I think hospitals should include this watch as standard issue with the "goody bag" they send home with new moms.  In fact, it would make an excellent baby-shower gift.  As far as I am concerned it is the best "mom-watch" out there.  The countdown timer is SUCH a useful feature -- with just a few clicks you can be completely accurate with your "OK, only three more minutes in the pool and then we have to go!"  (or 1 minute, or 5 minutes, or 10, or 15, or 20, or 30.)  Not to mention how useful that feature is for cooking/baking!  You can go outside to do things and not worry that you won't be able to hear the stove timer.  Plus, all the settings are simple to do -- you don't need a complicated instruction manual to figure out how to operate the thing.

I have small wrists and hate the look of big, bulky timer-type watches -- this one has the features but is not bulky like that at all.  It is thin and has a small face (about the size and thickness of three quarters stacked on top of each other.)  It looks like what it is -- a ladies' watch, not a men's watch.

I have not noticed the band breaking like others have mentioned, but I have only had mine a few years.  I only had to get a new one when I misplaced the old one.  It has been pool-waterproof for me, and it seems remarkably durable for such an inexpensive watch.  I have also seen it in stores with a pink-colored line of trim instead of the blue.  I plan to order the metallic-band version of this watch to wear for dressier occasions.

The one thing I really really wish it had is a nightlight feature like an Indiglo or something.  Hopefully Casio can do that someday, without making it bigger and bulkier.  There is just no other watch out there with all the features of this watch plus a light, so for now this Casio is the best thing going.  I highly recommend it.