I have, in my possession, every type of every brand of teether made. I only like one, and that isn't by much. The problem is that teething sucks. Teething has to be one of the most painful trials to endure as a human being. Unfortunately, as a parent, there is very little we can do for our little ones but give them a squirt of Tylenol or Motrin, stick something in their mouth to chew on, and hope for the best. Everyone gets through it one way or another.
For the sake of blogging about it, my wife and I came across a brand of teether called the Nuby "Softees" Teether that seemed to work best for our daughter. It worked because it was easy for her to hold, and it was squishy enough to keep her interest. It also happened to be a fairly expensive item in a sea of cheap teethers (about $5.00), and of course you need several as there never seems to be one available or clean when you need on, but at least it did the job. Oh, and it could be found at Target, and Babies r Us and many other retailers, and they are very cute to look at.
Now that a recommendation is out of the way, I have to rant for a moment. My daughter seemed to like the "Softee" more than any other teether because it is easy to hold, it is squishy and it isn't ice cold. When testing the liquid style teethers that you freeze and hand to your child it became apparent that babies don't like when their hands become little ice cubes. I think my daughter actually learned how to throw because of cold teethers. Also, keeping them clean enough to continue placing them in a baby's mouth over and over again is impossible as they hit the floor more than just about anything you could give your baby.
So is there a solution that isn't expensive, can be easily cleaned, and doesn't freeze your baby's hands? Yes - a wet wash cloth. Seriously. I noted this from several experienced moms, and the wonderful woman who runs the day care center - babies like washcloths. There are always lots of clean ones handy. They are cheap and they certainly don't freeze your child's hands. Save your money - don't buy teethers.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Gift Registries
I am fortunate enough to know the parents of lots of babies about to be born in the next few months. Several of them have heard about my blog at this point, and I’ve received a couple of requests for gift registry advice. Of course I have an opinion or two to offer on the subject.
One of the most important things to remember is: Register where people shop – Target, Walmart, or Toys-R-Us (Babies-R-Us are almost always located inside Toys-R-Us stores nowadays). Choosing major national chain stores is also important for your out-of-town family and friends. Believe me – everyone wants to buy your baby presents and making it easy gets your baby more stuff. If you register at obscure regional department stores or little boutique shops, you eliminate a good many potential gifts, and you end up getting stuff you don’t really want. In addition, registering at major on-line shops like Amazon.com or Diapers.com can be a good idea if the majority of your family and friends don’t live anywhere near you. In addition, when you want to modify the registry for major chain stores, you can do so on their websites without having to physically go into the store. I do recommend setting up the registry in person, as you get a cool laser gun to walk around the store shooting bar codes – new daddies love that.
Scenario – You live in Arizona because you relocated there for work. Your friends and family didn’t relocate with you of course, and because you and your spouse had little to do, and not too many new friends, you spent a lot of your time alone and having sex, and surprise – you ended up expecting a baby. Your best friend decides to throw you a baby shower because you have NOTHING and that’s what the BFF is supposed to do. Instead of everyone coming to your little patch of sand in Arizona, you and your spouse decide to head to Los Angeles where everyone lives so that more people have an opportunity to attend. More people = more gifts. Let’s face it, people love you, and want to see you, but the majority don’t want to visit you in Arizona AND buy you a gift. Well, wouldn’t it be nice for those friends and family to have an on-line resource to purchase gifts for you that could be shipped directly to you in Arizona? Let’s assume you are well-liked and 100 people show up for your party – how are you going to get 100 diaper disposal units back to the farmstead? The answer – Amazon.com or gift cards to major national department stores.
So, you’ve picked a store to register, or two, or three, now what do you register for? Well baby stuff, but not all baby stuff. How generous are your family and friends? Did someone already offer to buy you furniture? What are the odds that if nobody offered already, that you could register for a baby nursery bedroom set, and your friends or family members are going to fulfill that request for you? Not too good? At best, your parents might have offered to buy the crib, but for most people the rest of the furniture is up to you. I’m not saying you shouldn’t register for it; just don’t get your hopes up. What I’m telling you to do is to register for things people are actually going to buy you. People register for some of the most useless crap – see previous rant about wipe warmers – and the useful stuff gets ignored. Don’t make this mistake.
