parenting


Dirty Little Secrets (Redux)
July 27th, 2010 | Comments

If you haven’t noticed, we like to titillate. Call it arrested development, call it dirty minds. For example, when the waiter asks if we’d “like anything else,” the voice in our head goes to all kinds of places–and we’re not talking dessert. We’re not ashamed. Getting dirty (even if it’s just in our imagination) is both fun and cheap, and a bitch on a budget can’t turn her back on cheap thrills (even if they’re all fantasies). So why are we admitting this now? Because we’re about to talk about the least dirty thing we know. That’s right, we’re going to talk about babies.

Since we’re being honest—this is bitch-to-bitch—babies are sexy’s anti-matter. You think we’re kidding? Consider the evidence at hand:

Babies turns lingerie into a support garment.

Staying up all night is sexy, until there’s a baby involved.

Focusing a camera on a bed is sexy, unless it’s attached to a baby monitor.

So why are we even talking about babies? Because, while it’s one thing to have your  bundle of cute joy liquidate your sexy surplus, it’s quite another to have extraneous baby merchandise bankrupt your savings account.

Without further ado, here are three things that every mother is told to buy, but which we think you can do without:

1. The wipes warmer. Is your grandmother a tough old broad? Well, nobody bothered to warm her wipes. Unless you live in an igloo, we think this is $20 that would be better spent on takeout.

2. The Diaper Genie. Nothing motivates a consumer like fear. Do you want to smell poop? You do not.  A Poop-Be-Gone system (all variations on the same theme, a technological marvel of a trash can and refillable liners) seems an easy solution. Here’s what you fail to anticipate: at some point a dirty diaper will EXPLODE while being fed into the patent-pending mechanism (this usually happens at night). The refills for What Poop?, What Poop II?, and Super-Whatcha-Talking-About Poop are non-compatible—and the convenience store never has the one you need. Consider this: wet diapers outnumber dirty by a factor of five or six to one. Our solution? If you’re using disposable diapers, get a small, lidded trashcan for the nursery. Pop the wet diapers in there. Save plastic grocery bags for those times when your little bundle of joy makes a bundle of misery—bag it and get that thing outside. You’ll save $300 a year on liners alone.

3. Barcalounger Highchairs. Everyone knows that babies drool, spit-up, spill, and throw food. So why the trend towards upholstered high chairs with all those nooks and crannies? We don’t get it. Let’s look at another population that has trouble eating without making a mess: bachelors. What do they prefer? That’s right: black leather sofas. If you find a black leather highchair, snap it up. Otherwise, we’d suggest molded plastic. IKEA makes one for $20. With all the time you’ll save in clean-up, think about all the fun you’ll have doing more pleasurable things!






Every Kid Needs Chocolate Chip Cookies
June 28th, 2010 | Comments

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We’ve been wondering what triggers warm memories of feeling safe at home?

The sweetest of all our childhood memories is coming home from school to freshly made cakes, muffins and chocolate chip cookies.

Just this morning we read the results of a chocolate chip taste test done by one of our favorite food blogs- Serious Eats.

The winner? Chocolate chips from Trader Joe’s.  Yes, that delighted our little budget heart. We love TJ’s for so many things: nuts, dried fruits, organic Valencia peanut butter–now we’re adding chocolate chips to the list.

Share your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe with us and we’ll send one lucky B’ a copy of Bitches on a Budget.

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Mama B’s Mission Statement (cont’d)
April 19th, 2010 | 1 Comment

Call it a mission statement, a manifesto, a set of rules, reminders, a way to keep ourselves sane on this crazy journey called motherhood. We will keep adding to this statement from time to time.

Some tenets we’re trying to live by:

*We will call what we’re doing work. Even if the world doesn’t acknowledge it, we will: motherhood is the hardest work in the world. It’s physically demanding, psychologically strenuous, spiritually complex, and unpaying.  We refuse to accept the whole “I-don’t-work-I-stay-home-with-the-kid” thing. We’ve held lots of jobs, and not one has been more intense.  We know how challenging it is to work outside the home and raise kids, we will never be too proud or silent to ask for help.

*We will complain when we want to. We are allowed to bitch. We’ll never forget the healing power of a good old-fashioned rant.

*We will boast when we want to. Yes, our child is the cutest, smartest, most hilarious, most cuddly on the block.

*We will cry when we need to.

*We will laugh maniacally when we need to.

*We will not forget to play. With our kids and by ourselves.

*We will not forget the power of an occasional martini.

*We will not spend money haphazardly, or on useless status objects, or on stuff we think we “should” have.

*We will not be snobs about thrift stores.

*We will ask for help when we need it.

*While we will boast our kids are the smartest, cutest, most delightful creatures ever planted on this earth   we will not turn them into our status symbols of success.

*We will yell when we need to and feel guilty later.

*We will do our best to educate ourselves, to read valuable books, to attend parenting classes and lectures, to listen to those “experts” we admire—but we will also trust our instincts.

*We will avoid the rancorous, black-and-white thinking that pervades the media. We know people raise children in different ways.

*We will forgive ourselves when we make mistakes.

*We will not forget the power of an occasional martini (when they are sleeping and we’re not driving).

*We will share our triumphs, fears, and hopes with other parents. That’s right: parents. We will not forget the important role that fathers play, or deny fathers their own wisdom, their own experience (even if we complain about  or bemoan their incessant need to toss the kid over their heads).

*We will be at our best when we remember to take care of ourselves.

*We will be strong, smart role models. In our successes and in our failures.

*We will keep adding to this list.

*We will keep laughing.

*We will always be open minded to learning and keep trying to be better parents.

*We will sometimes use salty language—around adults. Of course we can’t stand when people use dirty language around their children. But, on the other hand, isn’t there something  unsettling about mothers who talk baby talk and, even worse, can’t keep it out of adult conversation?

*We will find places of sanity and sanctuary in our own backyard. The library, the nature preserve, the mall.

*We won’t forget who we are.

Tell us: what “rules” do you follow as a mother? Leave a comment! Add to the manifesto!

Some of your additions:

“I will not forget my friends because while I am God to my child at the moment a time will come when they want nothing to do with me and I will need friends again. I will ask my friends how their lives are going and not concentrate only on what wondrous things my kid does. I will NOT post about the latest diarrhea outbreak on my Facebook page as it is disgusting and likely to get me submitted to STFUParents.” Sabrina

“We will always put our childrens wants before our own needs!” Wendy

“I have learned to watch my daughter and try and mold myself to be more like her. The innocence, naivety, and carefreeness that she has is inspiring. She actually stops and smells the flowers while we are walking. She doesn’t EVER judge others – rather accepts everyone for who they are – good or bad. She’s never afraid to laugh or to make me laugh when she knows its “one of those days”. She’s shown me how to really love another person and accept that person, flaws and all.” Jenni






College, Shoes and Karmic Happiness
March 29th, 2010 | Comments

These are the weeks when seniors in high school are hearing the good, and the bad, and the ‘we’re not sure yet’ news.

Even before the letters (or e-mails) arrive, the college admissions frenzy has left both kids and parents emotionally raw. After all the testing, tutoring, campus visiting, essay writing, financial aid form processing and interviewing, the time spent getting into a dream school has become disproportionate with the amount of time spent in college.

Not surprisingly, these are the weeks when everyone says it doesn’t matter where you go to college, that college isn’t the sole determiner of life-long happiness and financial success.

Achieving life-long happiness is a rather abstract concept no matter what your age. Try convincing a kid who has spent 12 years in school (more…)