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Forest Fairies

Posted by Carolyn on August 5, 2016 Leave a Comment

Sometimes, when you go camping in the forest, the fairies find you.  I mean, this probably usually happens, but sometimes you see the evidence.

During our camping trip, the girls found beaded necklaces hanging in a tree by the fairy log.  As Alma put it, “This is AMAZING!”

Alma and Harriet wrote them a thank you note and let them know about our fairy door.  Lately Alma’s been pretty sad that the fairies have never visited us in the door.  I suggested that maybe the fairies just didn’t know about the door.  Alma had me write our address and that they should fly safely since it’s a long trip from Wind River.

During our trip, Alma lost her necklace in the rocks.  Luckily when we got home, the fairies had been there.  They left a note thanking Alma and Harriet for telling them about the fairy door and even returned Alma’s lost necklace.

There’s always time for a little bit of magic, right?

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Posted in: a little moment, CHOOSE, learned., nature, parented., parenting tips and tricks | Tagged: camping, fairies

When to Apologize?

Posted by Carolyn on January 13, 2016 4 Comments

Apologize: to offer an apology or excuse for some fault, insult, failure, or injury

Lately Alma has been doing something that concerns me.  She will say something silly, or do something goofy, and immediately say, “Sorry ’bout dat,” with a shrug and a self-depreciating eye roll.  For example, she will pronounce a word wrong, or mix up her words, or stumble a little bit.  Something about which she absolutely doesn’t need to feel sorry.

It reminds me of those studies that show that women, in group meetings or classes, will say, “I’m sorry…” then ask their question or make their comment.  I’m pretty sure I read about this in Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg, but I’ve been thinking about it for a long time.

It’s a hedge, something we say to fill space or make excuses.  How many times have you said your opinion and finished up with, “…but that’s just what I think,” in order to avoid a confrontation.  That’s a hedge.  So is saying you’re sorry, oftentimes.

And this phenomenon is certainly more common with women than with men.  I have been around groups of women who constantly apologize to each other, for every little thing.  Even if it’s the other person’s fault.  Even if it’s nobody’s fault.  How many times have you asked someone who was blocking your way to move by first saying sorry?  Why do we apologize to someone who is standing in the doorway, or blocking the thing we need, when it’s obvious that they’re in the wrong?

The act of saying you’re sorry when you’ve done nothing wrong makes us look weak.  It is admitting that we have no power in our situation.  It is admitting that we feel that what we have to say, or do, is less important than others.

I don’t want my daughters to believe this about themselves.  I want them to own their opinions, their actions, and their questions.  They are strong, and their voices are important.  I want them to know that they can ask their question, or make a correction, or add an opinion without being perceived as aggressive.  Moreover, I want them to know that it’s okay to be aggressive.  If they make a mistake, they can own it without apologizing, especially if it doesn’t affect anyone else, like when Alma mispronounces a word.

Raising daughters, this goes even further.  I don’t want my girls to ever apologize for not wanting to hug or kiss someone. I’ve written before about how I never make them hug or kiss anyone if they don’t want to. I want them to be strong and feel like they don’t ever have to apologize for this.  When they’re teenagers and young adults, I want them to be confident that they can turn down sexual advances without an apology.  They don’t have to do anything they don’t want to do, and they don’t have to apologize for it.

This all isn’t to say that I never want my kids to apologize.  I certainly want them to say they’re sorry when they’ve hurt someone.  I’ve started saying, “Only apologize when you’ve done something wrong” whenever Alma does this.  I want to break the habit.  There is a line in Sarah Kay’s poem “Point B” that says “always apologize when you’ve done something wrong but don’t you ever apologize for the way your eyes refuse to stop shining.”  And that’s really it, isn’t it?  I just want my girls to shine and not have to apologize about it.

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Posted in: a little moment, learned., letters for my daughters, parented., parenting tips and tricks, STRONG, writing | Tagged: alma, children, Daughters, family, harriet, I'm sorry, Life, Parenting, strong, writing

A Calendar for Alma

Posted by Carolyn on September 29, 2015 Leave a Comment

I got this idea from my friend Jodie (wife of author Anthony St. Clair).  Jodie is a beautiful artist of many things.  She is always creating, and her Instagram account is totally inspiring. I mean, I never thought I’d want to take up cross-stitch again, but she has me thinking about it.  You should totally follow her.

