Baby Things I Want

Hey, it's Melissa again. Thanks for tuning back in. A few days ago I started talking about convenient, eco-friendly school lunch kits. Some of these kits include containers and lunch bags or boxes; others just contain the containers...and so...

So began the cute bag search (which was followed by a several days long perfect containers search). These Crocodile Creek bags are really cute, but I just couldn’t pick a pattern. I did choose a lovely paisley print for myself and a blue camouflage print for my son, both made by Fit&Fresh.

In terms of containers, in the end, I decided on safe and budget-friendly, colorful, and free of all yucky chemicals for sending hot soup, pasta, or leftover stews. Adorable, comes with a spoon in the lid and has a little spot below for putting two crackers or a napkin. Now I just have to get up early enough to heat up the lunch before putting it in the container.

Adorable Fit and Fresh - Lunch On the Go containers – one large one plus two smaller containers, an ice pack, and microwave safe too. $7 each from Amazon, but I picked them up locally at Sheshet for 20.50 NIS each on sale, regularly 40 NIS per kit.

Picked up these lovely Fit and Fresh Smart Portions Chill containers (quality is similar to the take-and-toss ones, FYI) as well, in 1, 2, and 3-cup sizes. They do come with ice packs, though.

And for the little guy? Sassy Dippin’ Diner plates – four plates, two lids. Perfect for packing lunch for the babysitter. We still pack his homemade baby food in Avent VIA cups, as they are perfect portions (they each hold 6 oz). They are also good for packing trail mix and tossing it into your backpack or purse, and they are the perfect size for a cut up peach (no more mushy fruit at the bottom of the very expensive backpack for gan.

There is just so much out there (and there is still more added each day in the back-to-school rush). You can take your choice of organic, safe plastic, stainless steel, and more. The choice is as big as your budget.

www.hatchalah-kalah.com

Posted by Sarah on Sunday, August 15, 2010 0 comments  

Labels: feeding

Back to school means back to packing snacks and lunches for myself and my boys. And so began the quest for the perfect lunch containers. By perfect I mean BPA-free, lead-free, pthalatate-free, AND cute. I spent HOURS searching for the perfect set.

First I found this amazing all-in-one kit from Citizenpip – Soup to Nuts Kits, including cloth napkins, containers, stainless steel water bottles and hot soup containers, and adorable lunch bags too. Oh, I wanted one. I just couldn’t decide between the patterns – Sports for the boys, polka dots, or maybe just the plain ones that say things like “Yum” or “Tasty”!

Then there’s the whole Bento Box rage – smaller portions, adorable containers, and cute food will encourage your kid to eat, right? My little guy had his heart set on this one, aliens and all.. Also customizable with extra containers (with lids), are the Bento Buddies.

Ok, so I could get the Bento Box, or the Soup to Nuts Kit, or the save the environment kit, but what about just putting my own containers in a cute bag?

Posted by Sarah on Friday, August 13, 2010 0 comments  

Labels: feeding

My name is Melissa Ser, and I'm a mom to two lovely boys who are about to turn 4 and 1. Since I work full time, I try to make every minute with my boys count! I breastfeed, co-sleep, and babywear. I've just begun a side business, hatchalah-kalah.com, selling baby carriers that are both comfortable and fashionable, and offering consultations.

When my first son was born, I received a BabyBjorn as a gift. It was great, at least until A. weighed more than 5 kg. It cut into my shoulders, and I just couldn't ever get it adjusted properly. In short, I hated it (apologies to the BabyBjorn fans out there). But so began my adventures in babywearing. A few months later, when A. was closer to 8 kg and I couldn't take it anymore, I bought a stretchy wrap at Shilav. It was cheap and comfy (good) but it sagged, it was hot, and I couldn't ever get it tied securely for more than a half hour (bad). Little did I know then that stretchy wraps are only good to 9 kg.... And forget about back carries -- not safe at all in a wrap that sags.

