I read this article by Pigtail Pals (which eventually made a stir at Blog Her, etc, etc), and it got me thinking. I don't like the idea of a little girl in a "sexy" swimsuit, and I'd never buy W a string bikini, but what really got my gears turning was the argument for such swimsuits that I saw in the comments sections of the articles. Among them, the idea that a pedophile is a pedophile, and dressing one's daughter in a specific way doesn't increase or decrease the likelihood that a pedophil...
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W is done with diapers now, except for nighttime (story on this forthcoming), but while she was still in diapers, we moved away from cloth (I got sick of touching poop) and started using diapers from The Honest Company. I really liked their ethos (sustainability, environmentally friendly practices, non-toxic cleaning products, etc). They also have really cute diapers in lots of fun patterns, ship for free (if you subscribe), and send free wipes with every order. What's not to love? Turns o...
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Those of you who've been SquintMom followers since the beginning (and thank you!) may have noticed that over the last year and a half, the site has undergone several transformations. SquintMom started as pure science-writing-for-parents ("Resources for Evidence-Based Parenting"), but has grown to include my personal reflections ("SquintMom's Blog"). Even more recently, I've begun blogging about crafts, posting DIY tutorials, and so forth. While I think having my personal blog incorporated...
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It's 4 am. I can't sleep because my brain (and my right breast) are full. It's been 54 hours since my daughter -- the one I wryly imagined someday calling me from grade school to come nurse her -- had "ne" (our word for nurse) for the last time. Weaning didn't happen quite the way I'd anticipated it would. It was neither traumatic nor was it completely "child-led" (sorry, LLL). Still, it was, without a doubt, gentle and, in the end, mutual. This is our story. I've been nudging W toward wea...
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So, I've never been a fan of onesies for W. When she was younger, she wore cloth diapers, and onesies just never fit well. From about 18 months on, she would have been really insulted if I'd tried to put one on her; she considered them "baby clothes," and she is a "BID DUWL" (big girl). Because I have a lot of onesies around -- both from gifts people gave her and because of really neat ones that I found at the secondhand store and couldn't resist -- I have implemented a series of "onesie hack...
Read moreI read this article by Pigtail Pals (which eventually made a stir at Blog Her, etc, etc), and it got me thinking. I don’t like the idea of a little girl in a “sexy” swimsuit, and I’d never buy W a string bikini, but what really got my gears turning was the argument for such…
W is done with diapers now, except for nighttime (story on this forthcoming), but while she was still in diapers, we moved away from cloth (I got sick of touching poop) and started using diapers from The Honest Company. I really liked their ethos (sustainability, environmentally friendly practices, non-toxic cleaning products, etc). They also have…
Those of you who’ve been SquintMom followers since the beginning (and thank you!) may have noticed that over the last year and a half, the site has undergone several transformations. SquintMom started as pure science-writing-for-parents (“Resources for Evidence-Based Parenting”), but has grown to include my personal reflections (“SquintMom’s Blog”). Even more recently, I’ve begun blogging…
It’s 4 am. I can’t sleep because my brain (and my right breast) are full. It’s been 54 hours since my daughter — the one I wryly imagined someday calling me from grade school to come nurse her — had “ne” (our word for nurse) for the last time. Weaning didn’t happen quite the way…
So, I’ve never been a fan of onesies for W. When she was younger, she wore cloth diapers, and onesies just never fit well. From about 18 months on, she would have been really insulted if I’d tried to put one on her; she considered them “baby clothes,” and she is a “BID DUWL” (big…
So, W has a cute little book called “All I Want For Christmas,” in which a variety of animals request clever gifts. The giraffe wants a very, very, very long necktie, the cheetah wants two new pairs of running shoes, the amoeba wants a one-celled cell phone…you get the idea. It’s one of those books…
So, despite this post that I wrote about a DIY “ok-to-wake” timer, we actually purchased a funky little bug-shaped light that tells W when it’s ok to wake up. This is partly because said bug light is cute, and partly because the fatal flaw in my DIY timer plan was that it was a garden-variety…
I’ve always had a pretty laissez faire attitude toward my finances. I’m thrifty by nature (I was one of those kids who would save my little weekly allowance for months on end to buy “big ticket” items like a push-scooter or a Gameboy) and married a thrifty man. We don’t use credit cards, so we’ve…
I wrote here about unusual mothering milestones that aren’t often celebrated or discussed in parenting books, but that are nevertheless very meaningful. Well, we’ve just reached another. This morning, W and I were sitting on the couch hanging out together. I was checking my email, and she was watching cartoons. She was dressed already, even…
We’ve been working on the very start of potty learning with W, which mostly means that we talk a lot about the potty, read books about the potty, and every time I use the potty, I narrate a running commentary. The constant potty talk appears to be breaking down my social barriers that would normally…
