Works-for-me Wednesday

I'm pretty sure there aren't any guys out there reading my blog, but on the off chance that there are, I'm going to say this just once: TURN AWAY. NOW. This is a girls-only post. You don't want to read this if you aren't a female. (I almost said 'you don't want to read this if you don't have a va-jay-jay' but my mom would get upset at me for that. So I won't say that part.)

Ok, here's something that works for me. (And check out Rocks in my Dryer for more awesome tips!) After David was born, and he was about 6 weeks old, I started having a very hard time nursing him. I'd already nursed my other two, and other than an extremely fun bout of mastitis, I hadn't had any issues. All of a sudden, nursing HURT. And itched. I was very confused. So After about 6 days of crying each time I fed David (I actually cried each time. I'm not exaggerating.), I finally called Laurie, my awesome midwife. After listening to me for a whopping 7 seconds, she said, 'Well, Brea, you've got thrush. Make a 10-1 water/white vinegar solution, and rinse off a few times each day, and every time you shower.'

Thrush? What the heck is that? Turns out, it's basically a yeast infection. Babies can have it in their mouths, too. (David didn't.) I was sure I would never be able to fix it that easily, just using a very diluted vinegar solution. What with the searing pain and all. But hey, I'm game for just about anything once or twice, so I decided to give it a whirl.

Oh. My. Goodness. Oh me of little faith. Within one hour of using the rinse just twice, I could tell a massive difference. Now, it was slightly uncomfortable at first. But nothing compared to the thrush.

And here's the great part, because I know the majority of you are reading this thinking, 'But I don't have kids,' or 'I'm done with the nursing part of my life,' or something like that. BUT. Thrush is a yeast infection. We all know where else yeast infections happen, right??? Those nasty over-the-counter remedies from the store are ... well, nasty. Seriously. The next time you feel one coming on, mix yourself a water/vinegar solution. 10 parts water to max 1 part vinegar. You might want to start out even weaker than that. Use a peri bottle, or even just use a wash cloth. Trust me, this totally works!!!!

And I'm keeping it in mind this time when the baby comes. So I don't go through the torture again. (Oh, and if you ever have a baby with thrush in his or her mouth, there's an easy fix for that, too. All you do is run up to the store and buy some acidophilus, the powdered kind, in the little capsules. Break them open, put a little on your finger, and put it in the baby's mouth. Totally safe for the baby, and really funny to watch, too!)

Works-for-me Wednesday

Good morning! This is the "Mom, I'm Bored!" edition of Works-for-me Wednesday. Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer needs help. Her kids get out of school soon (like, tomorrow!), and she's a little panicky.

I can't much help her. My kids are younger than hers, so the activities are pretty different. However ... my children have already learned, at such tender young ages, what a very, very bad idea it is to come to me and say, 'Mom, I'm bored!' I simply delight in hearing that phrase. It makes my heart sing. It also makes my house clean. Sometimes, I make them fold laundry. But that ends pretty quickly. They have smaller arms than moi, so one time, I made Sam clean that really gross space between the fridge and the counter. Eww!!

Sometimes, they end up with yard duty. Everything out of the yard! Toys, baseballs, sticks, trucks, etc. They've had to weed the garden before. (Insert evil grin here) One time, I made them clean out all the things they'd thrown in the chicken yard over the previous weeks. You may not know this, but we Stewarts are the frightened proud owners of the World's Most Vicious And Hateful Rooster. That thing would give a pit bull a run for its money!! So they make sure that they don't end up with that job by not throwing things at the chickens. Hey, if you don't throw toys into the chicken yard, you don't have to clean toys out of the chicken yard!

But I'm not always mean. Really. I try to stay on top of things, and when the kids start getting antsy, I give them some help. Sometimes that means stopping what I'm doing and reading with them. If I've got cookie dough chilling in the fridge, like I do this morning, then I'll let them make cookies (I'm the one putting the trays in and out of the oven, of course!) by themselves, which is a really big treat. They do art projects. A stack of construction paper, a pair of scissors, and a glue stick will keep my kids well-occupied for over an hour.

