Backjack Chair

"Circle Time" each morning at Pre-K, when everyone sits on the floor and listens to the teacher, was proving a challenge for Billy last fall. He found it tough, apparently, to remain on his carpet square or even identify which square was his. Our speech therapist recommended the BackJack chair to help him clearly define his space. The Backjack Chair essentially provides a back for sitting on the floor. And he's done much better in his group since he started using it.

I didn't expect how much I would like the Backjack chair. I spend a lot of time on the floor of the kids' playroom, and having a bad back, that can get uncomfortable after a while. The Backjack chair lets me comfortably sit on their level for storytime, playing with the Little People or building with blocks. Also, it's very lightweight, and you can fold it up easily and take it to picnics, sporting events or any other place where you might be expected to plant your bum on the ground for a long period of time. It's SUPER-comfortable.

Aerogrow Indoor Garden

I love to grow things. I've been chomping at the bit to get out in our new yard and start digging in the soil, but this winter has been gruesome. I realize that this will seem laughable to my friends in Wisconsin and Minnesota, but I'm in Florida. I'm supposed to be picnicking by now, not building wood fires. It has certainly been too cold to get any planting or yard work started. But the mini "aeroponic" garden that my mom got me for Christmas a few years ago is a great way to satisfy my urge to see things greenify, as well as teach the kids about where food comes from.

Aeroponic means that the plants grow in air and water; no soil is required. You don't have to have any real gardening skill; anyone can grow herbs, salad greens, tomatoes, chili peppers or petunias (those are some of the plants for which they have kits at the moment). You just plug it in and follow simple directions. Little seed pods slot down into the holes under the unit's light. Water is added to the well underneath the seed pods. And that's pretty much it. Billy loves to check out the progress of the plants each day, and I think it will make him more interested in planting things outdoors soon.

The Audible.com recording of Stephen King's The Dome

I love Stephen King and I love Audible.com. I can listen to a 1000-page novel while I wash dishes, vaccum, take Willow for a walk, or retrieve Thomas the Trains friends from the garbage disposal. Before I found Audible, it had been months since I read a novel.

The Dome is, I think, the best thing Stephen King has written since The Stand. The premise is simple: An invisible dome mysteriously appears over a small Maine town. There is no way for people inside the dome to get out, and there's no way for the outside world to get in to help them. Once you accept that one supernatural premise, everything else that happens is completely natural: the loss of electrical power and the shortage of resources, the divisions within the town, the grabs for and abuses of power, the increasing desperation.

Growing up in a small town that bears a strong resemblance to the ficitonal Chester's Mill -- despite their geographic distance from one another -- I recognize both the heroes and villains in this story. And the more I "read" (or heard), the more anxious and tense I got -- the sign of a really good page turner. Even if the "pages" are indicated only by when the reader takes a deep breath.

Yo-Baby
Our pediatrician recommended Yo-Baby organic yogurt the last time Willow had a really bad stomach flu. Apparently, it helps regulate their little digestive systems. Willow loves it, particularly the kind with fruit and cereal puree in the bottom. She won't eat any other baby food; she would rather eat our food, whatever it is: avocado, tomatoes, you name it. The only problem with Yo-Baby is that I can't always find it in the grocery store. Walmart didn't carry it the last time I was there. And Publix seems to put it in a different place in each store, usually in the Greenwise organic section. Our favorite flavor: raspberry banana.

Coffee
Give me a super-big cup of regular old Maxwell House Breakfast Blend and I can deal with just about any amount of sleep deprivation. No fancy coffees for me. Don't put ice in my coffee or whipped cream or cinnamon on top. I don't want my coffee to taste like Christmas or flowers or cough drops. Just throw a little creamer in there with some sugar and I'm good to go. Most of the time, I don't even use sugar; I use these sweetener packets I bought at the Dollar Tree that have probably been made from the ground-up fingernails of Chinese children, but they do the trick.