Public transit with kids, babies, twins

My girls and I have taken the buses a bit, though mostly with their Dad, too. They've also hit the rails a few times. I think public transportation is a great activity with kids... besides being a new experience they get to interact with lots of people and things that "go" are always a hit. So I'm trying to integrate that with our outing plans a bit more.

It does take a few tries to get right. For instance knowing whether the buses will let you get on with an open stroller is key (AC Transit (in SF East Bay) says YES, NY City buses, NO). Definitely traveling off peak is key so you can have more room is important. With twins I favor carrying one in a pack and pushing just a single stroller. And in our area, going from the East Bay to SF, I tend to favor the transbay bus over BART, but that's because we can just walk to the bus and you don't have to deal with any elevators that may or may not be in service.

I noticed this Public Transportation site a few months back, and thought it looks like a handy thing. It offers comprehensive information about transit systems nationwide. I'm thinking that when we are traveling riding the bus with the girls could be a fun activity.

Getting a funny odor/smell out of SIGG bottles...

... or probably any metal water bottle for that matter.

I love our SIGG bottles, but occasionally if I leave my water bottle half full in a warm car it gets a funny moldy smell or taste. I've found using hot water and soap fades that. But then I went and left milk for the girls in a bottle and forgot about it. The sour milk smell just would not leave.

I tried the trusty water and vinegar approach. Filled the bottle up 1/8th of the way with white vinegar and then the rest of the way with water (same basic solution I use for cleaning off toys that need it). Closed the cap, shook it and let it stand almost a day. The terrible odor was gone when I rinsed the vinegar solution out. I'm sure it would work wonders on the plain old moldy issue.

In a way I wish it hadn't worked because I wanted to test out this other cure I'd heard about: denture cleaning tablets. It's supposed to be a cure all for SIGG bottle smell. My one reservation is that it's basically bleach in a fizzy matrix. Wasn't sure about how I felt about putting bleach into the girlio's water bottle. That caveat aside, you can sanitize the bottles for far less cost by just using a teaspoon of bleach in a liter of water (can add 1 tsp. baking soda too). The whole denture cleaning tablet trick is what some people use to clean out those Camelbak water hydration systems.

Oh, and apparently the risks of bacterial and fungal growth are higher if you use the bottle with a drink that contains sugars. So make sure the wash out the bottles immediately and well after putting juice or other sugary drinks in them.

Hope that's helpful... (though I'm running the risk of turning this into a blog of all things smelly).

Organizing a toddler friendly seder

I finally get around to this post as Passover draws to a close. But hopefully this will be useful to someone for next year.

We had 11 adults and 6 toddlers (from 14 to 20 months old) at the seder this year. My husband was pretty intent on hitting all the key elements, too, so we did a little figuring ahead of time on how to do this and keep the kids engaged.

First, finding the right haggadah was key. Some attendees were brought up in Orthodox households, some have very little connection to Jewish traditions. We're pretty happy with the haggadah we ended up with: Family Haggadah: A Seder for All Generations by Elie Gindie. It has Hebrew for those who prefer, plus English translation AND transliterations. The musical notes are written out for the song lyrics in case you have instruments around. There are great pictures to hold kids' attention and a pretty pared down service. People arrived at 4:30 to get situated, we started the seder at a little after 5 and wrapped things up by around 7:30/8.

This was our order of events:

• Gather around to bless the children
• Candle lighting and then promptly taking the candles behind a baby gate.
• Kiddush - drink wine to steel your nerves for all to come
• Four questions - sung by all, all musical numbers at this age are a hit
• The Passover Story - main points
• Plagues - have photocopies of an illustrated version of the ten plagues for parents to show the children
• Dayenu - another great sing along
• Discuss/bless/eat the symbolic foods - even one year olds can take part in this. Just use potatoes instead of parsley (OK by ashkenazim) and make sure the charoset is nut-free. We didn't give them the maror.
  
• MEAL - ours was toddler friendly and veggie. I'll post about that another time.
  
