Mom to the Screaming Masses

Diaper mania Sara, I

Diaper mania
Sara, I swear I did see your post, I just couldn't get there to respond, until now. Hmm, you wanted to know about diapers. I have used, in the past, lots of different types. I've tried everything out there. I keep coming back, time and again, to just using a prefold with either a velcro wrap or pins (gasp!) and rubber pants. That is what both girls are in now. It's quick, easy, and there isn't too much that can go wrong. There are also snappis - y shaped things that snap on to the edges of the folded dipe and then to the crotch area, to hold it all together.
Here is a website that shows some ways to fold a prefold. I usually do either the angel or the bikini, although I think if I had a boy I'd do the newspaper. There are lots of neat things on that site. I have bought chinese prefolds from here and there are some here that I am going to buy next paycheck. Also, Motherease makes a really good one size diaper. At night time, if I don't use a pamper, like right now, I stick a prefold inside one of those, and that works well. It doesn't leak, but the kid is soggy as heck in the morning.
To wash, I use a dry pail, cuz a wet one is too heavy and too much work. I wash one cycle on hot water, with a presoak and extra rinse cycle, using a minimum of detergent and some odor removal stuff that I bought in the hunting section at Wal-Mart. Then I do a second hot water cold rinse extra rinse cycle with no detergent. I just recently started using some Downy Advanced in the first rinse - I've always read never to use fabric softener, but this one is reported not to affect absorbency .
I hope this is kind of what you were looking for!

The hyperlink for the folds

The hyperlink for the folds above didn't work.
Try here to see how to fold a prefold and try here for nifty, jewel toned prefolds.

MONDAY Today was such

MONDAY
Today was such a bad day. I mean, a baaad day. It started off at 5:30 on a day off from school, and went downhill fast. Therefore, I am officially declaring tomorrow to be chocolate day. It's an idea that I got from another blog, and I definitely see the merits in it. I think I'll start the day with a white chocolate mocha, and then some chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. Chocolate dipped fruit for lunch, brownies and chocolate milk for snack. Hmm. How far could I go with this? It would almost certainly make me feel better!

After a week of

After a week of 70+ degrees, I should have known it was going to get cold again. I think I jinked us. See, I took most of the kids winter clothes and packed them up, making room for the summer stuff. Every year, it never fails that as soon as I do this seasonal changeover, we will have a relapse in cold. Next year, I think I'll do the drawer change in, oh, how about July.

Who makes the rules

Who makes the rules for clothing, anyway? I had a terrible time explaining to my daughter the reason why you shouldn't wear white shoes before Easter. I really couldn't come up with another reason than "Well, it's just not done." What a lame-o. If she wants to wear the white shoes, it's ok by me. There is just an unwritten code of clothing rules that we all seem to pick up as we go along. How does that happen, and who is in charge of making those rules?

Sticks and stones will

Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me!

How to get across to the kids the power of their words?  The hurtful, awful things that they do to each other, just by opening their mouths. I think it must start with me.  I know that I have a tendency to just blurt out whatever I am thinking, and when I get frustrated (often) and tired (way too often) I don't screen myself.  Words can hurt as bad, or worse, than any knife.  A wound from a knife will eventually heal.  That knife can be removed.  The sharp words inflict cuts on the soul that never heal, but fester and grow. I read something (probably from an email forward, lol!) about visualizing your sharp words, those zingers we all love to use, as knives zooming through the air, directly towards the soft part of the person you are speaking to. It is a visual that works for me, if I can remember to utilize it.  Too often I get caught up in, "Well, she hurt me with that remark, let me top it with one that will hurt her equally." My kids have learned this from me, and I am ashamed.  Now I've got to figure out how to unlearn it, and unteach it.

