Toddler Take Alongs from Jen @ eatingmycandy

I have this super amazing friend that has more creativity in her pinkie finger than I could imagine having in my entire body. She has a great post over on her blog about making little "Toddler Take Alongs" out of get this....old pill bottles!

Check out her whole post and the instructions here

http://eatingmycandy.blogspot.com/2011/12/prescription-container-idea.html?spref=fb

Happy Crafting!

Hiding the Crap

You read right. It's well know that with kids comes a load of crap. Literally and figuratively. This time we aren't talking dirty diapers. We're talking toys.....toys and more toys. Then there's the necessities of life, diapers, wipes, bottles. Random shoes and socks that surface, blankies. SO. MUCH. STUFF.

Unless you have a superhero cape around your neck and are probably delusional there's no way to keep the house picked up all the time. Well....until now. I have a saying in my house, it's about the illusion of clean. Basically you're house doesn't have to be totally clean to look clean. So, what's the trick right? Decorative storage. Yep. Hide the crap. :) This isn't perfect parenting remember. It's REAL parenting. We have got to quit comparing ourselves to our neighbors. We all have them, the one that always looks like a million bucks, house is always spotless, kids are dressed better than our best. So what have they got that we don't? Either money to pay a housekeeper and a nanny OR the ability to hide it all.

Example #1
It appears my hallway is so clean. Right?

Haha! Think again. I just found this awesome collapsible box at Walmart for like $10 and behold.....

All the crap.....hidden away.

Again.....Where on earth are all the videos, game systems, books, any other crap that needs a home? Looks like a perfectly clean living room right? That's cause today I have my Wonder Woman cape on. No, not true. I don't even have a cape of any kind and I have no time for Wonder Woman between work, mental breakdowns and failed crafting.

Yes, that's Timmy Turner. It's after school snack time, what do ya want?

It's by no means an organized cupboard but it is the perfect "I don't have time to clean but need my house to look organized" storage place.

Seriously folks, in that cupboard is every movie you could ever imagine on VHS and DVD, the Wii accessories, my husbands record collection (yep, records), an old pillow, some books, a few CD's. Last but not least what used to be the toy dump bin but is now transformed into our electronic cord storage container......(and of course, the color coordinated basket on top for my yarn. remember? failed crafting?)









 

Seriously folks, don't waist all that precious time with your family cleaning and tidying. The thing I especially like about our storage solutions is that my kids can clean up the mess and there's no way to put it away wrong. Keep your eyes open for a sale. Don't ever pay full price for things like this if you don't have to but if you can find the right item at the right price it can simplify life so much. No more feeling guilty, just tuck it away and wait for a rainy day. Once every so often you can go through and throw out or reorganize your "hiding" spots but it makes the day to day SO much easier. 

I'm not a slacker. I swear!

I wish I could say that I haven't posted because I've just been that plain lazy. Not true friends. With that said I hope you all had a GREAT holiday season and that the beginning of 2012 has been kind to you. It has been almost to kind to me. :)
With the addition of cleaning to the business we have seen such an increase in customers it was hard for a little bit to keep up. But never fear! We're back online ready to share not only the knowledge we've gained through all the fun parenting success and failures we've experience but I have a whole new take on cleaning. Be prepare for some of the AWESOME stuff I've learned and come across. It's never easy to manage a household and a family and a job but it is possible and in the coming weeks I will be sharing with you some tips to help you succeed as CEO of your family.
Thanks for hanging in there with me.

Thanks again!
Missy

P.U.R.P.L.E.

P--Peak of crying. The worst crying tends of occur around 2 months of age and decline from 3-5 months

U--Unexpected. The crying often come on and stops for no apparent reason.

R--Resists soothing. The baby is often difficult to soothe.

P--Pain-like face. The baby may appear to be in pain even if they are not.

L--Long-lasting. The crying may go on for several hours a day.

E--Evening. The baby often cries more in the late afternoon or evening.

November is national Period of Purple Crying awareness month. Purple is not refering to the color but it is an acronym for the above. Check out all the info at purplecrying.info there's tons of fantastic info on there. What's normal, what's not. Suggestions for soothing your fussy baby. My favorite part of the website is the link that says, "How to save your babies life." I was intrigued, I clicked and I found a plethera of coping stratagies. One of the questions that we ask our patients before they go home is, "will you have the help you need when you go home?" Everyone needs someone. Sometimes the daddy's aren't as helpful as they think they are. If that happens, find someone else, hire someone. I don't know, just get help.

I was lucky in that my husband was extremely helpful. His mother came to help and she really was helpful. My mother came a couple of weeks after my baby was born and she was really helpful. Thank goodness cause I had one of those totally refluxy, fussy, spit up tons, cry more than any one kid should, not sleep at night babies. The kind that make you feel like a total failure as a mother. The baby that you JUST. WANT. TO. QUIT. CRYING. Ugh, thank goodness for the helpful arms and patience of my inlaws and my mother. Thank goodness they had the good sense to send me out, away, and down for a nap. I had no idea what the Period of Purple Crying was back then but I'm positive now that we were in it. It was purple all around. I was purple, she was purple we were just one big egg plant. Don't be an egg plant. It's not a pretty color. Not on me or on my baby girl anyhow.

The good news is, I'm not a failure as a mother. Not because of that anyhow. I love my daughter more than life itself. The Purple time of our life was short and painful and it's over. It's another one of those times that I told myself "this too shall pass" and it did. You are a woman. You are a mother. You are strong and capable and you can do anything. Take it one day at a time. One hour or one minute. Remind yourself of your worth and the worth of your child. Hold onto the love you have for that baby.

I hate it when I'm not right!

Ladies, (and gentleman) what do we hate most? Like more than the last 10 lbs that won't fall off, more than the dirty socks on the bedroom floor, even more than the pee on the wall behind the toilet cause your little (or big, lol) man "missed"? Yep! When someone else is right. Ugh. How dare they! I have come to realize that all those dang coupon loving friends of mine.....*swallows pride* are RIGHT! If only I could have figured this all out 10 years ago. Think of all the money I would have saved by now. So what's my #1 parenting tip today.....COUPONS!
Don't be overwhelmed. Really. I suck at it. I hate it in fact. My husband even made the comment last night that perhaps I should get a coupon buddy so that I keep at it. I am probably missing things and therefore giving away money that would make real couponers cry. But, I did manage to save just as much as I spent. :) That's something right? I'm not about to pretend to make this post some kind of tutorial. I'm too new myself. I did go here to get started. They break it down nicely for the coupon impaired like myself. I spent around 2  1/2 hours last night going through my grocery list and then digging out the coupons and such but after today's successful trip. TOTALLY worth it. I don't have to buy diapers anymore but I'd imagine you'd make your Sunday newspaper subscription back just in what you would save on diapers let alone anything else. What tips do you have for someone like myself or the me of 10 years ago? I was just too overwhelmed with my littles to feel like I could take on one more thing. How do you get past that? I will poll my friends and "experts" and see what they say but I'd love to hear from you too!