While I love my son dearly, there are times when he drives me especially cray-cray. All children have that special talent, don’t they?

When he was an infant, I would put a heavy blanket sleeper on him (because hello, it was winter and it was cold!) he would fuss and not sleep well. It wasn’t until I made the switch to 100% cotton at all times that he began sleeping better and fussing less. It was so worth the extra money spent on heating bills.

Then when he became a toddler, he would refuse to wear certain types of clothing, especially jeans or anything with heavy stitching and pockets.  Pockets drove him nuts.  Yeah, you try finding pants for boys without pockets.  It’s a hell of a lot harder than it sounds.  Finally we got to a place where he could tolerate some types of pockets, but I know to avoid certain kinds.

Tags also became a special nemesis, and I would automatically begin snipping them off as soon as the article of clothing was approved for wear by my young tyrant.  And to this day, I will not take off the tags of anything unless I’ve had him try it on first.  It makes for special times, to be sure.  There is nothing like your son taking off a perfectly good pair of shorts and refusing to wear them because they “bug” him.   Thank goodness the clothing industry has started forgoing tags and printing the care information on the shirt itself.

We have a neighbor across the street who is giving us the clothing her son (who is three years older than the Munchkin) has outgrown, and I have unfortunately had to pass more than half of it along to my sister in law, as the clothing does not meet the Munchkin stress test.  We were given a beautiful Quiksilver sweater that happens to have the word “Quiksilver” embroidered across the front.  I should have known better, and I tried to make my son wear the dang thing, but it only ended up with me yelling at him and him stomping off to find something else that was not embroidered and of course, not as nice.  Phooey.  Well, at least my nephews will get to wear it.

And socks?  They must be worn inside out.  No exceptions.  He cannot stand the seam along the toes.  And again, try finding socks without seams that don’t cost a small fortune.  If a quick fix like turning them inside out works, I’ve saved mucho dinero.

Have I been very accommodating?  Actually, not really.  Sometimes I forget about his issues, or I just get frustrated that he will not wear perfectly good clothing for what seems to me a poor reason. After I took the quizzes here, I realized he probably has a low level hypersensitivity to touch disorder. Although as he has gotten older, he’s gotten a bit better.

And don’t even get me started on his hypersensitivity to sound.

I just keep telling myself that in a few years, he can probably start sewing his own damn clothes.  Or weaving them on a loom, or something. 

I pity his future wife.

One of the most important pieces of baby gear is your diaper bag.  A good diaper bag can mean the difference between frantically pawing for minutes on end whilst your baby screams, or having easy access to your item of need.

I’d had one of the ubiquitous, cavernous diaper bags for the Munchkin, and while it was handy for the first few months, it stopped being so when used for shorter trips, as well as when he got older and just required less stuff.  We wound up just switching to a regular old backpack, which while not ideal, was serviceable.

So with the arrival of my daughter, I swore I would choose function over form, and I’m glad to say I was right.  I usually am, so it wasn’t a total surprise, but it’s always nice to have my superiority confirmed.  After doing tons of research, I chose the Columbia Trekster Diaper Bag, and haven’t looked back since.

There are so many things I love about it, it’s hard to put it all down without sounding like a shill.  It is lightweight, and entirely comfortable to carry.  You can carry it like a traditional backpack, or it works over the shoulder, too. It is ideal for short trips, which, let’s face it, make up the majority of outings with baby.  However, it does have enough room that you could use it for a day trip as well.  It has a handy middle zipper that allows quick access into the bag without undoing the main zippers.  It’s got an insulated pocket, a key fob, and a dedicated pacifier pocket.

It manages to pack in pretty much everything you need in a compact, easy to use bag.  Love it.

Oh, and did I mention the best part?  Your man will have absolutely no qualms about schlepping this puppy around, as pretty much no one will recognize it as a diaper bag. Win all around!

* I received no compensation for this review.  I bought the bag with my own money.  OK, well, maybe I used a gift card I got from my baby shower, but technically, my own money.

Time has a list of “Top Ten Witches.”

And where, may I ask, is Glinda?

A few weeks ago, a coffee shop owner in Tulsa famously twittered that he was banning breastfeeding in his establishment.

Of course, that was illegal and wrong, and he was promptly advised of his patrons’ right to breastfeed in his store regardless of what he thought about it.

But I am going to come out and admit that I myself feel uncomfortable when a woman breastfeeds in public.

I would never tell a woman she couldn’t do it, I recognize it as her absolute right, and I support breastfeeding, but if I am to be truthful, I have to look away when I see it being done.  I think it is because I view it as a private thing, but of course it isn’t really because one can never know when a child will become hungry.

I remember going to my first Mom’s Club meeting years ago, and one of the board members just lifted her shirt and exposed her entire breast during the meeting, and I just sat there staring at the table because I didn’t want to seem like I was staring at her chest.