She is homeschooling her son who is Alma’s age.  She posted this photo a few weeks back:

andthenthey calendar jodiesI thought this was a great idea, but that Alma didn’t really need it.  Then I started listening to Alma.  Ever since my parents told her they were taking her camping, she’s been packing and talking all about it.  I have to constantly remind her, “No, Alma, not today.  Not this weekend… in 7 weeks!” and so on.

Today, on the way home from my mom’s house, I ran through EVERYTHING we’re doing in the next three months… “Okay, on Thursday we’re going apple picking.  Then on Saturday you’ll see cousin Liam.  Then we’re having friends over…. (etc etc etc)… then it’s Christmas, then dad’s birthday, then new year’s, then your birthday.”  I think it might have overwhelmed her a little.  Ha!

Anyway, Jodie’s calendar popped into my mind and I asked Alma if she’d like me to make one for her.  Of course she said yes.  So I did.   I’ll add things as they come up, and she can cross off the days.  I hope this helps!

October andthenthey calendarWe’ll put it on the kitchen door where we have lots of other important lists and stuff.  She said she wants it in her room, but her room is crazy town right now, so I know it will get lost or destroyed in there.

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Posted in: created., parented., parenting tips and tricks | Tagged: alma, calendar, children, creating, kids, october, Parenting, teaching

Goodness Gnomes, 2014

Posted by Carolyn on December 17, 2014 2 Comments

As I said last year, I’m going to do something as an alternative to Elf of the Shelf.  My inspiration came from the Kindness Elves.  My reality is still evolving (more on that later), but for this year, I settled on Goodness Gnomes.

They made their first appearance earlier this month.  As luck would have it, the girls got a package in the mail from my aunt Kim.  When I shook it, I could tell it was something Christmasy – I figured ornaments or something.  I decided it would be cool if the Goodness Gnomes delivered it to Alma and Hattie as a fun introduction.

When they girls woke up in the morning, they found that two gnomes had come through the fairy door with a package.

aIMG_5259They also had a note saying that they should name the goodness gnomes.  Alma named the red one Tasty, and Hattie named the blue one PuBa.

They loved the goodness gnomes.

aIMG_5271I thought to myself, “Yes!  It’s working!  My girls are amazing and I will be able to teach them all about kindness and goodness and giving!”

They opened the package and for the most amazing Christmas hats.  Seriously, my aunt is a knitting genius.  Hats with jingle bells.  I can’t even.  They are gorgeous.

aIMG_5261We had lots of fun that day.  Alma wore her hat to school.  Hattie kept hers on much longer than she usually keeps hats on.  We did lots of jingling.  And playing with Tasty and PuBa.

aIMG_5297 aIMG_5301But… the day was sort of hard on Tasty.  Alma took it upon herself to give him a shave.  He almost lost an arm.

aIMG_5543He has gone back through the fairy door.  He has not come back.  He might send some (more sturdy) friends next year (or maybe the next…) to continue this tradition.  For this year, my girls got a taste of magic and some amazing hats.  Good enough for me, I think!

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Posted in: a little moment, created., holidays, learned., parented., parenting tips and tricks | Tagged: Christmas, goodness gnomes, kindness elves, Parenting, puba, tasty, traditions

I’m the Best Mom Ever, and So Are You.

Posted by Carolyn on July 14, 2014 5 Comments

Alma loves Dumbo.  She loves the baby animals in the beginning, and she loves the train.

I was doing something in the same room while she was watching it.  The scene where Jumbo gets her new baby (finally… ummm… that part of her waiting while all the other mamas got their babies was so incredibly heartbreaking and true and horrible) and all her elephant friends are so excited and think her baby is just the cutest and darlingest and cunningest and achoo his ears fly out.

“Is it possible?”  “Isn’t there some mistake?”  “Just look at those E-A-R-S.”  “After all, who cares about her precious little Jumbo?”  “Jumbo, you mean Dumbo!”

Uggg.  The Mommy Wars.  This movie was made long before blogs, and podcasts, and Facebook, and Instagram.

This is the basis for The (so-called) Mommy Wars.  This is a representation of moms not supporting each other.  Jumbo loves her baby and does anything to protect him.  That’s what any and all of us are doing, right?

