Dana Macario at the mom blog “18 Years to Life” recently wrote an account
of how, to teach her kids to pick up their toys, she and her husband gathered up all the toys strewn about, stuffed them into large trash bags, put them in a closet and told their kids that
for each night they picked up the rest of their toys, they could earn back one of the “hostage” toys. Logic would dictate that the kids would want their toys back badly, and it would take so long
to earn them back, that once earned back, the kids would think twice in the future about leaving them lying everywhere. Logic would say this was a great way to teach kids a lesson in being neat
without having to nag, “Pick up your toys!!” Only Dana’s kids chose …
Category: Domestic Engineering
The Feng Shui of Family Photos
“The realtor has told me to put away any personal photographs,” said Mom the other day.
“Is that right?” I just knew she was going to ask me that. She’s been asking me a lot of things lately since she just put her house on the market this week– something she’s never had to
do before. At least, not by herself. But Dad’s been gone for almost nine of the 50+ years she’s been in that house, and the kids all live far away, so it’s been a nerve-wracking and scary process
for her. She phones often. While I’m no expert, I (and Andy) did sell a house less than six years ago (and shopped for a new one) and last fall, we helped his parents navigate a little bit of
their move to “senior living”…
I’m sure my realtor friends would disagree, …
WAHM on the Run: My New Approach to Ending Arguments and Getting Older Kids to Be More Responsible
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: Moms (or Dads) of teens (and other kids that
try their patience) need a place they can retreat to, at a moment’s notice, to get away from them. To think before flying too far off the handle. To de-escalate a situation, eliminate whining
and cut the exchange of words short, with the promise of discussion at a calmer time. To be alone in order to come up with really good consequences for certain behavior rather than
“grounding them from everything for life” in the heat of the moment. In other words, when the kids are too old to “go to their rooms” for a time out, you need to go to yours. Or take a walk
outside. Just get away… only, sometimes that’s not so fun to go to …
Ode to the Crock Pot
One of the best wedding gifts my husband and I received 19 years ago this month was our Crock Pot. Still going strong (even though it’s stained
a bit on the outside and the plastic knob broke off of the switch several years ago), I wanted to give a shout out for this amazing appliance in the hopes that busy, stressed-out people might
start using a slow cooker (if they don’t already) and realize how great it is, too. Finding good recipes to prepare in it has been a challenge over the years (with one
cookbook I tried, every recipe seemed to turn out like mush) but I’ve had a ton of success with Homemade Gourmet recipes and products (there are currently 206 slow cooker recipes at http://recipes.homemadegourmet.com/ ) and once in awhile I’ll also find a winner in a …
Risky Business: Is Writing Killing Me?
Who’d have thought I work in a dangerous job? Well, I do, according to the news that’s resurfaced lately, that people who sit for prolonged
periods of time each day are at a greater risk for heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer, arthritis—okay, basically, an earlier death than those who don’t. Apparently I missed all the stories
about it last year, but caught one a few days ago when it
flashed across my homepage (and new research about children and sitting followed a few days later). Yeah, we all know that being a couch potato (or desk potato) equals fat, and we’ve also been told that getting more
exercise can make that fat go away, so what will this “news” tell us that we don’t already know? Shouldn’t I have …
Confessions of a Burnt-Out Scrapbooker
Hope everyone had a nice MLK holiday weekend. I spent part of mine trying to catch up in “preserving memories”- a.k.a. keeping up with family
photos, and what a daunting task it has been! It used to be so simple when my kids were little. I’d snap pictures on my camera, get them developed at the
drug store, and put them in a “magnetic” album—you know, one of those with sticky pages and clear plastic to …
At Least I Buy Fresh Fruit…
I’ve never thought of myself as a domestic diva, but I think I’m at least a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10, between
“Barely Knows How To Boil Water” and “While Homemade Bread is Baking In Perfectly Cleaned Oven, She Hand-Paints Her Own Gift Wrap And Coordinating Tags On A Table She’s Refinished All By
Herself.” I mean I did major in journalism and Home Economics. I was in 4-H for six years as a teenager, sewing and cooking …
When Hand-Me-Down Hoarding Doesn’t Work
The bedroom switch my daughters are undertaking this summer has been very interesting.
The whole project has definitely turned out to be more than just “switch furniture and paint one room” (which went pretty well while I was gone July
4th by the way…my teenager, Allison, now sleeps amidst four walls painted a sophisticated gray-purple shade called, fittingly, “Enigma”
Where There’s A Will, There’s A Grill
While women have made great strides in the boardroom and in many other previously “male-only domains” over the past 50 years,
there’s at least one where it seems they haven’t made much progress at all: the grill. If we are to believe what we see and read, women do not grill. Grills and grilling aprons are
not part of Mother’s Day ads. I had to page through 29 listings at amazon.com before I found a grilling cookbook with a woman …
Hour Showers No More: Helping Kids Break the Habit
Why are teens (and pre-teens) notorious for taking long showers? Is it because when they were
younger, they used to spend so much time with “bathtub crayons”, “foam soap” and “waterproof musical instruments”, that they’re simply used to “staying in”? Just when I thought my kids were the only ones who think water is limitless and free, I’ve discovered there are many more out there just like them.