Door to door sales

We have had a lot of door to door solicitors lately. Each summer we have a handful but this summer it seems extreme.

This is problematic for a few reasons.

First, we have had a some bad experiences. More than once we have made purchases we later regretted.

Once, it was magazine subscriptions. I placed an order and then changed my mind. I requested the refund I thought I was "guaranteed." After a big hassle we only received part of our money back.

Another time one of my husbands students was selling Cutco knives. We spent over $300 that we didn't have on knives we didn't really need. (That was exactly door to door.)

Yet another time we had someone come by to offer us a free estimate on siding replacement. We told the young man that came to the door that the was no way we would be able to get our siding replaced anytime soon. (I had just stopped working to stay home with our daughter.) We made it clear, someone could come give us an estimate but we would not be buying anything. When the guy came to give the estimate he hadn't been given that information. He was giving us the hard sell. I'm sure the job of the person who came to the door was only to set appointments. He didn't care if we were going to buy siding or not.

Lastly, we had a Jehovah's Witness come by once. It was a young boy (maybe 12 years old.) In trying to be polite, my husband listened to what he had to say. In retrospect, he should have said we are already members of a church that we are happy with. Ever since then (and it has been a few years) this boy has been coming several times a year. He has his hand outs and says his spiel. Though it is harmless, it is still a hassle. (Not exactly a door to door sales but similar enough.)

In addition to our experiences, my husband and I both tend to be suckers. Send a young person to our door and it is hard for us to tell them no. For that reason, neither of us wants to be the one to hear the sales pitch. I try to avoid answering the door. That only deals with part of the issue. That still leaves my husband having to say no. Usually he does, but that is not guaranteed.

I came up with a family policy. We don't buy anything door to door. That is not exactly true. We will buy Girl Scout cookies and the occasional candy bar. For the most part, we don't buy door to door. We always have the option to but it is nice being able to say, "We don't buy door to door."

I am sharing this today because of a couple experiences I have had recently. The first happened a couple weeks ago when I arrived home from picking the kids up from summer school. As I pulled in the driveway, I saw a young woman waiting by my front door. I knew what was coming. She started in with her friendly banter, asking me questions, telling me what she was working toward, and explaining how she was going to earn her points. I feel sorry for those kids. They are out in the summer heat, trying to sell products to people that they don't need and usually don't want. This time was different than any other experiences I have had because this young lady had a severe speech impediment. She apologized for it and explained that this was to help her with her speech and communicatioin skills. I explained our policy and after trying a little longer, she left. This really irritated me. This company is using kids with disabilities to play on the emotions of people hoping they will buy a product because they feel sorry for these kids. I think it is dispicable.

A couple days ago we had another young woman come by and this time she had a foreign accent, which she apologized for. I again explained our policy and after trying to convince me to change my mind, she finally left. I refuse to reward companies who use these kinds of tactics. I feel sorry for these kids and would like to help them but will not help the company they are working for. I absolutely refuse to help a company profit who uses tactics as deplorable as these. I feel like they are taking advantage of these kids and their disabilities (or other disadvantages) and are trying to take advantage of me. I wish I could think of something else to do. These practices must be working, otherwise they wouldn't do it. So, I'm not falling for it, telling everyone I know about it, and sending it out into blogland hoping others will do the same.

I think it's a good policy to begin with. "We don't buy things from door to door salespeople." Period. No need to explain. These recent experiences have only validated my decision to implement that policy.

I am linking up to Works for Me Wednesday.

I am the worst mom ever (the tooth fairy forgot to come to our house)

My daughter lost her seventh tooth yesterday. "Lost" is misleading. She actually yanked it out.

I forgot to leave her money...again.

Yep. This is not the first time the tooth fairy has forgotten to come to our house. It is like as soon as I walk out of her bedroom at night the thought flies right out of my head. (I thought I wrote about this before but my search didn't turn up a post about the tooth fairy. Maybe I just thought about it.)

She's lost seven teeth and I have forgotten at least three times.

Last time I told myself I was going to set something on my bed so I would see it before I turned in and would be reminded that there was something I needed to take care of. I forgot to do that, too.

The first time it happened she came into my bedroom a little upset saying the tooth fairy didn't come because her tooth was still under her pillow. I said maybe the tooth fairy let her keep the tooth because she wanted it so badly and we should go to look for the money. I took the money with me and put it under her bed so it looked like the money fell there. That seemed to work.

The next time it happened I was running when I realized I forgot to leave her money. My running partner had her phone so I called home. I think she was awake when I called so I told her that I asked the tooth fairy not to come because I had a special present for her since it was her golden tooth. (It was her sixth tooth and she was six.) I had picked up a Belle barbie for the tub and was waiting for a good time to give it to her. That worked well.

