Before we had kids - ok, before we had our third kid, I swore that I would never drive a minivan. It's not that I find them 'so uncool' - frankly I was just terrified that I'd fail miserably at driving something that big. I'd never driven anything but smallish sedans and minivans all seemed like cruiseliners in comparison. But when baby #3 came along, we realized that we couldn't safely fit 3 car seats in my old Volvo (besides it had a nasty habit of stalling out in the middle of intersections), so we began the search for a more 'family friendly' vehicle. After extensively polling our family and friends and spending a little time on the lots, we decided to buy a Honda Odyssey.
I didn't realize just how much I love my minivan, however, until it went out of commission (van + black cow at night = 2 weeks in the shop). I got the knack of driving a longer car in just a couple of days (in fact, it's zippier than my old sedan was by far) and most of the time I forget that I'm driving a Mom-mobile. In my opinion, here are some of the van's best features:
1) It fits a TON of car seats. We had no problem installing all 3 seats in our car, despite the fact that two of them are big, bulky convertible seats. There are 3 seats with LATCH capability and 5 total seats that support the back harness strap. (I've heard that some nicer models of the Odyssey also have an optional 8th seat which also accommodates car seats).
2) Drink holders everywhere. I didn't count, but I'm estimating that our car has slots for 10-12 bottles or cups. Which is great because we take drinks with us everywhere and were always running out of places to set them in my old car. Then the passenger seat would get covered in spilled milk and the car would start to stink - what a mess. No problem with that in the Odyssey!
3) Tons of storage compartments. There are 4 glove-box/storage cubbies in the front of the van and one on each side in the back. Plus two large storage slots in the floor (great for holding seldom used jumper cables and jacks). The doors also have lots of slots for keeping maps, umbrellas, loose change and the like. No more loose items rolling around while we're driving!
4) Giant trunk. Of all the vans we looked at, the Odyssey had the most room in the back. We can easily fit a double stroller, diaper bag, toys for the park, several bags of groceries, some blankets AND all our luggage for a weekend away. And somewhere in there we've got a spare tire as well.
5) Safety. The Odyssey has a stellar safety rating in its class. We tested this out a bit when my husband ran into that cow I mentioned. Sure, the van was damaged, but my husband barely felt the impact (and don't worry, the cow walked away stunned, but unharmed). I feel a lot better now about any other fender benders we might find ourselves in - this little van can take a beating!
I have only two grievances with this vehicle.
1) The bucket seats aren't very comfortable for a small woman. The headrests push on my neck uncomfortably (especially if I'm wearing a ponytail) and make me slouch. However, I haven't ridden in a new (i.e. made since 1990) car that didn't have that problem and it's easily solved with a nice soft pillow behind my back.
2) The back row can be frustrating for car seat installation. I'm a big fan of the LATCH system. Click the seats in and be done. However, while all 3 spots on the back row will take car seats, on the middle spot is LATCH equipped. Unfortunately, if you install a seat in the middle of the back row, the back harness of the car seat will bisect the trunk to reach its clip. Which means all luggage (and enormous double strollers) will have to be maneuvered around the harness strap to get them in and out of the van. A pain, but certainly not a dealbreaker.
All in all, the Honday Odyssey is an awesome vehicle. It handles as well as a much smaller vehicle, gets decent gas mileage and has tons of room for kids, gear, bottles, etc. We love ours and I cannot wait until we can bring it home from the shop.
I know that the Friday slot is supposed to go to Deals and Giveaways, but I thought this was much more important. I have become grumpy since having kids. If I really sit down and think about it, I'm pretty horrified at the number of days I think to myself "Man, this parenting thing is really hard!" Frankly, I don't know what 'really hard' is. Most Americans don't. To me, 'really hard' has always meant cranky kids, a messy house, a sleepless night, failing at my attempt to keep up with Joneses as they say. And then, today, this article has been circulating the internet. It describes in horrifying ways the choices some parents in famine-ravishes areas of Africa are having to make. The choice of which child lives, and which dies. These families are having to travel long distances on foot with little food or water while watching their children grow weak and succumb to exhaustion and starvation. They have to face the agonizing decision of who receives their limited supply of life-giving water and who is simply too weak. As a parent I cannot even begin to imagine having to make such a choice. As an American, I praise my Lord that I will likely never have to make the choice. And as a human I'm asking myself how and where I can give to help these people. I know I can't just run on down there with a bus full of food and water, but the article does provide this link with 45 organizations currently accepting donations for the aid of these people. We have so much. They have so little. I'm just hoping that we can do something to help one fewer parent have to make such a terrible decision.
