Okay, let's try this again with some hints. The mama-to-be in the photo below is a singer and has two children. Name That Bump!
Friday, September 14, 2012
Stuff People Google 67
After almost nixing Stuff People Google (here), all the crazies started searching some freaky phrases. Awesome.
This may be one of my favorite editions of Stuff People Google ever. The "..." is because I'm actually unable to determine what comes after "lisp", yet I know there was more. When I see the phrases that people search and ultimately end up at Next Stop Baby, sometimes the phrases are too long for the Google Blogger machine to show me them in their entirety. Instead, Google Blogger gives me the beginning of the phrase and then an ellipsis to keep me guessing. There's no way to learn the rest of the phrase. Blast! This has never happened before with a Stuff People Google phrase, until today.
What do you think the typist wrote after lisp??? Check back later for the 2nd edition of Name That Bump.
who is the muscular chick with the lisp...
This may be one of my favorite editions of Stuff People Google ever. The "..." is because I'm actually unable to determine what comes after "lisp", yet I know there was more. When I see the phrases that people search and ultimately end up at Next Stop Baby, sometimes the phrases are too long for the Google Blogger machine to show me them in their entirety. Instead, Google Blogger gives me the beginning of the phrase and then an ellipsis to keep me guessing. There's no way to learn the rest of the phrase. Blast! This has never happened before with a Stuff People Google phrase, until today.
What do you think the typist wrote after lisp??? Check back later for the 2nd edition of Name That Bump.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Top 10 Reasons to Find Out the Baby's Gender
I haven't done a Top 10 list in a really, really long time. With all the talk of gender neutral versus gender specific baby stuff from Tuesday (here), I was inspired to get back on the horse. Here I go...
1. Surprises are overrated.
2. Control is underrated.
3. Bonding. Some say that knowing the baby's gender helps create an extra dimension to the mom-baby bond because you can start to develop a more detailed vision of who your youngin' will be. In other words, you can let your imagination run wilder than you could without knowing.
4. Nursery Decorating. This is a driving force in most decisions to learn the gender (this and #2). Unisex bedding options are sparse and finding gender neutral accessories can be tricky.
5. Prevent People from Guessing. Whether family, friends or complete strangers, they will all guess at the baby's gender. And you know about those wives' tales (boy = carrying high, girl = carrying low, boy = pregnancy glow, girl = pregnancy sucked out the pretty...). Who wants a bunch of strangers guessing that you're having a girl?!
6. Hand Me Downs. People inevitably offer expecting moms their hand me downs, which is fantastic when it comes to saving some bucks. Whether those hand me downs are gear, clothes, toys or otherwise, a lot of them will be gender specific. If you don't know the gender, you generally don't get the hand me downs. Now, you may get the them after the baby is born, but you risk losing the goods to another baby who's gender is known in the meantime.
7. The Name Game. Picking a name can be anxiety inducing for some. If picking one name sounds like a huge burden to bear, then picking two names will clearly be twice the stress.
8. Knowing is Half the Battle. Parenting with success is arguably the most important mission of one's life. The more information one can gain about the mission to come, the better off one will be when the mission arrives...or so I hear from G.I. Joe.
9. Testing the Gender Predictors. Between the Chinese Gender Predictor calendar thing and the long list of wives' tales, there are an infinite number of non-scientific ways to predict the gender of an unborn baby. If you use the scientific method to find out the baby's gender, then you can put those non-scientific methods to the test.
10. Coping With What's To Come. Some parents-to-be have their heart set on one gender or the other. Learning the baby's gender at an early stage can help set expectations. It will also buy time to grow comfortable with what's to come and seek out friendly advice.
Any other reasons that you can think of? Agree or disagree with any of the items on this list? If you want to check out my other Top 10 lists click here, here and here.
Top 10 Reasons to Find Out the Baby's Gender
1. Surprises are overrated.
2. Control is underrated.
3. Bonding. Some say that knowing the baby's gender helps create an extra dimension to the mom-baby bond because you can start to develop a more detailed vision of who your youngin' will be. In other words, you can let your imagination run wilder than you could without knowing.
4. Nursery Decorating. This is a driving force in most decisions to learn the gender (this and #2). Unisex bedding options are sparse and finding gender neutral accessories can be tricky.
5. Prevent People from Guessing. Whether family, friends or complete strangers, they will all guess at the baby's gender. And you know about those wives' tales (boy = carrying high, girl = carrying low, boy = pregnancy glow, girl = pregnancy sucked out the pretty...). Who wants a bunch of strangers guessing that you're having a girl?!
6. Hand Me Downs. People inevitably offer expecting moms their hand me downs, which is fantastic when it comes to saving some bucks. Whether those hand me downs are gear, clothes, toys or otherwise, a lot of them will be gender specific. If you don't know the gender, you generally don't get the hand me downs. Now, you may get the them after the baby is born, but you risk losing the goods to another baby who's gender is known in the meantime.