• Post-meal highlights (reconvening on the living room floor): singing Eliyahu Hanavi and opening the door, and a chorus of Next Year in Jerusalem. Chad Gadya for tots with real stamina.

Only other notes for a baby/toddler friendly service. The stuffed seder plate and matzah set (above right) was fun. And my girls are way into this new children's book "Five Little Gefiltes". It's a Five Little Ducklings parody that's part early Yiddish indoctrination and part Where's Waldo played out with gefilte fish. Whaddaya talkin'?! Go and get it!

I'm Back

One of the first "New Life's Resolutions" I made when the girls were born was that I wouldn't make excuses or apologies as a mom of young twins. Suffice it to say, life has thrown a few curve balls the past month and a half. I'm glad to be back blogging...

Mama inspiration

Literary Mama. This is a great site for fictional and journalistic takes on motherhood. Besides original work in the form of articles, stories and blogs it also has lists like this: good essential reads that may or may not be parenting related, but are probably easy to plow through even with the distractions of little ones.

And if you feel really inspired you can submit your own work!

SIGG water bottle discount code / coupon

I recently got one of these SIGG water bottles. They're great for storing water without it getting any odor or weird taste. Plus they're recyclable when they get to the end of their useful life, but I mostly just like them because they don't give the water an off taste (at least if you clean them daily. For the times when you forget to empty them and they get a little funny here's there best solution I've found to the problem).

If you order some online from the company, you can get 10% off by typing in this code:

loyal123107

They have them in sizes for kids, though my girls haven't quite gotten the hang of the spouts they use.

Netflix DVDs for toddler parents

So I hadn't thought of using my Netflix subscription in a parenting way - other than for total distraction. But I just found these potentially useful DVD's there (*I think you have to have a Netflix account to follow these links):

The Happiest Toddler on the Block
My Baby Can Talk: First Signs
I Can Go Potty: Potty Training for Boys and Girls
The Baby Whisperer
Infant and Child CPR

Lots of music and activity videos too. As a side note, I was heartened to see that after I clicked on "The Happiest Toddler on the Block" Netflix suggested I might like "The Flowering of Human Consciousness." Clearly I'm not the only one who puts Dr. Harvey Karp in the "slightly whoo whoo" category.

XO computer delay

First, this very right-on remark from the designer of the XO computer, Mary Lou Jepsen:

"People are trying to make a buck off of green. Green is actually cheaper. Green isn't about (sigh) buying more stuff."

Unfortunately delivery of her cheaper, green product has been delayed. A relative got our fam one of the laptops for the holidays and we've been eagerly awaiting its arrival. Obviously some have now reached their intended targets because they're popping up in droves on eBay (and at inflated prices).

But we're still waiting for our love from the XO. When it arrives I'm looking forward to posting about it.

In the meantime these were some of the points she made about how other computers could green up, according to the OLPC (one laptop per child) news blog:

• Consume less power. According to Mary Lou if every computer in the consumer market had the power footprint of the XO, their total energy consumption could fall 95%. Also by reducing the necessary power it needs to run, you put the laptop under the threshold that can be provided by some clever and surprisingly low tech sources, as cows, bicycles or cheap solar panels.
• Expand the lifetime of the product. Surprisingly enough that's a factor rarely factored in when figuring out the impact of a product: how long will it last?
• Repairing is more important than recycling. If disposed the XO battery can be "consumed by soil bacteria" but Mary Lou has a bigger point: by making the laptop easier to service will prevent it from being dumped in the first place.

Do you Zwaggle?

Admittedly there are a lot of ways to share kids stuff you've outgrown: friends who are expecting, freecycle, craigslist, eBay, the marketplace on Berkeley Parents Network (if you're in the Bay Area). But just in case...