We love smoothies in the summertime. They're great for cooling off, and they pack quite a nutritional punch as well. Here's the recipe for our favorite frosty treat:
Summer Smoothies
3 cups frozen strawberries
2 cups orange juice
1 cup raw spinach, torn
Place all in a blender and crush until smooth.
My children are suckers for rhyme. They clean up their toys at bedtime because we have a rhyming song. They let Mommy rock them on her lap for hours if she's singing a rhyming song. And their favorite library books are rhyming books. My boys are also suckers for trains. Especially trains on a journey.
Rob and Amy Spence combine trains and rhyme in Clickety Clack. This book builds on the clack-track-black-back rhyme sounds and takes us for a ride on the rails with a coach full of crazy characters. It's as fun for parents to read as it is for children to listen to, and its gentle rhythm will help to lull even the wildest bunch to sleep.
Full of colorful illustrations, this book is sure to be a bedtime (or anytime) favorite.
The Bento trend is a truly brilliant one. My kids are notoriously picky eaters. Not so much about what they eat as about how it's presented. If I give them a plain plate full of fruit and cheese, they'll take two bites and get up from the table. If I give them a fruit and cheese sculpture they will gobble the whole thing down. Almost as effective as food art, are divided trays. Something about portioning each food into its own little slot makes it so much more enticing to my children.
And now that preschool and mom's day out are about to recommence, I've been wondering what on earth to do about my plastic baggie problem. School rules insist that all food arrive in tidy and easy-to-open containers. I had been sending everything doled out into individual plastic baggies. But even though I'm not the "greenest" mama on the planet, I felt bad about all those baggies we were throwing away. Not to mention all the money I was spending on baggies. And the fact that mixing food and (potentially toxic) plastics is just icky to me.
Along comes Lunchbots - the brilliant stainless steel, compartmentalized lunch and snack containers. They are sturdy, so sandwiches don't get smashed. They are stackable, so they fit perfectly in lunchboxes. And they are super easy to clean in the dishwasher. They are easy to open and come with one, two or three compartments (I bought one of each per child) making lunch easy to assemble and super fun to eat! My kids always brought home leftovers from lunch - until I started sending along Lunchbots.
The containers are very affordable, too (unlike the $60 bento box + carry cover I was originally eyeing) so if one gets left behind at school, it's not the end of the world. Even better, I found mine on super sale at Pure Citizen
My kids love their Lunchbots and so do I :) a site that offers deals on eco-friendly items while also making donations to charity.
The weather is still in triple digits here. Which means cold salads have become a dinnertime staple. Our absolute favorite salad uses some of the bounty of our garden - fresh tomatoes in a mouthwatering Caprese Salad. Super simple and super good.
Caprese Salad
4-5 large red tomatoes, chopped
1 ball mozzarella, cut in 1" chunks
1/4 cup fresh basil, torn
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
dash salt
dash pepper
Combine all in a large bowl and mix well. Refrigerate before serving if desired.
My kids have recently discovered a new favorite author. Dan Andreasen's book A Special Day For Mommy was a must read (and read again) for bedtime for at least a month. The tender stories and vibrant pictures in his books captivated my kids.
The Treasure Bath is another favorite in our household. The kids adore this wordless book's expressive pictures - and they can't wait to hear what new narration Mommy or Daddy will give it each night. We can't wait to add to our collection of these sweet books.
When our first child was born, we used Playtex Drop-Ins bottles by default. We were given a free sample and when we suddenly realized we were not able to exclusively breastfeed, we reached for what was on hand. When baby #2 was born, we wanted to go with something different. We loved the Playtex bottles, but since our first child was still using his bottle, we didn't want any jealousy or confusion to interfere.
After staring at the enormous bottle selection in the store, we settled on Dr. Brown's Bottles because they touted that their patented system would prevent air bubbles and help reduce gas. Since our first child errupted like a volcano after each meal despite Playtex's claims that it, too, reduced bubbles, we figured the Dr. Brown's system was a good idea. Baby F took to the bottles right away. He had no trouble latching on, and no nipple confusion, despite the smaller nipple on these bottles. In general, we were happy.
