All Bottled Up: Safe Battery Disposal

With growing concern about button battery ingestion, I thought I would post this incredibly obvious simple hack for battery disposal.

While this solution doesn't address the problems of button batteries while in use in everything from greeting cards to remote controls to toys, it does keep the old batteries corralled until they can be recycled or disposed of properly (call your local solid waste district or trash service for more information).

We drop our dead batteries in a child-safe vitamin container, and put the containers out of the kids' reach. I relabel the containers solely for my own amusement (Do you do this? Maybe we should start a Pinterest board).

The filled container is deposited at our wonderful local recycling facility (which accepts a broad array of batteries in a co-mingled bin).

Not only does this hack keep our batteries away from our little kids and out of the solid waste stream, it also means that batteries outside the bottles are easily identifiable as fresh.


***Baby Toolkit is a frontrunner in observing the obvious and the ridiculous in parenting. It is written by two geek parents presently enjoying a Fall-like Spring somewhere slightly above the Mason-Dixon line. Although we make no links in this post, we are admittedly Amazon affiliates, so a portion of purchases made through our Amazon links fuel our pipe dreams of owning a bathtub with a water slide (thank you!). Our actual voices (and sordid secrets) can be heard on our board gaming podcast GreatBigTable.com.

Now in Stereo*: We Launch a Boardgames Podcast at GreatBigTable.com

Jim and I have been talking about boardgames for decades, so it's about time we start inviting others to the conversation. While we'll still post written reviews on boardgames here on Baby Toolkit, we just issued our first episode of Great Big Table- our podcast about introducing more people to the boardgaming hobby.  We'll definitely be discussing gaming with our kids and families there, but we're also talking about some community gaming we do with friends, family, coworkers, and at church.

If you have gaming group or are thinking about starting one, please join in this new conversation. If you just want to hear how goony we sound when speaking or some of the conversational torment we like to dish out, well, there's that too.

The podcasts are free and can be individually downloaded  or by subscription. We're not on iTunes yet, but that should happen shortly.

If you have better things to do with your time, we aren't surprised, but sometimes you need to egregiously waste time to really see its value.

*Actually, I think it's mono, so the listener on the left has identical mental loss to the listener seated on the right.

***Baby Toolkit remains the written meanderings of a couple geek parents. Not only are we affiliated with GreatBigTable.com, we ARE GreatBigTable.com.

Crossing the Rubicon: Living in the After

All smiles: the same week we discovered the need for surgery.

Transformational experiences sometimes appear out of nowhere, blindsiding us into new realities. Other times, they appear like distant comets- tiny specks in telescopes that hurtle in predictable trajectories until they appear enormous over our heads.

Our youngest's premature birth blindsided us, so we didn't take much note of the comet of her birth defects when it faintly blinked in the distant darkness.

Now, one craniofacial reconstruction later, we are watching the comet trail away. Breathing easier knowing that it didn't smash into us, but wondering if or when it might make a return trip.

It's hard to rejoin life (already in progress). Our trip to the children's hospital left every one of our children with new needs. The backlog of unfinished business only grew while we were away. We are different after intense fear and bittersweet months of trying to savor each moment with our kids.

When we started the process of this surgery back in October, I knew we were crossing a Rubicon; the decisions we made would be irreversible. But I thought we were Caesar commanding the troops into battle. Now I feel more like the troops running across the bridge with the heat of flames burning our necks.

Our daughter is doing well. Her expert surgical team dealt deftly with unforeseen changes in her condition and a potentially catastrophic emergency during surgery.

Despite the rarity of her medical situation, we feel lucky. Fortunate to be surrounded by wonderful communities, astounding medical options, and the generosity of friends and strangers. Most of all, we are thankful that our daughter, with all her humor and vigor, remains with us.

A special thank you to the anonymous people who donated the 2 units of negative rh blood (which we don't have to donate) that now circulate through her little body. According to her geneticist, the blood is now becoming her own after two weeks, but for over two weeks, your blood has been fueling her heart and body. Our appreciation is overwhelming, and I cannot sufficiently express our gratitude that you donated.

