"Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them."
~Albert Einstein
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Sunday, February 24, 2013
So much to vacuum, so little time...
If you work outside the home you are acutely aware of how much (or how little) time you are able to spend with your children. But there are also household things that must be completed during those precious few moments a day you are home - even when the kiddos are there with you.
No one wants a dirty house including me! With four dogs regular vacuuming is a must. When my children were younger I would vacuum when they were asleep so I could get that chore completed as efficiently as possible. Then my now three year old discovered the vacuum and his love of helping mommy.
Suddenly if I switched on the vacuum when he was asleep he would wake up immediately and cry - not because he was scared but because he wanted to vacuum too. We've all read about how beneficial it is to foster helpfulness in your child so who was I to not allow him to help? Did I want my child to turn out unhelpful to others because I failed to allow him to help me vacuum at 18 months?
At first my compromise to enable me to efficiently vacuum and him to help me was to purchase a toy vacuum. Initially that was fun for him to push his vacuum alongside me (and I would be lying if I said it wasn't fun for me too)!
Then one day he realized his toy vacuum didn't really do the job of a real vacuum and he wanted to use my vacuum. I was able to convince him that if he utilized the attachments while I used the "big part" of the vacuum he was truly performing help to me and actually sucking things up...and that lasted about a week. Then he insisted on using the "big vacuum" to actually vacuum.
If you have ever had a "helpful" toddler you know that while valuable for the toddler and a moment where you get to take pride in the wonderful child you are raising - when toddlers are helping it typically takes 10 times as long to complete a task.
As a mommy who works outside the home, vacuuming went from taking 20 minutes to a couple of hours. The novelty of my son helping was wearing off for me, my patience was beginning to run a little thin and honestly I do not want nor do I have hours to spend running the vacuum.
The solution I have discovered to end what had become a painful experience - a real sweeper for my son to utilize.
I purchased a small sweeper/dust buster with an adjustable handle for my son to vacuum with. It is bag less and has no spinning brush for him to harm himself - it picks up dog hair from our linoleum wonderfully and best of all - my son can actually vacuum!
This may sound like a bizarre purchase to make but at around $50 it has saved me countless hours of "wasted" vacuum time and I still have clean floors! My son couldn't be more pleased and he will often ask me if he can vacuum.
If you are looking for a way to maximize your time when vacuuming - whether you work outside the home or not, if you child is dissatisfied with the toy vacuum - I highly recommend a sweeper. It has helped us find a balance in the best of both worlds!
No one wants a dirty house including me! With four dogs regular vacuuming is a must. When my children were younger I would vacuum when they were asleep so I could get that chore completed as efficiently as possible. Then my now three year old discovered the vacuum and his love of helping mommy.
Suddenly if I switched on the vacuum when he was asleep he would wake up immediately and cry - not because he was scared but because he wanted to vacuum too. We've all read about how beneficial it is to foster helpfulness in your child so who was I to not allow him to help? Did I want my child to turn out unhelpful to others because I failed to allow him to help me vacuum at 18 months?
At first my compromise to enable me to efficiently vacuum and him to help me was to purchase a toy vacuum. Initially that was fun for him to push his vacuum alongside me (and I would be lying if I said it wasn't fun for me too)!
Then one day he realized his toy vacuum didn't really do the job of a real vacuum and he wanted to use my vacuum. I was able to convince him that if he utilized the attachments while I used the "big part" of the vacuum he was truly performing help to me and actually sucking things up...and that lasted about a week. Then he insisted on using the "big vacuum" to actually vacuum.
If you have ever had a "helpful" toddler you know that while valuable for the toddler and a moment where you get to take pride in the wonderful child you are raising - when toddlers are helping it typically takes 10 times as long to complete a task.
As a mommy who works outside the home, vacuuming went from taking 20 minutes to a couple of hours. The novelty of my son helping was wearing off for me, my patience was beginning to run a little thin and honestly I do not want nor do I have hours to spend running the vacuum.
The solution I have discovered to end what had become a painful experience - a real sweeper for my son to utilize.
I purchased a small sweeper/dust buster with an adjustable handle for my son to vacuum with. It is bag less and has no spinning brush for him to harm himself - it picks up dog hair from our linoleum wonderfully and best of all - my son can actually vacuum!
This may sound like a bizarre purchase to make but at around $50 it has saved me countless hours of "wasted" vacuum time and I still have clean floors! My son couldn't be more pleased and he will often ask me if he can vacuum.
If you are looking for a way to maximize your time when vacuuming - whether you work outside the home or not, if you child is dissatisfied with the toy vacuum - I highly recommend a sweeper. It has helped us find a balance in the best of both worlds!
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Wisdom Wednesday
"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."
~Mahatma Gandhi
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Wisdom Wednesday
"As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same."
~Nelson Mandela
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Best Kept Cleaning Secret
In searching for something to take off baked on grease on a waffle maker I stumbled upon a post on the Internet (and honestly I cannot locate the post again) that recommended Dawn Power Dissolver. I had never heard of this product before but decided I would try to locate what I thought was Dawn Dish Soap.
In searching for the Dawn Power Dissolver I discovered it was a spray foam rather than a traditional dish soap. I determined it was worth the $3 for the spray to see if it actually works...
To my surprise this product exceeded my wildest expectations! My greasy waffle maker came out so clean decided to give it a try on the bottom of the outside of my pots and pans. I had completely forgotten what the my pots and pans looked like when they came out of the package a dozen or so years ago.
Dawn Power Dissolver worked so well I began using it on nearly everything in my kitchen - you know those dried up drippings from a spoon that are on the stove if you don't wipe them up right away - one spray and 15 minutes later with no elbow grease it wiped right away.
I raved about this product to my husband and my family members. My husband decided to try it to clean grease off of his lawn mower - his buddy (who works on mowers for a living) was so impressed with the results and ease of use that he began using this product in his work.
My mother had tried every trick in the book to remove a stubborn stain on a piece of children's clothing. Pretty much resigned to the stain being permanent - she grab the Dawn Power Dissolver thinking she had nothing to lose. To her delight the laundered clothing was stain free and like new again!
This is my go to product for anything that needs cleaning and I can't recommend it highly enough. If you are looking to remove any dirt that is mildly stubborn I would reach for the Dawn Power Dissolver.
In searching for the Dawn Power Dissolver I discovered it was a spray foam rather than a traditional dish soap. I determined it was worth the $3 for the spray to see if it actually works...
To my surprise this product exceeded my wildest expectations! My greasy waffle maker came out so clean decided to give it a try on the bottom of the outside of my pots and pans. I had completely forgotten what the my pots and pans looked like when they came out of the package a dozen or so years ago.
Dawn Power Dissolver worked so well I began using it on nearly everything in my kitchen - you know those dried up drippings from a spoon that are on the stove if you don't wipe them up right away - one spray and 15 minutes later with no elbow grease it wiped right away.
I raved about this product to my husband and my family members. My husband decided to try it to clean grease off of his lawn mower - his buddy (who works on mowers for a living) was so impressed with the results and ease of use that he began using this product in his work.
My mother had tried every trick in the book to remove a stubborn stain on a piece of children's clothing. Pretty much resigned to the stain being permanent - she grab the Dawn Power Dissolver thinking she had nothing to lose. To her delight the laundered clothing was stain free and like new again!
This is my go to product for anything that needs cleaning and I can't recommend it highly enough. If you are looking to remove any dirt that is mildly stubborn I would reach for the Dawn Power Dissolver.
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