Chaotic Tips for the Disorganized: Managing a Dynamic Household

When beloved Parent Hacks issued a call for household organization tips to kick off the New Year, I thought how much I needed to read this thread without commenting. As I told a friend earlier this week, "My house is a freakshow." She laughed and said "I'll kill you if that means you have a couple magazines on the coffee table and a few plates in the sink." If only that were the case.

My house has more than 20 semi-unpacked boxes (we moved mid-2004 and every once in a while I try to find some long-lost item), we have two dining tables and two large desks completely covered in paperwork, correspondence, books, groceries, receipts, tools, replacement electrical outlets, stuff that I couldn't leave on the floor when Baby Geek started getting around on his own, and half-finished projects.

We even have a black-hole room (which we refer to as "that room," "the corner room," or simply nod in its general direction as naming it something like "the office" would be complete delusion and acknowledging its present state, "crap-hole" or "Heart of Darkness" might seem both impolite and resigned).

Who am I to discuss household organization? But then I had one best practice that is helping and doesn't involve a shovel, calling a television program for assistance, or setting the home ablaze. As I started typing the first idea others came to me. I realized that my war with this mess is hardly lost (though at times it often looks like a stalemate). My house could actually be worse than it is now! Somehow that is reassuring.

So here are some hard-won tips from our danger zone to others:

1) Having a good friend team up with you on a particularly large problem area usually pays off.

This is hard for me to arrange, and I suspect for others, because it may mean you're inviting people into the very area of your home that you least want them to see, but it can be quite motivating in tackling bigger problem areas (like the black-hole catch-all office-type room swamped with paperwork, half-finished projects, computer peripherals, hobbies, items to repair, art from previous homes, and stuff we have absolutely no idea what to do with).

A close friend and I have been tackling a problem laundry room and office together. It's easier with two people who like each other because neither person wants to leave the room for too long, so tangential distractions are kept to a minimum.

The second party is helpful for manpower, but they can also help carve individual tasks out of an overwhelming situation, and force decisions. When a broken stool was unearthed (with its amputated leg), the events went something like this:

non-homeowner: "Will you get this fixed?"
homeowner: "Yes, I loved it for the kid's bathroom."
NH: "Can you fix it?"
HO: "No. That's the problem."
NH: "Who do we know who can?"
[HO has an idea, makes a phone call to arrange it, and drops the item off with a woodworker before the week's end. Our alternative (and much weaker) plan was to put the item in attic or garage storage where it would most likely languish until aforementioned children go to college.]

We set up a number of designated bags, boxes, and piles and start sorting. There is only so much the non-homeowner can do with some of the items (paperwork especially), but they can carry stuff to appropriate groupings, break down cardboard boxes, mate like items, vacuum the newly exposed carpet, hang pictures, and simply be a sounding board for "should I keep this" and "what exactly do I with this" decisions.

We worked two afternoons, had nice teas with lunch, and made a lot of headway on two sizable projects. Family members and friends received lost and borrowed items.

With the right person this can be rewarding and even fun. The benefits for the non-homeowner are a sense of accomplishment, a true gift to a friend, and a good idea of who to call when their own household needs order.

2) If you're not using it, why are you keeping it? Sometimes there is an answer to this question. If there isn't, jettison.

3) SORT INTRA-HOUSEHOLD ITEMS AS YOU GO, BUT DON'T LEAVE THE INITIAL PROJECT EACH TIME YOU FIND ONE. Always keep a recycling bag and a trash can handy when cleaning mixed item chaos. A laundry basket or two (clean/dirty) are handy. We make piles of stuff that belongs to specific people and belongs in other rooms to be delivered when they hit a critical mass or the initial sorting project is finished.

Every time you leave the room, you offer yourself an opportunity to be waylaid by fate.

4) ORGANIZE, DONATE, DISTRIBUTE, AND EXCHANGE UNWANTED ITEMS: Always have a Goodwill box (charity of your choice, of course) somewhere in the house.

When clothes fit poorly I used to try them on, reject them, and put them back on my closet shelf (though I had no intention of ever wearing them again). Now they are refolded, placed on the bed, and then shuttled to the Goodwill box. In that box you would currently find over-the-door hooks that worked in our last house but not here, sippy cups that BabyGeek despises, baby gear that seemed like a good idea at the time but proved worthless, games we didn't take a fancy to, duplicate/upgraded items, and old or non-compatible computer peripherals.

We also have donation bags for the public library book sale (magazines and books that we didn't love enough to keep), a local food shelter, and a box for the Habitat Home Store (working lighting fixtures we've updated, old switch plates, excess tiles, etc.).

My mommas group often has a table full of unwanted goods that we offer each other: foods our babies won't eat, perky videos that cannot be tolerated for one more iteration, Hooter Hiders from families no longer breastfeeding, formula samples, outgrown items, product points for loyalty programs (like Pampers), and coupons for most major baby products.

Friends who get a lot of unwanted freebies or gifts through their jobs keep boxes of items to give away (to the rest of our delight!). We keep a box of items to give to friends (not really regifting as items are given without ceremony and the recipients often hear the story of the item's arrival in our lives). Phrases like "would you be interested in..." always seem to kick off these item exchanges.

As an insecure tween, I was always happy to receive bags of my professional neighbor's cast-off clothing and accessories. Her need for the most current fashion gave me a completely undeserved reputation for style during some very self-conscious years. Though I grew to be a much taller than her, I still have a few favorite items from her almost 20 years later. Giving away useful items can be a great gift.

One note: Make sure the stuff in the boxes is regularly delivered to appropriate parties. No one should warehouse this stuff.

5) If your current arrangement doesn't allow for enough storage, either limit your items to fit those existing options or engineer better storage solutions (there are some great, inexpensive DIY storage ideas in ReadyMade). Sadly, the fabric of space and time still refuse to stretch in response to human will (despite regular testing in our household).

May the Force be with us all.

Sound Effects: The Batman Approach to Dressing Your Baby

As soon as BabyGeek started gaining control of his flailing limbs, he became quite helpful in getting dressed. Rather than resisting clothing, he helpfully pushes his little arms and feet into clothing presented to him. Granted, this may be a sign of his dislike for cold air or nakedness, but we prefer to see it as a bi-product of our own silly behavior.

Before he was born, I had never dressed a newborn- or really anyone younger than myself. Come to think of it, I probably hadn't dressed anyone other than myself.

My method of dressing him was to slide my hands through the cuffs of his pants, through the waistband and pull his feet through. A similar method was employed in pulling arms through button-up shirts' sleeves. Onesies and other garments without front openings were befuddling. I would put his head through the large hole and then fish his arms out.

I picked up a habit from my husband of using the comic book phrases that appear on the old Batman episodes whenever his hand, foot, arm, leg, or head appeared through the proper hole.

"BAM!"
"BANG!"
"KA-POW!"
"WHOMP!"
"ZIP!"
"BOOM!"
"WOOSH!"
"ZOOM!"
"POP!"

