TGIF! With the first week of school under our belts, the weekend can’t come soon enough. After figuring out how to make umpteen binders fit in one backpack without busting the seams, working out the kinks in an illogical bus route and filling out all that bloody paperwork, I’m ready to head back to the beach and pretend that it’s still summer vacation! No one ever said navigating the long and winding road of parenthood would be easy, but wouldn’t it be nice if you had some sort of road map to get you over some of those bumps all the way? Since that won’t be happening anytime soon, we think we’ve found a handy ‘cheat sheet’ of sorts that can cover some of that [&hellip
The Organized Walnut Archive
With a hint of spring in the air and warmer weather well on its way, we can expect to see a caravan of strollers making their rounds. If you will be among the many fellow baby-toting moms, here’s a bit of advice from this seasoned mama: Pack lightly. If there was one thing that used to drive me bonkers as a new mom heading out to the park or playground, it was how unbelievably bogged down I was, schlepping all this stuff around. Between a clean diaper, wipes, snacks, a hat, sweater (in case of a breeze, God forbid!) and anything else I could cram into my bag, I wasn’t just prepared for an afternoon out with my baby daughter…I was ready for the apocalypse, [&hellip
If I had a nickel for every time I’ve used a plastic sandwich baggie, I could cash out and skip playing Lotto. Seriously, we go through dozens of these bags every week: from packing snacks and small lunch items, to storing craft supplies and other items I can’t seem to get handle on otherwise. Part of me feels guilty every time we open yet another one (hey, at least I recycle the box!), but as a busy mom, these baggies have become one of my most indispensable items to date. Imagine then how I felt when I recently received a sample of Stasher, a plastic-free, silicon storage bag. To call this item revolutionary would be putting it on a pedestal, and yet I feel this [&hellip
Barely a week into the New Year, and my resolution-keeping is off to a shaky start. After poring over home magazines and vowing to keep our little abode tidier than in past years, I admit to fighting a never-ending battle. With two school-aged kids and a husband who acquires more stuff than I can track, trying to keep up with the daily clutter is a job in and of itself. Even after de-Christmasing much of our house, I still can’t find a place for all of our odds and ends (sigh…). So, of course when the daily grind gets the better of me, I tend to seek out outlets that give me solace: my cat, a good book and anything that gets my creative juices [&hellip
Now that summer is in full swing, we’ve officially moved onto camp season. My older daughter has decided that she’s outgrown her lunch bag, so we’re in the market for something a bit more, shall we say, “sophisticated?” (read: middle school cool). While out shopping the other day, I came across some bento boxes, which seemed like the perfect upgrade to the lunchtime routine. But upon further investigation, I decided the plastic containers appeared a bit too flimsy, and figured they wouldn’t hold up to a rough-and-tumble camp day. So when I heard about PlanetBox, a line of stainless-steel, multi-compartment lunch boxes, I was determined to check it out. There’s so much to like about this product line…where do we start? Kids with fussy appetites [&hellip
Like most of the Northeast, we are quite sick of winter. Enough with the endless snow, cold winds, slushy roads, school delays and shoveling! We don’t care if the groundhog was right or wrong; we’re ready for spring! As we watch the determined sun melt away all that snow –along with our winter blues–our thoughts turn to warmer weather, bringing flowers, green grass and the Easter Bunny. While you’re on the lookout for great basket stuffers this season, keep in mind a fresh idea for the baskets themselves. We recently stumbled upon Packable Pails, a line of colorful, collapsible buckets that do more than hold their fair share of jelly beans and chocolate eggs. If your house is anything like ours, the attic is packed [&hellip
I wonder if there will ever be a day when I won’t find a broken crayon somewhere. Whether lying front and center on our family room rug, covertly lodged in the backseat of my car or buried at the bottom of my handbag, these classic signs of childhood prove that either my kids are very creative or that I can’t get a handle on clutter (probably a little bit of both, actually). If you’re known to stash paper and crayons in the car or anytime you’re on the go, consider the utterly adorable Mess Eaters Crayon Roll from P’kolino. Each high-quality European crayon has its own secure spot in this frog-shaped pouch. Unroll it and your child has a world of color at her fingertips. [&hellip
A friend just took her first cross-country trip with her baby daughter…and boy, were her arms tired! No, this isn’t a classic joke set-up, but rather a comment on the reality of today’s parents having to lug too way too much stuff with them. Being on-the-go may sound carefree, but if you’re adding a baby to that equation, traveling is anything but easy-breezy! If you’ve got a family trip on the books this summer, it pays to do a little advance planning to figure out what you’ll need and when you’ll need it, so you can pack easily and have everything within your reach. For that reason, we love the lil’ traveler line from Miamica. This designer has found a way to streamline the travel [&hellip
Juggling two kids’ schedules competes for my attention every day. As a mom who’s been working from home for the past decade, I’ve become a master at time management and, on most days, feel like I have a pretty good handle on things. Even though my girls’ lives are undeniably busier than mine was at their ages, their schedules are predictable for the most part. But for moms of little ones, trying to get a baby to nap on queue, or take a bottle when they’re good and ready, is easier said than done. Aiming to make new parents’ a little less overwhelming comes Baby Bundle, a brand-new mobile app designed to simplify your baby’s everyday routine at the swipe of a finger. Monitoring Tools [&hellip
Happy (almost) New Year! Have you joined the resolution-making camp? You know the drill: The road to 2014 may be paved with good intentions, but as most folks know–whether they’ll admit to it or not–most resolutions fizzle out before spring. If you vow that this year will be different–you will put that gym membership to good use and get up at 5 a.m., even if it kills you–then we commend you and aim to help you achieve your goal (just don’t expect a gym buddy). Instead, we’ve been checking out some of the newer activity bands, and have found one worth treating yourself to. Oregon Scientific’s Ssmart Dynamo has all the bells and whistles you expect from a fitness tracker, but with an ease of [&hellip