7. The Name Game. Picking a name can be anxiety inducing for some. If picking one name sounds like a huge burden to bear, then picking two names will clearly be twice the stress.
8. Knowing is Half the Battle. Parenting with success is arguably the most important mission of one's life. The more information one can gain about the mission to come, the better off one will be when the mission arrives...or so I hear from G.I. Joe.
9. Testing the Gender Predictors. Between the Chinese Gender Predictor calendar thing and the long list of wives' tales, there are an infinite number of non-scientific ways to predict the gender of an unborn baby. If you use the scientific method to find out the baby's gender, then you can put those non-scientific methods to the test.
10. Coping With What's To Come. Some parents-to-be have their heart set on one gender or the other. Learning the baby's gender at an early stage can help set expectations. It will also buy time to grow comfortable with what's to come and seek out friendly advice.
Any other reasons that you can think of? Agree or disagree with any of the items on this list? If you want to check out my other Top 10 lists click here, here and here.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Nobody Likes Gender Neutral Baby Clothes. Nobody.
I've spent a lot of time blogging about gender neutral baby stuff, whether it be gender neutral clothes (here) or baby shower themes (here) or nursery decorating ideas (here, here and here). The reason for my focus on all things unisex baby has been twofold. First, I have a bunch of friends who have decided to keep the baby's gender a mystery and so I've been inspired on a personal level. Second, it's harder to find cute unisex baby stuff than gender specific baby stuff, so I feel that my internet searching/window shopping skills are better put to use.
I've recently become aware of a backlash to my efforts. Well, not specifically to my efforts, but to the efforts of everyone designing, making and selling gender neutral baby stuff. Well, not specifically to all gender neutral baby stuff, but to gender neutral baby clothes. People are seriously boycotting unisex baby clothing. Have you noticed this? Is this a new trend or am I just newly aware of it?
Lately, when I attend a baby shower for a gender unknown baby, I notice guests gifting the mom-to-be with gender specific outfits. These clothing gifts include one outfit if the baby turns out to be a boy and one outfit if the baby turns out to be a girl. Something blue and something pink. Yellow is out of the mix entirely.
On one hand, the gift giver is getting the mom-to-be baby clothes, which is great because most people avoid gifting clothing for gender unknown babies. It's also a positive if you think, like most, that gender specific baby clothes are way more adorable than the unisex comparables. On the other hand, the mom-to-be will eventually have to return one of the outfits. Returning any gift is not ideal, both because you're disposing of a carefully considered item and because it's a pain (receipts, getting to the store, picking out something new, etc.). The latter must be especially annoying when one is caring for an infant...for the first time.
I've recently become aware of a backlash to my efforts. Well, not specifically to my efforts, but to the efforts of everyone designing, making and selling gender neutral baby stuff. Well, not specifically to all gender neutral baby stuff, but to gender neutral baby clothes. People are seriously boycotting unisex baby clothing. Have you noticed this? Is this a new trend or am I just newly aware of it?
These cutie sleepers are by Hanna Anderson
Lately, when I attend a baby shower for a gender unknown baby, I notice guests gifting the mom-to-be with gender specific outfits. These clothing gifts include one outfit if the baby turns out to be a boy and one outfit if the baby turns out to be a girl. Something blue and something pink. Yellow is out of the mix entirely.
On one hand, the gift giver is getting the mom-to-be baby clothes, which is great because most people avoid gifting clothing for gender unknown babies. It's also a positive if you think, like most, that gender specific baby clothes are way more adorable than the unisex comparables. On the other hand, the mom-to-be will eventually have to return one of the outfits. Returning any gift is not ideal, both because you're disposing of a carefully considered item and because it's a pain (receipts, getting to the store, picking out something new, etc.). The latter must be especially annoying when one is caring for an infant...for the first time.
Target is notoriously bad with baby shower exchanges (FYI)
What are your thoughts on this trend? Have you participated in it? Are you a mom who received gifts in line with this trend?
Friday, September 7, 2012
Stuff People Google 66 (and Name That Bump)
WOOHOO - Stuff People Google is back this week with the following slightly bizarre phrase:
cute photos of childs on balcony
There's the obvious grammar issue and there's the weird substance. Why would one want cute photographs of children on a balcony? I can't think of a reasonable answer to this question. What I do know is why the typist landed on Next Stop Baby - a photograph of Michael Jackson holding his son Blanket over the edge of a balcony from a past post (here).
Now - Let's also talk about Tuesday's preliminary edition of Name That Bump. Let's first review the headless photo first:
Now, here is the reveal:
Nicole Richie!!!
I got some feedback via comments and offline conversation (with friends and family who called and said things like - that's such a weird headless photo, who the hell is that, there's no way I could tell just from the photo). Going forward, I'm going to incorporate "Name That Bump" editions as a Next Stop Baby staple (haven't decided how often that will happen). The photo created intrigue, if not a bit of frustration, which is a good thing. But, I'll also include a couple hints to give everyone a realistic chance of guessing the momma-to-be.
Have a great weekend.
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