If there is one rule I want you to follow when you are registering is this: register for things that you would buy for your baby, even if nobody is willing to purchase it for you. For instance, cribs do not come with mattresses (this was a surprise to me). There are 25 or more different models of crib mattress available to parents. Which one do you register for? If you are thinking, “if I have to buy it, I’m getting the $40 foam mattress, but since I’m hoping that Aunt Millie is going to send it to me, I’m going to register for the $300 orthopedic spring mattress made out of organic cotton” you are not going to get too many gifts, and your baby is going to end up on the $40 foam mattress anyway. Give Aunt Millie the opportunity to purchase the $40 mattress, and 10 other items on your registry instead of blowing the whole $300 on one item.
You will be sorely disappointed if you register for overpriced baby stuff, hoping that someone will spring for it. I made that mistake with our car seat. I registered for a car seat that retails for $350. Nobody bought it for me. When my daughter grew out of the infant car seat, I ended up purchasing a $60 Graco seat (for $35 on clearance). While I wanted the more expensive one, and it looked nicer, the $60 car seat turned out to be rated equally safe by Consumer Reports. If I had registered for the one I ended up buying in the first place, I might have received it as a gift.
A valuable bit of advice is to not be afraid to add a little line on your baby shower invitations (or have your BFF add the line): ______ is registered at Target and Babies-R-Us. Gift cards and gift receipts are appreciated. So no matter what you get, registry or not, you can return it for what you want.
And finally, this is very important, read it carefully: DO NOT REGISTER FOR CLOTHS. Why not? Have you ever tried to find an article of clothing in a department store, from a gift registry? Try it. You will understand what I mean. Plus, you are going to get cloths as gifts even if you don’t register for them. This is the item that people use to round off the purchase they are making for you. Let’s say that one of your guests wants to buy you a humidifier that costs $35, but they budgeted $50 for your gift; the automatic reaction is to add a cute (or ugly) outfit to the gift or a handful of bibs to make up the $15 difference. Trust me on this – don’t register for cloths.
One of the most important things to remember is: Register where people shop – Target, Walmart, or Toys-R-Us (Babies-R-Us are almost always located inside Toys-R-Us stores nowadays). Choosing major national chain stores is also important for your out-of-town family and friends. Believe me – everyone wants to buy your baby presents and making it easy gets your baby more stuff. If you register at obscure regional department stores or little boutique shops, you eliminate a good many potential gifts, and you end up getting stuff you don’t really want. In addition, registering at major on-line shops like Amazon.com or Diapers.com can be a good idea if the majority of your family and friends don’t live anywhere near you. In addition, when you want to modify the registry for major chain stores, you can do so on their websites without having to physically go into the store. I do recommend setting up the registry in person, as you get a cool laser gun to walk around the store shooting bar codes – new daddies love that.
Scenario – You live in Arizona because you relocated there for work. Your friends and family didn’t relocate with you of course, and because you and your spouse had little to do, and not too many new friends, you spent a lot of your time alone and having sex, and surprise – you ended up expecting a baby. Your best friend decides to throw you a baby shower because you have NOTHING and that’s what the BFF is supposed to do. Instead of everyone coming to your little patch of sand in Arizona, you and your spouse decide to head to Los Angeles where everyone lives so that more people have an opportunity to attend. More people = more gifts. Let’s face it, people love you, and want to see you, but the majority don’t want to visit you in Arizona AND buy you a gift. Well, wouldn’t it be nice for those friends and family to have an on-line resource to purchase gifts for you that could be shipped directly to you in Arizona? Let’s assume you are well-liked and 100 people show up for your party – how are you going to get 100 diaper disposal units back to the farmstead? The answer – Amazon.com or gift cards to major national department stores.
So, you’ve picked a store to register, or two, or three, now what do you register for? Well baby stuff, but not all baby stuff. How generous are your family and friends? Did someone already offer to buy you furniture? What are the odds that if nobody offered already, that you could register for a baby nursery bedroom set, and your friends or family members are going to fulfill that request for you? Not too good? At best, your parents might have offered to buy the crib, but for most people the rest of the furniture is up to you. I’m not saying you shouldn’t register for it; just don’t get your hopes up. What I’m telling you to do is to register for things people are actually going to buy you. People register for some of the most useless crap – see previous rant about wipe warmers – and the useful stuff gets ignored. Don’t make this mistake.
