Cynical Parent

Sleep is precious.  And if your baby isn’t getting it, neither are you.

It’s one of the reasons some people are willing to shell out nearly $1,500 for a bassinet (the Snoo) that supposedly helps your baby sleep better.

I’ve tried the Snoo – we rented it for a month when our 3 month old would only nap in our arms.  It’s impressive in the way that it works, and it’s a stylish looking piece of furniture.  

But ultimately, we returned it for 2 reasons:

1) It was too damn expensive.  Not that we couldn’t afford it, but it didn’t seem worth the money.

2) It didn’t seem to do much for us over other similar (less expensive) options.

With all of that said, I know some parents rave about the Snoo, so I’m not going to say it doesn’t work or that it’s not worth the money.  Lots of parents praise its effectiveness and I know it has helped infants sleep better.

What if we told you there are some good Snoo alternatives that won’t break the bank? 

Granted, you aren’t going to find anything exactly like the Snoo for less money, but there are bassinets out there that work just as well.  

We did the research. Let’s check ’em out.

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With many of us stuck either homeschooling our kids or putting them in an at-home, remote/virtual learning environment, the home learning space has never been more important.

Today we’re going to tackle kids homeschool desk ideas; after all, this is where the learning happens.  (If you’re looking for an overall room setup, check out the post we did on homeschool room design ideas.)

This post is going to be about everything from ideas about the actual desk to use, to the types of things you can get for your desk to keep it better organized.

Remote learning may never be quite as good as live and face-to-face with a teacher, but we’re doing the best we can!

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Planning for a baby’s nursery is one of the most enjoyable parts of preparing for a newborn.  There are literally unlimited options! 

Today, we’re going to focus on baby farm animal nursery ideas.  You know, like cows, pigs, chickens, etc.

Although we are going to show you some great examples of nurseries, we’re going to focus on the actual stuff you can buy (like signs and pictures).  

As with any nursery theme or design ideas, don’t feel like you have to copy exactly what you see on the internet.  Look at different pieces and take what you like (and ignore the things you don’t like).  I promise, whatever you come up with is going to look cute.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at some of these farm animal nursery ideas!

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More than ever before, many parents are faced with a situation where their children will be learning from home, as so many schools temporarily shift to a virtual learning model. And if you’re in this situation, you may find yourself looking into homeschool room design ideas.

There’s no way to sugarcoat it: this is a tough situation for so many parents.

Not only do some families have both parents working during the day, but most parents have never had to deal with formal education in their home.  Depending on the age of your kids, it can be a real struggle.

We’re not about to tackle the issue of balancing your work with your children’s remote learning, but sometimes half the battle is the environment.  

If your kid can’t physically be in a classroom, how can you create an environment that tries to simulate that experience?

That’s what we’re going to figure out here as we look at some really awesome and effective homeschool room design ideas.

Let’s get to it.

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Fall is definitely one of my favorite seasons.  The leaves change colors, you get out of the dreadful heat of summer (depending on where you live), and move into some nice, cool weather before it gets too cold.

It’s an exciting time for kids too.  Halloween is around the corner, and before you know it, the holidays are here.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

We thought it might be fun to look at some activities for kids, and specifically look at fall leaf activities for preschoolers.

Let’s get into it.

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Halloween will be here before you know it, and if you haven’t yet figured out what your little one is going to wear, you’d better do it soon!

When your child is just a baby, Halloween really serves three purposes:

1) You get to admire how cute your baby is in a costume.

2) You get to take lots of pictures but don’t need to go walk outside in the cold.

3) You get to eat all the candy you buy because your kid’s not old enough to eat it (oops).

I love Halloween, and I’ll be damned if a baby is going to stop me from enjoying costumes and candy.  

Picking out a costume isn’t necessarily easy – they all look cute, and before you buy one, you need to have an argument with your spouse about which one you’re going to get.

We previously looked at the best Halloween costumes for a baby girl, but now it’s time to look at costumes for a baby boy. 

Here we go…

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Becoming a dad for the first time is pretty scary.

Every day you find yourself facing issues you’ve never dealt with before. And not only are you dealing with a new child, but likely a new mother as well (I think most mothers would agree that this adds a layer of complexity to the father’s experience).

The good thing is, billions of people before you have managed to become parents and more or less did an OK job. You aren’t expected to know everything, and most of what you need to know you will learn along the way.

As a first-time-dad-to-be, I researched this topic quite a bit.  There’s a lot of information out there for “first time parents,” but most of the writing is from a woman’s perspective and therefore tends to skew toward first time moms.

A lot of first time dad tips are the same, but there are some key differences.

What are they? Let’s get right into ’em.

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The first birthday is a special one. So much happens in that first year of life – for the baby and the parents – so it’s a milestone that tends to bring about big celebrations. When it comes to 1 year old girl birthday party themes, what are the options?

Themes are a little bit easier when your kids are older, because they have somewhat established what they like, whether it’s a particular movie, TV show, etc.  

Don’t worry though, we’ve dug up a lot of great 1 year old girl birthday party themes! 

We’ll go through them all below.

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Image credit: http://www.babysleepsite.com

Before you become a parent, you take sleep for granted.  After all, you can completely control how much sleep you get simply by adjusting your bedtime or wake-up time.
After having a baby, however, sleep becomes this unknown variable in your life; it becomes this elusive concept that changes from night to night.  As a parent of an infant, you often find yourself thinking…

CAN I JUST GET SOME F@#%!#& SLEEP PLEASE?!

Somewhere in the back of your mind, you know it’s temporary.  But when you’re going on your 10th straight night of only sleeping in 1-2 hour blocks, you start to lose that part of your brain that thinks logically.

After experiencing something like this, we knew there had to be a way to make it better.

But because every baby is different, there isn’t any ONE thing that will work for every baby.  So, we set out to compile the wisdom of many parents who have been through this and have found a strategy that works for improving their baby’s sleep habits.

And just as important, improving their own sleeping habits.

We tracked down 29 parents and asked them this question:

Keep reading, and we’ll reveal what everyone told us (and even share what’s currently working for us).  

(Warning: This post contains a ton of content – you may want to bookmark / pin it so you can refer back to it later. 🙂 )

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With Halloween around the corner, we’re trying to decide how to dress our little girl for her first “real” Halloween (she was a newborn during her actual first Halloween, so we don’t really count that one).

When your little one is just a baby, Halloween and the costumes are more for you anyway. She’s not going to remember it.

But what she will remember are the pictures you show her when she’s a little older… 😀

I have to admit, picking just ONE costume is going to be difficult, but let’s check them out.

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