When Y. came along, I searched and searched for the best wrap on the market. Something that would be secure, comfortable, lightweight, and beautiful. I found this wrap -- Wrapsody Baby Bali Breeze -- mentioned on every single babywearing forum I went to. Cool, gorgeous, sturdy, and able to carry up to 16kg comfortably. I had to have one. I ordered one in blue and gray Whitman (see right). A few months later, when I'd gotten bored of having just one wrap, I ordered a second one in a rainbow pattern, Iris. Whitman's blue and gray got the attention of my husband, a Dallas Cowboys fan. But Iris is just gorgeous. Y. gets all excited when I pick it up. And there are more patterns, all hand-dyed and hand-batiked under Fair Trade conditions in Bali.

Then a friend of mine showed up one day in a BabyHawk Mei Tai

I carry Y. (around 11 kg now) pretty much everywhere (and have even managed to carry A. once or twice -- he's 17.5 kg.). Y. even comes to work with me sometimes (see left), where he takes a nice nap in Iris while I get my other job done. People have actually been surprised when they've seen me with my stroller (it leaves the house about once a fortnight). It's a beautiful turquoise Peg Perego Pliko P3 -- but it doesn't fold up into a small pouch and tuck into my diaper bag.

I am the sole distributor in Israel of Wrapsody Baby wraps and BabyHawk Mei Tais. You can check out my site,hatchalah-kalah.com, and you'll occasionally find me at street fairs and malls. I'm also available for a consultation by appointment. I'll be at Kenyon Hadar this Friday, August 6th. Come say hi. Mention that you read about me onbabythingsiwant.com and save 15 NIS on a purchase.

Posted by Sarah on Tuesday, August 03, 2010 1 comments  

I've never been a very musical person. I like to draw, I like to read, I like to write. I can barely carry a tune. If I had it my way it would be quiet all the time. I never turn on the radio or music to keep me company. But I make an effort to expose my kids to music. Just because it's not my thing doesn't mean it can't be theirs. I have to admit, though, that after buying some great CDs for them, I need some help remembering to turn them on!

Remember those big, round, flat black things? I think they were called records. Well, I have this vague recollection of songs coming out of them. Great songs. Songs by my some of my favorite artists. Like Ernie, Cookie Monster, and Oscar. So I Googled it, and whadya know, they made that awesome record into a CD that our kids can listen to. Sesame Street Platinum All-Time Favorites ($10.99) has all the classics, from "Rubber Duckie," "C is for Cookie," and "I Love Trash" to "The People in Your Neighborhood," "Fuzzy and Blue," and "It's Not Easy Being Green." This was the first CD I bought for my kids, and I love it.

Far more memorable than records for a child of the 80s are cassette tapes. In fact, I still have a house full of them. On roads trips we used to rock out to Raffi. We only own one of his CDs, One Light, One Sun, though my mom claims she still has a bunch of his tapes somewhere. Playing this disc for my kids, with songs like Apples and Bananas, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, and Octopus's Garden, always brings me back to my childhood. And who doesn't kvell when they hear the line "Moshe lives in Israel" in the song "Like Me and You?"

I don't think we ever owned an Uncle Moishy tape. We just weren't that frum. But I secretly loved hearing his songs about Torah and Mitzvot when I was playing with my rabbi's kids. So far the only Uncle Moishy album in my home is Uncle Moishy Live, but when I put it on, I just can't help getting exciting and cheering for songs with great values and important messages about Shabbos, Kashrut, and the Jewish Holidays. And my kids could listen to "Hashem is Here" all day long.