If there is one rule I want you to follow when you are registering is this: register for things that you would buy for your baby, even if nobody is willing to purchase it for you. For instance, cribs do not come with mattresses (this was a surprise to me). There are 25 or more different models of crib mattress available to parents. Which one do you register for? If you are thinking, “if I have to buy it, I’m getting the $40 foam mattress, but since I’m hoping that Aunt Millie is going to send it to me, I’m going to register for the $300 orthopedic spring mattress made out of organic cotton” you are not going to get too many gifts, and your baby is going to end up on the $40 foam mattress anyway. Give Aunt Millie the opportunity to purchase the $40 mattress, and 10 other items on your registry instead of blowing the whole $300 on one item.
You will be sorely disappointed if you register for overpriced baby stuff, hoping that someone will spring for it. I made that mistake with our car seat. I registered for a car seat that retails for $350. Nobody bought it for me. When my daughter grew out of the infant car seat, I ended up purchasing a $60 Graco seat (for $35 on clearance). While I wanted the more expensive one, and it looked nicer, the $60 car seat turned out to be rated equally safe by Consumer Reports. If I had registered for the one I ended up buying in the first place, I might have received it as a gift.
A valuable bit of advice is to not be afraid to add a little line on your baby shower invitations (or have your BFF add the line): ______ is registered at Target and Babies-R-Us. Gift cards and gift receipts are appreciated. So no matter what you get, registry or not, you can return it for what you want.
And finally, this is very important, read it carefully: DO NOT REGISTER FOR CLOTHS. Why not? Have you ever tried to find an article of clothing in a department store, from a gift registry? Try it. You will understand what I mean. Plus, you are going to get cloths as gifts even if you don’t register for them. This is the item that people use to round off the purchase they are making for you. Let’s say that one of your guests wants to buy you a humidifier that costs $35, but they budgeted $50 for your gift; the automatic reaction is to add a cute (or ugly) outfit to the gift or a handful of bibs to make up the $15 difference. Trust me on this – don’t register for cloths.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Diaper Disposal Units: AKA Trash Cans
Diaper Disposal Units: AKA Trash Cans
I’d like to shake the hand of the gal/guy who took something already invented like the trash can, named it “diaper daisy” and got credit for something completely new. What better way to feel good about filling up landfills with petrified baby excrement, than to do it without the added hassle of using a “trash can.”
Ok, got the rant out of the way early. Honestly, I was pretty against breaking down and getting any sort of diaper receptacle, until the diapers my daughter produced began to take on real odor. I have to admit, because my daughter made it, it doesn’t smell as bad as your daughter’s, but that is beside the point. I’ve learned to appreciate this gadget for what it does, keep the smell out of our house, until my lazy ass feels like taking out the trash. The thing actually keeps the smell out of the room, at least between deposits – there’s nothing like tossing a fresh one into the “Diaper Décor” and having that ripe poof of air rise up and smack you in the face, especially first thing in the morning.
So what is there to know? Well, here goes. I chose the Diaper Décor from recommendations by family and friends. They all said the same thing – it does the job – it keeps the smell out of the baby’s room. They also informed me that it does this better than any other item like it on the market. I can’t say that this is true, as I’ve never personally tested the “Diaper Gene” or any other form of disposal unit. What I can tell you is that I am happy with it overall.
I still have a few minor complaints about it:
1. I regret that the refills are only available locally at Babies R Us (as far as I know), and not at my local Target, Wal-Mart, or grocery store. This of course makes them more expensive. Plus if I run out, I can’t just pick some up when I’m out and about. Special trips waste money. By the way, I’ve seen Diaper Gene refills at my local 7-11 – no kidding.
2. It takes a degree in engineering to change the refill cartridge. This is the main selling point of the Diaper Gene. You run out, you pop in a new cartridge and you are done. If I had a way to describe how difficult it is, I would. I speculate that the instructions for the Diaper Décor are unhelpful because the manufacturers also didn’t have a way to put the procedure into words. Note to the Diaper Décor manufacturers: supply a free instructional DVD with every purchase.
3. It is not big enough. Let’s review – the reason people buy the thing is so that they don’t have to remove that neatly-wrapped-poop-football from the house with every bowel movement. I don’t know about your outside trash cans, but I can tell you that the smell emanating from mine is amazing, and frankly I don’t want to visit it more than I need to. Makes sense doesn’t it? Wouldn’t it make more sense to design a diaper pail that could hold at least week’s worth of diapers? At best, all diaper pails only hold a half week’s worth, thus forcing me to visit my outside cans more often than I’d like to. This leads me to the conclusion that the manufacturers sell a whole lot more refills by limiting the size of each load.