We steered away from "PLOP!" as it might defeat the success of a recent diaper change.

BabyGeek loves weird sound effect words when they are delivered with gusto. We like to think that his ready participation in wardrobe changes is motivated by our enthusiastic sounds. He also gives a slightly disappointed look when changed by someone not making sounds.

Does this work? Or are we crazy? (not that the two scenarios are mutually exclusive....)

The super cute comic book buttons shown above are made by disturbedpenguinpoo and sold on etsy.com

Swim Noodles: They're Not Just For Breakfast Any More

When a local police officer evaluated my friend's car seat installation, two significant things happened:

1. The officer cut the plastic tether connecting the LATCH belt to her car seat because her seat didn't have LATCH buckles (he said this was "more convenient" for her to store it elsewhere), and
2. he replaced her rolled-up towel with a segment of swim noodle.

Despite the questionable reasoning behind his first action (where is a more obvious place to store a LATCH belt than on the car seat?), I didn't really scrutinize his overall judgement. The swim noodle thing sounded good. I cut the end off a swim noodle and replaced the completely functional, manual-recommended towel with a piece of yellow foam. It compressed too much on installation, and crushed more over time. I eventually reinstalled the towel (after, I believe Jim asked, "What exactly are you thinking?") and threw the mangled piece of noodle away.

This left me with half a noodle to contemplate.


BabyGeek is obsessed with doors. As soon as he could crawl to them, he loved to sit near them and fling them shut. He was not so pleased when they latched however. To prevent the constant slamming of doors (and the potential for finger injuries), I cut about 6 inches off the remaining noodle.

I then cut through one side of the noodle (lengthwise- to the channel down the middle), and pulled the sides of the noodle apart to straddle the top of the door. The noodle shows no signs of wear after months of use.

I no longer have to spend my day re-opening doors so the baby won't wail, and his fingers are far less likely to be crushed. We're careful not to leave any noodle pieces where the baby can play with them unsupervised because the noodle may be pliable enough he could bite off a chunk.

The actual over-the-door foam doorstop from Babies R Us cost $4 or more, so I was glad to find a cheaper solution to keep the little slammer from unwittingly confining himself all over the house.


Our beloved kitchen table, built by my uncle, has square steel sliders to allow for a number of table leaves. They are very pointy on the ends and could leave a nice u-shaped gash in a knee or a small forehead.

As BabyGeek began exploring under the table, I decided to try and ward off an e-room visit (I still remember my older brother's bloody emergency run after a Big Wheel accident where his forehead slammed into a 1970s steel bumper). Using zip ties we intended for the banister enclosure, I secured small noodle cushions to the ends of the sliders.

As there is no mass-manufactured solution for this problem, I felt quite accomplished in creating my own. They too show no signs of wear, though they are tested by my knees regularly.

These are super-cheap on end-of-season clearance (which is currently about 8 months away) and aren't too dear before discounts, especially when you consider that you can equip a house full of doors with only one noodle.

Noodle remnants over a foot are also nice for whomping other adults on the head (as appropriate).

Baby in Captivity: Gates

Mobility. We all want it for our infants. It's just so much trouble when it arrives.

[Note: this post has been sitting in the queue for some time, and much of the following information about BabyGeek is out-dated. His grandfather will consider this slightly libelous, but Dad, I'm not going to try and change all the tenses this morning. I fully acknowledge that your sweet grandson is now a walking, babbling, sippy-cup drinker and is no longer the neophyte chronicled in this post.]

BabyGeek is currently a cruiser. He will probably walk soon, but is just waiting for every other baby we know to walk first (so modest). I think he just watching my face when my momma friends start saying things like "my baby's pediatrician says he is already developmentally a 27 year-old Olympic javelin thrower" and "my baby wrestles angry bulls."

BabyGeek likes to keep me grounded by refusing sippy cups, rejecting all toddler food except cheese (which he would gladly eat in bulk quantity), and only doing really brilliant things when we are completely alone. At least he inherited the family sense of humor.

So, we're more a babyproofing-lite household. If it must be babyproofed (stairway gate), we've done it, but if it's optional (drawer full of old bills) or somewhere he shouldn't be in the first place (a toilet lock in the typically closed bathroom), we're most likely to slack.

This theory has not yet resulted in any trips to the emergency room. ...has not YET...

We have put up a variety of baby gates.

Installed Gates

We installed an Evenflo wooden "top of stair" gate. It's marvelous at keeping BabyGeek from falling down the Alpine slope our home's designers saw fit to include. The gate works fabulously at keeping Baby geek off the stairs. It also works well keeping GrannyLuddite on the stairs. My mom is completely incapable of operating the latch. Honestly, it also took me a few frustrating days before I could consistently use it. It's not a techie/non-techie thing either. It's just a stiff latch that works counter-intuitively. For the top of the stairs however, I am quite happy to have a sturdy gate. After a few days of using it you forget it was ever difficult until, of course, someone comes over to visit. [Granny has now mastered the latch after a few more visits.]

(around $35 at Babies R Us)

Installed gates with step-on latches
Our friends used one of these, and we found its latching slightly difficult and less-than-satisfactory. The gate also adds a secondary threshold to step over- for a klutz like me that spells disaster. The threshold also made the style way too much of a trip hazard for the top of our stairs.

When I was gate shopping however I called my friend to find out her opinion on step-on gates. She told me that she had adored it, but it had broken one day when she stepped on it while frustrated. I'm frustrated far more often than she is, so it would probably be a poor investment for our home. These gates are comparatively expensive, so until I find one at a garage sale price we won't be testing any.

Pressure Gates

We have a handful of these that we move around the house as needed. Remember when you're choosing a size that you are often going to have to step over and periodically will be required to hurdle whatever pressure gate you choose, so your height should probably influence your choice of gate.

Our shortest gate, the diminuitive 24" high Evenflo Position and Lock Gate is a style that really intimidated me. I once tried to install one of these gates at a friends' house without any idea how the pressure bars worked. It didn't go well.

Since that time, I've seen a friend with experience and insight use this gate, and it is actually quite easy to use. It has rapidly become the favorite gate in our house because either parent can easily hurdle it when trying to get a ringing phone before it wakes the baby. It comes in two finishes- natural and dark (the one we have looks like stained cherry). Its Meijer price ($9.99) is also attractive.

[Slightly before BabyGeek began walking, he started climbing everything. Now a walker, his current conquest is scaling this small gate via the adjustment bar. If we turn the gate around in the doorway, the door will no longer be able to close, so we're resisting change. He'll scale this gate any day and will soon force the issue. This gate may be too low for climber-types. With such stunt-monkey children it MUST be installed with the bar on the forbidden side (which may prevent door closure with the gate in place).]

