Often, when I exchange enough texts or emails from friends about a certain subject, I decide to go ahead and just turn it in to a blog post. You know, in case anyone is actually reading and hoping to get valuable information in addition to Backback photos.
Boots Chooses is a series I've started that attempts to answer the "which _____ do you use?" questions exchanged by parents all the time--at least in my crew. Kiddos change so fast that you think you've purchased every available item out there, and then they go do a new thing that you need to accommodate. There's so much information and so many options now, plus online reviews and lengthy blog posts about how to make your registry and avoiding genetically modified sleep sacks or what have you...
I'm not going to go that in-depth or extreme, or even claim that I've road-tested all the options and settled on the best of the best (see
Lucie's List for that. She's done it and it's great). I'm just sharing what I've chosen and what we're currently using in little slices of daily living. It's kind of like Favorite Things, but a little different.
The first post in
Boots Chooses is the things we use around the house and to help us organize daily existence. It's not exclusively kid-related, but I've gotten more systematic since C's been around and especially now that
he has calendar needs too (swim lessons...birthday parties...).
As always, no pay for play here.
Erin Condren Life Planner
So...I'm still a paper-calendar devotee. Yes, we have Google calendars and iDevices--maybe too many of them--and I
strongly advocate the shared Google calendar as a proven marriage-preserver. Nobody can claim "you didn't tell me" we were having dinner with the So-and-Sos on Tuesday. {Note: not a jab at BA. I am JUST as bad, if not worse, at forgetting stuff like that now.} But I digress. My point is that I still think there's a place for paper planners in the digital world. There's tons of stuff I need to note that doesn't need to go on the actual calendar, and I like to see the whole week in this view.
My lifeline is the
Erin Condren Life Planner. This is my third one and it's laid out the way I like and need it. I also realize that everyone has their own particular (STRONG) preferences about planners, so I'm not trying to convert anyone here. But I can think of at least 4 friends who now use them, so maybe it's your thing.
Generally,
her stuff is a little cutie cute for me, but the planner just works. I have also liked
her gift labels. Check out
the site--there's even a video of all the ways you can use the Planner. Like you don't know how. They're customizable, which is handy, and there's also one just for teachers. You can do 12- or 18-month options, and start the year whenever you want (e.g., when I was a student, I preferred August-to-August calendars). She also runs specials pretty frequently, so you can offset some of the price tag. Email me for a friend invitation and $10 off your first purchase.
this thing I made
Pretty self-explanatory, this one. The problem I was addressing was that we need different things from different stores, and it wasn't working to keep them all on one list. One the one hand, I can't hit all the stores in one day, but I'd lose the list between the regular grocery run, Target (THE breakfast sausages), and Costco (47000 animal crackers, bulk razor blades, cheap gas). On the other hand, a simple white/chalkboard wouldn't work, because I want to be able to take the list with me.
I bought: white board (came with the marker and the magnets that are holding it on), large Post-It pad with magnet on back, washi tape, another pack of the square Post-Its. I mounted the white board in the kitchen with the included sticky foam squares, and put the included sticky magnet squares on the back of the smaller Post-Its so they'd adhere to the white board. Obviously you could alter the categories and layout, but these are mine. Fifteen minutes at Office Depot and definitely do-able for under $40 or even less, depending on what you already have around.
All Free & Clear detergent
We used free & clear detergent even before the kiddo, because sommmmmeone (not me) has sensitive skin and our clothes need to smell like nothing. Even if you have a wee one, don't buy Dreft. It's a racket, and not even "free" of all the things. For a while I used some organic one because they had like a 280-load drum of it at Costco (do you even need your detergent to be organic? No you do not) but I finally admitted that it wasn't getting our clothes as clean as I wanted. So I am back to the ol' standby, and finally feel like things are sufficiently clean. Not sexy, but there you go.
I run an empty washer with hot water and bleach about once a month and/or in case of sick gross load. Sorry, environment. You also know I love the blue Oxy stick and I often put a half-cup of borax right in the washer. It's a cheaper, better laundry booster.
Clorox Anywhere spray
Again, all the things have to smell like nothing, so I don't care for Lysol and such. I also try to be reasonable about not sanitizing everything, because I tend to lean toward the hygiene-hypothesis camp. But sometimes you just gotta bleach the s out of some stuff. Like when someone has had a GI virus, or with babies that share toys, or after a poop adventure, or the dogs get up to some questionable retrieving. This is an effective but very weak bleach solution (read: safe for clothes and items that go in mouths). It's what preschools use, so trust me here. The best part is you can just buy it once and then use the bottle to mix your own refill (Google for instructions).
Diaper Genie Elite
This is the diaper-containment device I chose for the nursery. We're pretty happy with it. My point here is less to convince you to buy this one over all the other ones and more to release yourself from going through the Amazon reviews with a fine-tooth comb and obsessively comparing diaper pails. People expect WAY too much from their diaper contraptions. It's a plastic pail of poop. Eventually you will be able to smell a poop smell. When that happens, take out the trash. Nothing's perfect.
I do not know what makes this one Elite, but I do like the blue plastic bag that ties off on both ends and makes a poop tube you can just put in the other trash. That part works well.
Dyson Animal and Digital Slim Animal
I've sung the praises of over-priced vacuums
elsewhere on this blog, so I'll keep it brief here (ha). If you have creatures in your home (the kind with 4 legs or 2), I am here to settle the question for you. It's worth it.
a cleaning service
Real talk. I tried to do it on my own for a while, and it just doesn't work well. Find whatever room you can make in the budget and enlist some help--whether it's monthly, weekly, or just when the shower gets too scary to bear. Otherwise, you and your partner spend the entire weekend cleaning up (wallowing in resentment), or you find yourself facing terrible choices like between cleaning a toilet and playing with your child. Just because you are a parent doesn't mean you are automatically a housewifeperson if that's not your thing. This is me giving you permission to outsource it.
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Thus concludes the first post in Boots Chooses. Thanks, friends! I have a few more lined up, but I'm also happy to take requests--leave one in the comments and I'll see what I can do. I'll link to all of them, or you can click the label on the right side of the blog to pull them all up in one place. Note that there will be overlap (e.g., the highchair appears in "Gear" and in "Feeding"), but my goal was a one-click stop where you can ideally find what you're looking for no matter how you're searching.
