"Warrior", and Putting It Off Till Tomorrow

Since last fall, all my kids during the day are toddlers except Izzy, and she's not the one making most of the mess.  Toddlers are messy little punkin-heads, with their 1 minute attention spans and rare ability to stop and think about putting a toy away when it gets boring.  Add to that the fact that one of them sleeps in our main living space and is a light sleeper, meaning I can't clean anything up during nap time.  All of this adds up to a pretty substantial mess by the end of the day.  A mess that needs to get cleaned up at night or my next day is ruined, because if the day starts off particularly messy then my mood isn't right and we all have a bad day.  So I've been cleaning up in the evening.

Last night though we had a Christmas dinner with Spencer's dad's relatives about an hour away, which we left for immediately after work and didn't get home until 8:30.  We got our sleepy children to bed and collapsed into an exhausted heap on the couch to watch a movie that Spencer had really liked and knew I'd like to.  The movie was Warrior (click the link to get to the imdb site and click Watch Trailer) which I figured I'd like but had no idea just how much!  Warrior unexpectedly jumped to my favorites list!  It's thrilling, powerful, has some phenomenal fights, and still manages to tug on the old heart-strings. Tom Hardy's not bad to look at either. You might think because it involves MMA fighters there would be a lot of blood, but if blood makes you a little woozy don't worry, there's not much of it at all.


Anyways, after the movie was over it was so late and I was so depleted by the movie that I didn't have anything left to put into cleaning the house.  Spence helped me get it a little bit presentable, I got the dishes taken care of, and I went to bed.

Of course things were a bit cluttered with toys when my first kiddo arrived at 7:15 but once my kids woke up and after I gave them a few minutes to relax and have breakfast, I put them to work.  I told them they needed to have the upstairs picked up all the way and their room cleaned before they could go to the movie they had planned with Nana.  That worked great!  I was able to feed and change the baby and keep an eye on the 1-yr-olds while they did in 5 minutes what would have taken me 15 (actually more since while I would have been picking up, the toddlers would have been right behind me dumping more toys out.).

Moral of the story: See the movie Warrior because it is better than you might think, please and thank you.  Also, sometimes it works to your advantage to put off till tomorrow what could be done today... just as long as you've got good little helpers with plans they don't want to miss out on later!

Bloody Knuckles and Making Soap

A while back I made homemade liquid laundry detergent using borax, arm and hammer washing soda, and fels-naptha soap.  It was a bit of a process but SO cheap it was worth it.  It worked well and I liked the smell, but it was almost too messy to handle.  I had decided the next time I make my own I'd try the powder version.

Yesterday we desperately needed to get some laundry done but were out of laundry detergent so after doing my grocery shopping at Target I grabbed a dollar and change and ran into Cub for a bar of Fels-naptha soap.  And yes, you read that right. I bought my food at Target and my soap at Cub... it had to be done.

I already had a big box of Borax and Arm and Hammer so I went to work grating up the bar of Fels-Naptha with the cheese grater, but I made the mistake of using the side that would have grated it up into a fine powder (allowing me to skip the next step) and my hand slipped and I shredded up 2 of my knuckles. 

Bad words were said. I think I said the F-word. And the A-word. And the SH-word. It hurt like H-word.


So after running my mutilated fingers under water and getting my husband to help me with the bandaids, I went back to my project. Because there was no time for being a wimp... laundry needed to be done!

this was right after the bandaids were put on. a few minutes later I had bled through and needed a new one.

I switched to the regular cheese side of my cheese grater and finished shredding up my soap. 

This next step is not needed when you make the liquid stuff.  Use a food processor or a blender to turn your shredded soap into a powder.  Takes like 30 seconds I think.

Mix:
1 Cup of Borax
1 Cup of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda (NOT Baking Soda)
1 powdered up bar of Fels Naptha soap

Store in tightly fitting container, like Tupperware.  1 large load in my regular top-loader washing machine only needed 2 Tablespoons of detergent.  When I read this in the directions I was skeptical that it would be enough, but went with it.

Verdict?

It is awesome!  It is easy to make, cheap as dirt, not messy to use, and smells SO good!