At a rummage sale, I scored the Position and Lock gate's older cousin, the Position and Lock Plus gate. I'm the only person who vaults over this gate, and I always do it with ample adrenaline or careful planning. It is positioned in one of our kitchen archways, so any folks wanting to enter or leave our kitchen have another, shorter gate option. If in a rush to get through that specific doorway, Jim will simply remove the gate. Our visitors always choose to take the long way around.

This gate is best used in a doorway that is rarely used or rushed through unless the users are willing to regularly hurdle or remove it. That aside, it is a very effective higher gate.

[Again, BabyGeek may try and scale this gate via the adjustment bar, but he rarely gets access to the forbidden side, so we simply don't know.]

Safety 1st's Lift and Lock Gate was love at first sight, but this romance has slightly soured. It seemed like an easy gate to remove and re-install. The upper middle height gate was $20 at Babies R Us. I bought a couple for my house and a couple for the grandparents. The Lift and Locks initially seemed more user-friendly than they actually turned out to be. They're easy to install incorrectly. When they aren't in exactly level or exactly perpendicular to the side frames of the doorway, one of the rubberized feet will be very easy to push out of position. From there, the gate remains only in the doorframe out of slothful indifference and will readily fall to the next pressure. Needless to say, BabyGeek loves messing with these gates.

My initial reaction to an improperly installed gate was to assume that my doorframe had an irregular surface causing it to be a tiny bit off-kilter. I simply expanded the gate a little more which made the misaligned foot less able to be removed. BabyGeek identified the system's weakness and immediately began working to dislodge the door. I again expanded the gate. This time the center of the gate bowed. This system limped along for a while until plastic fatigue started setting in and the gate would made a loud snapping noise when I tried to over-expand it and simply fall into a more appropriate tension. The gates slipped easily out of place until I found the correct method to install them.

The Lift and Lock has four "feet" that push against the doorframe applying tension. Two of those feet are static post. The other two feet have a bit of retraction. It is critical that the two retracting feet are firmly pressed into one side of the door's archway first. Then the two static feet are carefully moved into place. After installation, when viewed from above the gate should be PERFECTLY perpendicular to the surface of the doorframes it is touching. If it's not perpendicular and the confined baby is active, that gate is coming down. I purchased this gate before I realized the wonders of the wooden gate, so my thinking was probably clouded by FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt).

My wise friend Amy has these same gates and loves them. Being pregnant, she is generally banned from hurdling, so, like the smart person she is, she used those parts I threw aside and installed the gates as swing gates. They are installed high enough the cat can get under them, but the baby can't.

[Properly installed, this gate doesn't have a foothold for BabyGeek like the wooden ones. I may give up on protecting the woodwork from drilling and reinstall the gates as swing gates. Especially as I don't know that gate, in its pressure only format, is sturdy enough to resist his tendencies toward demolition for long. I'll update with any future developments.]

What kind of gates do you like or loath?

Baby In Captivity: Gates

My sincere apologies to anyone receiving a feed who is getting this post for the second time. My mom called about another post, so I asked her what she thought of this one. It wasn't there? Hunh. Gone... Vanished with only a ghost in Google Reader to confirm its previous existence. My apologies also to the readers who generously made comments before as the comments were not recoverable.

Mobility. We all want it for our infants. It's just so much trouble when it arrives.

[Note: this post has been sitting in the queue for some time, and much of the following information about BabyGeek is out-dated. His grandfather will consider this slightly libelous, but Dad, I'm not going to try and change all the tenses this morning. I fully acknowledge that your sweet grandson is now a walking, babbling, sippy-cup drinker and is no longer the neophyte chronicled in this post.]

BabyGeek is currently a cruiser. He will probably walk soon, but is just waiting for every other baby we know to walk first (so modest). I think he just watching my face when my momma friends start saying things like "my baby's pediatrician says he is already developmentally a 27 year-old Olympic javelin thrower" and "my baby wrestles angry bulls."

BabyGeek likes to keep me grounded by refusing sippy cups, rejecting all toddler food except cheese (which he would gladly eat in bulk quantity), and only doing really brilliant things when we are completely alone. At least he inherited the family sense of humor.

So, we're more a babyproofing-lite household. If it must be babyproofed (stairway gate), we've done it, but if it's optional (drawer full of old bills) or somewhere he shouldn't be in the first place (a toilet lock in the typically closed bathroom), we're most likely to slack.

This theory has not yet resulted in any trips to the emergency room. ...has not YET...

We have put up a variety of baby gates.

Installed Gates
We installed an Evenflo wooden "top of stair" gate. It's marvelous at keeping BabyGeek from falling down the Alpine slope our home's designers saw fit to include. The gate works fabulously at keeping Baby geek off the stairs. It also works well keeping GrannyLuddite on the stairs. My mom is completely incapable of operating the latch. Honestly, it also took me a few frustrating days before I could consistently use it. It's not a techie/non-techie thing either. It's just a stiff latch that works counter-intuitively. For the top of the stairs however, I am quite happy to have a sturdy gate. After a few days of using it you forget it was ever difficult until, of course, someone comes over to visit. [Granny has now mastered the latch after a few more visits.]

(around $35 at Babies R Us)

Installed gates with step-on latches
Our friends used one of these, and we found its latching slightly difficult and less-than-satisfactory. The gate also adds a secondary threshold to step over- for a klutz like me that spells disaster. The threshold also made the style way too much of a trip hazard for the top of our stairs.

When I was gate shopping however I called my friend to find out her opinion on step-on gates. She told me that she had adored it, but it had broken one day when she stepped on it while frustrated. I'm frustrated far more often than she is, so it would probably be a poor investment for our home. These gates are comparatively expensive, so until I find one at a garage sale price we won't be testing any.

Pressure Gates
We have a handful of these that we move around the house as needed. Remember when you're choosing a size that you are often going to have to step over and periodically will be required to hurdle whatever pressure gate you choose, so your height should probably influence your choice of gate.


Our shortest gate, the diminuitive 24" high Evenflo Position and Lock Gate is a style that really intimidated me. I once tried to install one of these gates at a friends' house without any idea how the pressure bars worked. It didn't go well.

Since that time, I've seen a friend with experience and insight use this gate, and it is actually quite easy to use. It has rapidly become the favorite gate in our house because either parent can easily hurdle it when trying to get a ringing phone before it wakes the baby. It comes in two finishes- natural and dark (the one we have looks like stained cherry). Its Meijer price ($9.99) is also attractive.

[Slightly before BabyGeek began walking, he started climbing everything. Now a walker, his current conquest is scaling this small gate via the adjustment bar. If we turn the gate around in the doorway, the door will no longer be able to close, so we're resisting change. He'll scale this gate any day and will soon force the issue. This gate may be too low for climber-types. With such stunt-monkey children it MUST be installed with the bar on the forbidden side (which may prevent door closure with the gate in place).]

