I need to check my privilege

Lately I have been looking into meditation apps for kids, probably for all the wrong reasons - a houseful of squealing little girls is driving me slap ass crazy and I really need to get things under control.

So I found myself on goop.com. (I know, I know.) I scrolled through a list of apps designed to help kids calm themselves and learn beginning meditation. I also looked at lots of other sites, so there will be a post about just that.

The last app on this particular list is called  "Baby Shusher." At first glance, it seemed beyond ridiculous - an app that lets parents and caregivers digitally outsource making calming noises to soothe a baby. I may have even snorted. Okay, I did snort.

Then I thought about parents who are involuntarily separated from their infants, whether due to hospitalization, foster care, or some other reason. I thought about mothers who who cobble together several minimum wage jobs and are too tired to see straight. And, yes, I also thought about mothers whose job responsibilities require overnight business trips. And I realized I needed to rethink my judgement and check my privilege.

But just so you know, if you use an app like this to sleep train or otherwise avoid your baby, I will totally be judging you.

DIY Wednesday - Play Dough

Now that Isabella is 4, I decided it's time to break out my old Play Dough recipe. I wanted to always have some on hand, plus I know kids eat the stuff so it needs to be safe. Also I'm extremely cheap. Pathologically cheap. I'm also lazy, so I don't want it to be complicated.

Here's the recipe:

2 parts flour
1 part salt
~1 part hot water
a few drops of glycerin
food coloring

Mix all this together and knead. Get your kids to help with this. I store in ziplock bags or tupperware type containers.

It dries when left out, so it's great for projects, like making letters with cookie cutters.