I personally had issues with my seven year old son seeing me breastfeed, and I’m sure that it’s due to my fairly Victorian upbringing.  It’s also the mixed message that our society gives about breasts and how they are viewed more as sexual instead of utilitarian. It wound up that I wasn’t able to breastfeed my daughter, but I pumped exclusively for eight months (even though everyone told me I was crazy) and I will say I was somewhat relieved when I didn’t have to go around the house lifting my shirt up all the time.

So am I just a prude? Am I the only one? Am I going to get harassed by the breastfeeding brigade?

Raincoaster asks:

Now that you’re a mom of a girl, do you like the same things for her as you liked before you had a real girl? Or has reality changed your tastes?

Reality, it bites.

No, really.

When I had only my son to buy for, to be honest, I never even looked at girl things.  I was too busy being the bitter person over in the corner of the store, wondering why the girls got racks and racks of clothing, while the boys were relegated to a quarter of a wall by the dressing rooms.

But when I did happen to do more than just glance at the girl stuff, I would always seem to zero in on something absolutely adorable, something that made me curse my ovaries and their relative lack of reproductive skill.

Now that I have a girl of my own?  The clothes suck.  Those racks and racks?  All filled with ugly crap.  I can never find the right colors.  And when I do find something that I think might work, they don’t have it in her size.  This very thing happened to me at Baby Gap just a couple of days ago, when I thought I had finally found a nice dress for a professional photo.   Thus, I have vowed to spend as little money on her clothes as possible, at least until they start making some decent things.  Which may or may not happen, and which might end up with her in therapy down the road. 

Scene twenty years from now:

Shrink:  Why do you think your mom never bought you nice clothes?

Munchkinette:  She said it was because she could never find anything decent, but I think it was just because she hates me!  (begins sobbing uncontrollably)

Sigh.

Maybe I should try harder.

So much to do in one compact, lightweight toy! 

Based on a character in the Eric Carle book Do You Want to be My Friend? I was dubious about the merits of the elephant at first. But I quickly became a convert.

This is far and away my daughter’s favorite toy, as it has many different sounds, textures, and features.   It’s got crinkles, it’s got hard teethers, it’s got textured teethers, it’s got soft teethers, a mirror, a mouse that squeaks, and a handy dandy clip that is seemingly just as much fun to chew on as everything else.

My son gave him the rather unimaginative name of Eric, as he saw the clip and figured that was his name. But, when all else fails and nothing seems to please my daughter, the magic of Eric prevails.

*This was bought as a gift from my sister.

“Action, mommy. A really good book has lots of action.”

If you are looking for books that the boy in your life will look forward to reading, take it from my seven year old.  They love action.

The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan delivers exactly that.  Beginning with The Lighning Thief  and ending with The Last Olympian, even a fairly reluctant reader will be hard-pressed to put the books down.  Not only do they move along briskly, with plenty of the aforementioned action, but there is quite a bit of humor, topped off with a nice dusting of Greek mythology.  I should know,  because I read all of them before my son did.

For, uh, research purposes, of course.

The books follow demigod Percy Jackson through five years of living out a prophecy foretold by the Oracle of Delphi.  Who happens to be a mummy in an attic at the demigod summer camp.  Percy must battle gods and monsters in order to save Mount Olympus, which is located at the top of the Empire State Building. Natch. Throw in some centaurs, labyrinths, Mist, and capricious Greek gods, and tell me how you can possibly resist.

I highly recommend the books for that certain someone who is bound to be whining about being half-dead from boredom in about two weeks from now.

*I bought all of these myself at Target.  No freebies here. Now normally I don’t buy my books at Target, but I have a seven month old, so you’ve got to cut me some slack.

I recently bought my son some board shorts, and asked him to try them on.

“Mommy, we need to give them something to do.”

“Huh?”

“Mommy, they’re bored shorts.  Get it?”

Ah, the pleasures of the seven year old sense of humor.

But really, what is the difference between board shorts and swim trunks, anyway?  Board shorts are designed for surfing, so usually they are made out of sturdier material than regular swim trunks.  Also, swim trunks usually have an inner lining, whereas board shorts won’t.   But, I have seen clothing that claims to be one or the other, yet has design elements of both.  So, buyer beware.  However, the shorts below are all made by reputable surf companies, so board shorts you will get.

Here are some awesome choices for your young wave rider this summer.

Hurley Kids Mic Wave Boardshort (Little Kids)

Quiksilver Kids Avalanche Boardshort (Big Kids)

Quiksilver Kids PB & J Boardshort (Toddler/Little Kids) 

Volcom Kids Dingo 2 Mod Boardshort (Big Kids)

Quiksilver Kids Tropiskull Boardshort (Toddler/Little Kids)

O’Neill Kids Hyperfreak Boardshort ’10 (Big Kids)

Hurley Kids Boardwalk Boardshort (Big Kids)