Tips & Tricks ~
A few of the things that have worked for me
Tips & Tricks »
With the 4 little persons that inhabit my home we have somehow accumulated a ridiculous amount of toys. I have pared them down to their absolute favorites (super heroes, dress-up, Mini-Ponies, etc.), my favorite toys for them (wooden train sets, magnetic dressing dolls, etc.), not to mention all of my learning sets (Cuisinaire blocks, sentence building blocks, math manipulatives, etc.). It had gotten out of control. I’ve tried several different ways to contain them, but I think I’ve found my favorite so far. It has worked for quite awhile beautifully and I thought I’d share!
We have a toy closet.
It’s not pretty, people, but it’s functional. And the boxes underneath the shelf are our clothes for next season, just ignore those! And take a good look at that shelf - I used my first power tool to try to cut that sucker to fit. In.My.Closet. I was so worried about my former mishaps with closets that I took the phone in there and shut the door, so that if there was a bloody accident that I could make an emergency call without my children even knowing. Smart, huh?
Which used to be my sewing closet, but I moved it, I know, shocking. This closet is in my room. Where I have control over what goes in and comes out. With my littlest man, I need to know where every single lego, piece of playdough, and Mr. Potato part is. at. all. times. I separated them into buckets according to sets of toys and then put them away. Now they can ask for a bucket or two at a time and I can monitor the mess and make sure if it’s small toy parts that they don’t make it into busy toddler boy’s mouth.
To the right is a shoe hangy thingy that I have separated puzzles into ziplocks and put into the pockets.
To take it a step further I want to print off pictures and names of each bucket (kind of like I made the chore cards - that didn’t work for me long-term) and stick them in a book with sheet protectors so that they can look through it and pick what they want to play with (like a catalog). This would allow further control of the closet since they want to go in, look around, and in that time TheBaby-est has wandered in and started dumping buckets - argh! But that’s a project for another day.
To read more good ideas - go to Works For Me Wednesday!
(Okay, people, I know that I’m not even on the right wfmw, but c’mon, this is not a “how to make sure you’re on the right day” post. I already had it typed when I realized she had a schedule. Who knew? So, I’m publishing today and then I’ll republish and link on her site on December 3rd. I do love leftovers after all.)
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This is the way they clean the house, clean the house, clean the house!
At least it’s how my creative little ones do it (you know, when I’m not yelling at them to actually “Get on it!” and having to detail each and every move they make next!)
These are not all the same day, I’ve taken these pictures over the last year and they make me laugh every time I see them!
The 3 above pictures are when I told them to pick up all the crayons that had been dumped.
This one is how we clean out the couch cushions. I pull ‘em all off, get a bucket, and let them go “treasure hunting” - then they have to find “homes” for all the treasures they find. They’re usually so excited about finding toys they’ve lost, because, you know, I do this kind of cleaning all of 2 times a year! Whatever they leave gets trashed. While I vacuum, I let them make hideouts with the cushions.
And this picture just cracks me up! I told my girl to go around and hunt down all of her toys and put them in this spot so that we can put them away later. I walked over a little later and she had arranged them while cleaning, into this. That girl! She’s so funny!
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Due to lack of funds, and an oldest child who used to scream throughout the haircutting process (and sometimes still does) - I have learned how to cut hair. Kind of. Like everything I attempt I kinda get it right. Sometimes.
The 2 older boys have been the actual hairdresser maybe a total of 5 times. Combined. And everytime I left there I was exhausted, more broke, and thought “surely, I could do this.”
So I set out to figure it out. One mistake at a time. I did take my Middlest to the hairdresser when he decided he didn’t want to be my baby anymore and wanted dinosaur hair. Remember? Heart-breaker. On so many levels!
After that first cut, though, I’ve maintained it on my own.
Haircutting day is a loud, not always joyous, messy day. One that I start preparing the boys (and myself) for, verbally, for days. Many warnings “Boy, y’all need a trim.” “In a couple days I’m gonna cut y’all’s hair.” “Tomorrow is haircuttin’ day.” “Prepare your brains for a haircut today.”
And then I line ‘em up, and snip away. Over the years I’ve trimmed just the ends, maintained a sweet little boy bowl cut, a high and tight, a long and shaggy “like the big boys”, a surfer/dinosaur/spiky number, a current “Troy Bolton” (if you don’t know that’s a High School Musical reference - well, then shame on you), and now adding to my portfolio - the cutesy girl “bob”. Yep, I did it. I succumbed to the gentle asking of a little girl “Mommy, you cut my hair now?” And since I could take no more of the girl-mullet - I snipped away.
The baby hasn’t had a trim yet. Still tryin’ to grow that stuff in. Chikezie got a new shaved-do a couple months ago too, but he managed to miss the scissor-happiness that occurred this day.
