Today's Dear Boston Mamas question comes from Elizabeth via e-mail:
Hi Christine, I recently started looking for a babysitter for my 9-month-old daughter. I tried Craigslist with mixed results, and signed up for a free trial with Sittercity and Care.com. I have been SO disappointed! Sittercity never made it clear that while I could post a job, I would not be able to contact any of the applicants without paying a membership fee of $50-100. Care.com's free membership was slightly more clear, but I still did not understand that I would have to pay their monthly membership fee to contact any applicants as well. I understand that this is partly my fault for misreading; however, I can't help feeling that these websites are taking advantage of me. Now I either lose out on the 8 applications I already received, and go back to slogging through Craigslist, or I have to pay for a membership to a website that I have lost trust in. I'm wondering if this happens to a lot of moms, and if people in your community have suggestions for other ways to find a good sitter!Today's Dear Boston Mamas question comes from Elizabeth via e-mail:
Hi Christine, I recently started looking for a babysitter for my 9-month-old daughter. I tried Craigslist with mixed results, and signed up for a free trial with Sittercity and Care.com. I have been SO disappointed! Sittercity never made it clear that while I could post a job, I would not be able to contact any of the applicants without paying a membership fee of $50-100. Care.com's free membership was slightly more clear, but I still did not understand that I would have to pay their monthly membership fee to contact any applicants as well. I understand that this is partly my fault for misreading; however, I can't help feeling that these websites are taking advantage of me. Now I either lose out on the 8 applications I already received, and go back to slogging through Craigslist, or I have to pay for a membership to a website that I have lost trust in. I'm wondering if this happens to a lot of moms, and if people in your community have suggestions for other ways to find a good sitter!
Today's Dear Boston Mamas question comes from Sue via e-mail:
Dear Christine, I have been out on an extended maternity leave (almost 8 years) and have found very little information on what it is like to rejoin the workforce after such a long break. Have you ever written a blog entry on this? Any suggestions on a voice of authority? I am not ready just yet, but the longer I am out the scarier the prospect becomes.
Hello friends! I hope you had a fantastic week while I was away. Other than dealing with a pesky head cold, I had a wonderful, reflective week off; I'm excited to be back sharing all sorts of useful and clever awesomeness with you, and I'm also feeling very happy about a new perspective I developed on parenting, work, and balance this past week. It only seems fitting to share these thoughts with you in my first post back. Enjoy!
Friends, if this summer has been to you what it has been to me, it's sort of been like the summer that never was; full of awesome visits and events and projects but also crazy, crazy busy. As an independent businessperson with an endless number of ideas, it's always hard for me to step away from work (my model was my parents who never, ever took a vacation), but for the good of my body and soul, I'm going to take a break from the internet this week. I want to enjoy time with loved ones, make and eat delicious food, exercise, enjoy growing the baby, and allow some creative ideas proper percolation. Meanwhile, if you need your Boston Mamas fix, scroll down in the left column to peruse over 2000 posts in the archives. And of course, feel free to write in if you have ideas for content you want to see, or to share any other thoughts about the site. I've so enjoyed answering questions via Dear Boston Mamas, and also seeing what other readers share. Have a wonderful week everyone!
Today's Dear Boston Mamas question comes from Liz via e-mail:
Hey Christine! A friend and I are celebrating our "friendship anniversary" and wanted some new ideas of things to do. What's a friendship anniversary? My best friend and I wanted to make sure we took the time each year to celebrate what a fantastic and rewarding friendship we have -- we've been friends for 29 years! Think about it -- we never really think about the close relationships we have with our friends... a lot of the time we have relationships with friends longer than we've been with our significant others. Though thick & thin (waists), good times and bad, celebrations and memorials -- our friendship has always been there for us -- why not celebrate it!? On our anniversary "night out" (day/night) we try to do something other than just going out for drinks and dinner (which is nice, but not as special as we'd like). One year we did indoor skydiving, which was a blast, and we're looking for new, fun ideas (that don't cost an arm and a leg). Any ideas?
Now, the second of two Dear Boston Mamas questions from Susan via e-mail:
Dear Christine, My mother-in-law is obsessed with feeding everyone, and apparently this includes the baby! She keeps pressuring me to use formula even though I keep telling her that I am breastfeeding. She will not relent and got to the point where she actually did bring me formula. It makes me feel incredibly unsupported with breastfeeding and I am going to lose my cool soon. She knows I go back to work soon and now asks every week what kind of formula we plan to use. This is just one item that I really do not want her to provide and she won't lay off. Any advice on how to handle a formula obsessed MIL?