My first test load was a mix of things that we've worn recently, dirty socks, and a couple shirts that were at the bottom of the laundry pile in the basement and were a bit smelly from the dampness. 

I smelled every single piece of clothing (yep, even my husband's socks) and it all came out smelling fresh and clean!  I didn't think that just 2T of detergent would be enough, especially since I wash most of our clothes in cold water, but it was! 

I highly recommend making it this way!!

Nunsense and Laundry Detergent

First:
Last weekend Spencer and I went to see Nunsense which was being done by ERCT.  It was the most fun I have had in a long time!  The writing for this play is really funny, but without a talented cast much of it would have been missed.  The erct cast was indeed talented! I laughed my butt off and had a big smile on my face nearly the entire time!  It wasn't just the comedy, the singing was also wonderful!  I think it's rare to find a play that can be gut-busting funny for adults and still be family-friendly, Nunsense is one of those gems!  There's a few "hells" and an "ass" or two if I remember correctly, but it's a pretty clean show.  I can't say the same for the after party with the cast and friends though! :o)

Thank you to everyone involved in Nunsense for the fabulous entertainment!

Now, Second:
While Friday night was spent laughing, eating, drinking, and telling dirty jokes about a local bbq place... Saturday night was spent making soap.

Laundry detergent to be specific.

I've known it was possible for years, but never tried it.  I thought it would be too hard to find the ingredients, too hard to make, and didn't trust it to work.  I was wrong on all accounts.

I could have taken pictures of the process, but the blogger which posted the recipe that I followed already did that for me, so you can see her full post by clicking here.

What you need:
1 5-gallon bucket with a tight-fitting lid
Borax
Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda
1 bar Fels-Naptha soap
After driving around and searching Walmart I ended up finding all the ingredients at Cub Foods in the laundry isle, and the bucket I got at Lowes.  Making the detergent was pretty easy, but I thought I had done something wrong because the next morning when it had cooled completely it was gross.  It was lumpy, slimy, and gloppy.  Not something I wanted to be messing with.  After posting a question on the above blog, and doing some internet research, I came to the conclusion it turned out exactly like it usually does... watery, slimy, and gloppy.  This really isn't an issue though because I used a funnel and a measuring cup to fill an old laundry detergent bottle up about 3/4 of the way, and I shake it up a little before each use just to make sure it's all distributed evenly.  I use an entire cap full (2/3 cup) plus a little more in each load, and have been really pleased with the job it's doing!  There was a blanket that the dog had been laying on and then had been left outside for weeks that was really stinky, one washing and it smelled fresh and clean!

The best part, and only reason I'm making it, is that it is SO cheap to make! For my initial batch of 5 gallons, I spent $16 (8 for the soaps and 8 for the bucket).  Since I only needed 1 cup of the borax and arm and hammer washing soda for each batch, those will last me quite a while.  The only thing I'll need to replace will be the Fels-Naptha soap... which only cost me $1.09!  That means in the future I'll only spend $1.09 for 5 GALLONS of laundry detergent! 

So to wrap all this up, if you get the opportunity to see Nunsense... go!  And if you'd like to save money and practically do your laundry for free, try making your own laundry detergent!

Why I LOVE My Chore Cart

Last month while browsing blogs, I discovered a new chore chart that I was really excited about.  Part of my excitement was the fact that I already had the pocket chart (though mine is WAY too big and I had to fold it in half and pin it to make it shorter), so all I had to do was print out the cards, laminate them, cut everything out, and get started!

My girls were excited about the chore chart as well!  They loved the tickets they would earn, stars on a reward card, the idea of earning prizes or money that they could save up and go shopping with.  If they complete every chore by their name then they get a sticker on their reward card.  6 stickers fills the reward card which can then be exchanged for a prize/reward.  If they only do some of their chores then they get a ticket for each chore they completed.  Tickets are supposed to be traded in for really small prizes, or money.  My biggest concern when I first hung up the chart was the fact that the tickets could be traded in for small prizes.  With clean up prizes already being given out, I didn't want a surplus of small useless odds and ends laying around.  I was also a little worried about the cost of the larger prizes adding up. 

