The Great Big Move To Big Kid Beds

Thing 2 learned to climb out of her crib months before Thing 1.

But still, I managed to resist the move to a big kid bed.

Nearly two years after that first nocturnal escape, and many months after removing one side of each of the kids' cribs, so they could roam free, I finally decided it was time. They could probably have lasted another six months, a year at best. But they'd be pretty cramped by then, and I figured, why not change 'em over during the summer, so they wouldn't face sleep disruption mid-school year?

Then the question became, what kind of beds should we get?

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Once Upon A Mattress

You might remember a fairy tale from your childhood about a princess who could detect a pea at the bottom of a stack of mattresses, a feat so impressive it won her the hand of a handsome prince.

I had no idea, when I first decided it was time to get Big Kid Beds for my still-small kids, that I'd be as much of a princess as the princess in that story.

But lo and behold, buying a mattress for your kids, let alone an actual bed, isn't so easy.

Sure, there are a lot of mattress stores -- throw a rock in my L.A. neighborhood and you'll hit one. But thanks to a 2005 law meant to protect consumers, specifically very small consumers, every one of these mattress stores sells essentially the same thing: a mattress treated with toxic materials so it won't catch on fire.

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Almost A Vacation

Last year, the Memorial Day weekend "vacation" to Santa Barbara was, well, pretty much a disaster, as documented here.

A friend and father of three's comment was, "Now you know the difference between a vacation and a trip."

Ever since then, I've set the bar for my expectations of vacations with the kids pretty low. So this past 3-day July 4th weekend trip, to Newport Beach, was a pleasant surprise. I wouldn't exactly categorize it as a vacation ... I think that's years away for this family ... but there were moments when it actually felt like one.

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