Here's another option. Though there's a twist. It's called Zwaggle and the idea is sort of a virtual mom swap meet. You post what you have and assign a point value to it. Other parents claim your stuff and then you can shop for other peoples' stuff with your accumulated points. For the big stuff you obviously have to be in the same geographic locale for it to be reasonable. But the site does partner with FedEx to make shipping things like clothes and such possible.

The usefulness of this site probably depends on the resources that already exist in your geographic area... but do check it out!

Waffles, baby!

Waffles are a terrific fast food for kids: if you can load them with fruits and/or veggies - and also milk and yogurt - you're covering lots of nutritional bases. Plus you can freeze leftovers and just pop them in the toaster when you want them warmed up. EASY!

Here are three recipes I've adapted for our kids. Because there is canola oil instead of butter they don't have the usual crispiness of waffles, but we don't mind. Also they have less sugar than usual with the idea that we adults can pour a little syrup on to sweeten them up. Finally, they are made on a waffle iron like the one pictured at left. Enjoy!

Kabocha Squash Spice Waffles
Makes almost 3 large (12 small) square waffles

2/3 cup smashed, roasted Kabocha Squash (I’m sure other squash would be fine, too, I just like Kabocha for it’s rich flavor)
½ cup plain full-fat yogurt
½ cup milk
2 eggs
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons brown sugar
¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preheat the waffle iron.

In a large bowl combine well the squash, yogurt, milk, eggs, oil, vanilla and brown sugar. Stir in the baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add flour and stir just until combined.

Pour onto a waffle iron coated with non-stick spray. Follow the manufacturer’s directions for baking.


Carrot-Whole Wheat-Raisin Waffles
Makes 3 big waffles (12 little squares)

1 cup milk
2 eggs
2 tablespoons canola oil
¼ cup raisins
2 tablespoons sugar
¾ cup white whole wheat flour
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ cup quick oatmeal
½ cup + packed fine grated carrots (about 2 medium carrots)

Whisk together milk, eggs, oil and raisins and set aside 15 minutes to plump.

Preheat the waffle iron.

While raisins are plumping combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix with a fork. Gently stir in oats and carrots.

Pour onto the waffle iron and follow the manufacturer’s instructions for baking.

Oatmeal-Buttermilk-Blueberry Waffles
Makes 16 little square waffles

2 cups quick oatmeal
2 cups buttermilk

Combine in a bowl and let stand to soften, about 10 minutes – less if in a real hurry. Softer it is, the tastier it is. Even overnight is fine.

Add in and stir:
3 eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons canola oil
dash of vanilla

Stir in:
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt or less

Once that’s combined add:
½ cup white whole wheat flour
1-1/2 cups frozen organic wild blueberries (I bet you could substitute 1-1/2 cups of almost any other fruit or veggie, like raisins or finely shredded zucchini, etc)

Spray a light coat of oil or Pam on a preheated waffle iron. Put a heaping cup of batter on the iron and bake as directed. You end up with 4 big waffles, 16 little squares. Enjoy!

Follow-up to Pottery Barn Rugs Smell: Sign a Petition!

After writing this post about an awful smell from two Pottery Barn rugs we bought, I was amazed at how many hits I got from people Google-ng "pottery barn rug odor."

So I created this online petition... anyone who is having a similar problem can sign it. And please do sign if you have experienced this issue. It asks for your name and email, though you can click "private" and only your name will ever be displayed along with any comments should you choose to leave them. When I get a critical mass of signatures I will be sending a hard copy to Williams-Sonoma, the parent company of Pottery Barn. My sense is a lot of people have tried to take this up with them piecemeal, but maybe if they see collective unhappiness they will actually DO something about quality control.

A little more about my experience with this: We purchased a 5'X8' Pottery Barn Rug for our kids' room and a few months later, when the weather started heating up the burnt rubber smell was unbearable. We were allowed to exchange it, but the replacement rug had the same problem. After some persistence on my part (a real pain to deal with while having 6 month old twins), they took the replacement back and gave us a full refund. Now a much smaller rug we bought at the same time has begun to smell in our office. It's much milder and I wouldn't have ever guessed it was the rug, except for my prior experience. In fact, even with what happened before I suspected some overheating electrical plug before I thought to sniff the back of the small rug. Bingo!