But here's the most important thing I'll say to you this morning: I make sure that my kids are not always entertained. Life is not always entertaining. Sometimes, as adults, they'll be bored, and it's very important to me that my kids know how to pick up a book or sit down with one sheet of paper and one pencil and keep themselves quietly occupied for at least an hour. It's one of the things we practice, come to think of it. But I'm not mean about it. It's something we worked up to, them sitting still with one book and one pencil and one sheet of paper, for a full hour.

But I have to admit, I've got it kind of easy. We've got almost 2.5 acres, and it's really skinny and really long. Only the first half-acre or so has been totally cleared of brush, and we've got paths and small, hidden clearings throughout the rest. The kids each have a walkie-talkie that they have to take with them when they go out there, and I've got one so they can communicate with me. They've been known to leave the house after breakfast, come back around 10 for an apple and some water, and not show back up until lunch. Because they've never been allowed to watch much TV, it's not something they automatically start asking to do.** I've also been known to put a bounty on bugs that eat my tomatoes, so the kids can earn some money if they bring me a jar full of bugs (we count them as we throw them to the chickens).

So, that's what works for me. What do you do to keep your young'ens out of your hair?


**That's a lie. They ask me to watch TV about 27 times each day. But they know that 90% of the time, it just ain't gonna happen, so they're not in the least bit surprised or upset when I tell them, 'NO.' I mean, 'no.' I usually say something like, 'Do you have a fever?' 'Are you bleeding from the head?' 'Did a snake bite you?' 'Is your arm broken?' 'Are you throwing up?' Or something like that. If the answer is 'no,' then they really don't get to watch TV.

Works-for-me Wednesday

Good morning! I'm back for another edition of Works-for-me Wednesday, hosted by Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer. Check out her page for lots of other great WFMW ideas. :)

Today, I'm going to cover practicing with your kids. Practicing what? I'll get to that in a minute. But first, I have a confession to make. I haven't been so good about doing this lately with my kids. I've been too busy curing cancer solving the world hunger problem developing an AIDS vaccine adopting children making speeches at important places making micro loans and fixing the global economy following the election campaigns wrapped up in life and neglecting things that aren't on the #1 or #2 spots on the to-do list. Just a little disclaimer.

And this is an idea I got from the Jeubs. They have 13 children. If they say something works, you can bet I'm going to try it! Anyway. Practicing with my kids. Evie has never been very skilled at going to bed politely. Translation: Evelyn has a complete and total nervous breakdown each night around 8:30. It's great, let me tell you. A ton of fun. A barrel of monkeys.

After reading Love in the House, I decided to try this 'practicing' thing on my kids. The basic principal is this: you take time during the day, when nothing else is scheduled or planned, when you (the parent!) are calm and relaxed, and you practice area that could use some work. We started practicing going to bed in the middle of the day. Like 10 in the morning. I would say, 'Ok, kids, we're going to practice going to bed with pleasant attitudes. I can't wait for Dad to see how well y'all do the next time he's here at bedtime!' (John was working a long stretch of closes, so it was going to be three or four nights until he'd be around for bedtime.)

So for three days, two or three times each day, I would randomly practice making the children go to bed. They thought it was the best game ever. And they were doing a great job. I was so excited to show John. And nervous. I really hoped it would work!

Then next evening John was at home, 8:30 rolled around. John told the kids to brush their teeth, and was surprised by the lack of whining and the general air of obedience. But he had no idea what was in store. When teeth were brushed and we had finished the chapter of the book we were reading, I told the kids, 'Ok, y'all go up, turn out your lights, get in bed, and I'll be in there n five or ten minutes to say your prayers.' John gave a sigh and winced, waiting for the wailing, chest beating, and hair ripping crying to begin.