I decided that tickets could be exchanged for quarters, and completed reward cards could be traded for either a trip to the dollar store, or larger prizes from a prize bag.  They usually finish all their chores every day so there aren't a lot of tickets being handed out, but a lot of stickers make their way onto those reward cards!  My "big" prizes have been found mostly in the dollar section of Target, so they are cheap but the kids don't know it!

The girls also like that everything is visual - they can see exactly what chores they need to accomplish that day, and it's satisfying for them to physically move the chore cards down to the "all done" row.  They also like that their chores are not the same every day, except for the homework and pet-related cards.

I also love that it changes every day.  Chore charts in the past haven't worked because our chore needs change all the time.  I needed to be able to customize it every day.  Every night or morning I can decide what I want them to do based on what needs to be done.  If I know there will be a load of kids laundry that needs to get started in the morning, I can assign that chore to Sweet Pea.  If the floors aren't too dirty but could use a light mopping I can assign it to Babydoll.  If I have a sink full of pots and large stuff to wash, I'm not going to assign dishes to either of them... it's just too much for them to get clean.  I love the daily customization it allows! 

Every day Sweet Pea (age 8) is assigned the same two chores: Homework (which includes her daily reading aloud, spelling practice, and the once-per-week worksheets that come home), and filling the dog and cat's water bowl.  Then depending on the day she usually has 2 more chores, but if it's going to be a really busy evening I'll only give her one more so she has the best chance at succeeding.  Every day Babydoll (age 4) is assigned "feed dog" and "feed cat" and is given two other chores based on our needs that day. 

Some of the chores Sweet Pea gets are: clean litter box, start laundry, fold laundry, clean bedroom, vacuum, sweep kitchen, mop kitchen, make bed, and empty dishwasher.  Some of Babydoll's have been: sweep kitchen, mop kitchen, fold laundry, pick up bathroom (keep things put away and tidy, not actually cleaning it), dishes (sort of), make bed, clean bedroom, and set the table for dinner.

There are also "best bee-havior" cards that are supposed to be handed out for especially fantastic behavior.  Babydoll earned one when she voluntarily cleaned their very messy room without any kind of coaxing or help from anyone. And she did a very good job, so I gave her a "bee-havior" card.  She then got to exchange that for something fun - she chose a playdate with her friend, who then came over to play the next morning.  Sweet Pea earned one, though it was a month ago now and I can't remember what it was for.  It was something above and beyond typical expectations.  She also chose to have a friend over for the afternoon.

The very best part of this new system? I haven't had to beg/plead/nag at all!  I simply ask (if I even have to) if they finished their chores, and with a quick look they can either answer that they had, or can choose to do the chore.  It isn't a power struggle, I don't fret if they don't get every chore done or punish them for it, they simply get a "lesser" reward (which really isn't even a lesser reward consider the "bigger" prizes are still pretty cheap!)  They have been doing their chores now for one month without complaining or grumbling, except a couple times when they were bummed to have the same chore two days in a row. 

So there you go folks, a chore chart that actually works and is fun for the kids!  I wish I could take credit for it but I can't.  I found it at Confessions of a Homeschooler.  You can find the link in my initial post about this chart, here.

The Secret to Cleaning with Little Kids

I have a mental list of projects that need doing.  One of which was to clean my room.  This was going to mostly involve putting a lot of laundry away, and probably re-washing laundry as well, since most of the problem that was there was some stacked up laundry baskets full of clean clothes that hadn't been put away, and a box and laundry basket of the kids stuff and some odds and ends that had been put in our room "until we got around to dealing with them".  Add to that a pack-n-play, a chair, and the disconnected footboard of our bed, and it was really annoying me.  The baskets were all stacked against the dresser and closet, the pack-n-play in another corner near our tiny non-functioning tv, and the footboard was leaning against our bed during the day and against the pack-n-play during the night. 