What is right for our kids?  Breastfeeding, formula, co-sleeping, sleep training, baby carriers, strollers, cloth diapers, disposable, screen time, music lessons, daycare, nannies, stay at home parents, preschool, home school, public school, private school, daily baths, weekly baths, spicy food, ice cream, time outs, time ins, rear facing, front facing?

I have done (or will do) almost all the things on this list.  I don’t feel bad about any of it.  I don’t think you’re a bad mom if you’ve done any of it, or none of it.

We are in this together.  We are all trying to raise and civilize little human beings.

All that being said, it’s so hard not to feel like I am the best mom ever.  When I think of the choices we have made as parents, I am confident.  I know that my choices are right.  But here’s the catch:  my choices are right for me, my family, and most importantly, my kids.

I have to constantly remind myself that what has worked for me and my kids won’t necessarily work for other kids.  When I forget this, that’s when the Mommy War starts to rear its ugly head into my world.

There are things that are important to me that I have to understand just aren’t that important to other families.  For example, it’s important to me that my kids have good table manners.  This means saying please and thank you.  This means using nice words, even when they don’t like the food.  This means trying everything.  This means asking to be excused and putting away their own plates.  This means staying at the table throughout dinner, especially at restaurants.  I have to remind myself that this isn’t universally important.  I also have to remind myself that it is completely a work in progress, and kids – even mine (haha… especially mine) – don’t get it right away.  When I find myself judging parents for the way their kids behave in restaurants, I know that I should give them the benefit of the doubt – maybe they try as hard as they possibly can to instill the same values that I have, but the kids are having a bad day.  Maybe this is their first time ever in a restaurant or their family never gets the chance to sit together for a meal.  Maybe it’s not such a big deal and I should chill out.  I need to remind myself that it doesn’t help anyone, least of all myself or my family, to have a feeling of superiority.

Because in the next moment, my kid will do something awful, or something that other peoples’ children would never ever ever ever do.  Or maybe something I don’t think is that big of a deal.

So, what I’m trying to say is that we should end these wars.  Let’s pull out of the state of constant comparison and competition.  Let’s all just rock our babies to sleep with our trunks, no matter how big their ears are, or how long they can sit at a table, or anything else.

Who’s with me?  And, ummm… how do we start?

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Posted in: parented., parenting tips and tricks | Tagged: children, dumbo, kids, mommy wars, Parenting, parents

Baby Led Weaning: How To Do It and What You’ll Need

Posted by andthenthey on March 27, 2014 2 Comments

And then They - Baby Led Weaning

Oh, the exciting time when your baby is old enough to sit up, interact with you, smile, laugh, and eat!  I’ll be honest with you.  I’m not really a baby person.  I like the little babies, sure, but I am always so excited for them to grow up a little and become more interactive and fun.  Six months is an amazing age – they are doing such fun things, and becoming more of an active part of the family.

In our family, we love dinnertime.  It is a time of day that we all gather and spend time together.  I remember long, lingering dinners growing up.  We sit at the table every night.  We light candles every night.  We use cloth place mats, and cloth napkins every night.  These are important to me

It is also important to me that my kids eat what we eat.  There are many reasons for this.  It’s nutritious, it broadens their palates, and most importantly, it’s easy.  I don’t need to cook three different dinners, and keep track of minute dietary details.  This leads us to Baby Led Weaning.

And Then They - Harriet BlueberriesFirst of all, I want to clear up a misconception.  The term weaning in this sense isn’t how Americans typically understand it (as in the taking away of something, like nursing, or bottles).  It means that you will start introducing foods to a baby’s diet, in addition to breast milk, or formula.  The baby should still be getting the huge majority of their food and nutrition from breast milk.

If you start your baby on pureed foods, you need a huge number of things:  food mill, food processor, jars, spoons, time, planning, processed baby food, money.  If you make your own purees, it is time consuming, messy, expensive.  If you buy pre-made baby food in jars, it’s also expensive, and you don’t really always know what’s in the jars.  You also always need to carry pureed food with you.

If you do Baby Led Weaning you need three things:

  1. A baby
  2. Food
  3. A sense of humor (and maybe a bib or two)

Seriously.  that’s all you need.  For real.

We did this with Alma, and she’s two now.  She’s the best eater I know.  She eats Thai food, Mexican food, vegetables, soups, and her favorite food is Sushi.  So, we are doing it again with Harriet.

