The Mom Crowd

I recently went to a baby shower and they asked everyone to write a piece of advice for the soon-to-be-mom. I wrote, “Trust your instincts.”

This was the best piece of advice that I received. Two weeks after I brought Ace home I tried Baby Wise for two days and I was in tears at the end of the second night. Daniel and I were discussing our next steps and he told me to trust my instincts, because he said that deep down I knew what Ace needed. That advice lifted all the guilt I had from not being able to live up to certain standards. I was now able to set my own standards, it was freeing. So now every time I am asked to give advice to new moms I was always say, “Trust your instincts!”

What is the best piece of advice that you have received?

As I shop for Christmas presents for the children in my family I have been reflecting on what toys really get the most play at my house. Here’s a list of the top toys we own (we own A LOT!)

1. Leap Frog Learn and Groove Musical Table – If we had to go to a desert island and could only bring three things, this would be one of them! This toy was the best toy purchase we have ever made and I think every child should own one. We have had ours for three years, and it has always been the “hot toy” in our home. It really grows with your child and I highly recommend this toy!

2. Plush Bunglie Donkey by Jelly Cat – You can’t get the donkey very easily anymore since he is now officially retired, however Jelly Cat makes the most adorable stuffed animals. Darah has been sleeping with her lovey for three years and will not go to sleep without him. They are incredibly soft and cuddly and a must-have in our home!

3. My First Stacking Cups – These classic stacking cups are a hit in our home and have had multiple uses. They’ve been everywhere from the sandbox to the bathtub to the kitchen. Connor loves crawling around with one in each hand and one in his mouth and Darah likes to stack them up high and knock them down. They’ve been great for all kinds of fine motor activities (stacking, sorting, pouring, etc…)

4. Swirlin’ Surprise Gumball Machine – This is just a really cute and really fun toy. Darah received this toy as a first birthday present from a friend and it has been very loved. The music it sings is cute and it has a volume control adjustment (so great!) I really liked it when we were working on teaching the concept of “cause and effect” with Darah and she was very attentive with this toy!

5.Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? – My kids love this book (and so do I!) The pictures are really bold and crisp and it’s a fun book to read with the kids. Darah knows it so well that she’ll start signing the name of the next animal to come before we even turn the page. In the kids’ stockings this year, they are going to be receiving Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?”

6. Baby Signing Times and Signing Times DVD Series – We love these dvd’s! Darah’s vocabulary has increased so much since she started watching Rachel, Alex, Leah, and Hopkins on Signing Times! Signing has been such a great communication method for Darah and now Connor and I know your little ones (or even bigger ones) would really enjoy this series. My 5 year old brother very proudly told me the other day, “McKenna, this means ‘be careful.'” Very cool!

What are your favorite toys for your little ones? What will Santa be bringing this year to your house?

What is it with babies and Hip Hop? When we are driving around in the car Ace either gets quiet from crying or starts talking whenever Sean Paul or Kanye West come on the radio. I talked to another mom about this and she said that she has experienced the same thing.

Do your kids like Hip Hop?

Ace is six months old. I am still learning how to balance taking care of her and the house during the day. I could get things done while she naps, but then I end up either napping myself or justify taking a break. I sometimes think I will fold that basket of laundry after I lay her to bed, but then I usually get distracted.

Maybe getting the house in order is low on my priority list. I am home now and I don’t feel like I am living up to that part of the job. Is managing the house part of the job?

At the end of the day, Ace is great. She is fed and taken care of. Does staying home and managing the household get easier when they get older?

Does balancing the house and taking care of a baby depend on your cleaning and organization style? If I liked to clean, would I be more motivated to get it done? If my husband was more worried about the house would I be more motivated to get laundry/organized/dishes done?

I don’t expect all of these to be answered. Do you have any thoughts? If you stay home, what was it like when you first started?

P.S. I have written about this before. I guess I am still struggling with it. This is what came to mind when I thought about writing.

This is the first part of a series explaining current technology trends. There is so much great technology out there, but how do you use it? Is it even worth your time to figure it out and use it? Will it enhance your life or make you want to throw your computer out the window? We will explore all of these questions in this series. If there is a specific technology question that you want answered, feel free to ask it in the comments or fill out the contact form.

So let’s get started with the first topic in this series – RSS.

You may have noticed the little RSS icon on many websites with a statement that usually says, “Subscribe to My Feed.” The icon is also in the address window at the top of your web browser. The icon is typically orange with two white curved lines.

So what the heck is RSS?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication or “news feed.” RSS is the format that syndicates content from blogs, news headlines, and podcasts into a subscription. Then a feed reader will read the subscription and show you the content of the website’s articles.

An RSS blog format contains the text and pictures of a blog post. Then the feed reader will show you all the blog posts of all the websites you have subscribed to in one window.

Back in the day, you would have to Bookmark a page in your web browser and then manually click on each individual site. Now with a feed reader you can view all your favorite websites in one window. Saving you time and making it easier for you to keep up with your favorite blogs!

Here is a picture of what my feed reader looks like. (This is the list view.)

Here is a picture of what a blog post looks like in the feed reader.

Here is a picture of what that same blog post looks like on its own website.

How Do I Use RSS?

Step 1. Get a feed reader. There are many feed reader options. If you already have a Gmail account, you can easily use GoogleReader. Other popular feed readers are Bloglines, Rojo, and Newsgator. You can also add RSS to your MyYahoo! Page, but it only gives you the titles of the blog posts. The titles of the blog posts then link you to the actual site.

Step 2. Go to the website you want to subscribe to and click on their RSS icon.

Step 3. A window will open and ask you which feed reader you are using. Choose the feed reader that you have an account with.

Step 4. Set up any necessary preferences. GoogleReader asks you if you want to view it on your Google Homepage or Google Reader. Bloglines opens up some display options.

Step 5. Enjoy viewing the content of multiple blogs all at once!

Is RSS really that great?

I really like my GoogleReader. I could spend hours reading all the content in my reader. GoogleReader posts the time that the blog post was created, so I can know the second that my friends update their sites. It is really great to have all the posts on my favorite websites in one place. Sometimes I will miss a post when I actually view the site, but I will catch it in my reader.

A feed reader is great for friends who don’t blog often. Instead of going to a website multiple times only to be disappointed that they haven’t blogged in three weeks. You can subscribe to their feed and be pleasantly surprised when one of their posts pop up in your list.

The bad part of using RSS and a feed reader is that you can’t view the comments or write a comment on a post. You have to click through to the post on the website and then comment. For this reason, I still personally visit all my personal friends’ sites, because I enjoy commenting.

If a website has the option you can subscribe to the comments through RSS, but you still can’t write a comment. Also, I have found that popular sites will have many comments that pile up in your reader.

One problem that I have had using my feed reader is that I will subscribe to a blog that I think looks cool, but then I don’t keep up reading the posts and I loose interest quickly.

Another down side to using a feed reader, is that you can’t see a site’s design. You can’t view the fun treasures in the sidebars of your favorite websites. How else will I know what books my friends are reading or who else is in their blogroll? The flip side is that there are no pesky advertisements in the feed reader.

I enjoy using my feed reader to keep up with websites that are informative and where I don’t comment much, but I will still personally visit my favorite friends’ blogs.

Extra Credit:

If a site does not have an RSS option, you can plug the address (URL) of the site that you want to view in your RSS reader into feedity.com.

Further Reading on RSS:

Explaining RSS the Oprah way
RSS in Wikipedia
Easy RSS Explanation

Do you use RSS? Do you like it? Which feed reader do you use?