The main issue was that I was always having to move the footboard around twice a day and I couldn't really get at our tiny closet.  I'm not as able to straighten up our room because either A) someone is sleeping in there, or B) someone is sleeping directly accross the hall from there.
Then last Saturday night something rare happened.  All three kids slept over at Spencer's parents' house!  Not because we asked them to watch them so we could go somewhere, but just because they wanted to have the kids over.  The girls spent most of the day with Nana and Papa and Little Man joined them at dinnertime.  That night after seeing Black Swan with Spencer, I started my project.  There was a lot of laundry washed, dried, folded, hung, and actually put away that night!
Between cleaning our room, doing 8 Billion loads of laundry (between our dirty clothes, clean-but-sitting-too-long clothes, daycare bedding, and the kids clothes), and straightening up the living room which had been laundry/organizing central all evening, I was astonished at how quickly I could get things done without little kids in the house! 

I read somewhere that Rule #1 to having a clean house is Not to have young children.  Well, crap.  I have 3 young children of my own, and 5 others that come on various days at various times to live here during the day.  I've come to the realization that I can NOT keep up all the house cleaning while taking care of all these young children!  I can choose to have a spotless house, or have young children in the house... I definately choose the kids!  If I spend a Saturday cleaning...my kids are mostly left to entertain themselves, and this typically means they will mess up areas which I have just cleaned.  I can not just ignore my daycare kids while I scrub down the house and do a couple billion loads of laundry... their parents do not pay me to clean my own house while their children wander about all day.  The only thing that works is a balance of sorts, and getting the kids involved in the process.

When I have an interview in the evening, I can't just wait until the kids are in bed to get my cleaning done, it has to look nice before dinnertime.  This means I have extra cleaning to do during those days.  What I've learned to do during those days is give the kids lots of cleaning jobs throughout the day.  Extra clean-up times, sweep the floor, dust the living room, and one of their favorites (and a total time-sucker) cleaning stuff with baby wipes.  Asking a 4-year-old to sweep the floor will not earn me a totally swept floor.  It will, however, earn me time to load the dishwasher or clean the mirrors, while they are busy doing something that is NOT spreading every kitchen toy througout the house.  I give them extra table activities (clean ones) that are both educational and fun so I can run a vacuum around the carpet edges.  I have the preschoolers read to the toddlers (if they'll sit for it... which they usually don't) and help them clean up toys. 

Even the toddlers like cleaning with baby wipes.  I'll give them one of Little Man's wipes and they find random toys, areas of floor, and walls to "clean".  The kids all learn to help out, they like doing chores they don't usually get, I tend to bring out table activities they haven't seen in a while - which is always more fun for them, and I get a few extra minutes to wipe down the bathroom.

I have a "perfect pick-up" chart where the kids put stickers in the row by their name when they work hard to clean up every single toy at clean up times.  Sometimes we play the "clean up game" where I pick a toy in my mind that is not put away, and then I say, "Go!" and they work like mad to clean up as many things as they can, because if they are the one that winds up putting the secret toy away, they get 2 stickers on the pick-up chart!  Once they get 10 stickers they get to pick a prize from a bag I have full of things like happy meal toys and party favors.  Cheap stuff that will make them feel like they've earned something for all their hard work, and their parents can toss when the kid gets bored with the item after a week.


So, while the secret to keeping a house clean all the time is really to not have young children in the house, getting them involved in the process - no matter how little they are actually doing to get the house clean - will result in a house that is at least "lived-in clean", and will give them the practice they need so that at some point they will be able to really mop/sweep/vacuum/do dishes.  Letting them help also is good for burning off energy and building up their confidence in their ability to do "grown up" stuff. 

If you've got little ones at home, get them involved when you're cleaning and you won't have to pull your hair out because while you just spent 20 minutes cleaning out the refrigerator - your child just dumped every stinkin toy out onto the living room floor.  Your little mess-maker will eventually be a big help to your daily chore list!

I need to update you on how the new chore chart is working. I love it even more than I did when I hung it up and I can't wait to tell you more about it!

All that said, if you have a toddler in the house... you're just going to have to come to grips with the fact that things will not be smooth sailing until they are a little bit older.  There are days like today, where keeping the house clean just doesn't really happen because half the family is sick, and the toddler is cranky and climbing on tables every chance he gets.  Though your toddler will make things difficult to keep up with, give yourself a little slack - preschoolers on up can, and want to, help out quite a bit! 

