Momma Maven

14 Rules for Raising Sons

My first baby when he was 14 mths.

about 25 rules for mom raising daughters and it got me thinking about similar rules for raising my sons, since I'm due to have my second son next month. You should really read it, it's a beautiful post.

So here's my 14 rules for moms raising sons:

Sorry for the terrible pic

I did it! I finished the Milli Umizoomi costume in record time. The hard part was the cap,

Can you guess what my 4 yr old daughter is going to be for halloween this year? Guesses on Facebook were: Little Bo Peep, Little Miss Muffet, Dora, Hello Kitty and Stephanie from Lazy Town.

I thought the fabric was a dead giveaway, esp. since I had to design it myself and order it from Spoonflower, there just wasn't any print that was anywhere close. (It didn't turn out nearly as bright as I thought it would though.)

Give Up?

So I love those foaming handsoaps but I hate, Hate, HATE the price tag so I decided to refill them myself on the cheap and it turns out to be ridiculously easy. Here is what you need:

One Empty Foaming Dispenser

Liquid Soap, any kind will do

Water

That's really it and since the Suave was one sale for a buck and in a scent that not only do I like but my husband won't mind it either, I used it. You can also use Castile Soap, shampoo, melaleuca hand soap or whatever.

Now to fill it up:

Really, that little, I swear that the companies that sell these things must think we are big suckers to charge more for something that is 99% water. If you use liquid castile soap you only need about 2 TBSP and shampoo lathers a lot so you can use less as well, just pour some in and if it's thicker foam than you want you can always use less soap the next time and if it's too weak then a tiny bit more soap.

Now fill it up with water, I was impatient the first time and just filled it up until most of the bubbles had poured out of the top but if you fill it up slower then you don't get too many bubbles and there's no mess.

(The foamer in the pictures was filled with dishsoap, hence the color difference from the shampoo.)

Politics 101

I hate how biased all the information out there is in the political field esp. if you are only just now getting interested in it so I'm going to share a truly non biased and simple explanation of it for any beginners out there.

First Up, the two major political parties:

If you've never made or tried this delicious comfort food you have been MISSING OUT!!! I remember the first time my mom made it

Eating Well

How I throw together a great meal at the last minute from whatever I have on hand.

Fixes for Mealtime Madness

Do you ever feel like your children are more closely related to barbarians than you when at the dinner table, not me, NEVER ;) but just in case you have I found this post through Owlhaven and just had to share, Seven Strategies for Dinner with the Barbarians from "Like Mother, Like Daughter

Potty Talk

So here's a very mommy post, we've been potty training and so I've had some fun ;) conversations with my daughter about the amount of toilet paper that you should use along with just how to use it. For anyone out there that would like to know how you're actually supposed to use toilet paper you can refer to this blog post from Cottenelle a year ago or read on.

Since kids use an average of 8 sheets for #1 and 16 for #2 this guideline is a good one for them to learn early on. For my little ones just learning I have them use only two sheets, their hands and bodies are small and any kid of potty training age can count to two at least so it makes it easy, then I show them how to fold it in half twice and then in half again the other direction so that you have a square. For #1 I have my girls wipe from front to back but for #2 I have my kids wipe from the back so that they won't wipe so far forward that they are wiping poop where it doesn't belong. It's a bit of a stretch but easy to reach the parts you actually need to get to. I teach them to wipe once and then check the paper and if there is poop on it then to get another two sheets and do it again until it comes back clean.

If they are making a mess wiping then it is often a sign that they aren't really done yet, there should be very little to wipe if they have actually gotten it all out and usually one or two wipes will do it.

This doesn't work with the cheap toilet paper, you usually have to use at least twice as much so keep that in mind.

A Shrub You Can Drink

Angry Chicken posted about this delicious drink called a shrub but it's also referred to as a drinking vinegar, since I LOVE vinegar this sounds like a great drink to me, sweet, tangy, fruity, YUM!

Angry Chicken's Shrub Post

Featuring The Peaceful Mom

I have been following The Peaceful Mom, Kimberlee, for a while now and have loved her very honest posts about the ups and downs of being a mom, she's been doing the mom thing a few years longer than I have and along with her great advice on topics that I can always use yips and trick on like her budgeting and organizing, esp. her organizing. She also has great gluten free recipes that although I don't need, I really appreciate since I've had several friends who had to go gluten-free.

Please check out her wonderful blog, you'll regret it if you don't.

Living on Less Than $28000 a Year

Get Organized! Series