This morning she came in and said she didn't look in her tooth pillow because she wanted me to look with her. I'm wondering if she was testing me. Did she already look and know the tooth was there and wait to see if it would be gone when we went back in? I had gotten a gift for her because she is seven and lost her seventh tooth, another golden tooth. Actually, I had to pick it up yesterday because I wasn't expecting her to lose her tooth yet. She hasn't talked about a loose tooth at all. Last night when she went to bed she said nothing about a loose tooth. Lately, when she would talk about a tooth maybe being loose she would talk about it being another golden tooth and about the special gift last time. (When I accidentally started the golden tooth tradition I didn't think she would have a second golden tooth.) I had her stay in my room while I went to get the gift. I slipped into her room and hid the money (a quarter for each year of her age.) Again, the tooth fairy must have let her keep the tooth since she liked it so much. (She took care of it all day yesterday and brushed it before bed.) The money was under her mattress, right below where her pillow is, technically it was "under" her pillow.

How many times am I going to do this? I refuse to take full responsibility, though. My husband has never helped me with this. Not once has he reminded me to leave the money. My guess is he never thinks about it either. (Although, that probably is another issue entirely. The fact that I do almost everything like this that has to do with the kids.) I hope I get it together soon. This little girl is going to figure it out soon enough and I don't want it to be because of my screw up.

I'm linking up to Works for Me Wednesday.

Summer spending money for kids

With the summer, comes an increase in the amount of money spent on entertainment. I wanted to come up with a way to limit how much the kids spent each week.

It started a month or so ago with the ice cream truck. Every time that (damn) bell rings the kids look at me. Of course, I want to indulge them but I do not think it wise to say yes each time. In order for the kids to know whether it was a yes or no day without me having to make the decision each time, I decided I would buy from the truck once a week. If they wanted ice cream another day, they would have to use their own money. (I should write a post about how we do allowance.) That worked ok. The truck didn't come as often as I thought so I ended up buying it almost every time. Not really how I thought it would work.

After school got out, we started going to the water park where we have season passes. The food there is very reasonable. Plus, since we have season passes we get 20% off  at the concession stand. In the past, we would get a treat each time we went. We didn't go that often so it wasn't a big deal. This year I see us going more often. Again, I don't think it wise to allow them to have a treat each time since we will be going so frequently. Just like with the ice cream truck, I wanted the kids to know whether it was a yes day or no day without me making the decision each time. (It gets tiring being the bad guy.)

I told the kids they would each get $5/week for extra spending money during the summer. They could use it to buy a treat from the ice cream truck, treats at the water park, snacks at the movies, etc. My son asked if they could use it to buy toys and while that wasn't the original intent if they want to save it and forgo treats that was ok with me.

The first time we went to the water park they both spent their entire $5. It was difficult to watch and keep my mouth shut. I figured (like Love & Logic suggests) that this is a lesson better learned at their young age when the stakes are low ($5 each) than when they are older and the stakes are higher. First, they each bought an ice cream. Then they each bought a pretzel (which neither finished.) Lastly, they each bought a slushy drink, large of course. I reminded them once that this was their money for the entire week but let them decide how it was spent.

Unfortunately, this happened on a Thursday and the kids get their money for the week on Sunday. I was worried that the lesson would not be learned. They got to spend their entire $5 at one place and didn't have to experience not having money for something else. I told myself that we have a lot of time left this summer so even if they don't get it this time, there will be plenty of opportunity.

During dinner the following Sunday we hear the ice cream truck. Out of habit, the kids look at me. I told them they get their money for the week on Sunday if they want to spend it. Of course, they did. They ran outside while I got the money. We talked about the prices. I was so happy with what happened next. My son (age 5) bought one of the least expensive items. He bought one of the plain popsicles instead of one of the character ice cream guys. My daughter (age 7) didn't buy the least expensive, but she didn't buy the most expensive, either. I could see her looking at the prices trying to decide if the item was worth the price. Then, we went to the water park on Monday. They both bought a treat but they bought one. Today, we went to the water park for the second time this week. Again, they both bought a treat, but one. I know my daughter was looking at the prices because that was how she described what she wanted. "The dollar fifty one on the right."

What will be hard is if we do something else this week and they want to get a treat and ask me to get it for them. More likely instead of asking if I will get it for them they will say they will pay me back. I will have to be strong and say no. Sometimes that is easier said than done. We have a movie theatre where ticket prices are $1.50. We are talking about going to see Hop (again.) We always get popcorn at the movies. I know it will be a better lesson if I stick to the plan, but it won't be easy. They both have a little bit of money left so maybe they will be able to pool their funds and share.

So far, I am happy with this plan and it seems to be working the way I hoped. I'll have to try to remember to write about this at the end of the summer and give an update on how it worked the rest of the summer.

I am linking up to Works for Me Wednesday. (Darn, I was thinking it was Tuesday night. It's already Wednesday. I'm number 207 on the list. I might have to link up again next week so I can get closer to the top.)

Coupon Binder

A couple months ago I participated in the challenge at A Bowl Full of Lemons about creating a coupon binder. You can see that post here. At the time I was not able to complete it. I have been working on it for the past couple weeks and am finally finished. I probably shouldn't say finished because I know it is a work in progress. I'm sure there are some things I will need to adjust but for now this is it.