At a rummage sale, I scored the Position and Lock gate's older cousin, the Position and Lock Plus gate. I'm the only person who vaults over this gate, and I always do it with ample adrenaline or careful planning. It is positioned in one of our kitchen archways, so any folks wanting to enter or leave our kitchen have another, shorter gate option. If in a rush to get through that specific doorway, Jim will simply remove the gate. Our visitors always choose to take the long way around.

This gate is best used in a doorway that is rarely used or rushed through unless the users are willing to regularly hurdle or remove it. That aside, it is a very effective higher gate.


[Again, BabyGeek may try and scale this gate via the adjustment bar, but he rarely gets access to the forbidden side, so we simply don't know.]Safety 1st's Lift and Lock Gate was love at first sight, but this romance has slightly soured. It seemed like an easy gate to remove and re-install. The upper middle height gate was $20 at Babies R Us. I bought a couple for my house and a couple for the grandparents. The Lift and Locks initially seemed more user-friendly than they actually turned out to be. They're easy to install incorrectly. When they aren't in exactly level or exactly perpendicular to the side frames of the doorway, one of the rubberized feet will be very easy to push out of position. From there, the gate remains only in the doorframe out of slothful indifference and will readily fall to the next pressure. Needless to say, BabyGeek loves messing with these gates.

My initial reaction to an improperly installed gate was to assume that my doorframe had an irregular surface causing it to be a tiny bit off-kilter. I simply expanded the gate a little more which made the misaligned foot less able to be removed. BabyGeek identified the system's weakness and immediately began working to dislodge the door. I again expanded the gate. This time the center of the gate bowed. This system limped along for a while until plastic fatigue started setting in and the gate would made a loud snapping noise when I tried to over-expand it and simply fall into a more appropriate tension. The gates slipped easily out of place until I found the correct method to install them.

The Lift and Lock has four "feet" that push against the doorframe applying tension. Two of those feet are static post. The other two feet have a bit of retraction. It is critical that the two retracting feet are firmly pressed into one side of the door's archway first. Then the two static feet are carefully moved into place. After installation, when viewed from above the gate should be PERFECTLY perpendicular to the surface of the doorframes it is touching. If it's not perpendicular and the confined baby is active, that gate is coming down. I purchased this gate before I realized the wonders of the wooden gate, so my thinking was probably clouded by FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt).

My wise friend Amy has these same gates and loves them. Being pregnant, she is generally banned from hurdling, so, like the smart person she is, she used those parts I threw aside and installed the gates as swing gates. They are installed high enough the cat can get under them, but the baby can't.

[Properly installed, this gate doesn't have a foothold for BabyGeek like the wooden ones. I may give up on protecting the woodwork from drilling and reinstall the gates as swing gates. Especially as I don't know that gate, in its pressure only format, is sturdy enough to resist his tendencies toward demolition for long. I'll update with any future developments.]

Which gates or types of gates do you like or loath?

Lose the Rules for Life? Board Game Geek Can Hook You Up

If you only want the rules for the board game life- click here- but you're missing a really fine article.

Our family obsession with games is pretty well known. BabyGeek's Aunt Julie likes to mock us whenever we beeline for the Game Preserve in Indianapolis' Keystone area. Yes, the store is full miniature-painting, card collecting adolescent boys who would rather be Lothar the Thief a dragon-slaying, third-level sage, but isn't that a rather sane response to junior high or high school?

Boys master escapism and learn dice probability while girls review image-obsessed popular media, feel insecure despite their innate youthful beauty, and pick on each other- and the boys frequenting the game shops. Who in this scenario is healthier? I'll tell you, as a college advisor, it looked like more of these boys emerged from high school with their souls intact (albeit somewhat buried). These are the gentle, slightly dreamstruck boys who parents should want to see on their doorsteps during the mate selection years. One wise friend even suggests game playing as a criteria for his daughter's potential suitors (citing classical origins from "The Odyssey").

(And, yes, former geek boys- I know I got the whole Lothar description all wrong. Maybe there are no sages on the third level, or a player can't be a sage and a thief. Yes, I could have called a number of former D&D players in my life and gotten a well-drawn explanation, but those are minutes of my life that would not be refunded, so please bear with a shoddy hypothetical. Plus, Jim may be so overcome with sympathy for my inadequate description that he actually logs in and edits these paragraphs.)

But I digress...

We walk past the RPGs and the "collecting" games into strategy and party game heaven. These corners of the game store are not populated by the normal young boy clientele. They instead have a few straggling adults trying to locate and purchase games quickly with minimal interaction with the young fellows lest they end up on some type of child predator watchlist.

That doesn't allow for much browsing time unless you go during school hours when the store is much less crowded. And although the staff at Game Preserve is excellent, informed, and helpful, very few have played every game in the store. We were quite grateful when a game-obsessed friend and game design hobbyist referred us to Board Game Geek for game reviews.

When I started finding great games at thrift shops, I found that many of them contained everything except the rules. Board Game Geek, with its great network of dedicated users and smart incentives (Geek Gold and Thumbs Ups) for uploading photos and information, offers a very full profile of games including rules, variations, and helpful homemade tools.

The geek forums are great if you want to discuss a game at length, show off a thrift shop find, trade games or parts, or asking about getting replacement parts for a specific game.

In honor of the season, BGG offers a Game Gift Guide. They also offer links to recommended game stores and other good game gift lists.

Games can be great gifts as they offer joy to players again and again (unless you are playing Uno with one of our relatives or Monopoly after adolescence).

BGG or "The Geek," offers a lot of insight into games and the people who play them.

Some of our favorite games:

• Carcassonne: a game where you build the game board as you play (tile placement). This addictive game has given us hours of fun playing with college students, friends, kids, and relatives of all ages. The expansions make it a little more complicated, but it's easy to learn them incrementally. The play time isn't too long (unless you're playing with our friend's mom who ponders things forever and wins most of the time). This game has appeal for our strategy, wargaming friends as well as the casual party game player.

• Gang Of Four: a Hong Kong poker game with references to the Cultural Revolution. In our family, this game now alternates with traditional card favorites like Cribbage, Tripoly, Euchre, and Bridge. It's "a fast paced party game" (as we love to remind anyone who takes their time in making moves), and it inspires a deep level of competitiveness in some already malformed personality types (me, Jake, Andy- there can only be one champion, and it will be me! Muhaha!!!).

• Catch Phrase: normally we avoid electronic games because they require batteries and are usually pretty watered down. This game is well worth the battery expenditure. We used it on a long car ride to a university conference with six students, and we were all so engrossed in competition that when a car driving near us on the busy interstate blew a tire all of the players screamed loudly in their unexpected return to corporeal earth.

• I-Spy "Go Fish: this thrift store find has proven to be a real favorite. It keeps even the most energetic young kids occupied much longer than I expected. Even very young verbal child can be engrossed in the cards. My friend Heather's beautiful daughter Maggie likes to hold up a single card and say "Can you find the monkey, Momma?" and gets as much joy from this variant as her brothers do from the actual game. A great, widely available game (I often see it at Target).

