William turned 10 recently, and he had his first Big Friend Party (that is, the party was big: his friends are all standard-issue sizes), and he got a lot of presents he liked. This is the sort of thing that seems like it would make a good resource, since it seems like I am constantly feeling desperate to think of a good gift idea for a child I don’t know—especially when MY child, who is allegedly a friend of the birthday child, shrugs when asked what the birthday child might like.

Toysmith Crystal Mining Kit (photo from Amazon.com). This was the biggest hit, I’d say. It was a block of plaster with crystals hidden inside, and Will spent several intense sessions working on chipping them out. It was a bit messy, but cleaned up easily. And there were more crystals in his chunk of plaster than were advertised on the box, which was pleasing. And now Will’s older brother is saving his allowance to buy his own kit, and Will’s younger sister has been saying she hopes she gets it for HER birthday. It’s under $10, so I’m also buying one for the gift shelf for future birthday parties my kids attend.
Read the rest of this entry

Last week, Stimey asked on Twitter for gift ideas for a 9-year-old boy. She was asking for a birthday, but the holidays are coming up. I’ve had two 9-year-old boys so far, and they do vary from boy to boy, but here are some of the things that have been successes:

Magic tricks (photo from Amazon.com).  If you can’t stand the “Mom, look at this!  …Oh, wait.  Okay, now look!  …Oh, wait.  Okay, NOW,” it’s a great gift.

Sculpey modeling compound (photo from Amazon.com).
Read the rest of this entry

Look at this adorable school outfit I got for Elizabeth, who starts kindergarten this fall:

Lands’ End Knit Peter Pan Shirt (photo from LandsEnd.com). It’s KNIT, so it’s stretchy for playing in AND I won’t have to iron it, and it was $5.99 down from $18.50. [Edit: Oh, pooh, I see it's sold out now. This one is cute too, but $9.99 instead of $5.99.]

Lands’ End Knit Skort (photo from LandsEnd.com). Again, KNIT. Plus it has attached shorts, which is ESSENTIAL. Plus, it was $9.99 down from $18.50.

I also bought her this sweet brown dress:
Read the rest of this entry

I love when I’ve been fretting about whether or not to buy something online and then I do buy it and it’s GREAT. One of my best recent successes is this skirt, which I am wearing right this minute:

Old Navy Cut-Out Contrast Maxi Skirt in 1x-3x and in XS-XXL (photos from OldNavy.com). I was especially nervous because Old Navy plus sizes can ONLY be ordered online and also can ONLY be returned through the mail. That’s an expensive fitting-room session if the item isn’t right.

But it IS right! I love it. It’s comfortable and I wear it with a plain t-shirt and sandals, just like I’d wear basic capris. I’d never ordered an Old Navy skirt before, but the fit is just what I’d expect: I wear a 20W or 22W in jeans, and the 2X-plus skirt is neither loose nor snug. I preferred the brown but ordered the dark grey because it goes with more of the colors I tend to wear, and happily it’s a much better color than I’d been expecting: it appears in the photo as if the pink color shines through the fabric in a gothy way, but it only shows through where it’s supposed to show through, in the eyelets at the bottom. A number of the product reviews mention that on their skirt the colored underlayer is longer than it appears in the photo, but mine looks exactly like the photo. I think I might have to get the brown one, too. And if you’re XS-XXL, there are two other color choices and the skirt is on sale for $19. (Plus sizes are out of luck: not only can you only buy/return online, and not only are there only two colors instead of four, but also the skirts are still $34.50.)

ONE problem with the skirt: no POCKETS. If it had pockets I’d wear it whenever it wasn’t in the laundry basket.  It’s so comfy and breezy.
Read the rest of this entry

I was pretty grossed out to learn that only about 12% of plastic water bottles are recycled.  This is particularly awful when it’s so easy and inexpensive to get good-quality reusable water bottles that will last for years or even DECADES before they join their non-recycled disposable brethren in the ground—or even join the 12% of the disposable ones that get recycled. Well, or some would have to be in a different kind of recycling bin because they are metal instead of plastic BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.

My son is supposed to have two water bottles for school:  one for his desk, and one with his lunch.  He is also going to need two to take along on a camping trip in a few months. And I’d like to have two for myself, one for the diaper bag and one for the car.  But my experience with water bottles so far has been PITIFUL, mostly because they LEAK.  We’ve drenched lunches, backpacks, clothes.  I asked my Twitter peeps if they had a water bottle they were happy with.

