I've been meaning to blog about a couple of Things That Work For Us lately, and today seems like a good time, particularly since the whole day has been pretty nice! The kids all napped together, which was a major blessing. :) We got the backyard completely cleaned up, most of the garden watered, and the outdoor shelves cleared off, cleaned, and re-organized. It's beautiful out there now, which makes me much more likely to take the kids outside to play!
Somehow I kept the laundry moving all day without even noticing, so now most of it is clean and put away. Amazing. Must figure out how to repeat this miracle.
The kids' art cabinet is organized so they can once again find stickers, scissors, and various coloring implements. They have been LOVING creating art lately, but a week or two of that leaves the cupboard pretty crazy. Now it will be easier for them to enjoy it.
Kitchen drawers no longer have crumbs in the corners. A little thing, but one that bothers me if it isn't done. Speaking of the kitchen, we are coming to the unfortunate conclusion that the reason our house smells icky is because we have mold in the cabinets/walls. And do you know what it costs to tear them out and replace them? Even at IKEA, just the cabinetry alone costs about $2000. Then you have to add demolition and installation costs. Ouch.
And now to the Things That Work.
1) Grilling dinner on Sunday evening, and using paper plates. Fun for the kids, easy for the Mom, yummy in all of our tummies. Seriously, these hamburgers were the Platonic Form of Hamburger. We grilled some chicken, too, and tomorrow we'll have chicken caesar salad. Isn't that clever of me, to get two meals out of one bbq night? :)
2) Our new evening routine. We'd been struggling through bedtime/evening clean-up for a long time. By the time I got to the end of the day, the LAST thing I wanted to do was more kid stuff. Bedtime requires patience, and I was fresh out. So I'd drag through it without being much real help. By the time Gabe got to the end of the day (including bedtime), the last thing he wanted to do was clean-up. But he doesn't like going to bed with a dirty kitchen, either, so he'd drag through that. Neither of us was very happy.
BUT we are brilliant, and we figured out a way to fix it. Gabe does the bedtime routine while I clean the kitchen! I don't mind cleaning because I am alone in there, with no one bothering me. Gabe has more kid energy at the end of the day, and besides, he knows that when he's done with that he's really DONE because the house will be clean. By 8pm or so we can both reasonably expect to relax.
It definitely works for us!
4 comments:
That has been our bedtime routine for ages. It is great, I agree. Glad it works for you too!
Same here! Daddy reads to various kids while I clean the kitchen and pick up a bit downstairs. Right now, I do still have to put the baby to bed, but soon she'll be goig down with Daddy, too, I bet!
Hi! I did receive the Real Simple Receipt Organizer about 4 weeks ago. I would try contacting them via the link below and checking "other" to explain the problem:
https://secure.customersvc.com/wes/servlet/Show
Maybe you can include this other link in the contact form to show them what you are talking about:
http://www.realsimplerewards.com/rsn/smartbuys/
Also, did you make copies of the info (receipt, etc) that you submitted? That might aid in getting you a faster response. I hope this information helps! Keep me posted on the status. And thanks for reading...I hope to pick up blogging again in the next few weeks.
Oh man, do I ever need to organize our craft cabinet. I stopped tidying that up when I started doing more at the house around February (eek!) and you can imagine how horrid it is. I helped Gregory find his markers a week or two ago and it was truly cringe-worthy. *sigh* That's next on my list, now that I've finally caught up on all my schoolwork filing (that hadn't been touched since mid-March - eek again!)
I so wish I could do that bedtime routine. I'm with you - I don't mind cleaning up in the kitchen in the evening and I'd generally rather do that then the whole bedtime thing. I have to get the baby off the nursing to sleep habit before that is even remotely possible - and of course Matt can't be going down to the house to work every night too!
But still, I am fortunate that he does put Gregory to bed occasionally before going to work and very fortunate that Susan or Gary do the dishes when they are around. One huge advantage to living in a household with more than two adults!
And I like your grilling idea - that sounds yummy!!
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