Most diaper disposal units work, so I encourage you to purchase one. Even though I have serious complaints, there is no better solution. I challenge anyone to endure using a standard trash can to do the same job.
I’d like to shake the hand of the gal/guy who took something already invented like the trash can, named it “diaper daisy” and got credit for something completely new. What better way to feel good about filling up landfills with petrified baby excrement, than to do it without the added hassle of using a “trash can.”
Ok, got the rant out of the way early. Honestly, I was pretty against breaking down and getting any sort of diaper receptacle, until the diapers my daughter produced began to take on real odor. I have to admit, because my daughter made it, it doesn’t smell as bad as your daughter’s, but that is beside the point. I’ve learned to appreciate this gadget for what it does, keep the smell out of our house, until my lazy ass feels like taking out the trash. The thing actually keeps the smell out of the room, at least between deposits – there’s nothing like tossing a fresh one into the “Diaper Décor” and having that ripe poof of air rise up and smack you in the face, especially first thing in the morning.
So what is there to know? Well, here goes. I chose the Diaper Décor from recommendations by family and friends. They all said the same thing – it does the job – it keeps the smell out of the baby’s room. They also informed me that it does this better than any other item like it on the market. I can’t say that this is true, as I’ve never personally tested the “Diaper Gene” or any other form of disposal unit. What I can tell you is that I am happy with it overall.
I still have a few minor complaints about it:
1. I regret that the refills are only available locally at Babies R Us (as far as I know), and not at my local Target, Wal-Mart, or grocery store. This of course makes them more expensive. Plus if I run out, I can’t just pick some up when I’m out and about. Special trips waste money. By the way, I’ve seen Diaper Gene refills at my local 7-11 – no kidding.
2. It takes a degree in engineering to change the refill cartridge. This is the main selling point of the Diaper Gene. You run out, you pop in a new cartridge and you are done. If I had a way to describe how difficult it is, I would. I speculate that the instructions for the Diaper Décor are unhelpful because the manufacturers also didn’t have a way to put the procedure into words. Note to the Diaper Décor manufacturers: supply a free instructional DVD with every purchase.
3. It is not big enough. Let’s review – the reason people buy the thing is so that they don’t have to remove that neatly-wrapped-poop-football from the house with every bowel movement. I don’t know about your outside trash cans, but I can tell you that the smell emanating from mine is amazing, and frankly I don’t want to visit it more than I need to. Makes sense doesn’t it? Wouldn’t it make more sense to design a diaper pail that could hold at least week’s worth of diapers? At best, all diaper pails only hold a half week’s worth, thus forcing me to visit my outside cans more often than I’d like to. This leads me to the conclusion that the manufacturers sell a whole lot more refills by limiting the size of each load.
Most diaper disposal units work, so I encourage you to purchase one. Even though I have serious complaints, there is no better solution. I challenge anyone to endure using a standard trash can to do the same job.
Friday, July 16, 2010
The Frugal Father on Diapers
This is a big topic, deserving more discussion than I’m willing to devote to it here. There are many factors one could consider in choosing the right diaper, but only three that I have found to be important: fit, effectiveness, and price. The other factors which I have a difficult time accepting as important: brand, eco-friendliness, comfort, and coupons. I’m sure I missed a point here or there, but bear with me.
What’s important?
For me, it comes down to containing a mess (for lack of a better word), and that is where the fit and function of a diaper are important. I don’t want to go into lots of detail about the fit or function of a diaper. Does the diaper keep the baby dry or not, and does it keep the mess off of you or not? If the answer is yes, to both concerns, then you have a winner.
What is not important?
1. Brand – Do you really think that Target brand diapers are manufactured by Target? For that matter, do you really think that any store-brand diaper comes from anywhere other than a major diaper manufacturer? I don’t have all the facts, about which manufacture makes which store-brand diaper, but what I’m sure of is that all diapers come from one of a few national-brand diaper factories.
2. Eco-Friendly – Honestly, if you are going to go green with your diapers, the only acceptable solution is cloth. Otherwise, who are you kidding? Disposable diapers end up in landfills. Do the research yourself, but eco-friendly diapers do not break down in landfills any faster than non-green versions (which is never), and they use as much energy to produce. The bottom line – you are going to pay more because you THINK the environment is better off.
3. Comfort – It is noble of you to think that somehow your baby is going to be more comfortable sitting in its own excrement in one diaper over another.
