Big City Moms [Link] is a wonderful group in the city. For my family its given us a play dates for Marc, before that support in that expecting phase, community, and friendships. When Marc was younger we would do two to three Big City Moms events per a week.
The Biggest Baby Shower Ever! is a twice yearly event that is awesome. It is a who’s who of companies with products and services to market and inform the soon to be moms. This event was one of the best events for our family, although at the time I was asked to say home – I really really wanted to go.
Since Marc’s birth the Shower has grown and in a way its has changed. Now there are a few expecting Dads to be found at the event! Which is so awesome! This is a great – think of it this way, would you go shopping for a car alone? probably not, so go to the shower ask your stroller questions, ask me your questions – I’ll be there!
In some ways this is the final stage to prepping for a baby. It is massive baby expo, it spans dozens of brands. Hundreds of products on display. If you have questions the reps will have the answers.
The swag is great! The raffles are amazing! The friendship and connections that are made at the shower is out of this world. It is also just a great event to go with your girl friends and shop for the latest and great baby gear.
Each Friday between now and April 9th we’ll randomly pick one winner who will receive free admission into the shower.
Photo by Suzanne Cohen Photography
How to win it… Contest ends April 9th.
You get 1 entry for placing a comment with you’re favorite brand that will be at the shower [Visit their site for others] and please use some method for us to contact you in the comment (twitter or email)
You get 1 extra entry for tweeting about this contest (you can do this daily). Must contain the following information: @BigCityMoms @dada_rocks – http://bit.ly/9mSDRP and you must also comment with the link to your twitter message.
Example: I want the @BigCityMoms Baby Shower Pass from @dada_rocks – http://bit.ly/9mSDRP
It sucks to be under the weather, it sucks for your wife/partner to be under the weather, it sucks even more to have your kid(s) be under the weather, and the worst is when more then one member of the family is sick.
With the change of seasons this is more then likely to be case these days. I know it hit our house two weeks ago and I doubt we handled it well. I’m thinking that next time around we need a better plan because one sick person should make 2 other sick before they’re even better.
I came home with a sore throat innocent enough, didn’t even think twice about it. It was the beginning of the end, two weeks later and I’m still hacking up half a lung at times. Suzanne feel to it 24 hours later and Marc maybe 30 hours. It was rough! I don’t handle being sick well, there are those that pop some pills and are good as new. That is so not me, I’m like rolling in the bed – chanting I’m dying I’m dying… Usually Suzanne is helping me out with chicken soup and water but when she’s right next to me rolling around saying I’m dying I’m dying, that relief isn’t coming.
On the other side of the country my in-laws are still recovering for the bug they picked up from my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. My BIL and SIL got a really bad stomach to the point they asked my Father-in-law and Mother-in-law to take care of their kiddo. Within 36 hours they had the bug as well and some good stories to share.
I started thinking what would I do next time, should I sleep on the couch (a self imposed medical quarantine)? Should I sleep under the desk in the office (just kidding)? Do I just keep up the normal routine and hope for the best? Do you ship the kid(s) off someplace of hopes of not getting them sick? How do you deal with it?
Most days of the week mainly Monday to Friday seem to drag just a little bit. Work if it isn’t fun or exciting is just time being wasted. Once you have a child, time seems to become a commodity like gold or money. Most often it is seen in the trade of money that you get some alone time (this usually involves a baby sitter).
In the end when I start to think about about time pasted that its now stuck in a high speed loop. Wake up take care of Marc, pass Marc off to wife for feeding, jump in shower, take Marc from wife while she showers, leave for work, work, work, work, get home from work take care of Marc, put Marc in bath, put Marc in bed, eat dinner with wife, watch 1 hour of TV with wife, start trying to move to bed. Repeat and rinse Monday to Friday.
Weekends seem to be the moments we have free – between catching up with family, friends, Marc is now invited to play dates and birthday parties. So with the shiny 10 minutes I get to myself usually around 11:40PM I write these blog postings…
But I think its always nice to stop and breathe… We are quickly approaching the end of winter the cherry blossoms will soon be here – I know this by my wife’s [Link] email and phone non stop ringing trying to book dates in central park. We’re planning a trip to Florida to see my grandparents (Marc’s great grandparents) its a lot of planning as you can imagine.
Trying to figure out the short plan for the future, which as you can imagine or know is pretty tough when you have a small child. Who knows what today will bring.