UPDATES [July 15, 2010]:

1. Thanks for all the signatures and posts about your own experiences. I wanted to add that it appears not just to be Pottery Barn rugs… I’ve been in friends’ houses where I could smell that telltale odor and it was not a Pottery Barn rug, though it was a wool rug with a canvas backing.

2. In my non-parenting blog life I am a journalist, and my experience with this post has piqued my interest in the issue of indoor air quality. If any of you have a rug that you’re planning to get rid of, I would be happy to take it off your hands for possible air quality testing – hopefully it is a smaller size or else you’re located in the SF Bay Area where I could do a pick up. If you’re interested in reaching me about this you can email me, Rae, at potterybarnrugpetition [at] yahoo [dot] com. Thank you!

Twinsight #7: Breastfeeding twins advice

Gimmee your ear!

I had a hard time finding really useful info on breastfeeding twins, so here’s my perspective from the other side. The first year is behind me and now my worries are about how to wean the girls. Who would have thought!

+ NO PRESSURE – Because I found one of the keys to getting my milk flowing was to relax, I think it’s really good to go into the whole experience with a "we’ll see" attitude. A partner who is on alert to give you shoulder massages and refill water at every feeding in the very beginning is a plus.

+ DON’T LET A (SHORT) STAY IN NICU THROW THINGS OFF – I can’t speak to a prolonged stay, but one of my daughters was low birth weight and spent her first 3 days in NICU for monitoring while we were in the other hospital room. I had the NICU nurse call my room before she would give her a bottle. About every other feeding I was able to make the trek over to NICU to let my daughter suck on me for about 10 minutes before they gave her the bottle.

+ KEEP A FEEDING LOG FOR EACH BABY FROM THE BEGINNING – And that means output as well as input. Take a few minutes to make an Excel spreadsheet (or hand draw and photocopy) charts for each baby before their birth. Include time of feeding, amount, and type of feeding and then also include boxes where you can note the times of dirty or wet diapers. When breastfeeding you have no idea how much the babies are eating unless you’re going to weigh them constantly. A much easier way is to gauge appropriate nutrition by how many wet and dirty diapers they’re having. Our girls were released at 4 lbs. 1 oz and 5 lbs. 1 oz. (they had lost some of their birth weight) and we were required to check with our pediatrician the next day. When I went in and showed her their chart of dirty and wet diapers she said I was free to exclusively breastfeed based on their output.

+ LINE UP ANY FRIENDS WHO ARE MOMS (THOSE WHO WORK IN OB OR MATERNAL HEALTH FIELDS ARE A PLUS) – I had one OB friend who came to the hospital. While the nurses were very helpful, my friend was the one who had the time to really show me and walk me through the football hold for an entire feeding. Football hold was key with my tiny babies. After I went home, a new mom friend of mine had committed to coming over every day for the first week. She helped me get hooked up to the breast pump and sat there with me saying encouraging things. I think regularly using the breast pump in the beginning really helped my milk flow.

+ DRINK LIKE A MARATHONER – The pediatrician who checked us out of the hospital said he told breastfeeding moms of singletons to drink at least 1 liter of water a day. He told me to drink at least 3 liters. Sounds crazy, especially since your bladder isn’t always all that it should be right after birth, but I followed his advice and think it helped a lot.

+ DON’T PUT TOO MUCH STOCK IN NIPPLE CONFUSION – In my experience it wasn’t worth driving myself crazy trying to have my girls suck on fingers rather than pacifiers in the early days to avoid “nipple confusion.” I did my best on that front, but the pacifier was a lifesaver at times in the early weeks and no harm to breastfeeding in my experience. Ditto for bottles. I took advantage of that milk I was pumping in the beginning to get a little feeding relief. Of course if there appears to be a problem with nipple confusion definitely reverse course.