Oh, while I was at it, I cut my locks off too. And then I went to a real hairdresser and asked her to make me cute, not just choppy. I don’t have a post-hairdresser pic yet. Stay tuned.
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I have to admit, since my youngest has been mobile - laundry around here has kicked my butt. That’s right. I said it. Kickin’ my butt. I used to have it under control. Wash a load, dry a load, fold a load, put away a load. Now, I wasn’t always perfect at it, but generally speaking that’s how it went. Then about a year ago, things changed. I couldn’t get it together. I couldn’t ever get caught up (and what does that even mean anymore anyway?). But we’re talkin’ mounds of clothes. Nobody could ever find anything. I had a huge pile in the laundry room of dirty clothes, dirty laundry strewn about the house, and the ever-looming pile of clean-to-be-folded. I began asking around for advice. Something had to be done. Maury said her kids did laundry. Really? Imagine that! And Brandy said she ditched all her towels and bought color-coded towels for each child - it’s immediately obvious who left their towel lying on the floor and it’s some serious cutting down on washing when each child only has one towel for several days.
Step one in taking back the laundry power: minimize. I sorted all the play clothes and told each of the older children (ages 6, 5, and 3) to pick 3 pairs of “around the house” shorts, 2 pairs of jeans, 5 shirts, 2 sets of jammies, all the underwear and socks that actually fit them. They actually liked doing this. They kept their favorites and had no problem giving up all the others.
I have managed to keep our clothes clean - I run a fairly constant load of wash almost daily. But the folding and putting away has been very difficult for me. So until I master each load as it comes out again, I just let the clean clothes pile up and we have “laundry day” once a week. That’s the time that we all go in and fold together while the baby’s sleeping (he destroys everything we’re working on, if not). And then I started throwing clothes, towels, and washcloths in the 3 bigger kids’ directions. I tossed all bigger-boy looking clothes at the bigger boys, I tossed all girl clothes at the girl. I seperated all bath towels and rags into piles. I instructed the girl to sort her undies and socks into one pile and all other play clothes into a pile. She is not required to fold them - just put them in the appropriate drawers - all crumpled for all I care, at least they’re put away. And she digs through the drawers approximately 50 times a day for “just the right outfit” anyway. Why fold?, I say. When this is completed she is to fold the wash cloths and hand towels. I do the putting away on those.
The boys, being a little older, have a little more responsibility. They must sort the big combined boy-clothes pile into which clothes belong to which boy. Then they are to put them away. I still don’t care if they’re folded or not, just put away. They’re the ones wearing them and they are only worn around the house. Who cares, I have other battles I have to win. Amazingly, so far, they have opted, on their own, to fold each item of clothing. Once that’s done they move onto folding bath towels. They even came up with games of racing each other and counting down to see who could fold the most the quickest. Beautiful, I’ll take it!
So, last week I went bold and as the clean towels were folded I put them in the back of my closet. I found some brightly colored towels on sale and the kid’s each picked their favorite. Since my kiddos are still so small they have a hard time getting them onto the rack or hooks. So I bought 2 pairs of hooks, hung them within reach of their little arms, and then sewed ribbon on the edge of the middle of their towels so it would be easier to hang.
While they are sorting, folding, and putting away I’m sorting the baby’s, mine, and my honey’s clothes, and hanging up all “go to town” clothes. And I’ve found they really like doing this. We’re all together working on a common goal and usually laughing about who’s winning with the towels and talking about upcoming events and things they’ve enjoyed (or not so much) lately.
It’s working for us and I feel so good about it. But since much of this is new to us, I’ll keep you updated if this continues to go so well.
Happy folding, folks!
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A friend of mine recently told me how he gets gum off his children when they just happen to accidentally string it all over themselves. Including hair. Spray that gunk with some Pam Cooking Spray (or if you’re cheap like me, the off-brand wal-mart kind works just as well.) It’ll just ball up and come right out in little greasy pieces. I’m not kidding. And, of course, we’ve had opportunity to try it out. Ah.mazing.
(And yes, I did say, he. He is a single dad raising his 2 girls. With tips on stuff like getting gum outta his children’s hair. Ladies?)
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Our last phone survived 2 years. That’s a miracle around here. The drop rate in this house is a little on the extreme side. For instance, my cell phone made it 3 weeks before my daughter dropped it in a cup of Dr. Pepper. DP ain’t kind to a Sony Ericsson. And the fault does not lie completely in the hands of my children - I’m a tad tough on electronics as well.
So after 2 years of constant droppage, our last phone could take no mo’ and bit the dust with much internal rattling.
Father’s Day we went to find a new one and stumbled across this treasure. And they’re not even pimpin’ it to families of small children. What’re they thinkin’? It’s waterproof, heavy, rubbery. Awesome. I’ll keep you posted as to how long it lasts around here. But it’s submersible, people!