At the end of the challenge I knew I wanted to change my divider categories. I only had five or six. I never did like the categories. I realized I only used those because they were the ones I used in my old coupon organizer. It was one of those about the size & shape of an envelope. When I used that it only had five or six sections so I had to come up with categories that would include everything I would have a coupon for.

I bought these dividers during back to school last year. They were supposed to be erasable. When I wrote on them you couldn't hardly see what I wrote. Plus, I never needed to erase. They had to go.I found these cute pink ones. My favorite color is pink. I saw these a while back but didn't need dividers at the time. When I realized I needed dividers I went ahead and got the pink.

I used my label maker to print out labels and put them on the dividers.Unfortunately, when I put the dividers in the binder you couldn't see the labels past the page protectors and baseball card sheets.I liked the pink dividers so much I considered keeping them anyway, especially since I spent all that time making and placing the labels.

Then I realized how silly that was and headed to Office Depot.

Despite the fact that the Office Depot employee told me he didn't believe they carried any dividers that were specifically made to be extra-wide, I found these. This time before I put the labels on I put the dividers in the binder to see how they would work.Awesome, they will work.

I took the labels off the pink dividers and was able to place them on the new dividers.I love it.

And, they are longer than the plastic pages. Woo hoo.I added something that I hope will help me keep my coupons within categories even more organized. For categories that include several sub-categories I want to keep like coupons with like coupons. For example, within Toiletries I want to keep the toothbrushes and toothpastes together and  make up coupons together, etc. I made a label to stick on the actual plastic page. At first, I thought that might be a little much. For that reason I have not done this through the entire binder. I'll try it with these first and if I like it I will add more.

When deciding which categories to use I first checked Krazy Coupon Lady's suggestions. They didn't quite work for me. I looked at what my categories used to be and what coupons I collect most and created categories based on those things.

My categories are:
baking
bread
snacks
breakfast
lunch/dinner
sides
fridge
frozen
cans & jars
cleaning
paper products
meds
toiletries
Target
misc.

I know I have some that may overlap. We'll see how it works.

One thing Krazy Coupon Lady did that I want to eventually add is a table of contents that lists the categories (see here.) Actually, I might do mine a little differently. Her table of contents simply states the categories and then she has a page for the front of each section that explains what is in that section. I might combine the two in the table of contents. We'll see. I don't see that happening any time soon because I want to get started on my next project...

A price book. I have a price book but it needs to be updated and changed around. I want to have my price book because I need to know when a deal is really a good deal. For example, if I hear about a deal at Walgreens I need to know what that product would cost at Target, CVS, Walmart, and my local grocery stores. Plus, I could track sales cycles. (Who am I trying to kid, I don't see that part happening, but it could.)

I am linking up to Works for Me Wednesday, Org. Junkie's 52 Weeks,  A Bowl Full of Lemon's One Project at a Time, Organize with Sandy's Organizing Mission Monday, and Frugal Friday at Marsha's spot.

Rearranging my cabinets

Yesterday, I was baking my son's birthday cake for his party (which was today) so I needed to find ingredients that I don't use very often. That required me to get into an awkward cabinet. It is a cabinet in the corner of the kitchen, but it's not what I consider a corner cabinet. It's door isn't angled. Instead, the cabinet is super deep. It is very hard to get to anything at the back of the cabinet. I'd heard the tip about using a lazy susan in cabinets and gave it a try. It has worked out very well.

Here is what I saw when I opened the cabinet yesterday.Having the lazy susan in the cabinet allows me to see what is in the back without having to take a bunch of stuff out. I don't remember what I was looking for, but I was looking a little more thoroughly than I normally do. (The stuff I use most often is the closest to the door.) I looked a little more closely and this is what I saw:(I had to use the flash to really show what was in there.) If you look closely you can see the top of a box in the very back. That box is not on the lazy susan so I did not know what it was. I pulled everything out and this is what I found:I must have bought the powdered milk for a recipe--which I must not have ever made because the box was unopened. The jar is marked for making your own salad dressing, which I have never done. I would never have looked for the powdered milk back there. So, if I needed it for another recipe, I would have bought more. I would have looked there for the jar but we received it as a wedding or shower gift (11 years ago) and have never used it so I probably would have never even looked for it.

When I put the stuff back there I guess I thought it was the best use of space because it is stuff I hardly ever (or never) use. Now I see that I might as well say good-bye to anything I put behind the lazy susan because I won't see it for a long while. I decided to make a small change to see if I could make it work a little better.

Here is what I did:It is a very small change. I pushed the lazy susan back farther and brought the powdered milk up front.

The lazy susan turned just fine and I was still able to get what I needed off of it so I decided to check the top shelf.

Here is what I saw:Looks pretty good. The lazy susan works great up here.