+ SPEAKING OF NIPPLES – They really can hurt. Breast feeding for me was not easy in the beginning at all. Even maybe the first few months of it. But it can become second nature and I really enjoyed the experience. If you think you might too then try to stick with it. So while breastfeeding those first few weeks, put a book of humorous essays in a cookbook stand so you can read something distracting. Turn the radio up. Ask for a shoulder massage. Just do whatever helps you not focus on the initial discomfort (if you have it).

Finally, here’s a list of tips from La Leche League. And this is the book "Mothering Multiples" that I read before the babies’ birth and found it very helpful.

Now tandem feeding is a whole other challenge. Another time...

One mom who stays creative writing about mom stuff

This New York Magazine article introduces the terms “sanctimommy” (a self-righteous mom) and “Über-boober” (a self-righteous mom obsessed with breast-feeding). It's written by a journalist who became a mom and has done a number of pieces on mothering. The article is a fun read to stumble on - all about a NY website called UrbanBaby and the foibles of those who post there. A similar piece could probably be written about the Berkeley Parents Network. Thing is, the story made me realize anew how much easier it is to get creative and fresh with the subject you are immersed in.

I'm definitely still looking for the secrets of moms who've managed to create a small creative work bubble apart from their new overarching identity. Of course they're probably hard to find because there wouldn't be any indication they produced their book, story, art, etc. while parenting a xx month old.

Oh, and you can see the UrbanBaby message board the article talks about here.

Listening outside the box

One of the reasons I feel less creative than Before Children is the fact I can't explore the way I used to. I just don't regularly end up in settings that push me into a different mindframe. But we've found one way to mimic travel from home. And the girls love it! Internet radio. You can get stations from all over the world. We've found a couple stations with genres the kids like to dance to and we get the grown up pleasure of just hearing a different language or a different world in our ear.

Milos radio from Romania

Soca music from the Carribean - you can choose any of a number of stations here

Sri Lankan music radio

And if you have something in particular in mind, this is a world radio station directory

Beware Pottery Barn (and PB Kids) rugs - they can smell like burnt rubber

UPDATE: sign a petition directed at Pottery Barn here

It all started when we were give some credit and coupons for Pottery Barn. We thought we would get two rugs to cushion the wood floor in the girls' room. This was before the girls were born. Within a few months there was the most noxious burning rubber smell in their room. I traced it to the back of the rug and it totally correlated with heat. As we got into summer it got so unbearable we took it out and I went back to the store and demanded a refund. From what I've now found here, here and here, I was lucky. Apparently it's a common problem. A lot of people didn't get their money back or got way reduced values. We put the smaller rug that didn't seem to be a problem in our office, but just last week I noticed that started with the smell. Argh.

The most credible answer I could find for the smell was posted at RedBook Magazine by someone calling himself Rug Guy:

This odor is commonly found in rugs that are hand-tufted in India. These rugs are quite substantial for their low cost, but we've found that about one in ten either has this odor from new or will develop the odor in a year or two. The problem is with impurities in the latex rubber that holds the tufts of fiber in place. Remove the latex and you remove the smell, but remove the latex and the rug may fall apart. There is no economical way to fix this as the time and effort involved in removing the rug backing, scraping off as much smelly adhesive as possible, and recoating with a quality latex will cost near the replacement value of the rug and may not remove the smell completely. The only sure cure is to return the rug to the retailer. Again, we see this in one in ten, so if you really like the rug you may be able to trade it for one that doesn't smell.

If you do buy a Pottery Barn rug for your kid make sure you smell the back and make sure there's no trace of a rubber smell. At least that's what I'd do. Our solution: once we got rid of the PB rug, we found a pile wool rug on Craigslist. It was all wool and knotted so no synthetic backing material!

UPDATES [July 15, 2010]:

1. Thanks for all the signatures and posts about your own experiences. I wanted to add that it appears not just to be Pottery Barn rugs… I’ve been in friends’ houses where I could smell that telltale odor and it was not a Pottery Barn rug, though it was a wool rug with a canvas backing.

