Babble

I found a new site to waste time on. No really, something finally to replace Slate, which was getting boring, not enough new content, sensationalist, and sometimes a little inappropriate to read at work. And its embarrassing how much time I spend on facebook.
And so I found Babble.com, a mommy site that says me all over it. Nobody here hawking unrealistic opinions about how much money you've got to have saved before thinking about trying to get pregnant (Really, I read one message board post about how you've got to have at least 200K+ in the bank, or you are setting yourselves up for poverty and doing your future children a serious wrong. Right, so Eden would not have been born, and I would not be pregnant now.) Also no one here trying to explain why I've got to eat X and not Y, or that giving my kid too many sweets or not enough extracurricular is going to end up with her in expensive therapy.
Currently, I've got 8 tabs open that I want to read. Articles that I'm actually really interested in, instead of feigning interest in someone's weird problems on Dear Prudence. Which may be somewhat interesting for a moment, but not really informative.

Some of their interesting features are some great top 5's, like top 5 strollers -( Sarah, you've got competition! You should join them I think), top 5 play kitchens, top 5 thermometers. Did you know they sell 3 packs of forehead therms in the states for like $5? Thats what I want, we are always losing ours.

Also a column called WTF. I think that this is really progressive. I mean, who really heard of a serious magazine, even online, with a cussword in the title? Even in acronym....but its got some weird stuff. Like a japanese doll that comes with her own nursing vest. So that the girl who plays with her can feed her too, just like mommy. Sucking noises and everything. WEIRD!! On the side they refer to a kid's moby wrap, which i think is a lot more practical.

Nice column on equal parenting. For parents who split breadwinning and childraising and home management down the middle. I like to think we do this quite well, and it works for us, and I'm really proud of it. There are some things that are certainly my job and some things that are certainly his, but we are both prepared to switch when push comes to shove. And we know how. I mean, except for budgeting and money management...you kind of need to know how to add and subtract really well to keep track of that. Yeah, that's not me.

Some good columns recently on how to beat the heat in the city with a toddler. What is good spacing between kids. That formula is not poison. And a great interview with Penelope Leach, who says unequivocally that full time mommying is not best for everyone.

Anyhoo. Head on over, or watch my facebook links. I'll be sharing links regularly I think - I like pretty much everything I read on babble.

Independence, Here I Come

Today was a fast day. Admittedly, I didn't fast, but I did have a tiring day at work, and Ben was of course fasting. So when Eden and I came home, we set her up with a movie pretty quickly, and chilled on the couch together. Eden came down when her movie was done, and we asked her to make sure to turn the A/C off before she came downstairs. It's really just a push of a button, its the largest button on the remote, and she likes to push those buttons anyway.

When we went back upstairs after she'd gone to bed, we realized that she'd not only turned off the A/C correctly but also:
1) Turned the screen off
2) Took the DVD out of the player
3) Put the DVD back in it's case
4) Put the DVD case back on the shelf.

All of her own volition! Wow! A kid I don't have to clean up after anymore!

A couple other milestones: Eden can now reach the light switch, and the hooks for our bags and coats.

This means a few things - that we need REALLY need to teach her not to turn the lights on and off on Shabbat, and that, at least when it's not Shabbat, to always turn the light off when she leaves a room. Also, she now makes a habit of hanging up her backpack when she comes home instead of leaving it on the floor. Pretty, pretty cool.

On the flip side, she knows where the permanent marker is that we use to write her name on her water bottles. She also knows how to write her own name, and does so - on all the water bottles she takes to gan (we switch them weekly). So we usually trust her with the marker, and think nothing of leaving it accessible. Except that it's red, and today she thought it would make an excellent color for lipstick. Which it does, and she applies it well for a four-year old. But its permanent marker. Luckily, we were able to scrub it off, or she'd have been particularly pretty this Shabbat, in her own way.

Off topic - on the baby front, there is something always going on in my belly. Or at least it seems that way. Either its Braxton-Hicks of the type that are enough to wind me, or I sit and rest and drink water to calm the Braxtons and the baby wakes up and wants to play. Its very tiring. Enough to almost make me want to fast Tish'a B'Av and go into labor early. A co-worker pointed out that Ben might not want to drive me to the hospital and be a supportive labor coach while on the worst fast of the year. I suppose I'll have to agree.