Finally, let me give a shout-out to one of the most brilliant Jewish artists out there. Lenny Solomon and Shlock Rock used to accompany my carpool to and from school every day, and they are still going strong, coming out with new albums to add to the 30 they have produced so far. Although they sing original music (in Hebrew and English), they are best known for their parodies of popular songs. I heard "We've Got a Strong Desire" long before I had any idea who Billy Joel was. Having grown up listening to classic rock with my dad, I enjoyed parodies of songs I recognized such as "Pretty Woman" and "Barbara Anne." It gave me a thrill to hear Lenny sing about people and stories I'd learned in school - the Biblical women in "Eshet Chayil," the Torah commentaries in "Abarbanel." And long before the possibility of Aliyah had even entered my mind (I was only six when it came out), "Making Aliyah Today" was pulling at my heartstrings. (Lenny himself made Aliyah a full ten years after coming out with that song.)
I don't currently own any Shlock Rock music and don't really know where to start. Should I just get the first disc (and the first Shlock Rock tape I owned as a kid), Learning is Good, and move forward from there? But now they have CDs geared specifically to kids, like Sing Together, which I'm going to have to check out. And cracking up while skimming the list of Shlock Rock's songs and the songs they parody ("To Maariv"/"Tomorrow," "Tekia"/"Maria," "Did You Hear the Rav Last Night"/"Can You Feel the Love Tonight," "Soup and Challah"/"Supercali(fragilisticespialidocious)", I think I might just have to order Almost on Broadway.

Small confession: I got the above-mentioned CDs within the first year of my daughter's life. (She's almost four.) I haven't bought music in ages because it's just not central in my life. I don't even remember to play the CDs I have, so as much as I want to go out and buy more CDs by these artists, I'm not sure I can justify filling my home with things that are probably going to sit around and collect dust. Maybe I should set a music reminder alarm on my phone every day, so my poor kids won't be so deprived.

Or maybe every other day. I'm not sure I'm ready for that much music in my life yet.

Posted by The Hoffman Kids on Wednesday, July 07, 2010 0 comments  

One day when I was filling my car with gas, I saw a sign at the gas station that they were selling "ball tents" (like a ball pit in a tent). I didn't know if the 50 balls it came with would make a big enough ball pit, but supplementary packages of balls are available in quantities of 50, 100, 150, 200, 300, 400 and even 1000 balls. I thought the whole thing was a cool idea, but a terrible idea at the same time because the balls would be all over the house after approximately 30 seconds of play, and I'd spend the rest of my life collecting them and putting them away.

Then I was at my friends' house for lunch one day and they had a little pop-up tent in the living room. All the kids had a blast playing in it, and the grownups had a quiet, civilized meal. (When's the last time I used the words "quiet," "civilized," and "meal" in a sentence that didn't start with "I wish I could have a" before them?) I realized that getting a tent might not be such a bad idea - I'd just have to get it sans the package of balls. (Most of them are not sold with the balls anyway.)

I was at another friend's house and she pulled out a pop-up tunnel, which the kids loved chasing each other through and rolling around in. At the gymboree near our house they have two tunnels, which I have been known to tie together to create one extra-long tunnel. At my kids' swimming lessons, they crawl through the same kind of tunnel and then dive into the pool and swim to me. A tunnel is one of those things that I figured my kids could enjoy from time to time when we go somewhere special, but not a necessity for our own home.

But then the other day I was walking by a neighbor's yard and saw a possibility that had never occurred to me before: a pop-up tent with a tunnel sticking out the door. What fun my kids could have with that! Between chasing each other through and rolling around in the tunnel, shimmying through it with various toys and treasures to fill the tent with, hiding in it the tent, playing house, reading books or coloring inside, and playing with any and every toy they own in there, this is a combination that could keep them occupied for hours. Forget a quiet, civilized meal - I could have an entire quiet, civilized afternoon!

While you could buy a tent and a tunnel separately, you can also get them as a set, like this adorable elephant one, or even a three-piece set (two tents and a tunnel).

And the best part about these products is how compact they are. Even though they take up a lot of space while they're being played with, they fold up into a flat zipper pouch and can be stored under a bed or behind a bookcase. When you're buying toys for a tiny apartment, saving space is almost as important as saving money.

Posted by The Hoffman Kids on Sunday, July 04, 2010 2 comments  

Labels: toys