In our peripatetic society, we move, I’ve been told, on average every 5 to 7 years. Though this number may increase or decrease over the next few years, depending on your place in the current housing bubble crisis, it’s almost certain you will not spend all of your children’s formative years in one house.

This of course has led to the demise of the charming habit of tracking children’s heights in pencil on the wall of one’s home. Lacking the tools and often the will to carefully cut out the sentiment laid piece of plaster on which you’ve marked your children’s growth, most of us have started to consider a paper or plastic growth chart instead.

This Alex Toys Watch Me Grow - On My Road Growth chart is 42” tall which will easily cover your child’s first years and features 4 photo pockets. Since I’m always looking for new ways to display photos of my son, this seems like an easy way to take a trip down memory lane.

Easy to hang up on just about any wall and carefully remove and pack in one of the stack of boxes accompanying every move, growth carts are the new “wall”.

I happen to love hats. No, not for me, unfortunately nature deigned to give me a small head which limits my choice of attractive hats to those with added volume…i.e. floppy or wide brimmed.

I do however love hats for children.

Living in a sunny climate this has become less of a fashion statement and more of a continuing battle against the sun. That pesky ozone layer just isn’t what it used to be. So, I buy hats for my son and for other people’s sons and for their daughters too. We have quite a collection.

Since I’m somewhat neurotically worried about over exposure to the sun I try to look for hats that provide maximum protection…while looking cute at the same time. This Darimi Kidz Flap Hat features a large front brim, as well as a back flap. Often overlooked, the back flap protects that sensitive neck area that always seems to get burnt. (Considering how often I find my son staring up at the sky, I have to wonder why.)

Available in vibrant colors, making it easy to locate one’s child in a sea of hatted toddlers, it also protects against 99% of the UV rays! Made from one of those marvelous quick drying materials, it’s resistant to chlorine…meaning one day at the pool doesn’t turn it from a brightly colored fashion statement to a faded rag.

Sometimes you see an item of clothing for your baby that is just so cute you can’t resist. No, I’m not talking about expensive, glittery tee-shirts for the infant “bling” set, though from time to time those too seem like appropriate clothing. I’m referring to rugged, practical, but not necessarily needed bits of fabric.

Since I’m not one to worry too much about toddlers tottering around in a tee-shirt and diaper, I’ve never worried much about covering that nether region up. However, there are times when, well it just seems necessarily. At a, if not fancy, at least not family friendly restaurant; or when rather more formal relatives come to call, let’s say.

So this Wrangler Denim Diaper Cover, I think might just come in handy on those occasions. Easily paired with a tee-shirt or under a casual dress, these denim “undies” keep droopy diapers covered up and their unfortunate contents contained.

Besides displaying the always cute appearance of a baby in jeans this diaper cover sports the practical aspects of a sturdy material designed for hard working individuals. This, of course, makes it practical for those times when setting one’s baby down on a natural surface, say, under a tree, seems unavoidable. Elastic waist and leg holes and even a back pocket will make both parents and those overly critical relatives smile.

Getting ready for back to school is getting easier for the many moms living in school districts that have adopted uniforms, though not necessarily less expensive. While the laborious trolling through racks of boy’s pants to find the right size and style of jeans has diminished, the sheer number of pants needed has not.

In fact the number of pants needed may have increased since boys are notorious for ripping, tearing and otherwise destroying school pants. Even the lamentable practice of forgoing recess in favor of “teaching to the test” an hour longer hasn’t made any appreciable difference in the wear and tear on children’s clothes.

So, it’s a pleasure to find uniform pants that, rather than stand up to fewer knee slides than sturdy jeans, stand up to more. Dickies Boy’s Double Knee Pants fit the bill. Made by the well known manufacturer of “work clothes’, these uniform pants sport double protection around the knees. As any mother of boys knows, this is a critical feature…even if your boys don’t spend all of their time sliding into first base or pushing cars and trucks across the floor.

In uniform blue they even include an extra pocket for rocks, twigs or permission slips your child will conveniently forget to give you.