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:
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

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:

Read the rest of this entry

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:
Read the rest of this entry

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!

Read the rest of this entry

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.
Read the rest of this entry

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.
Read the rest of this entry

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.
Read the rest of this entry

When I was a kid my mother and I lived in Virginia while my grandparents lived in Michigan, and every holiday we either visited them or they came to us. My grandmother used to say, “If Mohammed cannot come to the mountain, the mountain will come to Mohammed”. Then she would bow deeply, a gong would sound, and she would disappear in a cloud of smoke.

Not really, but that particular phrase makes it sound like she was all mystical and stuff, doesn’t it? She also had a saying about sitting in the corner and sucking on a mop, so obviously she was a woman of many fine colloquialisms.

Anyway, if you have small children I hope that the mountain is coming to your Mohammed during this week’s holiday, unless of course you enjoy traveling with small children, in which case may I suggest having an arterial blood gas test? YOU MAY BE DANGEROUSLY LOW ON OXYGEN.

Unfortunately, we have a road trip on the agenda, although on the plus side our destination is one of my favorite places ever. As I’ve been thinking ahead to what we need to pack and how many cups of juice one small boy can be expected to consume during a 6 hour drive (answer: as many as you will foolishly give him, until his diaper explodes with an heart-sinking kaplooey noise), I thought this might be a good time to review a few products that help make car travel with kids just a tiny bit more tolerable.

(Not reviewed: Benadryl, as I cannot with good conscience recommend this course of action, but I certainly know many parents who swear by the Dope ‘N Drive method.)

Read the rest of this entry