Name four bad habits

Name four bad habits you have:

1. Eating the wrong foods.

2. Interrupting people during a conversation.

3. Low willpower.

4. Spending money.

Name four things that you wish you had:

1. Money.

2. A daily nap.

3. Alice, from the Brady Bunch living in my house.

4. Unlimited computer knowledge.

Name four scents you love:

1. Pear Glace by Victoria's Secret.

2. Coffee, especially hazelnut.

3. Chocolate.

4. The smell of a freshly-bathed baby.

Name four things you'd never wear:

1. Daisy Dukes.

2. Pantyhose, unless it's a funeral.

3. Cropped shirts.

4. Platform shoes.

Name four things you have done today:

1. Blogged.

2. Picked up the drycleaning.

3. Fell down carrying two sleeping babies.

4. Hugged and kissed my kids.

Name four of your favorite things to do:

1. Eat. *sigh*

2. Shop.

3. Blog.

4. Read (sleep is tied here).

Name the last 4 things you have bought:

1. Lunch tickets.

2. White chocolate mocha.

3. soccer goals for the backyard.

4. New mobile for the crib.

Name four things you regularly drink: (not counting water)

1. Coke. Red can. Bad, I know, terrible for me.

2. White chocolate mochas from Starbucks.

3. Coffee frappuccino in the glass jar.

4. Milk, with cookies or cake.  (see why I can't lose weight?)

The amount of packing when

The amount of packing when you take little children on a trip is amazing. I'm going away with my two littles. Most of one bag will probably be diapers, lol. I've got to find the warmer weather clothes in their sizes, and bathing suits. Not to mention the toys for the plane ride, the sippy cups, silverware and bibs for Emma, soap and shampoo, Emma's medications and nebulizer, the double stroller, the sling and the car seats. If it was just me, I'd probably be able to get away with one suitcase, but there is no traveling light with babies.

Man, the foods you like

Man, the foods you like when you are a kid. I can clearly remember loving Twinkies, Ho-Ho's, pop-tarts, Froot-Loops, Marshmallow Krispies; any type of junk food. My mom didn't buy these things, so I saved my pennies and baby sitting money to buy them. (The first things I bought, though, were white bread and butter - all we had were wheat bread and margarine. I felt so deprived.) Either that, or I ate them at friends houses.

My oldest was begging for some Pop-tarts, cuz *everyone* else has them at school for snack. I thought, well, what's the harm, I remember that they were pretty tasty. I didn't realize that there were so many choices of flavors!! I ended up getting Strawberry, which were yummy when I was a kid, and chocolate, because all chocolate is good chocolate. I snuck a pack of the strawberry for breakfast. Blech. Double Blech. My teeth hurt after three bites, and I couldn't finish them. I had the same experience with a Twinkie last month, and forget about the Froot-Loops. So much fake color, and sickingly sweet. I guess it's true, what my mom told me - you develop a taste for the good stuff when you get older.

I have a list of

I have a list of things I want to buy.  I get magazines in the mail all the time, and spend the next couple of hours looking through them. They sit in my basket by my bed, waiting patiently until payday.  Then, if money allows, I pick something to order. The first thing on my list is new kitchen towels from Crate and Barrel. I have a very bright, light teal and yellow kitchen, and these towels would be perfect.  In the cataolog is also the perfect shower curtain for my downstairs bathroom, as well as a great rug.  Also in the pile "to buy" is the kids Land's End catalog.  Swim shoes for the four big kids, shorts, shirts, dresses, and bathing suits come up to a total of almost $300. Next in the pile is some clothing for me, and then books complete the list of future purchases.

If I had enough money, though, I'd buy new sofas from Pottery Barn for my house, in denim.  Then I'd have the interior of my house painted, and I'd definitely build a playroom for my kids, and get these toys out from underfoot.  I'd also redesign my bathroom, pulling out the tub and making an enormous shower.  Don't forget that I'd also have the carpets pulled out and Pergo put in the entire house.

I guess I should get busy playing the lottery, since I know of no rich uncles getting ready to die.