Here is what I couldn't see:These items were behind the lazy susan. The oil and vinegar thing is another wedding/shower gift that has never been used. I have no idea why the matches were back there. My husband was looking for matches last fall when he was having issues with the grill and we couldn't find any (because I hid them.) Obviously not a good place for them because I would never (and didn't) look back there for them. The box contains cupcake liners, decorative icing, and Wilton icing color. Guess what I bought yesterday morning before I baked the cake?Wilton black icing color. (It worked out because I ended up using what I already had in addition to what I bought, but still.)

So, I moved that lazy susan back also.Not much of a difference as far as how the lazy susan works, but a big difference as far as how effectively the space gets used.

Now that I am looking at the pictures I am not so sure I am going to like having to reach inside the cabinet to get to the items on the lazy susans. I know I tested them yesterday but we will see if I still like it when I am actually in the middle of cooking. Even if I don't like them so far back and decide to move them toward the front, I am still better off not having anything behind them.

I'm linking up to Works for Me Wednesday and Org Junkie's 52 Weeks of Organizing (for both the using of the lazy susans as well as moving them so far back in this corner.)

Doing the dishes

I'm guessing I'm like most moms when I say I spend a lot of time doing dishes. Since I am home during the day I do breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack dishes Every. Single. Day. I remember early on in my journey through motherhood thinking, "How many years of my life am I going to spend doing dishes?" Before I had my daughter I didn't really cook so when I started making family meals it was a huge change for me.

I have made peace with the fact that I must do dishes every day. I have lightened my load a bit by handing over the task of emptying the dishwasher to my children (most of the time.) Still, I spend so much time with my hands underwater I have this patch of eczema on my thumb I can't quite get rid of. Luckily, I have a dishwasher. I can't imagine not having one. I think I would really despise doing the dishes if I had to wash every dish by hand.

I have refined my technique a bit over the years. I have my special way of loading the dishwasher (don't you?) and while I would like to reload it my way when my husband puts the dishes in, I don't. (Really, if he could learn to do it my way, that'd be great. I'll keep dreaming.) I no longer put our expensive knives and wooden spoons in the dishwasher and will not put any new pots or pans in.

There is one easy tip that I learned from a friend that I am so happy to have found. (My friend doesn't even know. I just saw her do it one day and was like, duh!) For years I have used those dishwashing wands you fill with dishwashing liquid. I have not found one I am crazy about. Some don't let enough soap out, others always have a big spot where the soap is coming through.

My friend had her bottle of dishwashing liquid out and poured it directly on her sponge. Lightbulb. I didn't want my ugly bottle of dishwashing liquid out all the time but I knew I could work with that. Here is what I do:
I initially used Dawn foaming dishwashing liquid. In my effort to be more green I looked for an alternative. The Dawn may not have had harmful ingredients but when I found a Method dishwashing liquid with a pump I knew that was what I wanted to use. Plus, with the pump (both the Dawn and Method have pumps) I didn't have to keep picking up and putting down the bottle. Love it.

None of that addressed the issue of leaving the ugly bottle out. If you look closely in the picture you will notice that you can't see the bottle. What you see is an apron made for dishwasher bottles for this reason. Normally, I am not this cutsie. I would not have looked for something to go on the front of the bottle. I had this because (I am embarrassed to admit) I bought this off ebay thinking it was a full sized apron. Looking at it now, I am even questioning my judgement on that. Floral is not my style, I am much more a solid color girl. I can't remember exactly how it happened but my guess is that it was super cheap. (Shocking, I bought something super cheap and was disappointed by it. Will I never learn?)

That's it. Super simple but not something I came up with on my own. Though, I feel like I should have.

I am linking up to Works for Me Wednesday.

Screen time & my kids

I have a love/hate relationship when it come to tv and my kids.

I hate that if they could choose one thing to do, they may very well pick watch tv. I hate that I have to constantly monitor how much they watch. I hate that when they are watching tv they can barely be interrupted, even though they are almost watching a show they have seen before.

I love that if I really need to get something done, I can turn on the tv and know I won't be bothered until what they are watching is over.

We have one rule that we do not waiver from. The tv does not get turned on before school. Most days my daughter doesn't watch it after school either. In the afternoons my son watches some tv after lunch while I am getting things done around the house and while the two little ones I watch are napping. If I am not careful before I know it he will have had three hours of straight tv time.

While my kids mostly want to watch tv they do occasionally play games on pbs kids or on the iPad. Lately, when I would tell my son no more tv he would want to play on the iPad or computer. So, I introduced the concept of screen time and began to limit it. I decided four shows would be enough. That is a little under two hours. As I write it it sounds like a lot, but I've always been honest on this blog and that is honestly what I allow.

I wanted to come up with something that would help the kids see how much time they used and how much time they had left. I also wanted them to be able to keep track themselves. I know there are probably a ton of crafty ideas out there. I didn't have time to look for them. I wanted something quick. I figured I could come up with something better this summer if I need to.

