Some tips I've come up with in my short four years as a mom...

On moving -- anywhere -- with children: There will always be a better stroller out there somewhere, so don't make yourself crazy over that decision. We've now purchased 7, yes SEVEN!, strollers in our four years as parents. In chronological order: 1) the Peg Perego (clunky and squeaky and, now, broken somewhere in a landfill); 2) the Combi (bad handle); 3) the Maclaren Volo (LOVE it; the ONLY way to maneuver the streets of Park Slope, but now has a whole in the bottom); 4) the used single jogger (ugly as sin, but still functional); 5) the Maclaren Double (heavy as hell, but gets the job done and thankfully not used too much these days); 6) the Snap 'N Go for the Snugride (how did we live without this the first time around?); and 7) the Schwinn Double jogger (still the best way to get anywhere in the neighborhood). And then we were in the Babies R Us yesterday, and I saw THIS. I want to have another baby just to buy it.

On feeding babies: High chairs are stupid, and a waste of space. Buy your baby a $25 booster seat on move on with life.

On feeding toddlers: Toddlers are a finicky, fickle bunch. The logic they apply to their food choices is beyond my comprehension. So I developed some tricks to play the game on their level.

1. Peas are not "peas," because Noah doesn't like peas. Peas are "green corn."
2. Salmon is not "salmon," because who likes salmon?? Salmon is "pink chicken."
3. Soba noodles apparently don't sound appetizing to my children, so instead, they are referred to as "chocolate spaghetti."
4. "Green french fries" = green beans.
5. "Chocolate chicken" = beef.
6. Cover a waffle in "snow" (i.e., powdered sugar) and what fun-loving 3 year-old wouldn't want to eat it? (And for that matter, make it snow -- with parmesan cheese, for instance -- over anything to transform it into something more appealing.)

On toting children around on your body: The Bjorn is the original, the tried-and-true method on carrying around a newborn. I tried a sling, but I couldn't make it work for me. And then each of the boys outgrew the Bjorn at about 4 months old (or at least it became too uncomfortable to wear), so I moved on to the Playtex Hip Hugger. At $30, it's a relatively insignificant investment that bought me extra time outside with Noah while holding onto Luke, or got me through those last 10 minutes of making dinner with a 6 month old who only wanted to be held. And, like most "yippees" (that's yuppie/hippie fusion), we bought the Kelty backpack for our hiking trips. But then we realized that kids are heavy, putting them in a backpack makes them heavier, and lifting that pack onto your upper back makes all parts of your body hurt like hell after a mere 15 minutes. So, as Luke approaches his second birthday, we thought the days of carrying him around on us were long gone. That is, until Gina visited a couple of weeks ago and introduced me to my new favorite thing -- the Ergobaby. I love absolutely everything about this invention of crazy, over-the-top attachment parenters. It's perfect. It's comfortable for me and for Luke, it's lightweight, and it's easy to use. It's machine-washable! IT HAS POCKETS!! It can fit in a suitcase for vacations, and can live in the van to be ready at a moment's notice. It allowed me to spend two hours walking around the Farm (more about our wonderful CSA on another post), and last weekend we went hiking at the US Whitewater Center, all with Luke chillin' out on my back. Every parent should have one of these. (Matt wants me to find a way to earn commissions from my recommendations...).

On wanting your children to learn to talk: This is not all it's cracked up to be. Sure it's all cute to hear them pronounce new words when they're babies, and whose heart doesn't melt the first few times (or hundred times) you see those gorgeous faces light up as they exclaim "Mama!"? But somewhere along the line, something happens, and instead you start to hear things like, "Moooommmm, I wasn't talking to YOU, I was talking to my DAD, so don't say anything to me!" And then there's the incessant "Mom, why? Mom, why? Mom, why? Mom, why?" To think that with both of our late-talkers, we were so anxious to hear them speak. So naive.

On letting your children watch TV: putting on a fourth consecutive episode of Backyardigans so you can play Scramble and draft a blog post while your spouse pours over the Sunday NY Times is okay, right?