CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

Special congratulations to my favorite Karen*, who has just discovered she is pregnant with her second child.

Here's to wishing you a comfortable and nausea-free pregnancy! Enjoy the time of people bending over backwards for you, not having to suck in your stomach, and eating for an entire football team.

All the best from our family to yours.

*At no time do I wish to discriminate against or insult anyone with the name Karen, related to a Karen, or owner of a pet named Karen. I just happen to think this particular one is great (and she laughs at my jokes).

Out of the Mouths of Babes...

"Bama (aka Grandma), the more I am with you, the more I miss you when we leave."

-Ellie, age 6

Voting Issues

The polls are down....

damn those chads.

Please check back later for this week's latest.

The Votes Are In....

First, I realize the votes have been in for a while now, but I’m still playing catch-up.

Second, I have managed to find a few more useless baby inventions and, thanks to an intervention from my family, I’ll be taking a break from my useless baby product obsession after this post (at least until next week). Among the newfound craziness:

Baby Cologne- A product by Johnson & Johnson that systematically destroys one of the best things on earth: the sweet smell of a baby after a bath. Why would anyone want to change or mask that?

Nite TrainR’- I realize bedwetting can be a very serious problem for lots of kids, but at no point should this device (which attaches to the “undercarriage” of a little one and sounds an alarm to rouse the child) be used. Is this really necessary? Who is using this? I guess the answer to the latter would be the same people who use an invisible fence to keep their kids in the backyard.

DaBib- This product came to me from the paragon of loveliness, Mrs. Lydia Rydel. This is a bib that is part terry cloth, part plastic, and employs a scrunchy-like mechanism around the neck, all to ensure that the child remains dry, stain-free, and comfortable at the neck while dining. Now, if someone were to give this to me I would certainly enjoy all of the aforementioned benefits, but do all of our advances in technology need to be employed to engineer a better bib? I mean, unless the bib can feed the child, wipe his or her mouth, and check the nutritionally content of all that is ingested, I am not spending $13 on a fancy bib.

And now for the voting results…

Of no surprise, the overwhelming winner is the wipe warmer (my second choice). This product protects little tushies from the horror of being touched by something cool. Not only is this product ridonkulously unnecessary, it is also not the safest thing. A former student of mine once told me about a time when, having left it on for an extended period, the warmer actually caught fire!

I chose the diaper genie for all the reasons I originally posted, as well as its contribution to the laziness factor that is reaching epic proportions in our country (see also: shopping cart returns).

The other options (boppy, child leash, and bottle warmer) came in well behind the others.

Thanks for voting….and check out this week’s poll.

Do It Yourself

Another shout out to Julie for sending this next little treat to me:

Sidewalk Paint

1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup Cold water
6-8 drops food color

Mix cornstarch and cold water together in small plastic bowl. Add food color and stir. Paint can be washed away with water (or let the rain be your cleaning lady)!

Quote of the Day

"The hardest job facing kids today is learning good manners without seeing any." ~ Fred Astaire

Picture of the Day

"Fashion fades. Style is eternal."

-Yves Saint Laurent

Send your favorite kid pictures to: dalessandrochristine@gmail.com