Cleaning and Organization Tips

I wanted to share some tips I've recently put into practice:

• White distilled vinegar is a great fabric softener and odor eater. It's also cheap. Fill a Downy ball and toss it in. No waiting for the rinse cycle. Find more vinegar uses here: http://www.versatilevinegar.org/usesandtips.html

• Odds and ends laying around? Use an over the door clear shoe bag. Use on the back of closet and pantry doors. Tape, scissors, mittens, sunscreen, keys, bubbles, etc. All those things you need to grab in a hurry and don't want cluttering up a drawer.

• Club soda = window cleaner. Pour into a spray bottle and let your kids do it! Courtesy: "Clean House, Clean Planet"

• Want an alternative to antibacterial soap? Use a 16 oz. spray bottle. Fill near to top with distilled or purified water, add 20-30 drops of tea tree oil and three tbsp. of liquid soap (I like Dr. Bronner's baby or peppermint). Shake to mix. Use on little hands, doorknobs, toys, counter tops, sinks, etc. Recipe Courtesy: "Clean House, Clean Planet"

• Space Bags - they really do work. Stuff a winter comforter, clothes, etc. in a bag and use the vacuum cleaner to compress, protect and organize. I was amazed with how space saving they are! They can be found at Wal-mart and are reusable.

• Efferdent: It'll clean your dentures, retainers and those little tablets will also clean your toilet. Throw a few in, let it sit, scrub and rinse. Also, use them in vases and thermoses.

• DVD boxes taking up space and scattered? Use a CD/DVD storage book to store the DVDs.

• Cell phones/Ipods/chargers taking up room and making your counter top look cluttered? Cut holes in the side of a decorative card box or have your kids decorate a shoe box. Plug in chargers, slide the cords through box holes, place coordinating items in box, plug in and cover box. You'll have a decorative box or your child's art project on display instead of a cluttered mess.

• Ketchup = copper cleaner. The bottom of my pots are copper and ketchup works wonders!

Two Minutes in the Life of a Stay-at-Home Parent

My husband thinks my job is easy. Really easy. In fact, so easy, complaining about it at all means I should get a REAL job. I go to the gym three days a week. The girls stay at the gym daycare for a couple of hours in the morning. I pick them up, feed them lunch, and put them down for a nap. They nap at the same time. Liv gets up an hour before Lila. But, usually, I get two hours to myself. What do I have to complain about? After all, my house isn't the picture of clean (it's not, generally, dirty or messy - just some where in between). How hard can a day be?

Fact: Gym is three days a week. According to Matt, I'm a stay-at-home mom all seven. I'll give him credit in that he's a wonderful diaper changer and he's my laundry guy. He does more than a lot of dads do. He cross-country skies with Liv, he takes her for walks, he wears Lila in the Ergo Carrier, he reads them books, starts the bath and puts Liv to bed very often. But, oh, it's still hard staying at home with them my DH (dear husband).

Example: This morning, while Lila was napping, Liv was playing quietly in my room. So, I ran downstairs to get some laundry. I was gone all of two minutes. As I entered the bedroom, I smelled it. Oh, no she didn't...oh, yes she did. There she was, leaning over the toilet, with a proud expression on her face, "My poopy, mommy! My poopy!!!! I put it in the toilet."

With her HANDS! She had taken off her panties, pooped on the floor (my fault because I had closed the door to her bathroom where her potty is), picked it up and put it in the toilet. Her dress was stuck to her butt and as I took off the dress, I realized that she had it all over her. Into the bath she went!

A friend of mine recently told me we should take a trip to Anchorage this summer. I'd have to bring Lila because I'm nursing. But, I could leave Olivia behind with Matt. While I love my husband dearly and I know Matt is a wonderful and capable father, I think he'd get to see half (the other half, Lila, would be with me) of what I go through each day. Maybe his perspective would change a little bit....

I love my girls and I wouldn't trade this job. But, as a stay-at-home parent, I'm a work-in-progress and at times, I want to pull my hair out.

Weekend Fun

The weekend flew by. Lately, I wonder where the time has gone. Has Matt really been home over four months already?!

We had a lot of fun hanging out with friends this weekend. Saturday, I found out late in the morning that we were scheduled to have people over for dinner that night. Matt forgot to tell me that it had been arranged. Anyway, Matt decided to grill and we attempted to throw something together at the last minute. It was a bit disorganized and I was a little embarrassed that I hadn't pulled more food options together and been a better host. But, the quick and easy fake-out cheesecake (courtesy Rachael Ray) dessert I choose to make came out well and everyone seemed to like it. Here's the link to it if you're interested: http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/?q=recipes/fake-out-cheesecake

Liv had fun playing with four-year-old, Arthur. At one point in the evening, Arthur was laying on the living room floor and Liv put a blanket on him and patted his back. She's such a little mom!

Every weekend, I tell myself that I'll have Matt watch the girls while I clean our room. It's been hard to clean it during the day lately because Olivia likes to help. You can't get too much done when your two-year-old is trying to help. So, when I brought Arthur's mom, Sarah, into our room to look at some photo's I've hung up (about the only thing I've done with our room), I told myself that Olivia is the perfect excuse for not having it cleaned. But, would it really have been that hard to have at least made the bed? Other mom's seem to have every inch of their house clutter-free, decorated beautifully and near-spotless. Note to self: Be like other moms - manage time more wisely, stop making excuses, clean and declutter more often.

Olivia got a tricycle on Sunday. She isn't coordinated enough to work the pedals. But, that didn't stop her from trying! She even wore her helmet inside because she was so excited about her bike. She and her friend, Ellie wore themselves out biking together. Ellie's father, BJ, was a great sport and helped police Olivia and Ellie as they rode and Matt again manned the grill.

This coming week is packed with events. Doctors appointments, FRG meeting, hair cuts, KinderMusik, swimming lessons, etc. I'm tired just thinking about it!