I can't wait until the kids are old enough to be trusted with doing the dishes.. because keeping up with the never-ending supply of dirty dishes and dirty laundry is still my biggest struggle.

New Chore Chart

I love using charts for kid-management stuff.  I have had 3 different behavior charts, currently have a perfect pickup chart and a kindness chart, and there is a clean room chart in the girls room for if they ever keep their room clean for more than a day.  They work well until we all get bored with them or we forget to use them, so I'm not sure how long my new one will last, but so far it's been two days and has been working beautifully.

I made a chore chart, for both the girls!  I found it at the Confessions of a Homeschooler blog under the My Printables tab.  Here's what it looks like on our wall in the dining room.

Sweet Pea has the first two rows, the third row is for supplies, and the fourth and fifth rows are for Babydoll

Every day they have their chore cards listed next to their names (I turned their name cards around).  As they complete the chores throughout the day they can move the cards down to their lower row, next to the "All Done!" 

At the end of the day, I give them tickets for whatever chores they completed that day.  At the end of the week they can spend those tickets on small prize items. 

If they are able to complete ALL of their chores they get a sticker on their reward card.  Completed rewards cards can be exchanged for more special prizes.  Yesterday I bought Sweet Pea a pair of cute monkey slippers that were on clearance, she'll get them when she completes her reward card!

After giving them their tickets or stickers I look through my stack of chore cards and pick out their chores for the next day, and put them up on the chart for them to see in the morning.

I'm still not sure about the ticket system though.  It seems like a lot of cards to spend at the end of the week, a lot of junk prizes to buy, hang on to, and deal with.  I'm still working that out.  Perhaps the tickets can be traded in for the type of things that COAH suggested (gum, erasers, fun pencils, stickers, candy) or some amount of money for their piggy banks.

These cards are for outstanding behavior and can be used for really special things, activities, privileges, etc.

These were Sweet Pea's chores today.  Make her bed, do her daily reading, set the table for dinner, and clean the litter box.  Yesterday she decided to play with Moon Dough before checking to see if she finished her chores, so she ran out of time to get her last one done.  She realized she hadn't folded a load of laundry three minutes before bedtime.  She was so bummed to not be getting a sticker for the day that she actually cried.  It was pretty sad, but sweet - in a relieved-mommy kind of way.

Babydoll's chores today were to mop the floor (which she did this morning), vacuum (which she did at about 4:30), and feed the animals. 

Both the kids completed all of their chores, and they did them with a great attitude!  Two days in and it's going pretty great.. I just hope this lasts longer than their interested in dishes lasted!


Edited to add: click HERE to read the follow-up post "Why I LOVE My New Chore Chart" to read how it went.  Although, the title of the post is kind of a spoiler isn't it?

The Most Effective Bribe

My kids do not like to clean.  They are weird that way.  They probably get it from their weird mom and dad!

Struggling with them to get cleaning done is not fun, no fun at all!  I'm always looking for a motivator to get them to clean, but I don't want to bribe them with food, as I don't want to create food issues with them. 

That's not to say that bribing with food wouldn't work, it certainly would!  I just try to find other things that are better for them.  Like playdates!

Sweet Pea wanted to have her friend over to play, but the house was a mess of toys and junk, and the girls' room was once again pretty bad.  I told her she couldn't bring a friend over here when the house looks like this, but if she and Babydoll cleaned their room and helped clean the house, then she could call her friend over.

IT WORKED!  Both girls got to work on their room, and let me tell you, they've never cleaned it so quickly and so well in their lives!  They even made the beds!

After their room was adequately clean, they helped clean the rest of the main level.  They put toys away, folded some laundrey, swept (kinda) the floor, and then I mopped.  All without a single complaint.

Not a single complaint guys!  (enter chorus of angels)

After everything was picked up she called her friend and a few hours later they are enjoying the fruits of their labor. :o)

There are still some things to pick up, and dusting hasn't been done yet, and I'll need to vaccuum again by the end of the day, but all in all it was a pretty successful bribe!