• Pueblo: this city building game exercises players' spacial thinking. It's lots of fun with adults. A word of caution: NEVER, EVER, EVER allow another player to convince you to put it on a lazy-susan unless you really enjoy nausea.

• Wise and OtherWise: King of the bluffing games. This game springboards off ancient sayings- creating hilarious results. Sadly, after much play, I cannot remember many of the actual colloquial wisdom. Instead I think the ancient Native American saying is "Tall tree make squirrel, short bush make bear." Thanks, Mitch! (It may not sound funny now, but it shot carbonated beverage out my nose at the time.)

• Tikal: an archeology tile placement game best suited for more patient players. It's quite rewarding and encourages strategic thinking.

• Apples to Apples: a word association card game that anyone can enjoy. It has a very even playing field, so people win this game who may not ever win other games. It works with a huge number of people and produces a lot of laughter.
  

• Blockus: reminiscent of stained glass, this lovely game pits players' spacial sensibilities against each other in a race to place the most tiles. It's fun for adults and older kids- though young kids like to play with pieces (note: it would be a choking hazard for the very young).

• Loaded Questions: a real get-to-know-you-better game. We love playing this with friends and family because you always end up learning interesting things- even about people you know well (and not just schlocky stuff like in Scruples).
  

• Things, Humour in a Box: every year at the big family reunion people can wait to get this game out of the box. It's got a lot of room for snarkiness and is best played with larger groups.

• Curses: another family reunion favorite. This game is not for the reticent should only be played by unabashed hams and people willing to buy in to silliness. One stick-in-the-mud can ruin the game or get their feelings hurt when mocked by the more boisterous and jovial players. Prepare to be completely goofy and don't drink any beverages during the game unless your sinuses need bathing.

The above list is only the tip of the iceberg of games we love. Jim keeps calling me with ideas, but I've quit answering the phone. He'll have to post more in the comments field.

As can you- what games do you love, and why? What games should be relegated to the dust bin?

Micras Are A Mom's Best Friend: Leatherman Tools Repeatedly Save the Day

Jim has long been an aficionado of the folding multi-tool. His accolades of the full sized multi-tool have prompted us to buy an engraved one for a priest at his ordination into an order that avoids personal property (although he is able to keep gifts received at his ordination). We both thought that if someone needed a practical life-long gift, a quality multi-tool would be hard to beat.

One of those long ago Christmases I received a twin to Jim's multi-tool: a Leatherman PST II (now discontinued). It was versatile, but heavy. After it ripped through some pants' pockets (the belt case was just over the top for me), it was relegated to my work backpack. This system was okay, but it seemed the tool was rarely with me when I needed it. The scissors were so tiny they were only marginally functional (like the Swiss Army scissors of my childhood). It really was too heavy for daily transport.

When the Micra appeared on the market, I mentally cataloged it as a possible gift for the geeks in my life, but didn't buy one for myself until finally stumbling upon a stainless steel one on clearance at Target. I was pretty sure this tool would also end up in the dark void of my backpack or glove compartment after proving itself a better concept than reality, so I didn't want to invest much. Jim thought it absolutely stupid; way too small for practical use.


The Micra had scissors and tweezers, so it would wander in and out of my life for the next few years. Jim eventually bought one too when he got tired of borrowing mine in public. His was sheathed in red plastic (which cracked and came off- leaving the Leatherman unharmed- they now paint the metal rather than putting a translucent plastic shield on it).

My friend Beth who frequently borrowed it simply called it "the man tool." I was never happy with this moniker as most men I know pride themselves on carrying big tools, but in our household the label has stuck.

As we prepared for the baby's arrival, I found myself constantly borrowing his (as mine was AWOL). It was great to open boxes, cut off tags, access screw-on battery covers, and assemble baby gizmos. My Micra was eventually relocated (shortly after I lost Jim's) and has become a daily passenger in my pocket.

It has been one of our favorite tools for daily living with children. So far, it has:

• opened countless boxes, cartons, envelopes, shrink wrapped objects, and blister packs
  
• broken down boxes for storage and recycling
  
• cut paper dolls and puzzles for squirming children
  
• removed retail tags and hanging threads
  
• cut and filed fingernails, ours and BabyGeek's
  
• opened and closed screw-secured battery door covers
• shortened drinking straws to more appropriate lengths (as suggested by Mike on Parent Hacks)
  
• performed eyeglass field surgery with its tiny screwdriver
• assembled and disassembled gizmos and whozits galore
• helped swap out headlight bulbs
• carved sharp plastic molding joints and burrs off toys
• cut threads when sewing
• tweezed
• created impromptu sippy cups (as seen on Instructables via LifeHacker via Parent Hacks)
  
• and removed a one-year old birthday boy's splinter mid-party after regular tweezers failed to secure the object.

This mini-tool is one of those rare, wonderful items that makes one feel like a superhero (to the rescue!). My only problem with the Micra is remembering to put it in checked luggage when flying.

For those who prefer a key chain sized tool, the Leatherman Squirt S4 appears to have much of the same functionality of the Micra in a slightly smaller format. Either tool should fit easily into a Christmas stocking or a diaper bag.

Now, what color should I get for Jim?

Jake, Your Friendly Virtual Repairman: Appliance Assistance at ApplianceBlog.com's Forums

When our 4 year old front -loading washer got hungry for the sweet, sweet taste of cotton, I was pretty bereft. Not only had a mechanical ally in the ongoing war against household chaos turned traitor, but the laundry piles were also rapidly mounting while decisions had to be made.

We had a repairman visit back in the spring when the clothes were just being nicked by the washer. He told us that it was a common issue with that model when overloaded. The problem was intrinsic to the washer's design, so there was no repair available. We stopped stuffing the washer and found no improvement. It actually cut the clothes more with fewer items in the load.

So, late one night in an appliance decision quagmire, I stumbled, via google, into ApplianceBlog.com's forums and Jake, the real life repairman behind them. This place is a DIYer's dream. Good, well-written, and sound advice offered promptly by a compassionate and seasoned professional.

I posted a "Can this washer be saved?" question and got plenty of useful advice that helped us make a confident decision to replace our fabric-hungry washer with one that we will be more able to repair ourselves. We are planning on getting a washer repair guide (like Chilton's auto guides) for our new washer from Jake's affiliate online parts sales.

Jake also offered us valuable social-engineering advice about working with the retailer where we purchased the item. They offered us a great deal on service (no labor or service call fees, only parts costs), but we decided not to take them up on this offer as 1) we believe the problem to be an irreparable defect in the machine's design- and 2) the only way to test the machine's repair is to feed it more of our wardrobe. The advice however was sound as the retailer did offer us a GREAT repair deal if it hadn't entailed further risk of our clothing.

The affiliated repairclinic.com site has great illustrations of the appliances deconstructed, so it looks like common fixes could be found here as well as in the applianceblog's forum.