And Then The - Alma Sweet PotatoI like to start with sweet potatoes, or yams, cut into French-fry shaped sticks, and roasted.  The shape is good for beginning eaters because it is easy to grasp and get to the mouth.  It’s important to only try one kind of food at a kind, and wait a couple days before trying the next, to make sure your baby doesn’t have a reaction.

We’ve been doing it for about a month with Harriet and she loves it.  Her favorite foods are roasted, then frozen cauliflower bites, blueberries, sweet potatoes, peas (so cute to see her pudgy little fingers pick up a pea and get it to her mouth), rice cakes, yogurt, applesauce, green beans, asparagus.

And Then They - Harriet EatingAnother plus to BLW is that it really encourages independence and fine motor skills.  Harriet can pick up a tiny pea, and get it to her mouth just fine.  She’s also getting pretty good at using a spoon to get applesauce from a bowl to her mouth.

It’s pretty amazing to see a little baby feeding herself.  She only has the beginnings of her two bottom teeth, but she can chew up all her food, work it around in her mouth, and swallow it, no problem.  It is so natural and instinctual (not like purees, if you ask me).

And Then They - 1 Harriet CauliflowerAnd Then They - 2 Harriet CauliflowerAnd Then They - 3 Harriet CauliflowerOne thing to be aware of is that babies will sometimes gag (this is the case in BLW, and with purees).  It is really important to understand that gagging is very different than choking.  Gagging is a sign that they are figuring it out, I see it as a sign of success when Harriet gags a little.  It teaches her how to keep the food in the right part of her mouth until she’s ready to swallow it.

One of my favorite parts of BLW is that we get to eat dinner as a family.  We each sit up at the table and eat.  Jesse and I get to enjoy our meals.  We’re not constantly focused on Harriet, trying to force feed her.  Harriet eats until she doesn’t want to eat anymore.

And Then They - Harriet CauliflowerI think it’s empowering.  Harriet gets to choose what she eats from what’s in front of her.  She gets to choose the pace in which she eats it.  She gets to choose when she’s had enough.

And Then They - Harriet popsicleShe’s a happy eater, so we’re a happy family!  Let me know if you have any fun baby feeding stories, or if you have any questions!  Cheers!

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Posted in: ate., new recipe, parented., parenting tips and tricks | Tagged: babies, Baby Led Weaning, BLW, cooking, food, kids, Parenting

Well, She’s Two.

Posted by andthenthey on March 18, 2014 2 Comments

Here’s our pre-dinner conversation with Alma, March 18th, 2014:

Alma: *trips over toy boat* AAAAAWWWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!
Dad: Oh no!  You’re okay!  Do you need a hug?
Alma: NOOOOO!!!! AWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHH  MOMMYYYYYYYY!
Dad: Mom’s cooking dinner right now, but I can give you a hug.
Alma: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO MOMMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYYYYY!! AWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! *walks sadly into kitchen*
Mom: Uh oh!  Did you fall down?  Are you okay? (she is clearly okay)
Alma: NOOOO WWAAAAWWWWWHHHAHHHAAAAHHH!
Mom:  I can pick you up in just a second.  I need to finish this right now.
Alma: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Mom:  Want to look in the oven?  See what’s cooking?
Alma: WWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!
Mom:  Can you tell me what you want?
Alma: WWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Mom:  Do you want me to pick you up?
Alma: WAHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
.
.
.
This continues in roughly the same way for about 10 minutes, with both mom and dad suggesting things to help Alma cheer up.
Mom: Okay, dinner’s ready! (this is usually very motivating for Alma)
Alma: NOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!
Mom:  Okay.  You can either eat with our family, or sit on the stairs until you calm down enough to join us.
Alma: WAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Dad: So, how was your day?
Alma: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!
Mom:  It was pretty good!  I’m really…
Alma: *tries to climb into mom’s lap* WAAAAAA!
Mom: *ignores climbing puddle of a toddler*… tired.  How was your day?
Alma: AAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWW-AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH-HHHHHHAAA-AAAWWWWWWWW-WWWAAAAAAAAAH!!!!  All done. *climbs into chair and starts eating dinner*

End scene. Who is this creature we lovingly invited into our home, and our dining room?