Read the rest of this entry

I’m too overwhelmed with the reality that it’s Thanksgiving week (OMG) to delve into the holiday gift guides we like to post here at Milk & Cookies, so indulge me in a totally random topic, won’t you? That being: the world’s coolest children’s boots. I can’t really afford to buy myself a new pair of awesome boots right now, so I’m channeling my window shopping desire into kid-sized fashions. Looking to outfit your offspring in some weather-repelling, eyeball-searingly adorable footwear? Start here:
Read the rest of this entry

Between a four-year-old, a toddler, and a husband who routinely peels off his dirty socks while he’s watching the evening news and tosses them on the living room carpet, since apparently that’s the cue for his personal magic cleaning fairy to swoop in and whisk his laundry away to the hamper, my house has a bit of a clutter problem. Toys, books, shoes, crayons, and forgotten half-chewed waffles tend to accumulate on every available surface throughout the day, making it a real challenge to do the deep-cleaning I so greatly enjoy.

(Note: by “deep cleaning” I mean “sitting on the couch eating pretzels”. But the point is, if I really did want to vacuum, it would be hard to do so when the floor is three inches deep with LEGOs.)

I like to exact revenge on my husband by 1) power-nagging in that oh so attractive fish-wifely tone, and 2) draping his various discarded clothing items over his computer monitor (sometimes with a note: “OH HAI WE GOT LOSTED CAN YOU HELPS US FIND THE WASHING MASHEEN?”), and as for my four-year-old, I’ve started being more strict about having him pitch in. He’s definitely capable of putting away his things and carrying out other small tasks around the house, and I’ve been thinking it would be helpful to have a chore chart for him.

In poking around online, I’ve noticed that chore charts tend to have one common theme: they are butt-ugly. I know the home decor aspect of a chart isn’t really the point, but still, it doesn’t seem like it should be so hard to find a chart that’s both useful and non-hideous.

Here are a few chore-organization-solutions I eventually came across that I think are pretty cool-looking:
Read the rest of this entry

I have only two kids in elementary school, but between them they’ve gone to a couple dozen birthday parties so far. When the other three are in school—-whooooo, that’s a lot of parties to bring gifts to.

My goal is to spend about $10 for a party gift, and I can get a pretty good gift for that, even though I’m a somewhat fretful person and so my mission is complicated by my wishes to please the child and to please the child’s parents; to give a gift that won’t make a huge mess or end up with little tiny pieces lost all over the house or require intense parental involvement; to avoid sending the message that we watch too much TV and/or that we make inappropriate gender generalizations and/or that we are cheap cheap cheap. Ideally, I like the gift to be the child’s favorite present from the whole party, but also to send the message that we are a Quality Family.  And did I already say I want all that for about $10?

Here are some gifts that have been pleasing successes:
Read the rest of this entry

First, a quick shout-out to all of you who gave me ideas and atta-girl you-can-do-it comments about traveling with my preschooler—everything worked out perfectly, and we had an absolutely wonderful time. Thank you so much!

Today I’d like to talk about evening routines, and what sorts of things help mitigate the chaos. As a quick primer to my thrilling home life, we have two boys: a 3.5 year old and a 15-month-old. Here’s our typical end-of-day routine, along with the items I’ve come to rely on:
Read the rest of this entry

I have always been scared of having to take my kids on a plane. We’ve never done it, because our family is close enough to visit by car, and every time I fly on my own I surreptitiously stare at other parents trying to manage small kids and strollers and bags and think to myself, oh thank GOD that’s not me.

The time has come, however, for me to nut up and face my fears, because I have the opportunity to take my 3.5-year-old on a trip to Washington DC at the end of this month. It will be just the two of us, and I am both thrilled about the adventure and, um, COMPLETELY FREAKED OUT.

We’ve been talking a lot about the trip and watching YouTube videos of planes taking off and so on; I feel like I’m doing an okay job on preparing him as best I can. He’s super excited about everything, but I know the fickle nature of a preschooler: it’s inevitable there will be some challenges along the way. So, what sorts of gear can help make it all a little easier? I’m hoping you guys can help me out, especially those of you with experience traveling with children. Here are some items I’m looking at:
Read the rest of this entry