Cool Mom Picks

Batters Up

Just because I'm not a partaker in America's Favorite Pastime doesn't mean I don't think it shouldn't be celebrated. So, this year, I've decided to mix up a special "Homerun Martini" and pull out one of my favorite movies - "A League of Their Own."

But since my daughter isn't old enough to enjoy a drunk Tom Hanks telling the team that "there's no crying in baseball," I found the second best thing - the book Dirt on Their Skirts, the story inspiration for the movie. Based on real accounts from players in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, this is the perfect way to get your daughter excited about a sport that we may have only thought was "for the boys."

And while you're at it, check out the League's cute pennants - Made in the USA, of course. Perfect for decorating your sporty little girls' room.

Happy Opening Day!

~ Kristen

"If Mama Ain't Happy, Ain't Nobody Happy"

I think those lovely parenting-type magazines make fine reads... for my daughter while I'm on the toilet. What 20-month doesn't love to flip through pages of baby pictures and toy ads? But when I'm looking for something to challenge my slowly deteriorating mom brain, I head right over to mamazine.com. Co-founders Amy and Sheri have created a feminist publication that speaks to mothers as women, people, and parents. Their columns and features address a wide variety of not-so-typical mother mag topics, including (but not limited to) stepmothering, miscarriage, parenting amidst a crisis (Katrina), and ethno-cultural issues. Let's face it. If you want parenting how-tos, you might want to read something else - but if you want real-life parenting experiences from diverse mother voices (and those who love them), then this is the zine for you.

You can sign up for a free subscription by visiting their site, but after this whole debacle regarding the questionable ethics of a certain parent-type magazine, I suggest you take the money you'd be spending on your other subscriptions, and send it their way.

~ Kristen

Because Your Mama Brain Ain't Gonna Cut It

Recently, I attempted to tell highlights of my pregnancy and birth to a newly pregnant friend. It seems all I could remember, other than my labor and delivery, was my penchant for ranch dressing, my huge sausage-like toes, and the 70-lb weight gain. I know that those 9-months held so much more than sleepless nights and crib bedding obsessions, but it's hard to remember all the intimate details. If only I had been given Tracey Clark's new book Waiting for Baby - a wonderful pregnancy journal that combines beautiful photography and writing prompts to assist you in memorializing your pregnancy through your own photos and stories. With sections such as celebrations, important matters, and birth story, this book makes keeping a journal an enjoyable experience for even the most anti-diary folks.

I'm also in love with Tracey's other book Baby of Mine - her mother memory album for baby's first year. Rather than spend money on a boring baby book, why not pick up this lovely baby book/journal combo that not only allows you to capture important milestones, but provides sections for you to add your own personal experiences.

And even if you don't think you have anything to say, I can assure you that Tracey's books will truly help you tell your story.

~Kristen

More fun than wiping up poo? I don't believe it.

I can't tell you how many times I've heard a nervous mom-to-be ask, "so what did you do after the baby got home? Just...look at her?" Well, kind of. Yeah. I also watched more mindless TV than I ever thought possible.

If only I had discovered Rookie Moms back before I OD'd on Surreal Life reruns.

Rookie Moms, a guide to the first year of motherhood from two self-proclaimed geeky moms from Berkley, is one of the freshest, most useful websites we've come across lately. It lets you navigate through hundreds of activities and pointers for new moms "that are more fun than cleaning someone's tushie."

You'll find age-appropriate games to play, easy craft projects, even inventive day trips to get you out of the house. My favorite: strapping the baby up in the Bjorn, grabbing a camera, and making a photo journal of his birthplace. There are even suggestions just for you when you find yourself with little bit of downtime. Or if you never have downtime, ways to make more of it. (Go ahead and let the laundry pile up. It won't kill you.)

The website has a nice, breezy tone and the suggestions are all short and to the point--further evidence that Whitney and Heather really do understand the attention span of sleep-deprived new parents. I'm forwarding the link to my own pregnant friends right this minute.   -Liz

What a Bitch

Around the time our second son was born, I came across an amazing book The Bitch in the House: 26 Women Tell the Truth About Sex, Solitude, Work, Motherhood, and Marriage, a collection of essays edited by Cathi Hanauer. Pieces by Hope Edelman, Elissa Schappell, and numerous others are organized by life stages - the best of which is the section entitled Mommy Maddest. The revelation that I was not alone in my anger was astonishing. Reading about how other women have felt these same feelings is, in itself, quite heartening, but reading the incredibly honest and articulate voices of the women Hanauer assembled is immensely reassuring and entertaining. As a wife and mother, I found so much of myself in these women’s essays that at times I have shoved the book in front of my husband and said, “Read this, and then you will understand...”

And while you're at it, you might also want to grab The Bastard on the Couch: 27 Men Try Really Hard to Explain their Feelings About Love, Loss, Fatherhood and Freedom, the male response to The Bitch in the House, edited by none other than Hanauer’s husband, Daniel Jones.

~ Amy

I Love Marrit

I'm reading Inconsolable, by Marrit Ingman and you must too. She is my new hero. Her writing is rollicking and riotous and searingly honest. It's an account of her post partum depression and even though I didn't have PPD during the first year of Fluffy's life, I think I must be having a bit of it now; either that or a smattering of post traumatic stress syndrome.

She writes with such energy and precision and humor and passion and HONESTY. She makes me wince and gasp and laugh out loud; she makes me want to lean over and read passages to complete strangers waiting alongside me on the loooooong benches in the DMV. She makes me want to reprint whole chapters on my blog.

I love Marrit. She is making me laugh out loud and I don't do enough of that these days. NOT ENOUGH. I love the laughing out loud. It's on the top of my love list...

~Kyra

Reproduced from her blog with permission