ImageImage

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Posted in: gave thanks., parented., parenting tips and tricks | Tagged: children, funny, kids, Parenting, two year old

More Baby Gear… Stroller Dilemas

Posted by andthenthey on February 6, 2014 1 Comment

You know what they say about hindsight.  Well, when it came to picking a stroller, we didn’t make the right decision for our family.  As with everything else, I did a ton of research, got people’s opinions, test drove strollers, basically did everything right.  We ended up with a Baby Jogger City Mini.  And we loved it.  I mean, really, really loved it.  I would totally recommend it to anyone.  It’s lightweight, folds up beautifully, the steering was lovely.

And Then They - City Mini with Baby AlmaBUT, it’s a single stroller.  We knew we were planning on having more kids someday soon, but we still bought a single stroller.  I think we just decided to figure out the double stroller if, and when, it became necessary.

Here’s the deal.  This totally wouldn’t be a problem if you space your kids out further than we did.  With only 19 months between Alma and Harriet, I knew we would need a double stroller.  I have friends who have added a standing board for their older kids, or just had them walk.  Not an option for Alma.  And we also like to use the stroller to go on long walks.  I can’t expect Alma to walk the whole way, or want to strap a big baby or toddler to my body.  This isn’t just for the grocery store or the mall.  I basically have two babies to push around.  Double stroller necessary.

What I wish I had known the first time around:  There are stroller options that convert from single to double!  What?!  Ha!  After doing lots more research, asking, test driving this time around, we came to the Baby Jogger City Select.

And Then They - City SelectThis stroller is ah-mazing.  It can be configured a gazillion different ways.  I’ll, again, refer you to the website so you can see all the beautiful things this stroller can do.  I love that both kids can see out when they are both front facing.  Since we go on walks, I like to use that time to show them the world.  Especially when we’re down by the river, or downtown.  I also love that they can face each other.  I think they love that, too.  I also really love that it can also be a single.  This is good for quick trips, when I just need to have Alma contained, and can carry Harriet in my Ergo.  The fact that it can be a single will extend the life, too, since we can keep using it when Alma has outgrown strollering.

The down side is that it comes with a pretty hefty price-tag.  We were able to get it when they were offering a deal where you got the second seat for free.  We were also able to sell our City Mini (Baby Jogger strollers hold their value really well!), so that helped a lot.  I *wish* we had just bought the City Select single when we had Alma, then we would have just had to buy the second seat when Harriet came around.  That would have stretched the life of the stroller for us.

Well, that’s my opinion, for whatever it’s worth.  Nobody paid me anything to write this.  I didn’t get any free strollers or anything.  I just love the products, and wanted to share!

If you missed my run-down of other baby gear, be sure to check it out here.

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Posted in: parented., parenting tips and tricks | Tagged: babies, baby, baby carrier, baby gear, baby gear list, baby jogger, baby reccomdations, children, city mini, city select, ergo, Life, Parenting, pregnancy, reccomendations, saving money

Baby Gear That Will Last For Years – Plan Well and Spend Wisely

Posted by andthenthey on February 5, 2014 2 Comments

I’ve been mulling over this post for a while.  I’ve been trying to come up with some of the things that I would tell newly pregnant friends that they must have.  There are so many things that go into making choices when it come to everything, but it seems especially difficult when it comes to baby gear.  Probably because you get it all at once.  While working on this post, I came to the realization that our main criteria was definitely whether or not the baby would grow out of it quickly.  If we felt like it wouldn’t last for at least the first year, we tried to find another option.

And Then They - Baby Gear That Will Last For Years, Plan well and spend wisely  A list of things to buy for first time parents

I don’t think we were consciously thinking of this, but it was definitely a selling point if we could see the usefulness of an item for quite a while.  Obviously, borrow things from friends where you can, or buy used gear!

So, here are some of our recommendations:

And Then They - CribMini Crib:  While this doesn’t sound like something that will follow your baby into childhood, this is one of the best things we bought.  While it is (as its name implies) smaller than a regular crib, many mini-crib models can be converted into twin beds.  Some full size cribs can be converted into full size beds, but that doesn’t make sense to me.  Knowing the size of my daughters’ rooms, a full size bed wouldn’t be very useful.  They will eventually need twin beds, so might as well buy something when they are babies that can work for that.

I know that one of the draws of full size cribs is that they often convert to toddler beds.  I can understand the convenience of this, but not the necessity of it. As of today, Alma is still in her mini-crib.  She’s over 2 years old, and was just about 3 feet tall at her check-up last month.  She fits comfortably, and I think she will for quite a while.  She hasn’t been able to climb out of the crib, either.  I imagine when we’re ready to move on from the crib, we’ll get a twin mattress, and put it on the floor for a few weeks or months, then bring the head and foot board in to make it a real bed.