His site offers a great hack for people looking to purchase new appliances. Just search the forum the model and brand to see what kinds of problems are common to the appliance being considered. These search results offer a real-life, long-term perspective that a simulation-based tester like Consumer Reports might miss (like the mold that is known to build up on some front-loader seals).

It's nice to have a new ally in the war on household chaos...
Now does anyone have ideas for a slightly hungry Kenmore front loader? Maybe we could turn it into an aquarium....

Good Fortune: Parent Hacks mentions us!

I got this fortune on Friday, December 1, but it must have been delayed in the celestial mail, as on Thursday, Asha at Parent Hacks made very kind mention of Baby Toolkit.

Because I am HUGE fan of Parent Hacks' practical advice, smart & funny readers, and great community spirit, this was as joy-inducing as any glowing job performance review. Thank you, Asha!

Parent Hackers, thank you for visiting and making my hit counter reflect more than a few friends and random google hits.

Rest In Peas: The Peapod Travel Bed

UPDATE: 12/11/2012: The PeaPod and PeaPod Plus have been recalled after a tragic entrapment and suffocation death. Recall kits with replacement mattresses are being offered by manufacturer KidCo. We haven't used the PeaPod with non-mobile infants, and we don't recommend it for that developmental stage. We also feel the PeaPod should only be used as instructed (make sure to zip the mattress in its own pocket) with any age group.

We like to travel and started going on the road with BabyGeek in his first months of life. Initially we took along his travel Pack N' Play because he normally slept in the bassinet in our room at home. Between the stroller and the bulky Pack N' Play there wasn't much room left in our Honda Accord wagon for family luggage or passengers. We ended up borrowing a mini-van for extended trips.Once BabyGeek adjusted to a crib in a private room at home and neared the bassinet's upper weight limit, the Pack N' Play would no longer suffice. If we used the bassinet attachment, the whole playyard would sway whenever he moved, and if we tried to use it without the bassinet, he would often wake when we leaned down to set him on the floor.

One night at his Aunt Julie's house he was upset from the Pack N' Play's movement and Jim ended up staying up much of the night with him so he wouldn't wake our hostess who had to work the next day. That LONG night convinced me that better options must be available.

I first saw KidCo's PeaPod on a recommended products list in one of those help-bankrupt-mommy magazines ubiquitous to obstetrician's offices. It looked interesting despite its close proximity to overpriced infant hair care products and floofy $40 onesies. Of course, I couldn't remember the name, so after a number of google queries I found the PeaPod at a number of major online retailers. There weren't any at bricks and mortar locations in my region, so I bought one from Target.com because they had the best price with some email coupons. Target.com no longer carries the PeaPod, but I can currently find them locally at Burlington Coat Factory. It was around $50 before discounts.

The PeaPod is an ingenious little bed reminiscent of a pop-up dome tent that folds down to a miniscule size (visit the Kidco site for photos of the easy folding process- sorry their javascripts won't let me link directly to the illustrations). The air mattress keeps the baby off the floor. The internal pad for the baby is much like a sleepy bag with silky and flannel panels sandwiching thick batting. We didn't worry about suffocation or drafts. BabyGeek was allowed to play in the bed at home with the door unzipped and he really liked being inside.

When we finally zipped him in the PeaPod he was nonplussed and settled down easily for the night. Our first trip went so well that he slept quite peacefully in a separate room at Aunt Julie's. The PeaPod has been a travel essential ever since and helps us all sleep easier at hotels and the homes of friends and family.

BabyGeek is a tall boy (97th percentile for his age group) and shows no signs of crowding the pod at 15 months. There is enough room in the travel bag with the folded tent for a foot pump, so we quickly replaced the ergonomically unfriendly hand-pump with a cheapo bellows foot pump. The mattress inflates SO quickly with little effort. The foot pump is definitely worth the added expense (about $8 unless you score one on end of summer clearance).

The PeaPod fits so easily into our little station wagon that on one trip we didn't notice that it hadn't been packed and left it at home. We realized our mistake and after futilely searching Indianapolis for a PeaPod, we resorted to find a zipping pop-up anything for the baby to sleep in. We settled on a pop up sun dome with a zipper door instead. It cost $20 less than a PeaPod and lacked the mattress and sleeping pad. We folded a blanket under the tent and congratulated ourselves for thrift and inventiveness. It was awful. The floor of the dome, designed for sand or wet grass rather than interiors had a hideous "new tarp" plastic smell. It seemed that a smaller infant with less mobility might have a suffocation risk if they ended up face down in the tent. BabyGeek got cold during the night and managed to flip over the whole tent and slept on the door. The floor of the tent, because of its rigidity had not traveled well folded and was already cracking along the creases. We returned the sun dome on day two of our trip because it was such a miserable failure.

We no longer have problems remembering to pack the PeaPod. I learned today that the PeaPod is now also available in RED and that KidCo has made a second version for toddlers and little kids called PeaPod Plus. This is definitely going on our Christmas list.

UPDATE: 6/11/07 Check out our review of the PeaPod Plus.

Contemplating Disaster: Daily Emergency Preparedness Habits

As parents, we deal with minor disasters every day. Major disasters are something we all contemplate in passing, but hope against.

A little over a year ago our neighborhood was hit by an F3 tornado at 2:03 AM. From our experiences and those of others in our community, we've established a few simple habits & household guidelines that are simple daily things that can help parents scrambling in disaster situations. This isn't your typical Red Cross or insurance company issued list of suggestions, so please keep reading.

Our son at a month and a half was sleeping in a Pack N Play bassinet at the foot of our bed. We went to bed just an hour earlier to the beginnings of a gentle, unseasonably warm rain. Waking to the tornado's roar, I screamed for Jim to grab the baby and get downstairs. Jim, being a very sound sleeper, responded entirely out of instinct with little conscious awareness of the situation.

He easily found the baby and tucked him in close because the winds were straining the roof and beams just over our heads. The house throbbed and strained in the winds while old growth trees and debris crashed throughout the neighborhood. Our neighborhood's power line had been severed as the tornado entered the neighborhood, so we were scrambling in surprisingly deep darkness through familiar territory. I followed the dark blur that was Jim and the baby down the hallway, down the staircase, and into a windowless internal room yelling "Faster, faster."

We were both shocked to arrive in the pitch dark room alive and intact. The baby was very still. Jim started saying his name (like a question) again and again. I ripped open a drawer to find a flashlight, too scared to ask what was going on.

Shifting the flashlight on, I saw the baby sound asleep, upside down in his father's arms. Jim had been disconcerted by the fact the baby hadn't snuggled his head into the crook of Jim's neck, and had been searching for baby's missing head in the darkenss. Earlier, Jim hadn't realized baby had spun around in his bassinet exchanging the position of his feet and head.

