Strollerderby : Creative-Type Dad

Strollerderby Playdate: New Year, Same Old Shiz

Jessica Ashley (Sassafrass) — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 11:59:00 GMT

We get those brand-spanking new calendars with pristine, blank sheets and numbers that hold so much promise for organization and goals and unrealistic but well-intended resolutions. And then the kids start beating each other with Santa toys and you smell the garbage (again) and the cat's peeing on the floor next to the baby's blankie and all that beautiful dreaminess of new beginnings fades into a normal day. Sure, there are those blessings and light. But mostly, there are dishes and disposable diapers and toys that talk in irritating voices. Here's some of that sweet, sweet magic already oozing out of parental lives in '08:

The damn dog.

Effing toddler-eating monsters.

Incriminating, irritating Target receipts.

Saving grace books on poop.

Save-the-day big girl panties.

Strollerderby Playdate: Talkin' Trash

Jessica Ashley (Sassafrass) — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 11:02:00 GMT

Nothing says Strollerderby like talking smack bright and early on a Tuesday morning. Plunk yourself down and click away to have your complaints verified and -- why not join the party? -- feel free to add what you're bitching about to the comments. We love to know that you, (*cough*) gentle readers, are as crabby about stuff like cartoons characters and tunics as these folks:

about Britney, hosted by Her Bad Mother, who I would give a lot of money or martinis or whatever to see all dolled up in the satin-and-fishnet skank outfit in her psychic closet (albeit figurative).

about Yuppie Scum, started by Mom-101, who may be feeling a wee bit too yuppie for her own peace of mind these days. Feel free to ponder it with her over some Three Citrus Chutney and nanny talk.

about OJ, sexual harassment training and Mickey Mouse, with digs provided by Creative-Type Dad, not because these three things go together but because he is a bitter, bitter man. (I'm kidding. He's usually only bitter on the weekends).

about baby-bumpifying fall fashions that Arkie Mama says are just not fair. And as a matter of fact, neither is the absence of post-partum ass ginormity on celebrities with new babies. Holla.

Friendless with Kids: Trying to Find Your People Can Be Tough

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 21:03:00 GMT

When you get married, finding other couples with whom you have great friendship chemistry isn't easy to do. Finding a couple with kids with whom you share laughs, is even harder. I've hosted way too many dinner parties where all the parents sit and talk about their kids and diapers and toilet training and it makes your head hurt after awhile.

But the real issue is a shared approach to parenting and knowing when to cease all kid-speak. If someone talks incessantly about diapers and pee pee, I lose interest quickly. I live in a small town two hours North of Seattle and perhaps that's part of the problem. If you want to discuss the many health attributes of wheat-grass, this city is for you. If you want to meet silly laid back parents who drink (DRINK) in front of their kids, stay away.

Apparently, I'm not alone. Creative-Type Dad discusses the difficulty of finding like-minded parents with whom to socialize. Since he and his wife had their daughter, they still enjoy their kidless friends, but want to meet other parents so they can occasionally talk about kid-stuff without encountering incomprehension and glassy-eyed stares. So he was quite discouraged when his new friends stood he and his wife up at the Baby Loves Disco party in their town.

Chemistry and philosophies of childraising aside, there's also the small matter of being busy and tired and beleaguered, which makes developing friendships even harder. I've become quite used to relying on my virtual friendships to fill the gap, but you simply can't replace the joy of laughing out loud and long with another live human, especially if that person is a parent.

[Picture: Natalie Dee]

Potty Training at 18 Months

Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 22:18:00 GMT

Creative-Type Dad and his wife are trying to potty train their daughter who is almost 1 1/2. He figures that if people can train animals to crap in the toilet, then why not an 18 month old? He seems to be mortified when he runs across four year olds that aren't toilet trained yet.

Now I know that every child is different and I am all for everybody doing whatever works for them as parents, but my twins are a full year older than his daughter and between the two of them in two and a half years they have pooped in the potty once and peed in it twice, and peed on the potty once. (I am pretty sure that the first one and the last one were flukes.)

I really don't mean to give Creative-Type Dad a hard time. I really enjoy his blog, in fact, I subscribe to his feed, but toilet training an 18 month old seems pretty ambitious to me.

He is looking for any tricks that you guys used to potty train your own children (and I am too, for that matter). Neither he, nor I are above most forms of bribery. Please leave a comment and let us know how (and when) you got this arduous task behind you.