toys for long trips are tricky. Ideally they should be hand-held, one-piece, non-messy, non-noisemaking, and long-entertaining. It’s hard to hit all those bases, but here are a few that came close. Read the rest of this entry »

On the days when my husband and I both work, dinners are always a challenge. I usually need to throw something together on the fly, while simultaneously feeding the toddler, entertaining the baby, and emptying the dishwasher from the night before. My goal: make something tasty and healthy, hopefully without creating a giant mess in the kitchen that I’ll just have to clean up afterwards.

Some handy tools that help me out in this endeavor: Read the rest of this entry »

My daughter has her third birthday coming up. She likes dinosaurs, so I spent an evening on Amazon.com looking for dinosaur stuff—ideally stuff I could get shipped for free. The evening went by so FAST. I thought, “You know, this was supposed to save me time over going to the store.” But look! I found some great stuff! And if YOU need dinosaur gifts for a child, perhaps this WILL save YOU time!

The first thing I found was Read the rest of this entry »