This is what I did.I took blue painter's tape and stuck it to the wall mounted file holder I have for each kid. I made a straight line marked with 15 minute intervals. After 60 minutes I started back at 15. At each 30 & 60 interval I also wrote what number show that would equal. (30 minutes would be 1 show, 60 minutes is 2 shows) I did it that way because that is usually how my kids watch tv. Instead of tracking their exact minutes it is based on shows. They do sometimes play games on the computer or iPad, that's why I also included the minutes. I used a little person shaped clip I already had that moves to show elapsed time.It didn't take very much time to do but the second went even faster than the first. For the second I just placed the new piece of tape over the completed piece (see above.) I used a bookmark that was handy (I didn't even have to go get my ruler) to draw the line. Then, I marked the intervals by drawing a line on the new tape right under where the original marks were on the first piece.As always, more practical than pretty.

It has worked great. It's amazing how quickly kids take to something like this. The first or second day my son walked over to his and moved the little guy on his own.

I am linking up to Works for Me Wednesday.

New use for old thing--my baking soda sprinkler

In an effort to encourage being green, Jen at i heart organizing challenged her readers to repurpose something they already have and use it in a new way. Instead of buying something new, use what you have at home.

Here is what I came up with:
A baking soda sprinkler.

This is kind of double green. I used an old parmesan cheese canister to hold the baking soda I use to clean with.

In an effort to be greener I have started trying to use more natural cleaning products. I read over and over how awesome baking soda is for cleaning. I've tried it and so far, so good. Initially, I was lugging around a giant bag of baking soda when I was cleaning but knew I needed something else. Since I usually sprinkle the baking soda I thought this was my best option.

It is, as always, more practical than pretty.

I am linking up to Works for Me Wednesday.

Cleaning the shower

I hate cleaning the shower. I used the hate cleaning the entire bathroom but since I started swishing and swiping it's not so bad. I actually get a sense of calm from swishing and swiping (which I do on Tuesdays & Thursdays and someone does on the weekend.) By doing a quick wipe down of the bathroom a few times a week it never gets really bad. If my bathroom is clean I feel like I am a long way towards having a clean house.

I haven't yet found a way to clean my shower like that. I know some people wipe it down each time it is used. I don't see my husband (or kids) doing that every time. It would just make me mad if I wiped the shower each time and no one else in the house did.

I think one of the reasons I hate cleaning the shower is that there is no easy way to do it. I have to actually get in the shower to clean it. Then, my feet get all wet and yucky. When I get out of the shower I have to either wipe them on the rug or a towel. If I have to let the cleaner sit for a while I have to come back and do it again.

I've tried ignoring the shower and while that works for a while it is not a solution. Instead this is what I've come up with.
I wear a pair of flip flops in the shower while I clean it. I keep this old pair in the bathroom and use them only for wearing while I clean the shower. I think I got them from the $1 spot at Target so they are horrible to wear for any period of time but work great for wearing in the shower.If I have to get out of the shower and come back to finish I just leave them. That way none of the yuck is tracked on my floor and the shoes are waiting by the shower for me when I am able to return.
OK, so it doesn't actually help me to clean the shower. It does make it more likely that I will do it since I don't hate it quite so much.

I am linking up to We are THAT family for Works for Me Wednesday.

Remembering to take medication.

Recently I had some crazy infection on my thumb. I have no idea how I got it, nor did the doctor have a guess. I haven't cut my cuticles in years. (It's not that I wouldn't, I just haven't painted my fingernails in a long, long time.) There was no cut that could have gotten infected. He prescribed antibiotics and that did the trick but taking the medication wasn't as easy as it should've been.

I have a problem with taking medication. I forget if I have taken it that day or not. I was supposed to take the antibiotics three times a day. I was never sure when the last time I took it was. I knew I should take one around breakfast, one around lunch, and one before bed. Even doing it that way I was never sure if I took it around breakfast today or was that yesterday? I don't know if it is that I am home all day or if it is just the kind of person I am but my days run together. Especially when I am talking about activities that I do every day. Sometimes I can't distinguished between this morning's breakfast and yesterday's breakfast. I know I probably had Honey Bunches of Oats with almonds and a glass of juice. My son had Life and my daughter had a smoothie. That happens just about every day, though. So, to help me know when I last took my medication here is what I came up with.



(Sorry for the blurry picture. I tried several times and this was as good as it got.)

I keep meds that need to be taken every day in a cabinet in my kitchen. It is the cabinet we keep the bowls in so I will see it when I make my cereal. It happens to be the one above all my pens and Sharpies. On the prescription bottle I would write the date every time I took my medication. That way I knew how many times I took it each day. I tried to write the numbers in three distinct columns so I could tell what time of day I took it. The column on the far left was am, middle was lunchtime, right was pm. Next time I think I might make more distinct columns.

I am linking up to Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT family.

Big kid bike tip

I have the best tip for helping kids learn to ride two wheel bikes. It has two parts.