Note that this section is called "Stuff I Don't Love" not "Stuff I Hate" - for many people, Dr. Brown's bottles might be the way to go. Here is our issue with the brand: These bottles have 5 pieces. The bottle itself, the nipple, the nipple ring, a tube and a plug that tops the tube. When hand washing, we were obliged to use a teeny tiny brush (included with the bottle) to scrub out all of the crevices. As is typical of us, we instantly lost the brush (all 3 of them actually - I suspect they met an unpleasant end in the disposal). Since handwashing became so much more difficult without the brushes (I have since been informed that you can order replacement brushes), we began tossing the bottles in the dishwasher. In the middle of the night, when you're groggy and the house is dark, it is nearly impossible to find all 5 pieces of the bottles in a full, hot dishwasher. We learned the hard way that without the straw and plug, the bottles leak out all the milk in about a minute and a half. Foo.
Problem #2. We are notorious for not bottle weaning at a remotely sane age. Both our boys have developed nasty bottle addictions, refused to sleep without a bottle (or five) and weren't weaned to a 'big boy' cup until after the age of two. But two year old are mobile. And Baby F has an arm like a major league pitcher. Meaning bottles were lost all over the house and car and occasionally not found again for weeks at a time. Not a problem with the Playtex bottles. The liners are disposable and the nipples are easy to soak and scrub. Unfortunately, the plug on the Dr. Brown's bottles has teeny tiny passageways through it (ostensibly to let out the air bubbles) which even the 'included' brush couldn't reach. Meaning any plug not rinsed immediately after the bottle was finished will mildew. After soaking several stray bottles and plugs in vinegar and finally bleach and STILL not eradicating the nasty black build up in the plug, we decided to call it quits. We had a 'goodbye bottle ceremony' and switched Baby F to a big boy kanteen cold turkey.
So - if you are organized, tidy and bottle wean your baby at 1 year old or around the time s/he can get around well enough to start hiding bottles, Dr. Brown's might work just fine for you. However, if you are prone to losing tiny brushes, or let your bottles sit in the sun for a while before washing them, or your child (or fido, or whoever) likes to stash bottles behind the couch and forget about them - go with something else. I recommend the Playtex Drop-Ins simply for the liners which can be disposed of when they become 'too gross to touch.' But anything with a simple 'bottle, nipple, ring' format is easy to clean, keep track of, and replace.
When Baby L was born, we made sure to start her on Playtex bottles. She loves them, and big brothers love pointing out all the cute designs on the side. And I love tossing them in the dishwasher and forgetting all about them. Win Win Win.
Picking a car seat can give any parent a headache. Frankly, our process for choosing The First Years True Fit car seat wasn't terribly precise, but we're sure pleased with the results. We researched car seats till our eyes crossed. We made a list of the seats with the highest safety rating. Then we drove on over to Target to see what was in stock. The only one in our price range was the True Fit, so we picked it up.
When our second child was ready to move into a convertible car seat, we bought the cheapest car seat we could find for big brother to use. Boy did we regret that decision. After being spoiled with the True Fit, we were disappointed by the new seat in so many ways. The buckles stick when we try to snap them in, which makes buckling take twice as long. The cover is very difficult to remove, which makes washing it a nightmare (not a good thing when your toddler is potty training). And if your car is not LATCH equipped, it's very difficult to install.
The True Fit, on the other hand, is a dream. Its straps adjust up and down simply by sliding a lever. Its buckles glide together quickly and smoothly. It plushy cover has several easily removable layers to make washing a breeze. And best of all, installing without the LATCH system does not require one of those easily-lost gold seatbelt fasteners. Instead, the seatbelt threads through the seat itself and clamps hold it in place. Easy peasy!
The only drawback to the seat that we've found so far is its weight. It is wider and significantly heavier than the other seat we bought, so hauling it in and out of the van can be tiresome. However, if you don't often have occasion to move your seats around, it's well worth a little extra bulk to have such an easy seat to install and use.
We loved this True Fit seat so much that when baby #3 was ready for her convertible seat, we ordered her one, too. Not only does the seat come in neutral greys and tans, but it also comes in two varieties of very girly pink! I was thrilled. So if you're in the market for a new car seat, definitely check out The First Years True Fit seat. You'll be glad you did.
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