Most importantly is the knowledge that we are moving forward in time without noticing the amazing changes… in the twitter ether today, I saw a mom amazed her baby was about to turn 1… I saw a father come to realize that his son is form short sentences… These are all milestones that are amazing and how quickly we forget the small infant we once held in one arm. When was the last time you compared your child’s current diapers (if needed) to a newborn or size 1. It is amazing that we’re moving forward at such a pace.
The phrase take a moment to smell the roses never really struck a cord with me until these days. The days when I feel like I barely have a moment to breathe, enjoy my wife’s company (alone), enjoy play time with Marc, or just a moment to myself. Most guys I know use their bathroom as their thinking time and sometimes I do too but more often then not its on to the next thing.
For today hug your wife or partner – tell them how much you love and appreciate all that they do. Take a moment for yourself – walk the long way home from the subway – notice the smell in the air that is spring on its way (sometimes in New York City that could just be the missed trash no collected :P). Take a snapshot of your kids on a random day and savior the moment.
I had this lengthy post about why there were no posts last week but for the time being lets leave it as personal reasons. Which brings me to writing this post right after I finished the details of those personal reasons. About the idea of juggling the balance of public verse private.
My wife and I have two different scales or values in this area – I’m a social media fan and I had to pull her into the pool kicking and screaming. Sure, she likes some of it the reconnecting with lost friends or catching up with friends via status/images posted because who really has time to talk on the phone when you have a screaming baby right next to you.
I’ve always been a big “sharer” maybe to a fault. I’m not always sure where that comes from… maybe because in the culture I grew up in it was always good to chat or kibitz about things or that I went to a therapist for years as a child after my parent split. No matter the cause I’ve grown very comfortable with putting my location, my task list, my thoughts out there for all to read. My wife on the other hand has a much harder time with that public information. I respect her wishes – which is sometimes hard for me as I’d like to keep my life out there and this leads to some little “discussions” but overall we get along great on most of the social networking topics.
How do you balance yourself verse your family? Where do you draw the line?
I’m a man (yup, still a card carrying member) and I can tell you we’re pretty simple when it comes to gifts. The simple things like bacon and beer would be enough to make any man happy. This post takes it one step further, we have some simple gifts, some thoughtful gifts, some heartless electronic gifts they may have wanted and always bring a smile to any guys face.
The saying the way to a guys heart is though is stomach isn’t far off, so taking him out for a nice meal or cooking dinner for him (making it kind of special) is a good way to go.
The simple clothing solution is a nice pair of boxer shorts (silk or cotton) doesn’t matter this one is the thought that counts. Additionally some candy goes nice to round this package out.
The next item up is a guy favorite – BEER – so this is a way to serve it super cold and delicious while saving some money. The BeerTender from Heineken and Krups [Link] is an awesome product (no I don’t have one yet, YES, I really want one but really cant justify that much intake of beer) my friend has one and always rubs it in my face. Clearly the thought has to be given if your man drinks Heineken, actually he should pretty much ONLY drink Heineken to get the most usage out of this product.
For those retro lovers, find a record shop and get some classic vinyl records [Link]. Make sure he likes the music, this could be a win for you that you get an album or two that you love as well.
After beer we have technology & toys because I’ve yet to meet a guy that doesn’t love something techie (bright shinny objects we’re putty). Here’s the run down… PlayStation 3 Slim [Link] (newest PS3 on the market) is awesome – also doubles as a Blu-Ray player (HD movies drool!). You could also give a gift card to Apple in hopes of holding out for that new iPad [Link] incase you were sleeping under a rock for the last month its a large ipod touch. You could opt for an Apple iPhone or iPod Touch that you could get most any place.
For the thoughtful husband you could arrange a family portrait (or maybe some boudoir [wikipedia] photos of yourself) of course I’ll plug my wife here – Suzanne Cohen Photography [Link], which is also a gift to yourself since the images will last a lifetime.
For those that need the renewals, every couple of years its nice to get a new wallet. Coach is my brand of choice for men’s wallets [Link], I’ve had mine for years and I’m ready for a refresh. A money clip, just make sure they usually carry cash or have cash (otherwise its a jab) get it personalized with his initials.
Finally the classic for most men is the go to sexy lingerie (for yourself) and some good loving for him.
Big City Moms [Link] is a wonderful group in the city. For my family its given us a play dates for Marc, before that support in that expecting phase, community, and friendships. When Marc was younger we would do two to three Big City Moms events per a week.
