Musings About Life... After Birth

Big Bro’s gearing up for his first full year of preschool. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:15 until 12:15, Mom he will experience three hours of bliss

a day filled with art, play, snacks, story time and socializing. I’m not sure who in our house is the most excited.

Of course, there’s a huge list of things I need to pack for his little cubby - a bag of extra clothes, a bag of diapers, a little tote bag, etc. - all of which must be “clearly labeled with his name”.  Sure, I could take a Sharpie to everything, but because it’s Southern, slightly preppy me, I had to do it a little cuter. For my labeling, I’ll be affixing some “Madras Navy” vinyl stickers from Whitney English (printed up with his name on them, of course) to all of his things.

In addition to being adorable, of course, I love that these stickers are waterproof and therefore able to withstand spills, the dishwasher, the sprinkler, the ocean - you name it. They can also be used as gift stickers, book plates, lunch labels, whatever.

Of course, the stickers come in all sorts of other cute little designs. Here are some of my favorites:

Vinyl Stickers from Whitney English. LOVE them.

Long car trips with kids are about as enjoyable as visits from your mother-in-law (well, not if you’re Momtourage member Alison, because hers, Grandmomtourage member Marcia, is awesome). Whether it’s watching four straight hours of Dora, stopping for 15 potty breaks or enduring screams from your baby until you find a rest stop at which you can feed him, car rides with the kids can be so excruciating that you’re tempted to bag family car trips until your kids are in middle school.

There are a few road trip essentials that can make your car trip easier, however. Here are three of my favorites:

1) Munchkin Car Bottle Warmer, $6.39, amazon.com

Store your bottles cold, but when it comes time for a feeding, pop one into this handy warmer, which plugs into any car adapter outlet. Bonus: it also works for baby food jars as well! And don’t worry about leaving it plugged in amidst the chaos - there’s an safety switch that shuts off the warmer when the bottle or jar is removed.

2) Sony DVPFX810/L Portable DVD Player, $129.99, amazon.com

When we got our SUV (I know, I know, I am contributing to the destruction of the planet…. but seriously, it holds so much stuff and so many people!), my husband and I opted to not add the built-in DVD player. Initially, I regretted the decision, but now, I realize that if we had it, each and every car ride with Big Bro would involve begging to watch “Bigfoot Presents: Meteor and the Mighty Monster Trucks”. With a portable DVD player, however, you get to control when the viewing opportunities present themselves. For a total “serenity now” moment, invest in some headphones as well.

3) Toy catalogs

When your kids have had their fill of movies, bust out the reading material. Because books can be a little short (read: not sufficiently attention-holding), I always have a stack of toy catalogs on hand. Nothing keeps big bro occupied more than looking at toy catalogs; honestly, he can leaf through one for a good 45 minutes. To get yourself hooked up, go to some of your favorite toy brands’ websites (try learningcurve.com, step2.com and intplay.com) and request a catalog of their products or hang on to those One Step Aheads that come in your mailbox every week..

What are your car-trip survival tips?

I’m so into watching the Olympics. If I had it my way, I’d spend the next three weeks curled up on he sofa, bag of Trader Joe’s chocolate covered pretzels in hand, fixated on the efforts of Michael Phelps and the tiny little gymnasts. Unfortunately, that’s not gonna happen, so I’ve been trying to get Big Bro as into the viewing as I am, hoping that it eclipses “Bigfoot Presents: Meteor and the Mighty Monster Trucks” and “Word World” as his preferred television viewing.

Today I watched pairs diving with him. He liked it so much that he is now “diving” off of everything - the sofa, his bed, etc.

The way I see it, he’ll either end up in the emergency room or in the 2028 Games.

Even though D.C.‘s been experiencing the rainiest summer we’ve ever had in like, a million years, I still need to water the herbs I’m growing on my deck every so often. I’ve got thyme, basil, mint, oregano and rosemary, which all look quite pretty. If only I actually used them when I cook. I’ll get on that eventually…..

Watering cans, though exceptionally practical and necessary, are tough to store - especially when storage space is a premium, which is the case at my house. Because their shape is weird (namely, because their spouts stick so far out), they take up a lot of room. Additionally, their awkward shapes can make for difficult filling - when doing so, you gotta angle them in some weird way to make them fit under your faucet because few actually can sit inside your sink bowl. Annoying, right? Well, at the beginning of the summer, I found OXO’s Pour and Store Watering Can at my local hardware store, and it is rocking my world, thanks to its long spout, which swivels both out to water and back inside towards the body of can, making it all neat and compact for filling and for storage.

Here it is “regular”:

and here it is “tucked in”:

These watering cans come in all sorts of pretty colors (I have the blue) and sizes. A 1-quart “mini” size will run you 9.99 on amazon.com, whereas the 2.11 gallon big daddy is $24.99, also on amazon.com.

Every now and then, I do find that the little things make me happy. Imagine that.