The Mamahood

Birthday Gifts Made Easy

Once upon a time, my daughter had a small circle of friends...which beautifully coincided with my circle of friends. And we only had a few birthday parties and a few birthday boys and girls that I had to find thoughtful, reasonably priced gifts for. But now that she's hit the preschool circuit, she's invited to parties left and right. And invariably, I'm running out the night before (or the day of) to buy a gift bag and something quick to stuff in it.

So, I'm simplifying. I'm taking a little basket in my house, and I'm stocking it with cute, basic birthday cards and a bunch of great kids' books (culled mostly from this list that Cookie pulled together). Because even if a kid doesn't like books now, he'd better learn!

Going "Old School"

Sure, we watch our fair share of Pixar movies and Ni Hao, Kai-Lans...but nothing's more fun than sharing some of my childhood favorites with my daughter. We've just introduced her to the joys of Scooby Doo (or "Scoobs," as she likes to call him), and I love watching her giggle and want to act out scenes from the shows (and unlike her mom, my wise-beyond-her-years baby chooses brains over beauty, and wants to be Velma instead of Daphne).

Our bookshelves are stocked with Beatrix Potter (for now) and Beverly Cleary and Nancy Drew (for later). And watching the Wizard of Oz is a special event in our house, as it was when I was growing up.

So, what "classics" from your youth have you passed on to your little ones?

Free Financial Help

Financial guru Suze Orman's new book, Women & Money, is available for free on Oprah's website from now until 8 p.m. ET tomorrow. After watching today's episode, which featured a widow whose husband spent every penny (and cancelled his life insurance policy) as the ultimate eff-you before he committed suicide. She was left with catastrophic debt, no income and four kids. If that's not enough to make you tweaked (and desperate to ensure it doesn't happen to you), I don't know what will. I'm going to have nightmares about it tonight (even though my very nice husband doesn't overspend and has life insurance, I only have one child to provide for, and I make plenty of income at the moment).

All I want for Christmas...

I'm geeking out yet again over a cool new tech toy. Check out the Kindle, available now on Amazon.com. You can download books, magazines, newspapers and blogs cheaply and wirelessly to this lightweight little reader...and take 'em on the road with you. The startup price isn't cheap ($400), but given the fact that the books themselves are a fraction of their paper cost (and you don't have to think about the forest's worth of trees that are sitting on your bookshelf), it may be a fair trade-off.

I'm already trying to determine if I could write this off as a "work expense." (I do need to read books and newspapers for my line of work, after all.) Or talk my hubby into stuffing my stocking with this this year.

A lazy girl's library

Our entire household is big on reading. (Since my hubby and I are both in the "words" biz, it comes with the territory.) But our hefty book spending has led to overflowing shelves and our daughter's firm belief that Barnes & Noble is the library. We've tried paring down a bit by listing crappy cookbooks and book club duds on Half.com, but we're still in danger of being buried under an avalanche of paperbacks.

Since visiting the actual library poses a real challenge for our family, given our crazy schedules, we might try this new service: Bookswim.com. It's like Netflix for books: You decide which titles you want, how many you want at a time, and free shipping's part of the deal. Plans start at $15, you can keep books as long as you want, without any overdue charges. (I've bought the real library plenty of books on my overdue fees.)

Why We Don't Have Money

Yes, I already own every single Harry Potter book. In hardcover. In fantastic shape. But yet, I feel compelled to buy this set, because it comes with a box. And stickers.

I may have to eat cat food in retirement, but at least I'll have this trunk o' books to read. And then the other set of them, too.

Great adoption books for kids

We've been telling my daughter her adoption story since she joined our family. But now that she and her little circle of friends are getting older, some questions are starting to be raised among her set, as kids start to notice that my daughter doesn't exactly "match" her parents. So, how do you explain adoption to a preschooler? Here's a good start:

A Mother for Choco: This is one of my daughter's favorites--Choco's a parrot looking for a mommy who looks like him, with no luck. Then finally, he stumbles upon the perfect mother: a bear. This book is especially good for explaining a transracial adoption to the juice-box set.

The Family Book: This colorful storybook embraces all kinds of families, and shows that all families, whether single-parent or "two mommy," biological or adoptive, are wonderful.

You might also want to check out Adoptive Families' Web site. The "Explaining Adoption to Classmates" handout here could help you talk to your child and answer any questions they might have.

Calling all mamas!

Anyone else tired of hearing about the "Mommy Wars?" If you believe the media, mamas just can't seem to get along these days, and stay-at-home mamas and working mamas are waging a bitter battle over who's better.

But we don't buy into that. Here in the Mamahood, we can all get along--working mamas and stay-at-home mamas; single mamas, partnered mamas and married mamas; adoptive mamas and bio mamas; soccer mamas and slacker mamas. We hope you'll join us to weigh in on what it means to be a modern "Mama."