Today I'll be fielding two Dear Boston Mamas questions -- from Susan via e-mail -- in separate posts:
Dear Christine, I am returning to work from maternity leave next month and I am really nervous about being able to handle everything when I get home at night. So I am trying to make a bunch of dinners to freeze and microwave when I get home for hubby and me. Seems like there is other stuff I could be doing now to make things easier for later. Do you have ideas on how to make the transition back to work easier?
Today's Dear Boston Mamas question comes from @Rhoosting via Twitter:
Dear Christine, What are your recommendations for the best, hip backpacks for toddlers? I'm sure others would appreciate your thoughts, given that back to school season is upon us.
Today's Dear Boston Mamas question comes from Jillian via e-mail:
Hi Christine! I have been faithfully reading your site since my daughter was born almost two years ago. Thanks for sharing all of your insights and recommendations. They're invaluable!! Unfortunately my family is moving to London, England in the next few months and I'm a little nervous to be moving to a different country without at least the online resource you've proven to be for Boston and the surrounding towns. Please please please tell me you have a counterpart in London that you love and would recommend to a new-ish mom. It would be great if you had a twin doing the same type of blog in London!
Hello friends! So, my original plan was to line up all sorts of awesome editorial to publish from New York, but the truth is, I've been buried in client work (all fun and awesome, but still...) and this pregnancy recently has been kicking my rump a little in terms of general fatigue. However, and more importantly, BlogHer -- and the ability to connect in real life with so many talented writers and friends whose work I admire -- only comes around once a year and I want to be present in the moment while I'm there, not holed up in my hotel room posting and moderating comments. So, I'll be off for a few days and hope you have a fantastic rest of the week! And if you need your Boston Mamas fix while I'm away, peruse the archives (scroll down in the left column to read by month or category), which include over 2000 (!) posts, or you can see what I'm chatting about in New York over on Twitter. And of course, if you'll also be at BlogHer, please come say hello if you see me!
Well my friends, I have some big news to share with you today. Regretfully, it's not that I have figured out a way to achieve world peace or halt man-made ecological disasters, but it's big news in my corner of the universe all the same. I am pregnant. Hang on while I type that again because admittedly, I'm still sitting here in a state of shock: I am pregnant.
Today's Dear Boston Mamas question comes from Nan in Minnesota via e-mail:
Dear Boston Mamas, Growing up in the suburb of Belmont, I recall entertaining myself by hopping the bus to Harvard Square, eating copious amounts of Ranc's ice cream, skinny dipping in Walden Pond, and stealing traffic cones. As I sit pondering a visit back to Massachusetts later this month with my almost 2-year old daughter, I certainly hope to let her enjoy two of those activities, but am looking for some ideas on what else we can do. Thoughts and ideas on fun activities for a youngster in and around Boston would be appreciated!
Today's Dear Boston Mamas question comes from Victoria in Chicago via e-mail:
Dear Christine, I live in Chicago and I am planning my best friend's baby shower in the Boston area. She lives in Newburyport. Any suggestions for places in Boston or Newburyport?
Today's Dear Boston Mamas question comes from Kimberly via Twitter:
Dear Christine, my hubby and I are celebrating 10 years in September. Any suggestions for a nice getaway? I am in Malden (so, about 5 miles from Boston). We are willing to travel a little!
Friends, I was so happy to walk in yesterday's March for Babies (which had an impressive turnout despite the downpour preceding the walk), and am enormously proud of all of the funds raised by Team Boston Mamas & Friends. We raised $7,762 for the March of Dimes, and I am especially grateful to my sister Stephanie (our runaway top fundraiser at $3,915 -- she matched her donations dollar for dollar!), and to Carissa, Angela, and Christina, who all raised $500 or more (I was also thrilled to meet my personal fundraising goal). Amazing efforts all around and we couldn't have done it without the generosity of many people. Thanks to everyone who supported our team!Friends, it's the final stretch and I am doing one last ask in this space: will you please support Team Boston Mamas & Friends with a donation to the team or my personal page? I am thrilled that we recently broke the $3,000 fundraising mark and I hope we can keep upping our contribution this week -- truly, no gift is too small! Thanks so much in advance for your support, and I look forward to rocking the walk on May 8th on behalf of all of you.
Given that I spent the majority of my childhood free time toy-free and playing outside, I have always been concerned about curbing material excess in Laurel's life, and aware of how important it is for her (and us) to be active outdoors. I thus was happy and honored to be invited to be part of the National Wildlife Federation's Founding Mothers, a group of women writers who will work to mobilize families outdoors in partnership with the NWF's Be Out There campaign.
Today's Dear Boston Mamas question comes from Perri via Facebook:
Hello Boston Mamas, I'm (relatively) new to Boston and am looking for a great photographer to take some photos of my one year old. I'm looking for color and black & white, maybe some shots at Boston Common, and yes, at least one with the [Make Way for] Ducklings statues. Any suggestions?