4. Coupons – This one is interesting. I have found that no matter how great the coupon makes the deal sound, it is still not cheaper than buying store-brand diapers, even the on-line coupons.
Do the math yourself. If you have a cell phone, you possess a calculator. The next time you are in a store, divide the price of the pack of diapers by the number of diapers to determine the price per diaper. My quick research yielded the following.
Target Brand .14 - .17/diaper
Warehouse Brand .19 - .21/diaper
Pampers/Huggies .23 - .34/diaper
Eco-Friendly .31 - .39/diaper
Estimates for the number of diapers used per baby for the first 3 years vary widely (between 5000 and 9000). Using the above cost per diaper comparing National Brands to the Target brand, parents could save between $1000.00 and $1800.00. Believe it or not if you were to choose cloth diapers for the “green” factor, the cost falls towards the low end of the national brand spectrum. Locally, the Dy-Dee diaper service (www.dy-dee.com) quoted me a price that was competitive to Pampers and Huggies, but since the cost varies by location, I don’t feel it would be fair to share the quote.
I sincerely hope this helps.
What’s important?
For me, it comes down to containing a mess (for lack of a better word), and that is where the fit and function of a diaper are important. I don’t want to go into lots of detail about the fit or function of a diaper. Does the diaper keep the baby dry or not, and does it keep the mess off of you or not? If the answer is yes, to both concerns, then you have a winner.
What is not important?
1. Brand – Do you really think that Target brand diapers are manufactured by Target? For that matter, do you really think that any store-brand diaper comes from anywhere other than a major diaper manufacturer? I don’t have all the facts, about which manufacture makes which store-brand diaper, but what I’m sure of is that all diapers come from one of a few national-brand diaper factories.
2. Eco-Friendly – Honestly, if you are going to go green with your diapers, the only acceptable solution is cloth. Otherwise, who are you kidding? Disposable diapers end up in landfills. Do the research yourself, but eco-friendly diapers do not break down in landfills any faster than non-green versions (which is never), and they use as much energy to produce. The bottom line – you are going to pay more because you THINK the environment is better off.
3. Comfort – It is noble of you to think that somehow your baby is going to be more comfortable sitting in its own excrement in one diaper over another.
4. Coupons – This one is interesting. I have found that no matter how great the coupon makes the deal sound, it is still not cheaper than buying store-brand diapers, even the on-line coupons.
Do the math yourself. If you have a cell phone, you possess a calculator. The next time you are in a store, divide the price of the pack of diapers by the number of diapers to determine the price per diaper. My quick research yielded the following.
Target Brand .14 - .17/diaper
Warehouse Brand .19 - .21/diaper
Pampers/Huggies .23 - .34/diaper
Eco-Friendly .31 - .39/diaper
Estimates for the number of diapers used per baby for the first 3 years vary widely (between 5000 and 9000). Using the above cost per diaper comparing National Brands to the Target brand, parents could save between $1000.00 and $1800.00. Believe it or not if you were to choose cloth diapers for the “green” factor, the cost falls towards the low end of the national brand spectrum. Locally, the Dy-Dee diaper service (www.dy-dee.com) quoted me a price that was competitive to Pampers and Huggies, but since the cost varies by location, I don’t feel it would be fair to share the quote.
I sincerely hope this helps.
The Frugal Father Manifesto
I don’t enjoy wasting a penny on useless things, especially those things that are marketed to my demographic – a new father, with the means to purchase that wares that people are hocking, to make life better, easier, cleaner, safer or softer, for my family.
My wife and I tried for several years to have a baby. We were not fortunate enough to succeed until 9/9/2009, which turned out to be a very lucky day for everyone involved. It helped that my daughter was born on a lucky day, only because it has been really cool to tell people that my kid was born on 9/9/2009, at 3:29 p.m., 9 days early. I’m a bit of a narcissist anyway. In preparation for the “big day” we purchased dozens of books, registered for every baby-related website out there, and visited every baby section of every store in Los Angeles. After reading most of the books and filling up my email inbox with enough junk to crash a server, I came to the inclusion that almost everything is BULLSHIT.
Not only is most baby advice/stuff complete bullshit, but I’m convinced that literally everything could be marketed as “baby friendly” and people will buy it. I’m not kidding. I have not thought of a way yet, but I’m sure with enough effort, dog food, rat poison and toxic waste could be sold to new moms and dads without too much effort at all. Ok, maybe not everything, but come on, a Wipe Warmer? Seriously? One quick search for “Wipe Warmer” on ONE website, yields 7 different models, with prices varying from $19.99-$29.99 – no kidding. That’s a lot of warm baby poop. Mmmm.
