Co-pilot Caddy

Like any mom, I am usually driving with one hand on the wheel and one hand on the floor -- groping for dropped sippy cups, clean tissues, wipes for sticky hands, and my sanity, which appears to have been ground into the floormats with pulverized Cheez-Its.

I finally reined in the chaos with this simple little plastic basket I call my "co-pilot" box. When I don't have an adult passenger to handle the dispensing of wipes and snacks, this is easily within my reach. For immediate back-seat emergencies, I've stocked it with pocket-pack tissues, a full package of wipes and some snacks. Other essentials include a couple of diapers (in a cute bandana pouch a friend gave me), reams of Purell wipes, a bib and diversionary items like crayons, stickers and small board books. My cell phone and sunglasses sometimes sit here, too.

This tote is from the Container Store. It has turned out to be useful to have a handle for lifting and stashing it when I have a real co-pilot along for the ride.

Follicle Chronicles

Eighteen months old, and Zoe FINALLY has enough hair that it stands up on end in the morning. Ana took this photo that captures it perfectly.

Catalog Clutter

My friend Lisa passes long great advice for getting OFF all those insidious catalog mailing lists:

If you're like me, you get scads of catalogs that you never shop from, that are hard to recycle, and just take up space and kill trees. So I started calling all these companies to get off their lists. One of them was kind enough to tell me I could get on a "do not mail" list and save the trouble of all the calls. So I thought I'd share.

Go to the Direct Marketing Association, http://www.the-dma.org/ and click "Remove my name from mailing lists." It's supposed to take you off lists for five years. It beats calling dozens of companies. This is how I spent my Easter Sunday.

Mama Needs New Shoes

When I look at my husband’s lifetime collection of shoes -- fewer than a dozen, including the ancient Chucks that are ready to go to the Smithsonian –- I know the saying I “need” new shoes is laughable. And yet, I do. I can’t stay away from them.

Recently, my obsession has been with finding the perfect “mommy slip-on” for summer. Something that goes to the playground as well as the office, looks cute with skorts and capris… and that I can walk in for miles with nary a blister.

Someone must have heard my plea, because -- lo and behold! -- a fabulous source came right to my inbox, in the form of an e-mail from Amazon. The new web site Endless.com offers shoes and handbags. Not just free shipping, but, for awhile at least, a $5 discount on your order with free overnight shipping. Free returns, too.

These Sugar "Smokin Cat Batik" Ballet Flats are just $29.90.

What could be better? Oh, yes, they have kids shoes, too. Can’t forget the kids!

Watermelon Dreams

Ana's insistence about her wardrobe ran head long into a cold front last week. She fought wearing long sleeves, she fought wearing tights... in short, she fought every practical measure to protect herself from turning into a tot-sicle. So I have to think she was dreaming of warmer weather when she found her beach hat and wore it to bed the other night. (Sleeping with her head at the foot of the bed, incidentally -- three-year-olds find creative ways to be contrarian, even while unconscious.)