Hello, Uniden, for a small fee, I’ll be your poster child.
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These are a few of the sites that I’ve found helpful (or at least entertaining!). Please let me know if you have any that would help others (or myself!).
Poison Control
WebMd
Household Products
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and all of this food talk makes me think… how i feed the young’n’s:
we have a cup of milk first thing (a shot of coffee in the coco for the two older ones - yes, i do, stand down!) and a banana, poptart, granola bar, or other some such insta-food. at about 9:30 or 10 we have a big breakfast - pancakes, french toast, eggs, something substantial (sometimes this is a leftover that doesn’t really qualify for breakfast - ever noticed kids don’t care? and to be perfectly honest this is sometimes frozen pizza - yes, i do, stand down!) then “lunch” is usually after naptime closer to 2pm - and something like lunchmeat, peanuts, fruit, veggies, toast whatever is easy and snacky - not formal-sit-down, just wander in and out, buffet style. then dinner is more structured. i try to cook a full meal and we all sit at the table together with daddy and talk and laugh and say about a gazillion times, “sit down” “eat” “we don’t need to see the food in your mouth” “sit down” “be careful” “try not to spill” - you know. (disclaimer: this is natural and unforced. i always read these “you must have a meal with your family” books. and i agree, but it just comes easy. and it doesn’t have to be dinner - when does it work for you? when my honey was working nights - he wasn’t home for dinner and his biggest meal of the day was at 7:30 in the morning when he got home - so that was our “come together” time. do what works.)
baby eats what and when we eat (you know, once he’s eating food other than from me!) occasionally the dinner is too spicy and we pull out some leftover that he can eat. we don’t fix “kid” foods at meal times. the older ones (everybody but the baby) eat what we eat or go hungry. there’s usually something they’ll eat. if not, so sorry for ya. and besides, all the other meal times are catered to their likes, so get over it. dinner (and weekend breakfasts with daddy) are grown-up meals. we also don’t force food. you must take one bite of everything on your plate (and everything on the table gets put on their plate - even if that’s one lima bean) or you don’t get whatever dessert or treat we have. there’s no plate cleaning. there’s no forced feeding. try it, eat it, or be hungry til the next meal. and no sweets if you refuse the food. we will fudge on this rule for toddlers - 1 and 2 year olds, but the olders (including my almost 3 year old must adhere). and they know this. and we still have the battle at most meals. but they’ll learn eventually and my oldest has. he has actually expanded his palate. either we had something to do with that or it was gonna happen anyway, either way who cares.
so… there’s us. how’s the food at your house?
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otherwise known as “batton down the hatches.”
disclaimer: there will be some joking, because, well, i’m an idiot. but in all seriousness, this is a pretty serious storm. and it’s hitting places that have already been hit pretty hard. please, please, please pray for us and all the people in the path of this storm.
- first of all, go to NOAA, enter your zip code and see what your warnings are. this is cutting out the middle man. your local stations get some of their info here.
- we’ve known this storm is coming for a couple of days now, so i started prepping then. i have lots of ready to eat foods (we’re in an area notorious for losing electricity and we’re not in an area that’s high priority to get back on quickly.) lunch meats, i baked some crescent rolls this morning to keep for later, we have pb&j at the ready, some snacky foods, fruit, and tuna fish - nothing that will need microwaving or the stove. we used to have gas heating and i took for granted hot showers and cooking abilities in an outage.
- we’re on high ground, so flooding is not really a concern for us. i did ask my huz last night if there was any concern of the dam breaking here and he said, if it did, he thinks we’re on the other side of it. so we will not have a scene like the one in “o, brother where are thou!”
- i will dress the children, including shoes, in just a little bit.
- the dog leash will be with us.
- i’ve located the matches, candles, flashlights.
- we have an emergency radio that tells warnings. that is out and on.
- in just a little while we’ll make the bathroom look like this.
- we have several read-alouds ready and some ideas for playing games in the dark.
- we’re all clean, we showered last night so that we wouldn’t have filthy kids and then wonder what to do about hot water if the electricity goes out.
- and, obviously, it’s of utmost importance to get in any blogging while i do all this. i’m fully aware i’m a fool.
it sounds as if i’m a panicky person in storms. and really i’m not. i love a storm. i used to stand on the porch with my honey and watch ‘em roll in. i loved it. but now i have a bunch of kiddos. and that changed the game just a bit. i’m still not scared, but i have to be prepared. especially when my honey’s at work and i’m the johnny on the spot.
so, i thought i’d share what we do around here. y’all that have already been through the storm - how are ya?
(as i type - the warning radio is going off. i better fix that bathroom and grab some books and snacks. argh.)
and those that have yet to go through it - we’re prayin’ for ya.