This is my pretty little makeup bag…

And these are its contents…

The power cord for my new netbook, my mini travel mouse (because I’m touchpad-deficient…), and my Toddy in “Pom Pommery” (swag from CES 2011).

On another note, I have no idea where my lip gloss is.

The schools in my area are closed right now for “ski week”, although I don’t know if it’s officially called that.

I’ve only heard one or two people actually call it “ski week” and that was two years ago. We had just moved here and I was looking at preschools for Scout.

No, you cannot  tour the school next week because it’s Skeeeee Weeeeeek and no one will be here. Not that your son would get in anyway. Registration was last week before everyone left for skeeeeee-ing, but you can send a ginormous check to be put on our waiting list…

The “duh” was implied. We did not choose that school for our son, but the name stuck. Besides, a number of my friends are in Tahoe right now and I would imagine, skiing… so it works, right?

I, on the other hand, am home with my two kids who are begging for attention because I didn’t think ahead to make alternative plans. Gah!

This shouldn’t be that abnormal. For all of our mish-mashed, piecemeal, part-time childcare “solutions”, my children are with me enough that I still consider myself a stay-at-home mom. Just one with conference calls and deadlines…

But there’s just something about being on BREAK… and having been to school, the crazy expectation that every moment be filled with freakin’ circle time and music or elaborate “crafts” involving finger paint, cotton balls, and coffee beans…

There was no craft at my house this morning. Instead, I had to finish an article for tomorrow as my daughter climbed all over me– using my hair as a rope, sticking her head down my shirt, hitting the spacebar as I feverishly typed, hitting me once I put her back down…

Meanwhile, I’m entering Day Four of a “Hug Stand-off” with my son. I ask if I can hug him because “I love him SO much”.

He tilts his head to consider it for a moment, then says, “Hmmm…. not right now. Maybe tomorrow”.

Ah, yes… tomorrow. We’ll be doing this again tomorrow.

Appealing to my mom + tech savoir-faire, a friend from college wrote me earlier this week to get a recommendation on baby monitors.

Umm…

Our first baby monitor was lost in the move, but it wasn’t anything worth raving about. The second time around, we went for inexpensive, basic, and utilitarian and bought  the Safety 1st Go and Glow. I chose it because it has a temperature gauge. That is all.

My cold-natured daughter has zero tolerance for the slightest dip in temp, whereas I hardly notice. It took MONTHS to realize this. Now the cozier, the happier… for mama and baby.

Range, video, etc… I could care less about, but the “Go and Glow” has worked remarkably well. I can’t complain. Not that Lou even slept in her own room until she was almost a year old…

Also, our house is small enough that we know exactly when she’s is ready to get up.  She just bangs on the adjoining wall between her room and mine… or yells.

Not wanting to let my friend down, I did what I do best. Research!  I reread reviews I’d seen in the past, dug up recommendations from other friends, and poured through various mom-tech sites. I sent her links to the baby monitors that I’d heard the most good things about, plus one that was debuted at CES 2011 that works with a smart phone. (Price was not yet disclosed, but I imagine “not cheap”…)

In my internet hopping, I found a baby monitor that plays into every single new parent fear. For instance…

Never miss a moment… ever!

The Lorex Live Snap Video Monitor has night vision and an SD card.

You can snap a thousand and seven photos of your baby sleeping, then post them directly to your Facebook page for all the world to enjoy. Quick! Someone warn, STFU, Parents.

Helicopter Parent, Coming in for a Landing

The sensor pad detects your baby’s slightest movements. The very slightest… it detects and reports to you. (I don’t even want to be aware of my every movement.)  It also sounds an alarm if your baby isn’t moving.

What’s the point of  buying a baby monitor when what you really want to do is stand over your baby’s crib with a hand mirror. For the price of this monitor, you could buy about twenty or thirty of those.

Paranoia, Metanoia

I also found a handful of Wi-Fi enabled, remotely-accessed baby monitors/nanny camera… and I just had to stop for this brief PSA. If you’re that suspicious of your childcare, you don’t need a baby monitor. You need  a new babysitter.

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I know there has to be a legitimate need for these products. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be sold, right?  Yeah… I’m thinking, “No. No there is not.”

Interesting to note. Do you know what there isn’t enough of? A single “reasonably priced” baby monitor for two kids in two different rooms, which is what my friend needs.