My husband, Matthew, and I are seltzer fiends. We were going through about 15 liter bottles of Poland Spring seltzer each week. This alarming consumption has made me feel guilty for a couple of reasons. First off, my apartment is on the fourth floor of typical New York City walk-up, so I'd always feel like a total crumb making the Fresh Direct delivery guy lug all that water up all those stairs. Secondly, such a large pile of plastic bottles makes for an embarrassment of waste. But my options seemed limited: Stop liking seltzer? Sell my apartment and move to an elevator building? For Christmas, Matthew surprised me with the third (and winning) option: a seltzer maker! He schlepped all the way out to Borough Park, Brooklyn, and brought home the Soda Club Home Soda Maker. It just takes a few tries before you're cranking out the seltzer like a pro. Now we have an endless supply of bubbly water. I'm a total convert and a proselytizer. I even got my brother-in-law into it (you can read his testimonial on his blog).

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My husband and I recently cleaned out our storage space and among the items we uncovered was a 1952 first edition of the children's book A Hole Is to Dig written by Ruth Krauss and illustrated by Maurice Sendak. It has quickly become our family's favorite book. The thumbnail illustrations of children are so sweet and gleeful that you're immediately absorbed into their carefree world of play. Even more endearing is how the book invites you to see the world through a child's eyes: It's touted as  "A First Book of First Definitions," and its "definitions" clearly have been created by children--"arms are for hugging" is exactly how a cuddly child would make sense of arms, for example.

This is a refreshingly simple, poetic, and timeless book that your kids will ask you to read over and over and over again (in one sitting). Check out a few more of my favorite definitions.

I've tried tons of ways to distract the kids while getting dinner under control, but this method is my favorite because it doesn't involve TV or "helping" (code for making a big mess of flour, honey, water, spices, and whatever else is within reach of their little hands).  Pull a chair up to the sink, turn on the faucet, and squirt some dish soap. Your child will play with the bubbly water and forget you even exist.

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I make a lot of soup. (I know, I'm a player. Don't hate.) Pretty much every week, I make a chicken soup and that becomes the basis for a lot of other meals. When my twins were six months old and ready to eat real food, I thought chicken soup would be good for them. The only problem was I'd never made it before, so I called upon my grandmother, Santa Alfieri, and she told me how: Get a couple pounds of chicken legs and thighs, put them into a pot with two diced carrots and celery. Add enough water to cover the chicken by an inch. Bring it all to a boil before adding salt, pepper, and a bay leaf. Then, simmer for about 45 minutes. Throw in some pasta and, "Voila!" It's so easy I can make it before I go to work in the morning without being late.

When my kids were still on mushy food, I would throw the soup (with pasta) into the food processor to make a puree. They went nuts for it. Then, I'd do the same thing with vegetables for a chicken/veggie puree. Since they don't eat a ton of the broth, I use the extra as the base for other soups like pasta fagioli or minestrone. I also make a tasty chicken salad from it by shredding the meat and mixing with diced celery, mayo, salt, and pepper-often the perfect weekend lunches for my husband and me. Making chicken soup (and being resourceful with it) makes me feel like such a mom!

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