This Simple Life
Yet another mommy blogging about how cute her kids are.
Category Archives: product commentary
Jun 9 2007

Photo Hunt – Theme: Shoes

by Toni

Here’s a picture of Brother from September 2005.  He had just recently started walking so I ordered a pair of Bobux.

I cannot say enough good things about these shoes.  People seemed to constantly remark on how well he walked in these.  But when he wore “regular” shoes the comments ranged from nothing at all to “just learning how to walk, huh?”

There are a lot of knock-offs available now for much less but they all have one major benefit in common:  they stay on.  If you have a toddler – you need these shoes.

Did you play?

Categories: photo hunt, product commentary | 1 Comment »

Feb 3 2007

Photo Hunters – Theme: Gross

by Toni

 

From the American Heritage Dictionary:

A group of 144 items; 12 dozen.

I offer 144 diapers.  It’s a somewhat of a mixed bag (136 Seventh Generation #4′s and 8 Fuzzi Bunz).  I thought about making a design – You know, a happy face or something.  But c’mon – they’re diapers!  And I couldn’t imagine why they’d make me smile.

  • Dense; profuse.
  • Glaringly obvious: gross injustice.

Brother is 2 1/2  and still in diapers.  While the rate of diaper changes has slowed since his infancy on average I have changed about 8 diapers a day for just over 900 days.  That’s 7,300 diapers changes.  Certainly that is a ‘profuse’ amount.

Also, considering a diaper change takes on average 4 minutes (including fetching supplies and catching the child).  I calculate a whopping 29,200 minutes I’ve spent performing this staple of motherhood.  That’s 486.6 hours or 20 continuous days!  I have two children so 40 days of my lifetime has been set aside exclusively for wiping someone else’s fanny…. Not fanny funny.  It’s a gross injustice.

Offensive; disgusting.

Do I really need to expound on why diapers fit this part of the definition?

 

Did you play?

Categories: photo hunt, product commentary | 9 Comments »

Jan 27 2007

Photo Hunters – Theme: Silver

by Toni

I looked all over this week for something silver.  Then yesterday sitting at my desk I spied these.  Perfect.  To you these may look like ordinary containers but to me they represent so much more.  You see, I am a container junkie.  A place for everything and everything in its place.  Which means of course that you must have containers.  I even have containers for my containers.  My family humors my disorder.  This conversation was had a couple of weeks ago during cleanup time.

Dad: “Sister, where does this toy go?”

Sister:  “Oh, that goes in the ‘I-don’t-know’ bin.”

Dad:  “The ‘I-don’t-know’ bin?

Sister:   “Right here (pointing)”

Dad (to me):  “The ‘I-don’t-know’ bin?!

Me (very seriously):  Yes.  It’s for all those toys that don’t have matches… or don’t fit with any…thing…. else…. (trailing off).

Dad (slow nod) :  “Riiiight.”

Anyway, my entry for this week are three silver containers which I picked up over a month ago on sale for a buck each at the supermarket.  They used to hold Hershey’s kisses but that is obviously not why I bought them.  For proof of that fact, I offer another silver picture:  

Two still sealed bags of kisses. (The third bag did get opened but only because we had a guest in our house that weekend and I needed a tasty treat to offer.)

 

(Oh, I almost forgot.  The pop bead count was 25 ft of round and 8 ft of irregulars.)

 

 

Did you play?

Categories: everyday us, family quotables, photo hunt, product commentary | 13 Comments »

Dec 10 2006

Hmm… Contemplative much?

by Toni

From now on the majority of my wardrobe will come from here.  How can you not buy from a company who so clearly understands – “LIFE IS GOOD”.  Another statement on one of their products:  “Not all who wander are lost.” - it occurs to me “Not all who wonder are lost.” either.  Sometimes our simple life seems to puzzle people.  It is certainly not a direct route to “success” … whatever that is.  It is a rambling, winding way full of questions and backtracking and smelling of the roses.  It is “The Road Not Taken” and “Walden” only in hesitant, baby steps.  But if the converse of Socrates is true then our examined life grows more and more worth living each day.

