What do Hairspray and Toothpaste have in common?

If you have children, have ever watched children, or have even been around children, you know they have an innate ability to find mischief of any kind, especially if you have your back turned. Whether it's exploring how the world around them works, or a complete act of disobedience, the end result is the same. Kids are kids and if you have anything of value, or anything you would be upset to have destroyed...put it away for 18 years ;) And if you forget, thank you God for the Internet. 

Our oldest son decided when he was about the same age our younger son is now (2) that our computer monitor was a great place to practice his artwork...with a Sharpie. Imagine my husband's horror when he went upstairs to see what he was doing only to find his brand new, VERY expensive monitor covered in beautiful artwork. 

My husband, after having a mini panic session and trying not to get too mad since it was his fault to leave sharpies within reach of toddler hands, asked me to look up possible remedies on the Internet. Apparently TOOTHPASTE removes Sharpie if it's on a computer monitor. 

For those that want to know:

Put a drop of toothpaste over the sharpie on the monitor. Use a soft rag to softly rub it in one direction until it comes off. Gently wipe as much of the excess toothpaste off as you can. Use a screen cleaner to get the remaining toothpaste off. Voila. 

Fast forward two years and our younger son is now 2. He always gets to bring something special in to nap time to play with for a few minutes in his crib. One of us will go in after 5 or 10 minutes if he's still playing and take whatever it is away until after nap time. Usually he just goes to sleep clutching it or throws it out on his own because he loves binkie and nap time so much. However, yesterday was different. He wanted to finish writing his shopping list so he was allowed to bring his pen and notepad in to his crib to do so...

Who could get mad at this cute little face?

 It's amazing how much ink can get everywhere in 10 minutes. We're talking everywhere. E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E.  So, we went to the internet. Apparently Hairspray works at getting ink stains out of clothes. I ran to the grocery store by our house last night because I certainly don't have any hair spray and was shocked (understatement) to find that a little bottle this size was SEVEN dollars?!?!?!

However, it worked at getting the ink out of my favorite sweatshirt of his and his quilt. It also worked at getting it out of 3/4 of the pants...in order to get the rest out I'll have to fork over more money for hairspray because I went through that little bottle. I should have paid the $12 to get the bigger size. Ugh. Trying to decide if it's worth it since I could just buy more pants for that price.

For those that want to know:
Spray hairspray on the ink stain. Let sit for 1 minute. Blot with a rag. Spray with stain remover. Throw in the wash. Don't dry until the stain is out. It might take several repetitions. 


What I want to know is who thinks of these things? I mean seriously. Who would have thought to themselves "I wonder if toothpaste will take off this permanent marker from my computer screen?" And to answer the original question; What do Hairspray and Toothpaste have in common? Two year olds.

Readers: What interesting things have you discovered as a result of your children, or yourself ;)

The great toy rotation; de-clutter, de-toy, organize

Toy clutter has overtaken our house. For awhile, it was all things baby: high chair, swing, bouncy seat, baby bathtub, pack in play, diapers, wipes, bibs...you name it, it was out. Now, it's toys. Toys are EVERYWHERE. We've struggled to keep toys at bay in our 1100 sq ft house. We had more toys than we had space to put them. We could never find what toys we were looking for. And, the ironic part, the kids never wanted to play with any of them. 


There was an interesting article I read about how fewer toys is actually better for children. You can read it here. Basically it states that fewer toys is better for the child because they will learn to develop better attention spans, be more creative, hopefully take more of an interest in reading and art, etc. YES!


The plan was simple. De-clutter, de-toy, organize. The solution was amazing. The Great Toy Rotation. 


You will need some Rubbermaid storage bins. We use 2 large bins that we store in the garage. It works best if they are not clear so little eyes can't see what they are missing. (Budget savvy mommies...buy these on sale after Christmas!) 

Fill the Rubbermaid bins with all the extra toys. As you're filling the boxes make note of the condition of the toys. Are they damaged? Missing pieces? Are they too young for your kids? If you answered yes to any of those, either throw them out, or if they are in good condition try to sell or donate them. Don't hang on to them!! 

Decide what will stay out to be played with for this rotation. My rule of thumb is every toy that's out needs a place to be put away on the shelves after play time. That way when everything is cleaned up it looks refreshing instead of crammed and cluttered. If it doesn't have a spot, put it in the Rubbermaid. If you have too many toys in general, try to pick some to donate. 

Once you have your Rubbermaids full and all the other toys in their places, store the Rubbermaids somewhere not easily accessible by your children. We store them on the top shelf in the garage. 

Every 3 months we rotate toys from in the house with the toys in the Rubbermaids. It's like Christmas for the kids. They spend hours, yes hours! pouring over the boxes finding treasures and long ago forgotten toys. I save money, I have a de-cluttered house, and honestly with fewer toys they have a desire to play with them more often. 


Repeat process every 3 months. 


Now, if only I could find a way for the toys to put themselves away. 




Readers: How do you keep toys organized in your home?

To Clean, or Not To Clean...

I have always been a neat freak. Anally so. Just ask my college roommates. I was crazy.

After I got married I realized that 2 people really truly can have totally different standards of clean. It honestly isn't that they are lazy. I would get frustrated if a few days passed and I hadn't had any help with the cleaning. Everything. Was. Spotless. According to my husband, a dish or two in the sink and crumbs on the floor did not justify a deep clean of the kitchen. Me, that was great validation that the house was dirty. He didn't see "dirty" the same way.

Then came kids. When I was pregnant I always heard "let the cleaning go, the cleaning can wait, etc." I didn't believe it. Even after I had my first son I felt this strong urge to keep the house clean. Granted, my level of clean went down. A day or two of dirt didn't bother me, I could handle that.

However, once I had my second son...It. All. Went. Downhill. And I can only imagine what adding more kids would do.

(Let's talk about being transparent...yes, this is actually a picture of my laundry pile. Yes, I really did take a picture of it)

These days I'm lucky to have the kitchen with only a sink full of dishes and the laundry actually put in baskets instead of heaps in front of the washing machine. There are usually mounds of clothes waiting to be folded...Don't get me wrong, as you saw in my previous post (here) I really do love folding the boy's laundry. But sometimes I don't even need to fold them because by the time I get a chance we've already gone through all the clothes and they're in the dirty heaps in front of the washing machine. Start. Cycle. Over. And the kitchen counters? Those are usually hiding beneath the dirty dishes, stacks of magazines and mail. Our saving grace? Our house is only 1100 sq ft. It gets dirty fast, but it cleans fast too.

(sigh)

But, truth be told, a dirty house raises my stress level. I can predict my evening when I come home to a dirty house. I'm not as patient, I feel anxious. But a clean house (ahhh, longing sigh--love you honey and thank you for the times you clean the house!), I feel like I can relax, like I have time to play with my kids. BUT, I also hate that cleaning takes away time I get to spend with my kids.

So, I've devised a quick clean up plan that helps me both de-stress and allows guilt-free time for me to play with my kids. My new plan? When time allows I set the timer for 20 minutes (setting the timer makes it feel manageable). And then I do as much as I can in 20 minutes. Once the timer goes off, I put the antibacterial spray down (if I've even made it that far!) and go play! Granted, there are times your whole house needs a deep clean. Schedule a play date with grandma and get to it :)

If you only have a couple of minutes? Put all your dishes in the sink, start a load of laundry, and light a good smelling candle. No one will ever know :)

What do you do for a quick clean? How do you manage staying on top of chores so things don't get out of hand, yet spending time with your family?