BUT IT NEVER HAPPENED!!!!!

The kids gave me a great big (if not slightly conspiratorial) grin, said, 'Yes, ma'am, I'd be glad to!' kissed us goodnight, and ran upstairs and got into bed. I pretended like nothing out of the ordinary had happened, and said, 'I'll go say their prayers. Can I get you anything on my way back?' He was still a little dumbstruck, so he didn't answer. When I got back downstairs, that's when I got the third degree. I finally broke down and told him how I did it, and he was amazed.

We've used practicing for lots of things. All the kids stay with us during church service (families are supposed to worship together!), and it's hard to control three banshees for that long. We started 'practicing church' here at home, and haven't had many problems since then. It's been great!

So that's what works for me. Practicing stuff with my kids. Any comments? What works for you?

Works-for-me Wednesday

So I'm not doing what Shannon is doing this week. She's doing Doesn't Work-for-me Wednesday. I'm doing a Reverse Works-for-me Wednesday. I need your help!! Please, HELP ME!!!!

(Well, we all know I have issues in other areas, like donuts, I love a man who isn't my husband, and, well, I was a very mean sister when I was younger. But I think that's more than any of you can fix in just one comment!!)

So. Here's where I need some help. And I'm going to open up and be honest here. I need help with my grocery budget. My household budget (John gets upset when I call it an 'allowance,' so we've agreed on 'budget') is around $600 each month. This goes for anything I buy. Food, drinks, trips to SAM'S Club, diapers, Sonic, Whole Foods, and any various outings I choose to make, like grabbing a cup of Starbucks on my way to my book club. When it comes down to it, I spend around $450 each month on actual food groceries, and that feels like waaaay too much to me. I know some of you are very talented at the food budgeting, so HELP ME!!!

Here's some things you should know:
*We like to eat well. I will not feed my family hot dogs and mac & cheese because it's cheaper. (If I eat hot dogs, it's because I have a craving for hot dogs. My mom is going to throw up when she reads that. She hates hot dogs. I didn't get to eat them when I was growing up. But I digress ...)
*I will not make anything that has Cream of Fill-in-the-Blank Soup in it. So don't give me links to cassaroles if Cream of Fill-in-the-Blank Soup is an ingredient.
*I'm getting a freezer today. A big freezer. A chest freezer. I'm so excited, I can't even tell you. So I can start buying more things in bulk; I can also start making 3 and 4 times the food and freezing it. YAY!!! So if you've got a great recipe that freezes really well and is fairly healthy (but see above!), please give it!!
*I don't care how healthy a recipe is; if it doesn't taste good, I absolutely will. not. eat. it. I'm just saying.
*I don't do the coupon thing, because everything I buy is generic, so even with coupons, the name brand stuff still costs more. Yes, I do compare on a regular basis.

So, do you think you could help me cut some corners and save some money? I'd love to get to the point where I'm spending under $400 each month on food. Please, I'm begging you!!! Help me!! Let me know what works for you!!!!!

(And if you can't help me, please leave a comment and let me know you stopped by. I just love comments; they make my whole day!!)

Works-for-me Wednesday

Hi everyone! Yes, our trip was wonderful. The Renaissance Festival ruled, although I've never seen so much cleavage in my entire life ... including the 27 months I've spent pregnant and looking down in amazement at my own growing breasts. (My mom is totally going to tell me how inappropriate that statement was the next time I talk to her. It's ok, Mom, I know. See? You don't even have to tell me now!!) I'll try to post more about the trip tomorrow.

And now ... the only thing I seem to have been posting lately ... Works for Moi Wednesday! Check out Rocks in my Dryer for more great tips ... and I really mean that. I learn some great stuff from these ladies each week. I don't have much exciting this week; I think next week I'm going to do a reverse WFMW, and ask for your advice on something.

