I need a new travel mug, because mine broke. Which reminds me of how I GOT that travel mug. I was shopping with my mom at Target, and I saw a travel mug in the most gorgeous, almost ETHEREAL shade of pink. Glowing glossy pale pink. But it was only 30% off, and it was expensive to begin with so it was still well over $10, and most importantly I didn’t NEED a travel mug because I never used one. I dithered for awhile because it was SO LOVELY, but I didn’t buy it.

That evening, I was suffused with regret. WHY hadn’t I bought it?? Maybe I WOULD use a travel mug! How did I KNOW if I didn’t even TRY? Even though the Target was a half hour away and I’d need to bring kids with me, the next morning I went back to get the pink travel mug—and it was gone. I have two other Targets within reasonable driving distance, and I went to both of them over the next couple of days, but no luck. I looked online, at Target’s site and at any other site that carried that brand of travel mug: no luck. I whined about this to my mother at some length.

The next month was my birthday. One of my gifts was THE PINK TRAVEL MUG.
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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.

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Do you tend to carry the same things in your bag, whether you’re heading to the office or to the playground? I know this isn’t really a thrilling topic for a blog post, but I was noticing recently as I shoveled the contents from a milk-stained “casual” purse to my fancier “work” clutch that no matter where I’m going, I drag the same inventory along with me. Here’s my can’t-leave-home-without-it list:
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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:
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This past weekend I was in Texas (escaping Seattle’s cold, wet weather for Austin’s . . . uh, cold, wet weather) for SXSW. I attended several standout Interactive panels on Saturday, but my favorite by far was the presentation given by Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh.

You know Zappos, right? The online retailer that started with selling shoes, that offers great selection and free shipping and free 365 day returns? They now sell other merchandise and eventually aspire to be the leader in online customer service. Their vision:

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I was thinking about writing a Milk & Cookies article on different stroller brands, and it occurred to me that instead of all that tedious research, I could just ask some of my fellow parents what they thought about their own strollers. Using the highly scientific method of posting a call for help on Twitter, here’s some real-world feedback on strollers:
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Today’s topic doesn’t really have to do with Top Secret, Little-Known products you’ve never heard of, but rather a collection of a few things I’ve found immensely useful over the last few years that maybe aren’t the first things that come to mind when you think “Parenting Must-Haves”. I’m hoping you share some of your own in the comments!

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If you like pink, October is a good time to shop:  a lot of pink stuff is available for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  If you’re like me, you like supporting that cause and also really like the way it justifies a purchase.

Coffee-Mate is offering a pink mug for $12.95; $5.00 is donated.
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When my oldest son went off to preschool, he needed a backpack.  I liked the idea of the Lands’ End and L.L. Bean ones, but why would I pay five times the price of a Walmart backpack?  So I bought him a $5 Walmart backpack, and it wore out in March when of course Walmart didn’t have any backpacks to replace it with.  I repaired it with packing tape and my crappy primitive sewing skillz.

The next fall, for kindergarten, I bought another Walmart backpack, but this time I got the one that was more like $8 instead of the one that was around $5—going for quality, you see.  That one, too, ripped before the end of the school year.  It was very frustrating.

So when my aunt gave us a gift certificate to L.L. Bean, I used it to buy L.L. Bean Original Back Packs for both of my older boys:  one for Rob, who was then going into first grade, and one for William, who was starting 4-year-old preschool.
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Last summer I went on a car trip with a toddler and a newborn. Um, that was really fun! As you might imagine!

One thing that made a world of difference was the DVD player. Sweet, peaceful Steve bought us several happy hours during the day in the car, particularly toward the end of the day when traffic got bad and no one was in the mood for another car game or car song. I really, REALLY recommend an in-car DVD player of some sort (and a few fresh DVDs) if you are driving a long distance.

Toys for long trips are tricky. Ideally they should be hand-held, one-piece, non-messy, non-noisemaking, and long-entertaining. It’s hard to hit all those bases, but here are a few that came close.
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