Ten time saving tips with Tots

We all know that babies are incredibly time consuming little creatures,  and we all know that better organization is the order of the day. This has never been a particularly strong point of mine but here are a few pointers I have learnt in my trial by fire as a new mom.

Accept all offers of help  from family,  friends,  neighbors,  husbands and  older siblings (the latter will probably have to be more cajoled but you can at least kill 2 birds with this one too and teach older kids responsibility).  Delegation becomes a key skill when you have a baby.

Cook in large batches where possible and freeze dinners for future use  (I like to keep these for when I know my husband is travelling for business or going to be late home).  If you don’t have a large freezer,  you may want to invest in a separate one for the garage.  I put this off for a long while but wouldn’t be without it now.

Keep a well stocked diaper bag at hand to grab and go  (see my blog on what to pack in the diaper bag), as well as emergency supplies of diaper,  wipes,  spare clothes and toys in each car.  There is nothing more annoying than having to make six trips back into the house to collect forgotten items  (she says having just come back from a trip having forgotten the stroller – whoops!).

Write lists – for everything!  I have lists on my computer that I print out if necessary.  These include emergency phone numbers  (including all doctors,  hospital,  poison control,  babysitters,  take outs etc), ongoing grocery store lists for places like Costco,  Target etc,  a packing list for trips away,  lists of collected birthday/Christmas presents for people,  you name it,  I keep a list for it!

Storage.  I got this idea from a mommy website and have since adopted as my own.  Keep a chest in the lounge or any room in the house for that matter,  where you can dump all the clutter and clobber In a last minute tidy up - when you’re too tired to find real homes for things,  or when someone comes around unannounced! 

Wear hats, big sunglasses,  ponytails and carry big bags!  For those days when you don’t have time to wash,  blow dry or even brush your hair,  put on make-up,  cover up bags from a sleepless night and hide away all the baby clobber,  the above items cover up a multitude of sins!

Shop online.  Of course we can’t do this for everything but I now seem to use Amazon more than I ever did before.  A couple of other baby specific websites I love to shop with include Zuliliy and Totsy (member sites that have changing deals on super cute clothes and other baby and mom related items) .

iPads and other tablets.  I know I already wrote an ode to my iPad,  sorry blog.  But really,  this gift for having my daughter has been my number one time saver.  I keep it with me on my other hip and do little jobs as I go along and before baby brain makes me forget.  Tap out email replies,  pay the amex bill, renew my library book,  oh yes,  and shop online.

Don’t sweat the small stuff.  Ok,  so the dusting doesn’t get done quite so often,  and maybe you become slightly less discerning with what clothes really need ironing.  Maybe baby even stays in her onesie or sleeper suit on certain days.  Three little words.  Lower your standards!

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Let me know if you have any great time saving tips you would like to share.  I would love to hear them…!

Just in case you haven’t paid attention to TV commercials,  read a newspaper,  or been on the Internet  the past week or so  (the first two I can believe,  but not so the latter)  Yes that’s right,  Mother’s Day is THIS Sunday,  May 13th!  Now I certainly don’t wish to tar all men with the same brush,  but if you are anything like my husband,  you will have forgotten this Brownie scoring points day.  (My husband excuses himself on the basis that he has two dates to remember,  this one,  and English Mother’s Day in March,  but I don’t buy it,  sorry Mark!).

So in addition to remembering your own Mom,  you need also to celebrate your significant other this Sunday.  If your girlfriend or wife is pregnant,  or you have a baby or a toddler,  the onus is even more on you,  Dad,  to step up to the plate,  since mom will not be getting any handmade glittery cards or sticky crafts home from school.  Now don’t get me wrong,  you don’t need to go out and buy your partner a new car or diamond jewelry as many of the adverts would imply (although of course if you want to……).  No,  If she’s anything like me,  ‘Mom’ will be super happy with a bit of a sleep in while you deal with the kids,  a nice (quiet – is that too much to ask?!)  cup of coffee,  a clean house ,  and perhaps dinner made – ahh.. pure bliss!