This week, I'll just tell you about my cleaner I love. I make it myself, and it works better than anything I've ever bought. Also, chemical cleaners tend to give me a wicked headache, so I try to avoid them as much as I can. Here's how to make the stuff I use:

1 empty spray bottle
white vinegar
rubbing alcohol
dish soap
water

(this is already sounding complicated, isn't it!!)

Fill the bottle 1/3 full with vinegar. Add two to three glugs of alcohol (this bigger the bottle the more glugs, obviously). Add a few squirts of soap (I use maybe a tablespoon; I don't like too much soap). Fill the rest of the bottle with water, shake, and viola! You have a great, cheap disinfecting cleaner that works of pretty much every surface, including glass!!!

So that's what works for me. Anyone else make their own cleaning products?

Works-for-me Wednesday

We're back from our trip!! We had a great time, other than the fact that we spent at least 17 hours in the car over three days. Luckily, John hates driving, and I get carsick if I'm not driving, and the kids do fairly well in the car, so everything worked out for us. :)

(If you're here from Rocks, and looking for the marriage wfmw, click here for last week's tip. I have no idea how Mister Linky works, so I don't know why last week's tip is on the list. Anyway ...)

So, in the spirit of spending 46 17 hours in my car, I thought I'd post some tips that work for me when traveling with my kids. (For more great tips from other incredibly wise and creative people, visit Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer at her Works for Me Wednesday page.)

We have a portable DVD player, but we don't like to use it. In fact, it gets more use upstairs in the loft than it does in the car. I don't know that it's even been in the car in the last few years. But I digress. Before we take a trip lasting more than 45 minutes (which is often, because we kind of live in the middle of nowhere), I always start by cleaning out my car. Then, I get a gallon ziplock bag for each child and write their names on their bags. In the bag goes (depending on the length of the trip): a small bottle of water; a box of raisins; a little bag of something higher in protein, like cashews or walnuts; a pencil or two; a new box of crayons (the 8-pack kind; I have about 20 of these hidden in one of my cabinets!); a new or mostly empty coloring pad; and for longer trips, a new little book. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but those are the basics.

We own about 20 gazillion books, so I make sure to rotate the ones that stay in the car fairly often. My kids love the Where's Waldo? series, and they also love coloring books, so I usually buy a new one before any long (over 2 hours) trip. We've also been known to bring whatever read aloud book we're in the middle of reading, and get through a few chapters on the road.

I make sure to have their Bible tapes in the car before we leave, because I don't mind having those in the background for several hours. :) I usually bring my mp3 player to listen to when John and the kids are asleep ... which is often. My family is full of great car sleepers! I love it when my kids sleep in the car!!

If I can find anything good at the library or Half-Priced Books, I try to get books on tape or CD, and this not only provides the kids with something to do, but it also gives us great conversation starters when they get tired of listening.

We always try to schedule in extra travel time for long trips, so we can make stops whenever we need to without feeling stressed. When the kids get out of the car, I encourage them to yell and move around as much as possible to get the wiggles out. Yes, you'll get some really funny looks if you try this, but who cares??

I have a friend whose daughters know how to crochet, so she always buys then a new skein of yarn before each trip, and the girls work on knitting projects if they get bored; I'm planning on teaching Evie how to crochet in the next few months if I don't kill her first um if she doesn't kill me first if I can.

For longer trips, I make sure each kid has a pillow and small blanket, and I keep the car a little cooler than normal, because it makes it easier for them to sleep. Have I mentioned how much I love it when my kids sleep in the car? Because I do. Seriously.

So there's a few of my traveling-with-kids tips. It's what works for me. Does anyone else out there have any travel tips? What helps keep your punks kids happy in the car?

Works-for-me Wednesday

Time for another something that Works for Me, thanks to Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer. For more tips, check out her Works for Me Wednesday page.

This isn't a house tip, or a kid tip. This is something that works for my marriage. As you all know, I am a very bad housekeeper. SuperMom I am not, and there are many things I'm very good at, but keeping up with housework just ain't one of them. The only real thing John and I have ever fought about is our home, and usually when family is coming out for a visit. I must say, though, that these fights have become fewer and much farther in between, and this is one of the reasons.