2. In my non-parenting blog life I am a journalist, and my experience with this post has piqued my interest in the issue of indoor air quality. If any of you have a rug that you’re planning to get rid of, I would be happy to take it off your hands for possible air quality testing – hopefully it is a smaller size or else you’re located in the SF Bay Area where I could do a pick up. If you’re interested in reaching me about this you can email me, Rae, at potterybarnrugpetition [at] yahoo [dot] com. Thank you!

Best price I can find on Seventh Generation diapers

We go through a lot of diapers, as I suspect any family who is using disposable diapers does with non-potty trained twins. My favorite kind is definitely Seventh Generation. and diapers.com is my favorite place to get them. They ship them incredibly fast which is key when you realize you need to order more with only a handful of old ones remaining.

Now diapers.com has some promotion where you can buy a Seventh Generation discount card. It gives you 15% off Seventh Generation purchases over the course of a year. I'm generally skeptical of such things, but I did the calculations. They're now selling this card for an introductory price of $29.99. It gets you approximately $6 off each case you buy. So after 5 cases you break even. Every case after that comes at a $6 discount. If like us you go through 1+ cases per month, then it can add up to a case or two of "free" diapers by the end of the year.

The only annoying thing about diapers.com is that free shipping is for purchases over $50. So that means getting wipes with your diapers, or else ordering two cases at a time.

A bathtub built for two

Using one of these inflatable tubs is a good way to save water, especially if you give nightly baths. Plus it saves time, since less water also means less filling needed!

Be a very voting mom

Please vote tomorrow if you're in a voting state. I'm looking forward to putting those little "I voted" stickers on the girls after an early morning walk to the polls.

That said, one tip for voting as a twin mom is to register for an absentee ballot. You can either mail them in ahead of time. OR if you need till the last minute to make up your mind, or you just like the routine of going to a polling place, you can always do what I've come to like and fill out the ballot at home the night before, and then drop it off in person on voting day.

And for any moms interested in getting involved in campaigns I've heard it's more possible than you'd think with new technology. A mom friend of mine signed up to make phone calls and you can do it from home, one number at a time fed to you on the computer and the script of what to say pops up there too. No time pressure you just do it as you're able. One way to get out of the little bubble of mom-dom without leaving the house...

Have a Happy Super Monday (what else can come between the Super Bowl and Super Tuesday)!

An Umbrella Built For Two

With all the rain we've been having lately, couldn't resist posting this twin umbrella.

Public Radio Twin Mom: Always put your keys in the refrigerator

Let me explain.

It’s something that’s happened to all public radio reporters. You’re getting the perfect, emotional interview in someone’s kitchen and just at the critical moment when their cadences are slow and you can hear a pin drop as you wait for the next thought… the refrigerator clicks on. And it’s loud and sputtering and ruins the mood and the tape. The solution, of course, is that you always unplug a refrigerator before recording an interview at someone’s home. And the outcome more often than not is that you forget to re-plug it in when you leave. Whoooops. Unhappy interview subject calls the next day about rotting milk. Not ideal.

The solution is simple. Any audio producer worth their salt (or fresh milk) knows that you DO unplug the fridge but you put your car keys in there at the same time. That way you have to return to the fridge before leaving and inevitably remember to plug it back in.

Being a twin mom is like needing to remember to re-plug in every appliance in the house before leaving. Sometimes “always put your keys in the refrigerator” is literal for the mommy me. Like when it’s vitally important I remembered bottles of milk. Put your keys in the fridge next to them and you’re not going to leave without those bottles.

Sometimes it’s more figurative. Say I’m driving and I take my cell phone out so I can hear it better. If I just throw it on the seat next to me, it’s probably going to stay there when I scramble to get out. So I make sure to put it on top of my coat or scarf, so it’ll at least go flying when I grab that.

It’s a great lesson to extrapolate from.