Just Ten Minutes

Several hours of the week there are 8 people living in this house, three meals a day, 2 snacks per day, very little time between meals to clean up after them makes for a lot of dishes.  Family of 5, one has a dirty job, one gets food and/or booger smears on her clothes, 3 young children who can't keep their clothes at all clean makes for a lot of laundrey.  6 kids in the house playing and have a grand ol' time makes for a wide scattering of toys.  1 busy mom/daycare provider who would never be able to spend quality time with any of the children in her life if she kept up with all the clutter/laundrey/dishes/messes at all times.  It all makes for a pretty big cleaning challenge, one that I have been able to stay on top of before but it had me staying up until 2:00 AM every night, which was effecting my health.

I've read a few different books about getting organized and housekeeping and between those books, sharing methods with friends, and various blogs, I've gotten a few ideas here and there that I can apply.  One of them was to spend only 10 minutes cleaning each room at the begining or end of the day.  You set a timer or keep a close eye on the clock, and when the 10 minutes is up you stop and move on to the next room.  So last night my goal was the bathroom, dining room, kitchen, and living room (these are the rooms that get the most traffic during the day).  I started in the bathroom and spent exactly 10 minutes in there, a few minutes after that I was ready to start the dining room, then the kitchen, and last the living room.  I was surprised at how much of a difference just 10 minutes in each room made!  Not only did it make a big difference but it didn't feel like it took a lot of time.  It also wasn't nearly as overwhelming at the end of the day as looking at a messy house and feeling like it would never get picked up.

You should give it a try sometime and see how much you can actually get done around the house when you work hard for just 10 minutes in each room!  I'm excited to give it another try tonight, just as soon as I finish this episode of House!

Keeping My Girls' Room Clean

Much better! 

   My challenge with keeping the girls' room clean, other than the fact that there are two people sharing a medium sized bedroom, and they're both young, is fairness.  Sweet Pea doesn't make nearly as much of a mess in there as her little sister Babydoll.  She's not home as much, the things she plays usually are fairly contained to begin with, and she truely wants to keep her room clean (once I clean it).  Babydoll will destroy this room in a matter of minutes, but is just not able to clean it all up by herself.  The only way she can get any picking up done in there is for me to be in there telling her where to put things, which I usually don't have time to do, or don't take the time to do.  When I send them in to clean it up together, Sweet Pea will attempt to pick up while Babydoll finds toys to play with and gets right in her big sister's way.  This of course frustrates Sweet Pea who ends up yelling at Babydoll, which of course frustrates me!  By the way, I hate when they fight.  They don't fight very often but when they do it makes me wish we had some padded cells down in the basement for me to put them in... or put myself in for that matter!  But I don't have a padded cell... excuse me while I go find some padding.

   Have a wonderful monday everyone, and a terrific week!

Something Amazing

   This is "Babydoll".  She's three years old and she's awesome!  Her most recent achievement is that she can now get her coat completely zipped up without anyone helping her get it started!  Mommy sure appreciates this time saver!
   Something amazing happened the other day.  Babydoll saw me doing dishes (playing with a scrubber in soapy water to her) and asked, "Can I scrub your dishes?"  My mind immediately flashed back to "I need to get these kids some jobs around the house" and all of the other times when I thought when can my daughters start doing the dishes for me?  I got her a chair and gave her the yellow and green scrubber and the dirty cookie sheet and she went to town!  She spent about 15 minutes on that cookie sheet and had a wonderful time!  Sure she didn't get all the food off of it and I had to touch it up later that night but hey, she had fun doing dishes.  While Babydoll was doing dishes Sweet Pea asks if she can do the dishes too!  It told her that BD was washing the only dirty dish right now and that she can do it the next day.  SP held me to it too, the next day she wanted some dirty dishes, a sink full of warm soapy water, and that yellow and green scrubber.  Mommy was in heaven!  My daughters have since begun arguing over who's turn it was to do the dishes, but not in the typical "It's not my turn, I did them last night, it's her turn" way, they actually enjoy it... for now :o)  I know this wont last forever, just like the clean bedroom never lasts forever, but I'm sure going to enjoy it while it does!