I read a wonderful book a while back, and was totally inspired by it. It recommended finding out the top three (or two, or five, or twenty-seven) things that are important to your partner. So one morning, I caught John on his way to do some work out back, and I said, 'Will you be thinking about the things that you'd most like for me to have done when you get home from work? I'd like to sit down and talk about it later, if that's ok with you.' Yeah, like any guy is going to turn that offer down! Later that day, while the kids were asleep, we say down and had a great talk.

It turns out that the things that are important to him, are things that weren't on my radar. At all. I don't notice the coffee table, except when I run into it, but John loves it when he comes home and the coffee table is cleared off. Ok, that's an easy one to do. Check!

Ditto the kitchen table. Now, I notice this one a little more, but I didn't realize how important it is to him. I can do that, too. Check!

Floor clean under the table. Well, I already told y'all my method for that. And it's been working wonderfully.

You see, there were things that I was working very hard to get done before John got home, like having the porch cleared off, or the bathroom counter wiped down. And it turned out that he didn't really care about those things. But the things I wasn't getting done were the ones that were driving him postal. And it wasn't that he felt that I wasn't getting enough done. He would just rather me do certain things before I move on to others. (And I'm not saying that he doesn't like a clean porch of bathroom. He does. He'd just rather that I clean the coffee table and kitchen table before I move on the the bathroom and porch.)

And it works both ways. John never noticed that he leaves his shoes all over the floor. Makes me postal. Dishes left in the sink? Ditto. And once I showed that I was willing to listen to what's important to him, he was even more willing to listen to things that matter to me.

It's a process. This talk that we had was about two years back, and I've come a long way since then. It's just something that I continue to work on, and John has had to learn to bring things up when he notices them, and not stew on them and get upset before he ever tells me about it, because chances are that I haven't even noticed the thing that's driving him crazy.

It's all about communication, people!!! Talk to your SO, and even more importantly, be sure to listen when they have something important to say. (And ladies, make sure you don't spring a laundry list of complaints on him out of nowhere!!!!!!! This is a very, very, terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad thing to do to him!!!)

So that's what works for me. Any thoughts or questions? What works for you?

Works-for-me Wednesday

Good morning! Here we go with something that Works For Me, courtesy of Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer.

This is more for stay-at-home moms with younger kids, or for homeschooling moms. Do you have trouble getting your mornings started? I used to really struggle with this. I'd get up when my kids started hollering that they were hungry and demanded breakfast woke me up, so as soon as I rolled out of bed, I was 'on.' I hate that feeling. I am the most morningest of all morning persons you will ever meet. I just LOVE mornings!! And with three kids under six, I also like to have at least 27 seconds to myself before I switch into 'mom mode.' So here's a little secret that works for me.

I view being a mom as having a job. Sounds silly, but changing the way you think about something can change the way you do something. If I had a real job, I would have to be dressed and be to work on time, so why not look at my life in the same way? I started this a few years back, when I was getting up with John before he went to work. He'd have to be up (with his clothes ironed-my job) at 6:30 to be at work at 7:30 on days that he works mornings, and my kids are almost always up by the time he leaves. So I started setting my alarm for 5:30 every morning. I snooze a few times, but I'm almost always up by 6. You should try it! You don't have to be up that early, just whatever time is good for you. Make yourself a cup of tea, or coffee, and have a quick bite to eat. I sit down with my Bible for about 20 minutes, sometimes more, sometimes less, and have some quiet, peaceful time by myself.

I always eat before my kids are up, unless I'm going to make a big breakfast when John is home, like pancakes, quiche, bacon and eggs with toast (are we seeing a theme? I have seven hens that lay eggs, so we eat a lot of eggs around here!). If I do that, then I'll usually just have a banana or something. While the kids are eating, I read from Proverbs (a chapter each morning) and we work on our memory verse for the week.