Keep a little bike with training wheels on it after your child has outgrown it.

Get a balance buddy.

Here's how I know it works.

My son will turn five next month and he has been riding a two wheel bike since the beginning of school. At the time he was four years and three months old. (I add the months because he was just over four instead of closer to five.)

On the first day of school my son and I were getting ready to walk to the bus stop to get my daughter. He said he wanted to ride the two wheel bike. (I had already taken the training wheels off the little bike at the beginning of the summer, thinking my daughter was ready. She crashed once and was not willing to crash again, so she refused to ride without training wheels.) I found this nifty piece of equipment to help in two wheel training.

It's called the balance buddy. It is so helpful because you don't have to bend over and hold the seat and handle bars of the bike. Instead you can stand tall and still help your child stay balanced. I was able to run upright alongside my little biker instead of awkwardly bending over.

In addition to the balance buddy, my kids started riding a two wheel bike on the small princess bike my daughter got when she was three. They completely outgrew it but when it was time to ride without training wheels I had them use this bike.

It was easier for them to start the bike rolling if they were able to have both feet on the ground. Also, they could easily put their feet down when they started losing balance. It worked great.

By the time my daughter got off the bus, he was able to ride as long as I could help him get started (again, the balance buddy was super useful.) It didn't take long for him to figure out how to start on his own.

Not to be outdone by her younger brother, my daughter wanted to try. She too was able to ride the two wheel bike without much assistance that first day.

I do think part of it was that they were ready. A big part, though, was having the right equipment. A little bike and the balance buddy.

I'm liking up to Works for Me Wednesday and The Diaper Diaries for Things I Love Thursday.

Great cleaning & organizing advice

One of the best pieces of advice I have heard about cleaning and organizing is

"If it takes less than a minute or two, just do it."

I don't remember where I heard it first but I have heard it several times in a couple different forms. The first time I heard it I believe the advice was "If it takes less than 30 seconds, just do it." Well, I can convince myself that most things that I don't want to do are going to take more than 30 seconds (true or not.) Thirty seconds is only half a minute, that's nothing.

Then I heard the form I agree with, "If it takes less than a minute or two, just do it." While I can talk myself out of doing lots of things because they are going to take more than 30 seconds, most of them can be completed in less than two minutes.

Often, if I do the job right away (instead of putting it off) it will save me time overall. Even if it won't save me time, they are often things that I am glad to just be finished with.

Here are a few examples:

One of my monthly jobs is to vacuum the dust ruffle on my bed. (I have a black dog that likes to rub up against it.) I remember last month realizing I was supposed to vacuum the dust ruffle right after I got finished wrapping up the cord for the vacuum. I really didn't want to unwind the cord and plug it back in, just to vacuum that small piece of fabric. Those words "If it takes less than a minute or two, just do it." popped into my head. So, grudgingly, I did it. When I was finished, I was glad I did.

Another great example is washing plastic bags. Unless absolutely necessary, I try not to throw away plastic storage bags. I like to wash them out and reuse them. Unfortunately, I hate washing them out. So, I let them pile up until they look like this:


and this


Once they get to that stage it takes a lot longer to deal with them than if I would just wash them out as I use them. Last week, I finished cleaning up the dishes and there were two plastic bags sitting on the counter staring at me. I so wanted to walk away and just deal with them later. Again, "If it takes less than a minute or two, just do it." popped into may head. So, I did it (even though I wasn't happy about it.) I know that it took very little time to do then and I didn't have those bags on the counter constantly mocking me, making me feel bad for not dealing with them.

A last example just happened over the weekend. My husband was out of town so as a treat the kids got to sleep on the trundle bed in the office. I made the mistake of looking under the bed before I pushed the trundle back under. This is what I saw


what you can't really see is the extent of the dust. Look at this:


I so wanted to just push the bed back. I hadn't planned on cleaning under there. I didn't want to. I had other things I wanted to do. But, those words just wouldn't let me leave the mess. I timed myself and it took 3:14 to finish it. That is over a minute or two but my son was also in there "helping" me and that could've added time. Even if he didn't add time, 3:14 is still not very much time. While I'm not convinced cleaning under there at that moment saved me any time in the long run (like some other tasks might) it still gave me peace of mind. I felt better knowing I cleaned it up than I would have if I had left it.

So, my advice, if it takes less than a minute or two, just do it (especially if it is something you really don't want to do.)

I'm linking up to Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Famiy.

Potty Help

It's spring break at my house this week so I am going to keep this short and sweet.

Sometimes when I hear a tip (or come up with one myself) I think, "That makes sense." This is one of those tips. When we have little ones on the potty, I think we forget what it's like to be sitting on a toilet with our feet dangling. It's hard to get the job done that way. Most parents I know that have small children have some kind of stool in their bathroom to help the kids be able to reach the faucet. Take that stool and let them use it to put their feet on while they are sitting on the toilet. It makes their job a little easier.



I'm linking up to Works for Me Wednesday.