Categories: famous quotables, living simply, musings, product commentary | No Comments »

Jul 25 2006

Fibs, Bikes & Bedtime Stories

by Toni

This morning started out with a lie. Oh, it was a little one and didn’t really hurt anybody but it was a lie nonetheless. What makes it notable however is that Brother was the one to tell it. I had given him a diaper which he took into the other room. He returned without the diaper and when I asked, “Where is the diaper? We need to change you.” He replied, “Daddy change me.” and flashed one of those, “do you think she’ll see through me?” looks that people seem to get when they aren’t very good at fibs. I don’t see this as a trend but still, he’s not even two yet. It was a little disturbing.
And about the diapers – I’ve settled on half n’ half. I can’t bring myself to spend very much on diapers when I have a completely viable alternative right in front of me but I can’t deal with nighttime/naptime leaking either. I am trying to be responsible with the diapers I do buy. The current favorite: Seventh Generation No cutsy characters but they work every bit as good as Pampers…. without the allergies.
I found a seat for Brother that attaches to the back of an adult bike. Not one of those you pull behind but one that actually attaches to the bike. I might stress here that the instructions say ” Fits most adult bicycles” and also that I do not actually have an adult bicycle. Still, after much struggle, I safely (or so I thought) attached the seat. The whole point of this endeavor was to allow Sister, Brother and I to ride our bikes across the Jenks pedestrian bridge….which we did. Across and back… and that was all. Because my bicycle is apparently smaller than normal the seat (and Brother) are much closer to the pedals than they should be. Brother kept sticking his feet up and kicking the back of my knees as we rode. The idea is sound but the execution was poor. I will find a larger bike and try again. On a similar note, Sister loved riding across the bridge and wants to go back very soon. I think it was excellent exercise (for her and me) and also want to go back.
Another great bedtime book from the library – Sleepytime Rhyme by Remy Charlip. It should probably bother me that all my book recommendations are for the under 6 crowd but it doesn’t . Write about what you know.
Oh, and my dad bought a horse today. She won’t arrive for a month but I am looking forward to learning to ride again (I assume that’s something you have to relearn??) and to teaching Sister and Brother.

Categories: living simply, product commentary, the written word | No Comments »

Jul 15 2006

Diaper Thoughts

by Toni

When Sister was a baby it never occurred to me to use cloth diapers. Pins and Folding and Leaking!?! No way! With Brother, I considered the option just because by then I knew there actually were options. Snappies, velcro, & buttons made the idea more agreeable. Still the ease of staying mainstream kept us from that route until (15 mo) Brother developed a mysterious rash – bumpy, blotchy, red, obviously uncomfortable (even painful at times) and absolutely impossible to treat. Could it be the diapers? Around 19 months our pediatrician confirmed that it was an allergic reaction and agreed with our assesment that the diapers were to blame. And so began the big switch. A quick Google revealed so many choices….everyone with a name cuter than the last. (Tiny Tush, Swaddlebees, Bumkins, Bummis, Kissaluvs, Bum Genius, Mother-Ease, Kushies.) And everyone with ads and disads. (high cost, low cost, great for day not for night and naps, needs a cover but easy to wash, doesn’t need a cover but only fits one size.) Finally, we settled on Fuzzi Bunz – cute, huh? And the rash disappeared overnight.
Skip ahead 4 months. We are in the middle of moving, Brother needs a change and the cloth diapers are “all the way” downstairs. I sneak a disposable from Grandma’s stash and hope that the allergy won’t pick up on the trick until the next change. It doesn’t. A couple of days later, it happens again. I can feel myself slipping back into mainstream. I have never regreted or resented the switch to cloth. I really never thought of it as any more or less difficult than disposables… until now. But it’s more than just our move prompting me to think of changing back. In the hot weather, the cloth diapers have started causing a rash and after 4 days the disposables have not. Even double duty nighttime diapers have started leaking. And the biggest reason of all, Brother actually likes changing when we use the “elmo, bird” diapers. He actually wants to change and tells me when he needs a change. These are actions I was told to expect from a toddler wearing cloth but with cloth my son runs away and says, “NO!” even when he clearly needs a new diaper.
I have washed all my Fuzzi Bunz and am going through the leftover Pampers. There is about a week’s worth left. Decisions, decisions.

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