We are all here, but our world, though so good, has become somewhat unfamiliar. Please excuse us if we seem a little tongue-tied and keeping glancing at sky.

***Baby Toolkit is the story of two geek parents navigating an ever-expanding universe with their three wonderful and complicated kids. All opinions are our own.

Eating Jim's Lunch: Tyler Florence's Start Fresh cookbook

Somewhere, very soon, a grown man may cry over broccoli.

Jim, This Is Just To Say*
I have eaten
the leftovers
that were in
the icebox

and which
you definitely meant
to eat
for lunch

Forgive me
they were delicious
so tender
and so warm.

 It's rare when I jump to a recommendation without weeks of scrutiny, but Tyler Florence's Start Fresh cookbook won me over as soon as I started reading it.

I'm too lazy for most celebrity chef cookbooks. The recipes seem designed to occupy hours shopping for hard-to-find ingredients, doing abundant prep work, and then obsessively observing every stage of cooking. What I need now, with my household of five, is simplicity, clarity, and health.

A mom who was making her baby all-organic baby food recommended the book to me, and I thought, "Lady, you're insane." Every time I cracked the cover of a baby cookbook, I spent at least an hour preparing something that NO ONE in the family wanted to eat (though Jim would very kindly feign enthusiasm for the disgustingly soft, unbelievable bland horror that I dished up). My friends grew an organic garden and made mountains of baby food for their first child, only to have it summarily rejected. I was too smart to do this again (note: with every new Jones baby I buy an expensive sling I hate and a stack of labyrinthine baby/kid cookbooks). Not this time (for the cookbooks, I already gave up on a Moby wrap).

And then came the line that landed the sales pitch, "You make one meal for the whole family and just puree some of it for the baby."

I dream of only making one meal that everyone eats. Somehow, I have become that short-order mom who everyone thinks they won't be. My kids eat fruit, breads, peanut butter, crackers, and cheese. It's like being stuck at a w(h)ine and cheese buffet for life. Jim and I still love the variety and flavors offered through menu planning service Relish! (we've subscribed since '08). So I've been making two meals and feeding the baby from jars and containers.

When (Tyler Florence's) Sprout baby food went on sale at the grocery, I bought a couple packs. If the baby would reject them like the other kids' did another leading organic baby food brand, I could cast out the lingering book recommendation faster than she spits out peas.

The baby all but wept for joy at the first taste. Her joyful face soon turned cynical as I swear she thought, "What else are you holding out on?" Then she banged her fists until she ate every bit. About 10 bags later, I bought the book.

Start Fresh is a pragmatist's cookbook. Recipes call for simple ingredients that are roasted or steamed (techniques that are cheap and easy). Jim has some great 13 gauge baking sheets which are perfect for roasting.

Last night the baby ate pureed roasted broccoli with Paremsan while we tossed the broccoli with some random pasta, Parmesan, and olive oil. It was outstanding. Even Ranger ate the letters in his name (which is something for a 6 year old who doesn't eat pasta). Jim was gleeful when I packed the leftovers for his lunch.

And then he forgot them. (And Jim, should you still be reading this, I actually saved half for you.)

Start Fresh: Your Child's Jump Start to Lifelong Healthy Eating is currently an Amazon bargain book ($7.79).  The first part of the book is purees while the second half is family meals with simple adaptations. About half the recipes are vegetarian (including great foods like beets, quinoa, eggplant, butternut squash). Only four dessert recipes are included- which is a refreshing change from most kids' cookbooks. The included desserts look healthier than average while still sounding sumptuous (e.g. baked pumpkin with peaches, strawberry-stuffed muffins).

While the book has some fancy-pants moments like making your own almond milk, it has parallel slacker instructions for us less motivated readers.

*My deepest apologies to William Carlos Williams, his red wheelbarrow, the white chickens, and the rain.

***Baby Toolkit is one Midwestern couple's approach to geek living with kids. Our opinions and judgement may be questionable, but they are entirely our own. We have no relationship with Tyler Florence or Rodale books. We are however Amazon affiliates, so a small percentage of purchases made through our links helps support this blog (thanks!).