Like an idiot, I finally let Jim wake the baby to be sure that carrying him upside down had done no damage. The baby was fine other than being thoroughly annoyed and cried for the next few hours as we all awaited dawn.

1) Know EXACTLY where you infant or young child is at night. When a tornado wakes you (the sirens didn't sound in our county until AFTER the tornado had hit our area), you have precious seconds to get to shelter. It's amazing how quickly that time passes, the same must be true for most middle of the night disasters.

I have heard of firefighter who (because of what he has seen in fires) latches his children into their rooms each night. While that action bothers me, I now understand his well-meaning desire to instantaneously locate his children in chaos. If we had needed to search for our child in even a small room, we would all have been on the house's most vunerable floor through the ENTIRE DURATION of the tornado scrambling in the dark. Seconds count.

2) For infants, consider that a strong crib can be protective. Not only will a crib help you locate your sleeping child quickly, it can also be life-saving. A local family was not able to get to their baby before their roof collapsed. Minutes later, the father pulled roof and ceiling debris away from the crib to find an alarmed, but uninjured, infant within. Our baby in a Pack N' Play probably wouldn't have fared as well. It gives me chills to think about our Nature Nest in a similar situation.

3) Every night make sure your path is clear and/or any obstacles are known. Nighttime disasters often happen in the dark. Electricity isn't dependable when distaster strikes. In retrospect, this sounds really obvious, but I'd never thought about it before. Ambient light from the community was gone. A parent may not be able to see as much in the dark as they are accustomed to seeing.

When we put the baby to bed, we always pick up the floor of his room and move any trip hazards (push toys, etc.) from the direct path between the door to the crib. Balls are a particular concern. We put them in deep containers so a disaster with shaking (wind or earthquake) won't cast them into our path.

4) Flashlights that double as emergency lights can be really helpful in navigating stairways. We now have 2 emergency lights that turn on when the power goes out. One is near our stairway, the other is in our room near the doorway.

After examination of different styles we especially like the HyLuxes LED emergency flashlights for their easy removal from the convenient cradle-style charger.

5) Smoke detectors: install, test, & maintain. If you have problems with them going off without actual smoke or fire, make sure you didn't install it incorrectly (the directions are amazingly detailed). If your smoke alarm is installed according to manufacturer's instructions, check at a local hardware store to see if a different version wouldn't serve you better [some operate with ionization technology (better at detecting smoldering fires), photoelectric technology (better at detecting flaming fires), or both]. Houses with open stairwells (like ours) have fire spread faster than those with enclosed stairwells, so they require thorough alert systems.

A friend who works for Koorsen Fire & Security helped us figure out where to install our detectors and what type to install. He recommended some of the alarms be the type with emergency lights and that we put small fire extinguishers in our kitchen and garage. Another friend recommended this years ago when a small grease fire ended up consuming his family's kitchen. (We had assumed baking soda would be good enough even though we don't store it in a particularly convenient location. Our thinking now seems cloudy at best.)

6) Carbon Monoxide Detector: install, test, & maintain if you have ANY non-electric, flame-fueled device in your home (water heater, furnace, stove, oven, grill, space heater, dryer, gas fireplace, etc). This is especially imperative for people with older furnaces, but new homes with gas furnaces can have problems as well.

Earlier this year, our friends and their toddler daughter and infant son were quite sick for two days from carbon monoxide poisoning. Luckily they discovered a bird had built a nest in their gas furnace's flue before they got any sicker. A carbon monoxide detector would have notified them immediately of the problem.

We've spent a lot of time thinking about safety practices since the tornado.

It seems unnecessary that every family learn these safety conscious practices through personal experience. Also, some of these tips have other daily life utility (like not breaking your toe or loudly falling in the middle of the night when you go into the baby's room and knowing where to find a flashlight when you have to visit the circuit breaker in the dark, etc.).

Washing Up: Laundry Survival Strategies

Laundry has been heavy on my mind this week as our 4 year old washing machine recently began eating our clothing.

Apparently my mind is not the only one trolling the laundry room as Parent Hacks is currently discussing laundry strategies.

Somehow, in the past decade, I have come to actually enjoy doing the laundry. One of my friends really loves to vacuum and mow the yard because he sees progress with his actions. With laundry I can see, touch, and smell success. Sure, everything is soon in the hamper again, but laundry offers a special supervisory bliss in which machines do most of the work. It's work lite- fewer calories burnt but all the bragging rights of the original.

After years of hauling our laundry to laundromats and relatives' homes, we decided to opt for capacity in our conveyances. In those vagabond years we used two huge army duffel bags (which had plenty of space for detergent and dryer sheets) and presorted at home for convenience. Plus, when you're washing on the generosity of others or stuck in a laundromat, it's a bit awkward & time consuming to be checking all the pockets and turning clothes right side out. We got in the habit of having everything washer-ready when it hit the duffel. This transport and storage system was happily abandoned when we finally got an apartment with washer and dryer hookups, but the habit of having everything ready to wash is one of our best practices.

We then moved into traditional rectangular baskets. These were the kiss of death. Laundry, clean and dirty, languished in them. Sometimes we also threw in mail, books, or whatever else we needed to move out of sight and the rectangles grew to towers of disused stuff in quiet corners of our apartment.

This pattern continued into our first home where the laundry room could accumulate a startling number of abandoned baskets. After losing most of the room and scrounging the absolute dregs of our wardrobe out the closet, I finally decided to take action.

In pre-married life, I'd had a 3 section sorter. It was an abysmal failure. Somehow the third basket muddied my thinking and caused laundry paralysis. The baskets weren't very large, and I don't like to do laundry all that often (even now). No more sorters for us. Hampers were also out of the question because you have to transfer everything to a basket and then carry all the stuff to the laundry room and sort. What a pain. Plus, hamper funk is a reality one must confront to retrieve all the socks from the very bottom.

We needed a large solution that allowed pre-sorting. Our solution is two Rubbermaid Flex N' Carry hampers (blue for darks and white for lights; how literal). These are for our cold water wash items. They hold a lot of laundry but still fit under hanging shirts in our closet. They allow the laundry to breathe, so hamper funk isn't a problem. Transfer is unnecessary as they are carried directly to the laundry room. Each basket holds 2 loads, so I take one to the laundry room at a time. Load 1 transfers to the dryer as load 2 gets suds. An ambitious person might fold load 1 when they put load 2 in the dryer. Usually both loads of clean laundry get tossed in the hamper and are dumped on our bed before they wrinkle badly. Leaving them on our bed forces us to fold before sleep. It's slightly ridiculous, but it works. The folded laundry begs to be put away in the closet a few feet away. The hamper is reinstated before much new laundry can accumulate.

We keep two white rectangular baskets nested in the closet for items washed in hot water (burp rags, undershirts, and the like). When the top basket is full, it is taken downstairs leaving the second to catch all new hot water wash items.

