So, Shower gift part 2:
I wrote a little booklet of some of the tips and tricks that we've learned with our kids. I titled it 'Things I Wish I'd Known Before June 2000' (June 2000 is when Princess was born). I spent a lot of time putting this together. It surprised me (kind of) that I found this much to put in the booklet. I spent a lot more time on this than I did on the bibs and burpcloth, actually.
I used cardstock for the cover and used my bookbinding book to bind it properly (or... close enough :). I just used embroidery floss and a needle.
Anyway, I was thinking that other people might enjoy this, too. I know that most of you are already moms, but maybe some of you are newer parents. Or you might want it for a gift. The last page is mostly empty, so you could add your own tips to it.
I'm not trying to proclaim myself a parenting expert at all, but I consider myself a fairly well-informed parent and I think that many of these tips would be useful to new parents. You know how it is, you finally find something that works and you think "If only we'd known that before!" (hence the title). Plus there is a little section on cloth-diapering, if you're interested. So I went through and changed the kids' names and changed the cover page.
A few of the section headings are: Sleeping, bathing, diapers, travel. And you just might learn a couple of funny things about my kids, too. I copied and glued dosage charts from Tylenol and Motrin to the back cover. I got mine from a doctor, but you can also find them online (google search). I think this will be my standard baby gift from now on. Maybe with a bib...
Here it is to download if you would like to pass this on. I suggest printing the cover on cardstock. There are two versions. The first is if you would like to read it online. The second will look completely out of order - because it is in booklet-ready form. Print it double-sided, then put the pages together and bind (you can just staple it - or sew down the spine).
Enjoy! And if you use this I would love your feedback. (Click on the links below to download).
Mommytips booklet - Booklet Ready