From the monthly archives:

May 2010

My favorite (baby friendly) parks in Chicago

by selfmademom on May 24, 2010 · 0 comments

Here’s my top three favorite parks to take the baby in the city as posted on my Second City Baby blog. Have one you want to add? Comment and let me know!

Felger Park: Not only does it have lots of shade, plenty of baby swings and ample bench seating, it has sprinklers, and well, when it’s hot, who doesn’t want to play in the water!
Che Che Wang Playlot: Did someone say “new park”? Oh yes, it’s new and clean, and if you’ve got crawlers, this is the place to be. But, beware. There’s no shade (because it’s new, of course), so the little ones will need serious hats. Or, go on a cloudy day.
Winnemac Park: The great expanse of this park makes for great stroller walking with the little one. And, there is a nature walk and garden where you can show your baby all the pussywillows he could ever want.

{ 0 comments }

An Internal Monolgue Report: Conflicted

by selfmademom on May 23, 2010 · 10 comments

My internal monologue is constantly conflicted:

About whether or not I should take on more “work” right now. (Mind says yes, body says no.)

About what television I’m going to buy tomorrow. (Panasonic or Samsung?)

Wondering if it will be too much to leave my son at school for naptime because we all had a very tiring weekend. (I reaaaaalllly need him to stay.)

About how I’m going to clean up the mess that is my house during remodeling. (Hire out, I think.)

About whether or not I should call the doctor because the baby isn’t rolling over yet or if I should wait until he’s officially seven months. (Neurotic jewish mother nonsense.)

About what I should wear for above mentioned “work” meeting. (Nothing looks good in 90 degree heat.)

About if I should grow out my hair or leave it. (???!!???)

Whether or not I should waste all my babysitter hours on volunteer stuff at my son’s school or just drag the baby along. (I hate dragging the baby and I hate spending money on sitters.)

What I should do with all the memorabilia I just moved out of my parents’ house. Keep it? Throw it out? (Who needs 5 years worth of camp letters?)

On if “boyfriend” style jeans will really look good on me. (Leaning towards no.)

Any votes? What’s your internal monologue saying now?

{ 10 comments }

Friday Randomness: A Giveaway and the Great Circ Debate

by selfmademom on May 14, 2010 · 2 comments

So… I’m very excited about the latest sponsor and giveaway on my site. It’s from Frankie’s on the Park (an absolutely fabulous and ultra hip boutique in Lincoln Park) and not only does it entail some serious discounting from their online store (20 percent off, yay!) but I’m also giving away the opportunity to customize an item at their Graffiti Bar (which to my knowlege does not exist anywhere else except on the brick wall of my local pub… ok bad joke).

Alls you have to do is leave in the comments here, or my Frankie’s Steals and Deals page about the cheesiest personalized item you’ve ever owned (photos are welcome and helpful). Think your bat mitzvah, a bad gift from Aunt Mary, anything goes. Post by June 1 to win. And, if you’re local, you can go to the Graffiti Bar at Frankie’s on the Park to make your customized item yourself!

If that wasn’t exciting enough, I’ve written the case for why a bris sure beats a hospitalization for a circumcision of my six-month-old on Second City Baby. For those who think it’s the same, think again!

Happy Friday!

{ 2 comments }

Gifted

by selfmademom on May 9, 2010 · 6 comments

Every year I hem and haw on whether or not I should ban kids attending my eldest son’s birthday party from bringing presents. Last year, my husband implored me to stop the madness and put a disclaimer on the invitation saying “no gifts, please.” I won that battle and we ended up with a closet full of gifts, some of which sat unopened for six months. By then my son had grown out of them and as such, they were donated. (I’m not a huge fan of re-gifting, but I suppose, some younger child would have benefitted from the 42 floor puzzles we received.)

When I scheduled my son’s fourth birthday party for last weekend I thought long and hard about adding that line again to the Evite. (It’s greener and cheaper to invite kids that way, btw.) I had seen it happen once before this year as one of my friends suggested instead of presents for her kids, that people donate to Haiti.

Me? Not so much. I said: bring. it. on.

It’s not like the little prince needs anything. (Baby Burrito will want for nothing as a four-year-old.) But, now that he’s a miniature person sassy teenager-in-training and has actual interests, and likes and dislikes, it’s actually really cool to see what the kids who really know him come up with as gifts. And more so, what he will pick out for other kids.

“M likes fire trucks, mommy!” he’ll say, and I’ll go ahead and believe him and buy that truck for M, who, sure enough, likes fire trucks.

Sure, there were duplicative toys and those he’ll never play with that will go back for an exchange, but for every one that ended up in the reject pile were the planes that you paint, planes that fly by electric charge, planes that fly by a string pull (get the theme?). It made going to the park today that much more enjoyable. And I like when we get new gifts that are things I never would think to buy him or even realized were age-appropriate. He’s going to love ALL THREE magnetic mosaic sets he received.

I’m sure there are parents who would scoff at the mounds of gifts that are in our basement, but after he opened the four gifts of his choosing because he’s four, I put the rest away for a rainy day.

For now, I’m happy to say that he’ll stay “gifted.”

{ 6 comments }

Mother’s Day Not Exactly My Way

by selfmademom on May 9, 2010 · 1 comment

For all the inconsistencies in content and posts on this blog, there’s one thing I am good about writing about – Mother’s Day. Besides my birthday (also known as the high holy day around here), Mother’s Day is one of those days I revel in being just a tad selfish. (Ok, that goes for other days too, but who’s counting?)

Remember last year when I took off with a friend for a lux ladies lunch and day of shopping? That will likely go down as one of the most fab Mother’s Days. I wish I could say history was repeating itself, but that would be oh too good to be true.

Now today won’t be known in the annals of history as bad as the Mother’s Day I spent at my brother’s graduation ceremony, but the fact that my husband has to take off for a business trip in a few hours is putting a small dent in my celebratory mood.

It’s like, “Happy Mother’s Day until 1 pm!” day around here and the countdown until I’m alone with both kids has unfortunately started in earnest.

But don’t feel sorry for me. The guilt from my better half resulted in me scoring some new lululemon tops that aren’t 3 sizes too big from my lululemon-obsessed pregnancy days.

My new heather-grey Remix Lulu hoodie. Glad those preggo photos are over.

So I’ll take my four hours of peace plus some cute sweatshirts. Mother’s Day may not have turned out exactly how I expected it today, but it’s still pretty darn good. And comfortable.

{ 1 comment }