So what prompted the Frugal Father? One day I was shopping for non-baby stuff at our local Target (which happens to be my all time favorite place for baby stuff) and noticed a mom-to-be, scanning items for her gift registry with a friend. Being the nosey person that I am, I overheard them trying to decide which high chair to register for. I interrupted, told them which one my wife and I went with, and why, and then offered advice on any other items the might be curious about. Since my personal research was so extensive, it seemed a shame to let the knowledge go to waste. We spent the next half hour or so, while my wife shook her head from the adjacent department, going from aisle to aisle talking about many of the things that worked and even more of the things that are a waste. Several items were added to the young mom’s registry that day, but many more were taken off by the time we were done. The young friend said to me, “do you have a blog, because I would read it.” And well, here we are.
My advice to you, whoever you are reading this blog, is to take ALL advice with a grain of salt, including mine. I am going to make statements, some readers will agree with, others they will certainly not. That’s ok with me and I invite any and all readers to call me out whenever you feel like it. For this first blog however, the point I really want to get across is this: If there is some advice out there, in the baby universe, that is true and correct, why do there need to be hundreds of baby advice books out there? How many experts on one subject could there be? And, if they are all right, then which do you listen to? I have a difficult time believing that the writers of all this baby propaganda actually believe that their experience is gospel enough that new parents will follow it. I say to you, as I will write about in future blogs, if you read no books at all, you’d be in as good a place as I was after reading over a dozen, and that is no bullshit at all. I promise that I will, to the best of my ability, expose bullshit for what it is, and promote things that will help you and save you money.
My wife and I tried for several years to have a baby. We were not fortunate enough to succeed until 9/9/2009, which turned out to be a very lucky day for everyone involved. It helped that my daughter was born on a lucky day, only because it has been really cool to tell people that my kid was born on 9/9/2009, at 3:29 p.m., 9 days early. I’m a bit of a narcissist anyway. In preparation for the “big day” we purchased dozens of books, registered for every baby-related website out there, and visited every baby section of every store in Los Angeles. After reading most of the books and filling up my email inbox with enough junk to crash a server, I came to the inclusion that almost everything is BULLSHIT.
Not only is most baby advice/stuff complete bullshit, but I’m convinced that literally everything could be marketed as “baby friendly” and people will buy it. I’m not kidding. I have not thought of a way yet, but I’m sure with enough effort, dog food, rat poison and toxic waste could be sold to new moms and dads without too much effort at all. Ok, maybe not everything, but come on, a Wipe Warmer? Seriously? One quick search for “Wipe Warmer” on ONE website, yields 7 different models, with prices varying from $19.99-$29.99 – no kidding. That’s a lot of warm baby poop. Mmmm.
So what prompted the Frugal Father? One day I was shopping for non-baby stuff at our local Target (which happens to be my all time favorite place for baby stuff) and noticed a mom-to-be, scanning items for her gift registry with a friend. Being the nosey person that I am, I overheard them trying to decide which high chair to register for. I interrupted, told them which one my wife and I went with, and why, and then offered advice on any other items the might be curious about. Since my personal research was so extensive, it seemed a shame to let the knowledge go to waste. We spent the next half hour or so, while my wife shook her head from the adjacent department, going from aisle to aisle talking about many of the things that worked and even more of the things that are a waste. Several items were added to the young mom’s registry that day, but many more were taken off by the time we were done. The young friend said to me, “do you have a blog, because I would read it.” And well, here we are.
My advice to you, whoever you are reading this blog, is to take ALL advice with a grain of salt, including mine. I am going to make statements, some readers will agree with, others they will certainly not. That’s ok with me and I invite any and all readers to call me out whenever you feel like it. For this first blog however, the point I really want to get across is this: If there is some advice out there, in the baby universe, that is true and correct, why do there need to be hundreds of baby advice books out there? How many experts on one subject could there be? And, if they are all right, then which do you listen to? I have a difficult time believing that the writers of all this baby propaganda actually believe that their experience is gospel enough that new parents will follow it. I say to you, as I will write about in future blogs, if you read no books at all, you’d be in as good a place as I was after reading over a dozen, and that is no bullshit at all. I promise that I will, to the best of my ability, expose bullshit for what it is, and promote things that will help you and save you money.
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