For sheer size and whimsy, few collections of kid-adored knobs can rival the one at Posh Tots. Green, pink, or purple? Looking like a bouquet of flowers, striped with the American flag, painted with elephants or mermaids or your child’s first initial, these are attention-getters with a surprisingly long lifespan. At about $15 - 20 apiece, these knobs aren’t cheap. You can find far cheaper at any hardware store, and maybe that’s enough for you. But for $60 to $100 bucks you can spruce up an old piece of furniture and make it your own.

Posh Tots’ designer knobs, $15 - 40

Thus wool socks, which keep the wearer warm even when wet, have been the choice of eons of moms. But the old-style ones are so scratchy, and so ugly. They’re no fun to put on and even less fun to wear. Smartwool’s kids line to the rescue!

The Smartwool socks are comfy and soft, not one bit scratchy. And they come in fun colors, like green and pink, instead of old plain black or gray. They sure are an easier sell.

Smartwool for kids socks start at $10 a pair, with sizes for infants and big kids.

If you’d love to meet the authors and watch them work their magic with high heeled cupcakes and more, join them for an event in at Sur La Table, NYC on Feb. 15th (click here for more information).

Available at Amazon.com and Independent Booksellers

The vegetable content is not that dazzling really: 1.5 vegetable servings for pies that supposedly serve 3. Considering that most moms think of “sauce” as the vegetable in a pizza, a tiny bit more vegetable content isn’t that thrilling. However, after buying a Peas of Pie cheese pizza at a local Whole Foods store and giving it a try, I’d have to say, it’s pretty good. If you didn’t know to look for them, you’d never see the veg-flecks, and the crust is tender and well-flavored, the sauce tangy but not spicy. I’ll buy it again.

Baby Subconsciously Wants to Spend More Time with Nanny… (18 Reply)
DB always sleeps later on days when I’m home vs when the nanny is here. She also naps better for me. Do you think she subconsciously wants to spend more time with her nanny than with me? Signed, First Time Mom.

WOHMs: Who Supervises Your DC’s Homework Progress… (35 Replies)
Who supervises your DC’s homework progress if you don’t get home from work until about 6 or later? Anticipating needing to at least sit down with DC once he starts to have homework next year, just to help teach him good habits and set up a good pattern that he can later do on his own. But if I get home after 6, then we do family dinner at 6:30 or 7, then bath, then bed by 8pm, I just don’t see when or if I can help him. What do other WOHMs do? Does your nanny (if you have one) help with this?

Tuition Entitles Me to Tell the Teacher What I Expect… (13 Replies)
Private school moms: Do you feel like because you pay tuition, you’re entitled to “tell the teacher” what you expect, etc? My DC goes to a wonderful religious school in CA. I was surprised when another mother was talking after school today that the reason she sends her kids to our school is because she feels that she’s paying them to hear what she has to say about how the school is run–and more importantly, how it should be run. Does anyone else feel this way?

Babysitting MIL Invites Friends Over When Watching My DCs… (7 Replies)
I know this really isn’t a big deal but my mil (whom I adore in general) helps us with dc sometimes. She’s great with him (if way lax with the rules) the thing that gets me is that she keeps inviting people to hang out with her, whom I don’t know really well. I don’t get advance notice so the house is a mess and sometimes I only find out after. I don’t want to say anything because we’re so grateful for the help but I just wish she’d give a days notice. Yesterday I had bras drying in the bathroom, the house needed a vaccuuming and there was no bread in the house. It just embarasses me.

Miscellany

What Will You Do to Prevent Your DS from Teenage Pregnancy? (25 Replies)

Career Moms: What are Your Opinions on Working Past 5 pm? (54 Replies)

Raise a DD Comfortable with her Body & Values Health Over Simply Being Thin (5 Replies)

Chalkboard Matryoshkas come blank, with blackboard coating on the outside, and several sticks of chalk to draw yourself (or whatever you like). If you’re a family of 6, draw all the kids inside mommy and daddy, or use the extra to draw pets, friends, or whatever you think would go nicely inside the family pod.

Chalkboard Matroshkas, $15.50

Spelling, or whomever’s designing for her, also has a nice eye for colors. They’re just off-kilter enough to be interesting, but not screaming/jarring like Hannah Andersson’s or the eye-gouging palates at Gymboree. There are a lot of comfortable high-quality knits, and upscale touches, like enclosed seams, piping, dress linings, and very soft fabric tags. Prints are often inspired by vintage designers, like Missoni or Marimekko. There’s a general casual beachiness to the clothing, and it washes and wears very nicely.

Unfortunately, the distributor that dealt with Little Maven, Hartstrings, went out of business last year. Little Maven’s website has been under construction ever since. Plenty of pieces are still out there in stores, however, and online. Best Dressed Tot has a bunch, as does La Bella Flora Children’s Boutique and, as always, eBay. Worth seeking out.

How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish is now available in the 30th Anniversary edition with new insights as well as paperback and e-book format.

It has been hailed as the “parenting bible” with over 3 million copies in print across 30 countries worldwide. If you haven’t read it yet, there is no excuse (there are even cartoons). It will help you build a solid foundation with your child as you solve everyday problems together. Learn how to:

* Cope with your child’s negative feelings.
* Express your strong feelings without being harmful.
* Set firm limits and maintain goodwill
* Use alternatives to punishment that promote self-discipline.
* Resolve family conflicts peacefully.

It’s still January after all - the season of making resolutions for the New Year. Maybe the skills and practices in this book are just what you need for creating a more peaceful year for the whole family.

But there is a reusable alternative. Beaba Babypote is like a soft silicone version of those packs. You put purees or mashes in the wide-mouthed top of the jar, screw on the top, and baby sucks them out. Yes, you’ll have to collect and wash it at the end. But isn’t two minutes of your time ladling in pre-made applesauce, yogurt, or your own purees easier than that convenient squeeze pack enduring in a landfill for thousands of years?

Beaba Babypote, $15

How to Keep Kids Healthy... (24 Replies)
Desperate question: How do you keep your kids healthy? Mine are ALWAYS sick. 4 yo in nursery school, 2 yo in a 2s program 2 days a week and 6mo. Baby just got over RSV during holidays and is sick again. Any tips?

New MD Suggested I Stop Taking Multivitamin… (11 Replies)
Advocates getting I what need from my (healthy) diet. Any MD moms here? What do people think of this advice? Am 34 and hope to begin family planning in 1-2 years. Like this new MD, but am nervous about this.

My DD’s Nice Mormon Friend is Not Allowed at Our House Anymore… (56 Replies)
DD, age 8, has a Mormon friend in her class. The friend came over for a play date and the girls get along really well. Both are well-behaved and academic equals. My dd and I could pass for Mormons (not that we are). Our values and lifestyles are very similar. We are a very traditional normal family. Today DD came home and said her friend was sad because her mom told her she couldn’t have any more play dates at our house. DD doesn’t understand why. Is it because we are not Mormon? Or, is there something I am missing?

DH Obsessed with Money and Security… (15 Replies)
My dh grew up wealthy (new money) and now is obsessed with achieving what his parents achieved. I respect it, but the obsession is starting to interfere with our life. He is miserable everyday, never sees dc, doesn’t want a 2nd child and we never go/do anything. We are certainly not poor. Our house is paid off and I stay at home and we save roughly 100k/year.

Miscellany

What Do You Call MIL (24 Replies)

Freaked Out About the Boys Today Who My Daughter Will Date in High School (96 Replies)

Teaching Our Boys to Respect Women and Treat Them Well (10 Replies)