When I'm up before everyone else, even if it's only 10 minutes before the kids come downstairs, everyone's day seems to go smoother. It's a small thing to do that makes such a big difference. You should give it a try!

That's what works for me. What works for you? Do you have any special morning routines? How do you start your day?

Works-for-me Wednesday

Good morning, Blogland!! Here's another tip from my scattered little brain, but hey! It works for me! Thanks to Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer for putting this whole thing together ...

As some of you may know, I hate, loathe, despise, and abominate am not too crazy about laundry. I've written about this before. But I've started doing something in the last few months that's really made a difference in my attitude about laundry. Specifically, getting the clothes actually folded. (I'm great at washing and drying clothes. Just don't ask me to do anything beyond that!)

So here's what I now do:

First off, I check John's schedule, and see what days he's closing for the week. For those who don't know, John is a manager at Chili's, and has a pretty crazy schedule. I try to pick out two days when he's either closing, or has something that night, like a church meeting.

Then I wash clothes. Lots and lots of clothes. And I don't really even separate colors, which drives my mother utterly insane. For real. She gets raaawther upset with me when I do laundry at her house, because I forget to separate the colors, and it's this thing ... I digress. Anyway. I wash lots of clothes. And if I'm able to, I dry them on my clothesline, which I love, and then stick 'em in the dryer for 5 minutes to de-crunch.

And then (and here's the key to the whole thing), I bring my dried clothes to one of two huge laundry bins in my bedroom. And I put them there. And I leave them there, until the appointed evening when John is hopefully working, as mentioned above. And I keep bringing the clothes in. And the two baskets get full, and usually look (combined) like a small mountain of clothes. Then, when Laundry Night comes, I put on my headphones, start up a lecture, and start folding. (You could also put in a movie, or watch the news, if you wanted to. I get too distracted if I try to watch something, which is why I go with the mp3 player.) I wait till the kids are in bed, so I'm totally uninterrupted, and I have as much time as I need. I usually fold about 8-10 loads of laundry, including towels, John's work stuff, sheets, etc.

I get it done so fast!! It always surprises me. And doing laundry like this takes a huge burden off my shoulders. When I walk into my room and see a (well-contained) pile of laundry, I don't freak out because it's just another thing I feel like I'm not going to get done. I know it has a set time to be finished, and I can really forget about it until then.

And when I'm finished folding, I put away everything I can, and the kids stuff stays in piles on the coffee table until the next morning. The smaller Stewarts are really good about putting laundry away, because they know I won't feed them we can't properly start our morning until the clothes are done.

They are usually the ones (David included!) who empty the dryer and take the clothes back to my baskets, and occasionally, I'll dig through the baskets and pull out a large armful of towels, rags, and diapers, and they fold all of them and put them away.

It's a wonderful little method that works for me. Maybe it'll help you, and relieve some stress and worry. If you struggle with laundry, and getting it done, I completely understand and sympathize ...

So, would this work for you? What does work for you when it comes to laundry?

Works-for-me Wednesday

Good morning all!! I'm back with another Works-for-me Wednesday. Last week, I talked about how I have a really, really hard time keeping my floors mopped. It doesn't help that I hate to mop. And that even after I mop, my floors still look dirty.

Let me show you real quick why I consider mopping my entire house at one fell swoop to be utterly pointless:


Yes, that would be an entire plate-full of seasoned flour, on my dishwasher and floor. And it didn't even click to me to take the picture until after I had cleaned up the broken plate and raw meat. And then John was cleaning out the fireplace, and as soon as he turned around, the baby (he's 17 months old ... when am I going to stop calling him 'the baby'? Eh, probably when there's another baby to take his status away, lol) grabbed the bag of ashes, dumped it upside down, and sat in it. Then he started scooting around on his butt, and made it halfway around the couch before John even noticed ... it was actually pretty funny.