And Then They - Two in a Mini CribThe crib we bought for both girls is the Da Vinci Emily Mini.  It comes with a “mattress” that is about an inch thick, and not suitable for sleeping in my opinion.  Da Vinci also sells mini-crib mattresses, so we got those too.  They also sell a converter kit to make it into a twin bed, but as far as I can tell, it is just a long 1×4 with another ledge attached.  I think we will DIY this when the time comes.

And Then They - ErgoErgo:  There are soooo many different kinds of baby carriers out there.  I’m sure there are other great ones, but I really love our Ergo.  It has carried us (ha! that’s a pun!) from teeny tiny newborn, to full on baby, into toddler-hood and we’re still going!  We also have a Moby, but I use the Ergo much more.  The infant insert was great for when the babies are super small.  My favorite carry for when Alma got bigger is the hip carry.  It’s great because Alma can see everything, but she is still cuddled up next to me.  It’s also nice to throw the baby on my back (as seen above) for a longer walk.  I’ve even put Alma on my back like this, and had Harriet in the Moby on my front at the same time.  Pretty great if you ask me.

Convertible Car Seat:  Oh man, car seat shopping was the most overwhelming part of baby gear buying for me.  I went on Consumer Reports, made spreadsheets, read forums online.  Holy cow.  I knew this was an important safety decision, but also quite an expensive purchase, so I wanted to make sure we’d be happy with it.

We went with a Britax convertible seat.  This basically means that the car seat works from the time your baby is a newborn, until they are huge.  They can be both rear, and front facing.  They don’t come in and out of the car like infant only car seats.  This wasn’t an issue for me, since I always had the Ergo.  I do have to say that we got to borrow my nephew’s infant car seat for Harriet, and we really appreciated the convenience of it, but we have already switched to the convertible for her.  It got to be way too heavy once Harriet got bigger.  So, if you can borrow an infant seat, go for it!  I just don’t think it’s worth the money so buy two car seats when you can easily get by just buying one that will last for a few years.

And Then They - DiapersCloth Diapers: This is our biggest money saver.  For sure.  We did the math when Alma was a few months ago, and after buying 18 diapers (our magic number), we had them paid off (in terms of what we would have spent on disposables) in about 3 months.  Can you even believe that?!  We could have kept our child diapered for only 3 months with what we spent on buying cloth diapers!  Even with the extra laundry (one load every 3-4 days for us), they are way cheaper than disposables.

I know there are lots of other great reasons to use cloth diapers (environment, health, cuteness, etc) the money was really what sold us.  But they are pretty damn cute!

[Also, you can expect to see a longer post on cloth diapering and how we do it coming soon!]

And Then They - High ChairTripp Trapp high chair:  To fully understand the genius of this chair, I will refer you to the Stokke website.  This chair grows with your child.  The seat, and the footrest are adjustable, so when they grow, you can just lower it.  This allows your kids to always be able to sit right up to the table, have proper posture, and have a firm place for their feet.  The most important thing to me was having out kids at the table with us.  Dinnertime is important to our family.  Harriet is already sitting in her Tripp Trapp at our table, even though she’s not eating solids yet.  I like that both kids are right there, part of the family, not off to the side.  Clean up is easy, too.  We just wipe down the table or place mat.  I love it.

There you have it!  These are my favorite ways to save some money and spend wisely.  I have lots of other recommendations if have any questions.

What are some ways you saved some money or made some decisions when it came to baby gear?

[Note: None of these companies asked me to write about them.  They don’t have any idea who I am or that I wrote this.  These are all just my opinions that I thought I would share with you.]

[Another Note:  Check out what I have to say about stroller shopping here!]

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Posted in: parented., parenting tips and tricks | Tagged: babies, baby, baby carrier, baby gear, baby gear list, baby reccomdations, bum genius, car seat, car seat reccomendation, children, cloth diapers, ergo, high chair, Life, mini crib, Parenting, pregnancy, reccomendations, saving money, tripp trapp
If God said, ‘Rumi pay homage to everything that has helped you enter my arms,’ there would not be one experience of my life, not one thought, not one feeling, nor any act, I would not bow to. -Rumi

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