Similarly, BabyGeek's laundry is also double nested rectangle system (though the baskets are a different style which intentionally won't nest with the hot water wash baskets). If BabyGeek's laundry isn't immediately put away and lingers in a basket, I still have one in the closet for dirty clothes. Things feel really unresolved if I remove the second basket before replacing the first, so I rarely ever leave clean, folded clothes languishing in quiet places. I suspect when he gets into larger clothing he'll get a Flex N' Carry type hamper of his own and he'll learn to sort into two loads in the laundry room.

Casting Lots: A Homemade Baby and Child Safe Dice Container

With Thanksgiving and National Games Week upon us, board games are emerging from closets all over America.

Most games with choking hazard sized dice are aimed at children old enough to keep them out of their tracheas. However those older, wiser children may have younger, less sensible infant/toddler siblings, cousins, friends, or guests who consider the tiny blocks the height of culinary fashion.

Dice may fall into tiny, unauthorized hands when older kids get distracted from their game, finish without picking up, or simply face a relentless toddler onslaught.
Some months ago, we saw a clever (but expensive) solution for this at our local toy store. Haba makes a fill-it yourself Dice Tumbler. It's versatile in a way that their one die and two dice shakers are not. It allows for specialized dice and possibly more than two if they're small. All Haba's models have a nice clear dome cost at least $10 when you buy locally or factor in shipping online. We put the tumbler on our family gift wish list and promptly forgot about it (sometimes I am hard to part from $10).

A few days ago I needed to take a couple dice to my ESL class. As I didn't want to lose them in my bag I grabbed a clean, fat pill bottle (~1.5 inch diameter) to contain them.

We reuse pill bottles a lot (and even ask friends and relatives to save them for us). They are great locking containers for needles, thumbtacks, hairpins, rings, earrings, coins, and a whole host of other small objects. Maybe it was the routine of using a pill bottle to store stuff, but I completely missed the obvious dice dome in my hand.

At class, BabyGeek procured the container from my bag and EUREKA(!) a hack was born. He views the container as a very fine baby-sized maraca, but I plan to leave a few fat bottles in the game closet.

The bottle can be either shaken and placed cap down (as pictured) or, for the enthusiastic gamer, the whole object can be thrown. No matter what side the container lands on, there are dice definitively facing up.

Our improvised dice dome is actually so irresistible to BabyGeek that while I was snapping a picture of the hack, a small hand invaded the frame and extracted the subject. He didn't put it down for half an hour despite being surrounded by other toys.

Maybe he is trying to break into the competitive and lucrative world of baby hand models.

Happy Thanksgiving, and happy gaming!

These Booties Are Made For Wearing: An Alternative to Supergluing Shoes and Socks

Baby Geek, like most other geeks, can't help but tinker. His status as a baby however, affords him only a limited amount of objects for tinkering. Socks are really ideal because they usually are in close proximity (at least initially) and they have the magical power of being reinstated after being discarded. What perfect objects for manipulation.

With his ongoing fascination with socks and their removal, one would assume that shoes would be even more well-received as they are simply a more advanced version of the same puzzle. Sadly, this was not the case. The first (and last) time we put conventional shoes on Baby Geek, he screamed like animal caught in a trap- a very painful trap with large and pointy teeth. He clawed at his feet and screamed with such a level of duress that our neighbors started piling into their tornado shelters at the sound of his inhuman wail. [No, we were not wearing any hearing protection at the time.] The shoes were a little big and were completely free of the deadly spiders common in our region.

He laid on his belly and wept/screamed even after the offending footwear was removed. This was not a tantrum- it was wholesale terror on his part. As a rare concession, we swore off all footwear for the entire summer (with the rare exception of socks that he would readily dispatch to the Great Lost and Found Box in the Sky).

As the fall weather began to turn cool, I realized that I would have to either wardrobe him entirely in footie jammies, force him to wear socks and shoes, face prosecution for barefoot child neglect, or find some shoes that wouldn't turn him into a wounded creature.

Researching new footwear seemed necessary. I called my dear friend with two older children- each of whom possess a strong will and two feet.

me: "Did your kids like shoes when they were little?"

friend: [good humored laughter]

me: "What did you do?"

friend: "Suffered through with our oldest. For our youngest, my sister-in-law sent me striped slipper socks from Hanna Andersson. He wore them all Fall, Winter, and Spring. They were totally worn out by the time he outgrew them."

Immediately after ending the call, I was googling: Hanna Andersson, "slipper socks," "moccasin socks," "baby moccasins," and so on. It appears the Swedes have know about the magical staying power of slipper socks for generations (but maybe it's no wonder with their cool climate).

While I liked Hanna Andersson's slippers, I was intruiged by Nowa Li's Cable Knit Moccasin's elastic strap at the ankle ($18.95 + s/h). This baby-removal prevention device seemed promising, maybe too promising to be true.

When the parcel arrived from New Jersey, my older punk-rock brother and his fine friend Brother Hezekiah of punk-bluegrass fusion band Colonel Sander's Grave were over.

"They look like ballet slippers," Uncle Punk smirked.

"My mom used to make me wear Buster Browns in elementary school. Those were worse. Even the nuns made fun of me." [Brother Hezekiah]

Undaunted, I put them on Baby Geek who responded with atypical indifference. He paid them no mind and they ranked as "inoffensive" which is the best one can hope for with toddlers and teenagers.

Baby Geek has worn them almost daily since their arrival. We absolutely adore them and on the days he hasn't worn them he was wearing his Firetruck moccasins (no elastic ankle band, but a stylish pattern and a great clearance price of $9). Nowa Li's flame moccasin might have been the best choice in the eyes of Uncle Punk and Bro. Hezekiah, but alas, they were already sold out.

There really is a substantial mechanical advantage to the elastic banded moccassin. They are more difficult for the baby to remove, although not impossible. The elastic band makes toe-pulling alone completely ineffectual. To remove the moccasin, one must first pull down on the heel before pulling on the toe. This confounds tiny babes and seems like too much trouble for older ones.

The regular slipper sock style moccasins are more easily removed through toe-tugging, but overall, Baby Geek is content to leave them on his feet. Only when he's bored in the car seat or stroller does he remove the regular mocs. He has only removed the cable knit ones twice (most likely to prove it could be done and then prove that the results were replicable).
Baby Geek's moccasins have attracted much attention among our friends with infants. More and more of his cohort (like the gorgeous twin pictured in the white and slippers) are now wearing Nowa Li moccasins.

They will be a generation with "ballet slipper" photographs. At least their generation will be able to photoshop in little combat boots when they're older.

Update: 12/4/06
It turns out that Nowa Li manufactures the Hannah Andersson brand slipper socks and moccasins.

In case any adult is jealous of such cozy footwear, Nowa Li offers cable knit moccasins in grown-up sizes (navy or oatmeal).

The sizes run a little large, so we order one size smaller in children's slippers than the size chart suggests. The adult size chart is for men- not women- and it also runs large.