Early risers

Like lots of kids, mine are early risers. My daughter (recently turned seven) has started to sleep in at times. My son, never. Seriously, I can probably count on my two hands the number of times, in his four years, he's slept past eight.

I always felt like the early rising was, at least in part, due to this crazy attachment they have to me. As soon as their eyes flutter in the morning, they jump out of bed and race to my room. This seems to be the case because they often sleep later if they are sleeping over at someone else's house or if I am out of town.

It is not unusual for my kids to wake between six and seven. At times, they get into a rut where they keep getting up earlier and earlier. Especially my son. If he wakes up at 6:30 one day, the next day he might wake at 6:00 and the next day at 5:45. I thought if they knew they couldn't get up before a certain time they would stop waking up so early.

For my daughter, I put an alarm clock in her room and told her she could come out when the first number turned to seven. That worked like a charm for her.

When I started this with my son, he was so young he didn't yet know his numbers. I had to come up with something else. I bought a timer (the kind you would put on a lamp) and attached it to a small turtle lamp we had. (This was one time holding on to all kinds of junk worked out. This was a lamp someone gave us for our wedding.) I set the timer for seven. At seven, the light turns on. If his turtle is on when he wakes up, he can get up. If it is not, he has to wait until it comes on. This works GREAT, if I stay consistent with it. If I start letting up, he gets into the habit of waking earlier and earlier and we have to start over.


Initially, I tried the type of timer that uses a dial to set the time. I wasn't able to tell exactly what time I was setting on the dial. This digital timer worked better for me because I could be more precise. While I wanted him to stay in his room until seven, I also wanted him to be able to come out at seven and that wasn't easy to set up with the other type of timer.








It's always difficult at first. Usually, the first day he comes in before seven I take him back to his room. Of course, he whines and cries and makes it hard on both of us. The next day I tell him he has to go back to his room on his own or there will be a consequence (usually loss of tv for the day.) He goes back, whining as he does it. After a day or two, he stays in his room until seven (or later) and it was all worth it.

I'm linking up to Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family.

Side note:
My son was such a horrible sleeper we saw a sleep specialist around his first birthday and then again around his second birthday. She recommends using an auditory signal. The theory behind that is that it's easier for the child to fall back to sleep if they wake up and don't hear something. If you use a visual signal and they wake up, looking at something requires them to wake up more than listening for something. They don't even need to open their eyes if they don't hear the sound. Also, if you use a visual signal they will lay there and look at the light, which will keep them up. My issue with the auditory signal is that if my son was asleep and the sound started, it woke him up. The lamp I use isn't so bright it wakes him up if he is asleep when it turns on. I did have to put a slipper on over the timer because it is a little loud when it clicks on.

Messy faces tip

Over the past seven years, I have watched many children in my home. When my daughter was little she got sick, a lot. Because of all the colds she caught, she had chronic ear infections. She had tubes put in her ears on her first birthday. That helped some but she still seemed to get sick more often and get sicker than the other kids. We eventually had her blood tested and found she had a low IgA count. (It's an antibody.) All of that made me a total freak about kids spreading germs. I know it's going to happen when you have kids around each other, but I did everything I could to limit the spread.

If you have children, you know that when they first start eating solids no matter what you do, they get messy. After each meal they have to be washed off. I had at least three kids here at a time so I needed to wipe off at least three messy faces. I know some people would use disposble wipes. I was too cheap. I know some people would use one washcloth on all three babies. I didn't want to do that because I was trying to limit the spread of germs. So, I found small, cheap baby washcloths (probably at Wal-Mart or Babies R Us.) I would use a new washcloth each day for each child. I was able to color code the washcloths. My daughter would get pink (my favorite color), another girl would get blue (her favorite color), the third would get green (she's a St. Patrick's Day baby) or yellow.

I wanted to use the same washcloth all day (or maybe even for a couple of days) so I needed a place to hang them to dry and stay until I needed them again. Here is what I came up with:



I used medium sized Command hooks to hold the bibs (right now I only have one bib wearer, I guess it's time to remove the other hooks) and small hooks to hold the washcloths. Everything can hang up to dry and it is all out of the way.

The only thing I would warn against is letting the washcloths touch the wood cabinet. The paint is chipping a little bit at the bottom. I would either use the larger hooks because they cover more area or I would use hooks that could be installed under the cabinet.

I'm linking up to Works for Me Wednesday. I'm also linking up to A Bowl Full of Lemons for this week's Weekly Challenge.

Expired medication

Last month A Bowl Full of Lemons hosted the 21 Days to Getting Organized Challenge. Since I did so much decluttering and purging last year, I didn't need to complete all of the challenges (luckily because I couldn't have done a challenge a day.) I did check out the challenges and redid some of my areas.

One of the challenges was the linen closet. In my linen closet I keep more than just linens. I keep towels, sheets for the master bedroom and spare bedroom, medication and first aid supplies and a few miscellaneous things. Not long ago, I decluttered my linen closet. The part I still needed to declutter was the medication.