So whether your partner is pregnant,  for the first time,  or the fifth,  you have a baby,  toddler,  and even if you have big kids or teenagers,  just remembering  Mother’s Day on Sunday,   and with a little though,  will be massive in her eyes.

PS: Having said all this,  my husband  might get off lightly this year thanks to my 9 month old’s timely learning of “Mumma” as I write this.  Yey,  I am so happy! – even if she is talking to the box of cornflakes!  Happy Mother’s Day.

Last week was National Princess Week according to the lady handing out paper crowns and plopping one  on my 9 month old daughter’s head.  Having only had a son for the last 8 years and under the assumption I would probably never have a daughter,  now that I find myself with one,  I will admit there is a side of me that wants to go all out girly girl pink and yes Princess.  Gleeful at the thought of dressing her up like a dolly,  dresses,  frills,  hair bows and all!

Then there is the sensible modern woman in me that says,  wait Claire, what are you thinking!  I will not subscribe to gender stereotypes,  let alone the Disney princess craze.  I will tell my daughter she is brilliant not beautiful.  She will wear overalls just like my son did,  and I will embrace the TomBoy in her.  Living in Los Angeles,  image capital of the world,  it seems even more pertinent to teach my daughter that looks are not the be all and end all, but  that ‘it’s what’s inside that counts’.

This inner conflict is reflected in the fact that I had a tough time thinking up a name for my daughter and why she ended up with two names - her formal and official name, May (the more 'grown-up' of the two) and what we really call her - the girly,  feminine every day name,  Maisie.

I guess at the end of the day I will probably have no need to reconcile my own angst as it will be Maisie or May who will decide what she wants to be called,  and whether she will be girly or TomBoy,  or a happy blend of the two.  She will be her own person,  princess or otherwise.

A recent essay by Lisa Bloom,  ‘How to Talk to Little Girls' discusses this very subject,  urging the reader to focus less on little girls’ appearances and more on their minds by talking about books rather than their cute clothes.  Brown points out that “nearly half of all three- to-six-year-old girls worry about being fat” and that “25 percent of young American women would rather win America’s Next Top Model  than the Nobel Peace Prize”.

I would love to hear from other mothers of girls on this gender issue,  how you have handled raising them?  And how your beautiful and brilliant daughters turned out anyway…?

A couple weeks back I wrote a blog about some of the latest inventions on the baby market, including a bionic baby suit that monitors your baby’s heartbeat. Well check out my latest discovery while idly surfing the web – a baby Jacuzzi!  Yes you heard me right… At a little under $3000,  your little darling can de-stress and decompress after a long day of well,  napping,  being cuddled,  fed,  dressed,  and generally having all her needs met,  kicking back and relaxing in her very own jetted tub! 

The MagicBath baby whirlpool also features colored LED’s for soothing chromatherapy sessions, in case you were wondering why the good old kitchen sink wouldn’t suffice for the job. Sure,  your kid will no doubt outgrow her spa bath by the time she’s one,  but at least she’ll feel pampered from the get go, and you never know,  perhaps there’s a hot resale market for baby Jacuzzis on Craigslist…?

In the meantime, while you’re saving up for your baby bubble tub (by which time baby might be a teenager), there are a few  perfectly functional baths that help get the job done, including the SpaBath which rather resembles a bucket but keeps baby upright and in the fetal position. The one I have is by First Years and can be used as a stand alone infant bath as well as converting to a toddler seat for the regular bath. Another one that looks fun is an inflatable tub by Safety 1st  - who knew there were so many variations on a bath! In all seriousness though, some other tub time essentials for baby include, a bath towel, flannel or sponge, cotton wool balls for cleaning eyes, a selection of bath toys (as well as a basket or bag to store said clutter), and the necessary baby shampoo, baby wash and bubble bath. With all this your little one should then be all set to soak and without sinking too much of your cash in the process.