pyewacket's Profile

Very cute.

I loved my old TV stand on wheels, because I hated looking at a TV. I used to keep it in the closet. Works great if you only watch a movie every week or two. I would slide it out, watch, slide it back in again.

I used an vintage metal baseball game, about two feet long, over the boy's bed. It looked very nice. But of course, once he got tall enough to stand on the bed, he grabbed at it all the time and slid it back and forth, quickly wearing a half circle into the wall where the corners hit. Had to take it down. Maybe when he's older.

Am I the only one who finds the bumper not just unsafe but actually unattractive? I like the rest of the room, but all that frouf on the crib just turns me off, and I am no minimalist.

A friend in college taught me to make mobiles with fabulous movement.

1) Use thin, light dowels (can be painted or plain) for the structure

2) Use fishing line for hanging objects

3) Starting with the bottom dowel, make a tiny notch at the end of each. Use fishing line to hang objects on both ends.

4) Here's the important part: with objects hanging free, balance the dowel on the edge of a knife blade. When it's perfectly balanced, make a small notch/dent at that point on the dowel. Tie fishing line there. Use that line to tie the dowel onto the next dowel up.

5) Repeat on the other side. Now you have four objects hanging from three dowels. Be sure to cut the lengths of the dowels so the objects don't hit each other when they swing.

6) Keep layering up as you wish. It is preferable NOT to have exactly the same number of objects or layers of dowels on each side. It doesn't matter how uneven it is, as long as you balance each dowel holding everything below it on a knife edge.

I had made several of these with objects like pompoms, cocktail umbrellas, origami swans. The motion of these mobiles is always lovely. Even heavier objects will swoop and float on the slightest movement of air.

I think everyone has little things they loved that wouldn't matter to someone else. These lists are a response to the baby-stuff industry, which of course has its own reasons for trying to convince us all that we need every little thing. But the snide tone offends those people who need one thing or another.

As for co-sleeping, everyone I know cosleeps by putting their bed on the floor and throwing the frame into storage (parent's basement, own basement, storage space, etc) for the duration. We have a king, I slept between the baby and my husband, and I put a thick yoga mat on the floor next to the bed in case he did fall off. Never did. We wore heavy pjs and longjohns and tucked the blankets to waist height and only on half the bed. It worked and I'm certain it was quite safe. I really didn't want to cosleep, but it was the only way to get my son to sleep - and given that he breastfed every 1.5 hours, it was the only way I got any sleep (sidenursing = salvation). I'm pregnant again and every much hope I get one of those crib-sleeping babies I hear about. But I don't see any need to attack people for cosleeping - it can be done quite safely - or for crib-sleeping, which can allow the whole household to sleep better if the baby is so inclined. Not sure what the appeal is in all the parental defensiveness and judgment.

I've never lived in a place with a management company because 1) they are much more expensive and 2) they generally represent ugly, bland modern apartment buildings rather than the lovely double and triple deckers that we are blessed with in Boston. Of course, with that blessing comes the curse of landlords who either live on site and complain when you breathe, or live elsewhere and expect to take in rent without lifting a finger. I don't know how you're supposed to get along with a landlord who spray paints over the water stains in your ceiling when you complain about water dripping from the ceiling onto the counters (without covering any of your things, so a painting cover covered with little speckles of white paint) or complains that you bring your stroller into the house in the middle of winter - apparently, I'm supposed to get the infant in the stroller on the front deck in a snow storm because the stroller "ruins the floors.

Which is to say, management companies are probably a lovely thing, but not an option for some places.

When we moved into the new house when I was 8, my 17 year old sister got to choose her room. She picked the pink one I coveted, of course, though she was heading to college in less than two years. I got a room covered with hideous blue floral wallpaper, which I hated every day I lived there, over ten years. My parents finally replaced it when I had moved out.

It's easy for adults to underestimate how powerless kids are over their environment and how much their room means to them. Paint can be easily changed; it's not that big a deal. I can't understand why anyone wouldn't be able to let go of a little control and let the kid choose what s/he likes. Painting swatches and looking at paint of actual walls is a good idea, because kids (and adults) often need to be educated about the effects of large scale versus small, bright spaces versus dark, etc. But pushing your agenda, even in under-the-radar ways, seems silly. Just let the kid choose a color.

I know how to cook - not just follow a recipe, but make a meal out of what's in the house. I also know how to plan for leftovers, shop efficiently, and stock my kitchen. I know how to clean, which is a skill that is rarely identified as a skill. I know the basics of sewing, though I wish I knew more. But I can make my own curtains or fix a hem, and those are important skills. I know some basics of gardening, and that's helpful.

I don't know much of anything about home repair or carpentry, and I wish I did. I would also like to learn about automotive repair.

I do know how to knit and how to can, but I consider those skills to be more for pleasure than necessity. If I lived somewhere that gave me space for a vegetable garden, I might revise my feelings about canning. But, unless you have a cheap source for wool, it's hard to claim that knitting is a necessity in any way (though it would be nice to know how to repair knitted items - my mother can, but I can not).

I think allowance should be just part of being in the household and not being of an age to earn money yet. Not tied to anything, although if a kid were abusing use of money (buying old girlie magazines? gambling? why do all the money-related infractions I can think of sound so unlikely?) I could see withholding an allowance until the kid can prove s/he can handle it.

I think they're dead wrong. If your spouse stays at home, does s/he get "paid" based on how much work s/he does in a week? An allowance shouldn't be tied to chores, because chores aren't a job that's done for money, chores are just part of being a member of a household. I think it's fine to pay kids for optional jobs that are above and beyond (depending on your household, this might be painting a shed, digging a new garden bed or cleaning Grandma's basement). Ideally, you would want that sort of job done for someone, anyone, outside the home, because that requires greater responsibility. The entrepreneurial kids can shovel sidewalks or pick weeds for the neighbors, and that more accurately represents the world of work than chores=allowance does. A small allowance as part of the household, then earn the rest.

I do think they are right to insist that kids have a financial "plan" in place. I've heard of people who give their kids allowance in three pots - spending money, savings, and charity. That makes sense.

I never had an allowance growing up, because my parents wanted to be able to veto any purchases I made. I had to ask them each time for money. I do NOT recommend this method.