Modern Tools of the [Parenting] Trade...

Read an article this morning about parenting during the 1970's vs today. For a plethora of reasons, most of the women featured believed the '70's to be the halcyon days of mother(parent)hood.

I'm not gonna argue, as I was born and raised in the '70's and have lived to tell about it. But it got me thinking about how grateful I am to be raising the Reds now. Not necessarily in terms of society, but rather, in terms of stuff. Stuff to make life easier, specifically.

In no particular order, and my own neurosis(es?) aside, here are the things I'd rather not live without:

1. Baby wipes.

I've got baby wipes on every floor of this house, stashed in Zip-loc bags in the glove compartments of both cars and shoved into every purse I own. I've used them for poopy bums, snotty noses, make-up removal and cleaning the inside of the car, hands, feet and silverware. I use 'em as dust rags, washcloths glasses cleaner and toilet paper, in a pinch.

I  reckon I'll be stashing baby wipes well into the Reds' teens and I'm OK with that.

2. Baby Monitors

The Reds are 3 and 5 and our house is tiny. There is no longer a pressing need for a baby monitor, but I still get a great deal of use out of ours:

a) "I'll look out for Mummy. If she catches us, she's gonna be so mad, so be quiet."
b) "Wanna play "House?" I'll be the Mummy, you be the Daddy. Now, let's get into bed...
c) "Luke! Where did you get that necklace? That's Mummy's special one from her dresser. She'll be so mad if you put it down the vent. DON'T PUT IT DOWN THE VENT!"
d) "Mummy? Muuuummmmmmmyyyy! My tummy hur....blllaaargghhhcoughgagbarf!"
e) Wanna play swords with our pee-pees?

I imagine I'll be using the monitor well into the Reds' teens and I'm OK with that, too.

3. Microwave Ovens

I don't  actually cook in mine, but I am the Queen of Reheat/Defrost. On a typical day (like today, when I actually kept track) I use the microwave to do the following:

*Reheat last night's coffee
*Heat water in bowl for Weetabix.
*Defrost frozen juice because Daddy downed the last of  the real juice and left empty container in fridge. Jerk.
*Heat small bowl of lemon juice to rid microwave of Weetabix/coffee smell.
*Reheat cup of newly-brewed coffee, gone cold because I was busy dusting with baby wipes.
*Make popcorn for snack.
*Make second bag of popcorn for snack.
*Defrost chicken for supper.
*Cook peas for side dish.
*Reheat this morning's coffee.

You can have my toaster, kettle and the dishwasher but I'd weep without the microwave.

And the gratitude list goes on:

Drive-through fast food joints
McDonald's Play Place on a rainy day.
Mummy Groups
Kids CBC
Drive-through bank machines
Borrowing strollers from the mall.
CD players in the car
I don't have one but hear that DVD players for the car are bliss, too.
Fruit bars
No-spill sippy cups
Sun shields for the kids' car windows
Dollar stores
Glitter glue
Value Village for cheap costumes
Online banking/gift-buying
Digital cameras
Flip-top toothpaste
Bulbous snot-remover thingy
Pint-sized nail-clippers
Velcro
Disposable diapers/pull-ups/wipes
5-in-1 car seats
Bike helmets
Cordless phones
Parenting message boards
Google

I could raise the children without all these luxuries, but thank God I don't have to!

And you? What modern product/device/contraption/idea makes parenting easier for you?