Toddler Survival Guide - Guest Post

Hello there Followers of Geekdom!

My name is Shannon, and I am the genius behind Baby Shmizz.  I am a full-time mommy to my son Jack, (oh yeah, and I have another job too, I'm a Physician Assistant working in Emergency Medicine) and MILF to my pastry chef husband Mike.  We live in our overpriced little home sweet shack just north of Boston with our quirky rescue dog, Tessie.  We're a little bit crazy and a whole lotta fun, but fair warning, we don't have a filter!

Mama G asked me to guest post for her while she is moving to New England, ya know, my neck of the woods :)  Since Carina is coming up on her 1st birthday, I thought I would give the G's a little Toddler Survival Guide....

A Mom's Favorite Cookie Jar

Nope, its not for what you're thinking of.  I devised this solution one day out of desperation, because I was sick of having a mess in my cabinet.  We were given a sleek Williams Sonoma cookie jar for our wedding to match the canister set we registered for.  It usually just sat on the countertop empty (stupid, I know).  One day when I was straightening the bin of washcloths in the cabinet I used for wiping Jack's face for the 10,000th time, I looked at the cookie jar.  Voila!  Stick the washcloths in the cookie jar!  No need to fold them, they are within easy reach and disguised quite nicely.  Plus, now you don't have to fill it with cookies :)  I use the thin little baby washcloths, because they are soft and you can smush a ton into the jar :)

Snack Traps

These are awesome.  They allow little hands to reach in and pull out a few bites of a snack, but if they tip it over, the snack doesn't fall out!  It took Jack a little while to figure these out, but now we love them.  He gets his morning and afternoon snack in there.  And, if you need to throw it in your purse or diaper bag, it doesn't spill :)

Big Kid in the Big Tub

Note: Jack is WAY cuter than this kid.

Around Jack's 1st birthday we switched him out of the baby bathtub and moved him into the adult tub.  It seemed to me that every bath organizer and spout cover out there cost a fortune, and didn't work very well.  We ended up with this spout cover and this toy net, and of course a non-skid mat so that he didn't slip around in the tub.  In total, we toddler-proofed our tub for less than $20 :)  Best part about toddler bathtime?  Splashing in bubbles :)

Bibs That Can't Be Pulled Off

Note: Jack is much cuter than this kid as well:)

Toddler eating is messy.  They wipe their hands in their hair, on their pants, on your chair & table and of course on the dog.  Jack went through a phase where he would NOT wear a bib.  I had a ton of velcro-closure bibs, and he would just yank them off.  I am in LOVE with these Aden & Anais Burpy Bibs.  They are nice and big, so they cover the shoulders, upper back and chest.  But since they are made out of muslin, they are nice and light and very soft.  And the best part?  It secures with a snap, which means try as he might, Jack can't pull it off :)  Don't think that these are only for toddlers, you can also use them as burp cloths over your shoulder when you have a wee newborn :)

Cleaning Wipes

Yeah, I totally rock this get-up in my house,

only I don't look as evil as this chick.

Toddlers are messy.  I think I mentioned that.  Not only when they are eating, but just in general.  Boogers, drool from teething, dripping sippy cups...you name it, they will make a mess with it.  I wanted something that I could grab quickly to clean up, and not have it be laden with strong chemicals with even stronger fumes.  I'm a huge fan of organic and natural products, so BabyGanics All Purpose Surface Wipes work for us.  I use them to wipe down his little kid table, his booster seat, the endtables, his playkitchen, toys, pretty much everything.  With toddlers, you need to be able to clean up quickly, because if you leave the mess lying around, they are just gonna make it worse.






Patience and a Sense of Humor

Dude, if this was your kid, you would

have cornered the market on humor...

These are the 2 most invaluable things that you need when raising a toddler.  They are ridiculously cute, but they can definitely wear on your last nerve.  It's all so worth it though, when they run up to you and hug your leg, or sit in your lap asking for you to read their favorite book (for the 400th time that day).  I need to remind myself every day that as frustrating as the day may be, Jack is only little for so long, and I truly try to cherish every moment.




Thanks Mama G and Carina for letting me hang out on one of my favorite blogs!  

So readers, what kind of toddler tips do you have for the G's?  Let's see 'em!  Comment away!