I have two bins that I keep meds in. When I need something, like ibuprofen, I take out the bin and dig. More often than not, I have to dig through lots of expired medication to find what I need. That's why I needed to sort through my meds.

I looked at every bottle and box in those bins. This is what I was able to get rid of. It may not seem like a lot but it took up a lot of room in those bins.
What I realized was that when I looked in the bins, even after purging all the expired medication, I still couldn't tell what was in each box or bottle. This is why there were several meds I had doubles of. To remedy this, I took a Sharpie and wrote on the cap of each bottle and box. I wrote what was in the bottle or box and if was a prescription, who it was for.


I'm linking up to Works for Me Wednesday and Organize with Sandy.

Changing diapers

As moms, we change diapers. We probably don't realize how many diapers we are going to change before that first baby comes. We probably don't realize how many times we are going to have someone else's poop on our hands or clothes. We probably wouldn't believe you if you told us that, while we still think it's gross, having poop on our hands becomes no big deal. Well, maybe that's just me.

I've been changing diapers now for seven years. When my daughter was little, I watched two other babies her age (three babies under one.) When they were two, and still in diapers, I had my second baby. The big kids were still in diapers, my son was a baby and I watched a baby his age. Five in diapers (for a short period of time.) Over time, some kids left, new ones came. I've always had at least one in diapers. Currently, I have a two year old and an eight month old in diapers. Wow, I've changed a lot of diapers.

At some point in time every baby starts to reach to their diaper area. Sometimes they reach around the side, sometimes they go right down the middle. That can be messy. Most of us hold a baby's legs like this:


This allows us to lift the baby up to replace the dirty diaper with a clean one. As you can see by the picture, the baby can reach right where the mess will be. I've learned that if I fold the baby's legs (kind of like criss cross applesauce) I still can hold them with one hand and it makes it impossible for the baby to reach the mess.


This little maneuver has helped me avoid some very messy situations.


I'm linking up to Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family.

Playing in the Snow

We've had several snow days this year. My husband is a teacher, so if school is called off, he's home. When he's ready to head out to shovel the driveway, I bundle the kids up and send them out with him. One day, after playing for a short period of time, my daughter came to the door because her wrists were cold. The skin between her glove and sleeve of the coat was pink and wet. Her gloves just weren't long enough to keep her wrist covered while she was playing. I took a pair of my old slipper socks (that's pretty much what I wear inside all winter long,) cut off the foot and put the cuff part on her wrist. I was so impressed with myself that I also cut a pair for my son. What's the saying? "Necessity is the motherhood of invention."



I'm linking up to We are THAT family for Works for Me Wednesday.

laundry

Every day I try to do a load or two of laundry. (I'm not sure where I heard the idea first flylady, sidetracked home executives, messies manual?) I used to have a laundry day but that doesn't work for my family anymore. I rarely have an entire day to spend washing, folding, and putting away laundry. So, the one to two loads a day works for me. That means I always have some dirty laundry. The way I used to do laundry meant all the clothes would pile up in a basket at the bottom of the laundry chute. I'd then sort the clothes in piles according to color and when my laundry was finished the floor would be clear until next laundry day. When I switched to doing laundry (almost) every day I would have piles of dirty clothes all over the floor in my storage/laundry room all the time. I looked into the fancy laundry sorters but none that I found worked for me. Some were too expensive, some were too small. None were just right. This is what I came up with:





The small wicker baskets are for undies (dark & white), the three plastic baskets are for our clothes and the blue bins are for towels (dark and light.) The plastic baskets are sorted by color category. Blue is for darks. White is for jeans and pants (really most things with a zipper.) Grey is for greys and lights. (Maybe it's because I used to teach PE but we have a lot of grey.) The plastic bins can stack together, the wicker baskets can stack together and the towel bins collapse. I got everything at Deal's (a dollar store) and the most expensive piece was $5. It is not pretty but it works for me.

I'm going to link to Works for Me Wednesday over We are THAT Family for the first time today.

Can so&so come over?

I wanted to link up to Works for Me Wednesday today for the first time. I wrote my post about a laundry tip and headed over to We Are That Family to try to figure out how to participate. Then I saw that Kristen's post is titled "Parenting Outside the House" and immediately my tip came to mind. I am by no means a parenting expert and will not claim to be. (I believed I was much more of an expert before I had children. It's funny how once I had those babies I was put in my place.) This practice did actually start before I had children. I am the oldest of four. The two youngest are thirteen and fifteen years younger than me. While I wasn't a parent to them, I was more than just a big sister. It used to drive me crazy when my brother and sister would ask my mom if a friend could come over while the friend was standing there. It puts everyone in an awkward position. As a parent, it still drives me crazy. In my house, the rule is "If you ask in front of your friend, the answer is no." We still have some work to do, though. While my daughter (who is 6) won't ask in front of her friend, she will ask me to leave the room so she can ask me. So it's not perfect, but it's a good start.