I digress. Sorry.

Ok, ok!! I'll get on with my tip for this week. I thought it would be appropriate because it had to do with floors. So here's what works for me:


That's Sam, under the table, with the dust buster. No, I don't make him get under the table. He was just in a really silly mood last night. He's a goose. Every evening after supper, we all work together to clear the table (even David, who helps take things like salad dressing or ketchup, or anything that isn't liquid without a lid), and then John or I starts on the dishes. The older kids do their own dishes most of the time, too, we just do ours and the big stuff. At night, Sam is responsible for the floors. He's getting pretty good at it, too, and I usually don't even have to beat him into obeying me tell him to do it. But he goes and grabs the dust buster, and just starts getting the bigger stuff, or really anything he can get in there.



Of course, sometimes he gets distracted. And can we just talk about the baby David for a second? This is a child who was in the negative third percentile for weight when he was younger. He now has back rolls. Horizontal cleavage on his ribs. Love handles!!! He really porked up!! I'm just saying.

Anyway. Sometimes, when you're five years old and the best big brother ever, it's easy to neglect your task for a few minutes to chase around a very fat baby toddler with the dust buster.

And when he's done with the floor (or sometimes before), he starts on the table:


David is trying his hardest to help, and hitting Sam on the arm with the Swiffer. I mean, that little one really wants to help. Someone, just let the boy help!!!

I then grab a rag and wipe down anything that's left, then empty out the dust buster, so Sam can plug it back in. Evie does the same routine after lunch, and I start the day off by sweeping after breakfast.

Now, here's the cool part about all this: it teaches the kids, all three of them, that they are valued and needed members of my family. We can go read, or play outside, or whatever, after everything is done, but that includes moi being finished. The more efficient they are, the more quickly I can finish, and the faster we're all out of the kitchen, running around like Indians outside, or reading on the couch.

And since it's an everyday routine, they don't even question it anymore, let alone fight me on it. The groundwork is being set in place with the baby David, too. He's been responsible for taking his plate or bowl to the kitchen (even if he was holding holding the plate while we were carrying him, lol) since he was about a year old. He's so used to it now that he'll just stand beside his chair if we forget to hand him his plate or bowl. What a fun thing, to not have to remind one of your kids to clear their place!! It is good for kids to work, and even better for them to learn to enjoy work.

So that's what works for me!!! What works for you?

Works-for-me Wednesday

Rocks In My Dryer has been doing this for a long time, and I think I'm going to jump on the blog carnival every now and Wednesday. It's called Works-For-Me Wednesday (read more about it here), and basically each Wednesday, you post a little something that has made your life a little easier.

However, today is Works-for-me Wednesday: Backwards Edition. You ask a question, and see if people can help you with something that's worked for them in the past.

So, here's my question:

MY FLOORS!?!?! How in the name of all things sacred and holy do you people keep your floors clean? I sweep my entire downstairs once a day (sometimes more if I'm cooking a lot or we're all tramping in and out of the house all day), but I cannot get the mopping done for the life of me! I'm not even going to tell you how often I mop, because you'd never come over again for fear of catching some disease and ending up in the hospital and having to sue me for all your medical costs but I don't have any money so that wouldn't work anyway it'd be way too embarrassing.

This wasn't a problem when I had no kids, or just Sam and Evie, and they were both younger. I could just wait for nap time, and knock the whole thing out in 15 or 20 minutes. Oh, wait. I also liven in an apartment that had a total of 3-square-feet of hard floors that needed to be mopped. Now I have a house. And lots of very dark hard floors that show every single speck of everything. And dirt outside. Lots and lots of dirt. And we pretty much live barefoot outside when it's not raining or snowing. And it doesn't snow here.

But I digress. How often do you mop? When do you do it? How many kids do you have, and how does all of that work?

Please, I'm begging you. Come out of lurking, and help this tired, busy mama!!! :)