Mama Bear Moment

On Sunday I was chatting with a good friend about how we can keep our babies safe from all the bad things in the world. When do you start telling your children about strangers without scaring them? And how do you tell them what constitutes a "bad person" or "bad situation"? Growing up, I remember watching Winnie the Pooh: Don't Talk to Strangers. That seemed to do the job for me! Oprah recently aired two shows about child molesters, and an expert discussed two things you can start telling your children early on. Now, the shows were pretty nauseating to watch (actual child molesters discussed how they first manipulated and then molested their victims), but the two nuggets of info have stuck with me:

1. Adults don't ask children for help (i.e. "Can you help me find my lost puppy?")
2. Adults don't keep secrets with children (i.e. "This is our secret. Don't tell your mommy or daddy.")

I thought these were very interesting points, and something that children can comprehend early on. The expert - who I believe was with the FBI - said this helps children recognize a potentially bad situation. He said the truth of the matter is, the majority of crimes against children aren't carried out by a "stranger hiding in the bushes". It's by someone they may know or are familiar with. The adage "Don't talk to Strangers" doesn't really work anymore. There needs to be more to the conversation.

Just thought I would share for all the Mama Bears out there : )

Keeping Mama's Mind Sharp

Goo goo, ga ah ah ah oooooo, poopy, poopy poo! Translation: This Mama talks a lot of baby talk! : )

One of my besties introduced me to a new iPhone app that is helping me keep my mind from turning into steamed squash. It's called "Words With Friends". Basically, its like Scrabble. And I LOVE it! You can play multiple games at the same time with multiple people. Very fun and totally addicting. I don't know if non-iPhone users can also download it and play, but if you happen to have an iPhone, search my username (which of course is sweetleighmama) and let's start up a game!

Just a word of warning - In 2001 I was officially banned from playing a similar-type of game, Catch Phrase, after one fateful night in college when in trying to get my friends to say the word "Pine Tree", I used the descriptor "coniferous". Ummm.. how else do you describe a PINE TREE without saying the words TREE or PINECONE? I thought it was genius (and by genius I really mean that I must have just learned the word in my biology class earlier that day). My friends did not agree. So if we are playing "Words with Friends" and I throw out a strange word - just go with it. If you read this blog, then you've probably figured out by now that I can be pretty random. : )

And the Winner Is....

I've spent the last two weeks conducting a "highly scientific" experiment to find the best diapers for my Peanut. This was my criteria:

• How much pee can it hold? If it felt saturated after only a 3 oz. bottle, then it was out. It had to hold up after a 6 oz feeding without causing her to cry and wake up.
• Did it maintain the poop? And I'm not talking about a little squirt of poop from an intense toot. I'm talking about the sin-serious, roll up your sleeves, take off your rings, 15 wipe and still need a bath kind of poop.
• Price: Any savings is good, but this wasn't my #1 concern. I figure if its a crappy diaper (pardon my pun), then I'm going to spend just as much because I'll have to change more often, wash more clothes, etc.
• Did it have any unintended side-effects? This includes rashes, strong smells, etc.

After two weeks, I have a winner - LUVS! I found that Pampers and Huggies are basically identical. They do ok with the pee, but fail miserably with maintaining the poop. After two days of poop shooting out the sides, up the back, and down the legs while wearing Pampers, they were out. Huggies let me down once, and they were out. The only diaper that was able to maintain the poop, hold the pee, and meet all other criteria was the Luvs. Luckily my daughter doesn't seem to be prone to rashes... if she were, Luvs might not be the best option. They aren't as soft as Pamper and Huggies, but they aren't like sandpaper either. I'm guessing, though, that if there were a more sensitive baby, the Luvs brand may be a little rough.

So those are my findings. I'm still sticking to my Huggies Sensitive wipes though - those can't be beat in my opinion!