Gifting and regifting...

I know there are other venues for this, but...

As I have frequently alluded, I am in the midst of serious decluttering of our home and its 12 years, six moves, and eight children's worth of STUFF.  I, the queen of organization and preparedness (snort, gag, cough... I'm okay now), am bit by bit working my way through all those sweet little children's clothes, and while there are pangs of sentimentality during this process, my goal is the following:  to have only one box of clothes stored for each child, containing only what that child will wear in the next year.   Sounds a lot better than my current towers of rubbermaid bins, clearly marked with NB, 0-3, 3-6, 6-9, and so on, up through size 12, in pink for the girls' clothes and blue for the boys'.

Today I have begun with my girl baby clothes.  (Ack, why start there, those are the HARDEST to give up!)  Reason being, I have two sisters both expecting girls in the next 2-4 months, and I would be a greedy big sister if I didn't pass them along, seeing how my 10mo little girl has finally outgrown her 3-6 month clothes.  She's a little bug, for sure, which makes it all the harder to see those cute little newborn outfits go, since she's only my second baby to actually be able to WEAR that size for more than a week.

Am I getting to the point, yet?  sigh.  I am up to the 18 month size girls clothes this afternoon, and am trying to decide if my bugaboo will be able to wear them within the next year.  Somehow I doubt it, since her 2 1/2 year old-- and just as petite-- sister only just grew out of them, for reasons of height, not girth.  

I can't bring myself to toss these in a black bag with the rest of the stuff I never care if I see again.  So here I ask, is there some sweet little fairy out there who would wear an 18mo size either this summer or winter who would benefit from a box of these clothes?  I'd prefer to pass them to another mom taking a leap of faith who can truly appreciate the gifting of pass-around clothing, and maybe in a year I'll see them again, if they aren't worn out first. ;)

Takers?  

Oh, and ps, I'll be continuing this treatment for baby boy clothes too.  My baby boy is 4 1/2, so there's going to be a lot there.  It's about time someone else used what otherwise would continue to sit, very organized-like, in my neatly labeled Rubbermaid boxes.  Somehow it just doesn't seem right anymore.  I mean, do I believe the Lord will provide, or don't I??

Scrub-a-Dub-Dubbing... the "Duds"

Laundry. One of the most looming, never-ending, tedious chores to plague a mom day after day after day. We can't even forget about it when we leave home on vacation, because we find ourselves doing extra before leaving, then doing extra again upon arrival back home. Just how is it that the laundry seems not to just pile up, but multiply exponentially?

sigh. I do know why, it's the same way with meals whenever a body is trying to accomplish some task, however seemingly small, in addition to the daily maintenance tasks. When I get engrossed in some household or other project, meals are an annoyance. (You mean we have to eat again already?!)

Laundry is a big deal in our house because there are just so many of us. I have tried many coping techniques-- downsizing the number of clothes the children have to wear, making them wear the same outfit for a whole week (the boys seem to have no trouble with this one). Then there's the other extreme, giving up and buying everyone twenty pairs of socks and underwear, including Mom and Dad, in hopes this will surely keep us going till I get around to processing the last dirty batch.

I think our house digests laundry. It eats socks, especially any dress socks we try to keep at the ready for Sunday morning. No, it isn't the dryer that eats them, the whole house is in cahoots to work against my efforts. And not just the mates are consumed, so at least we would have singletons left. ( I thwarted that problem by buying all white socks of the same type, but a little different brand/style/size for each child.) My house eats socks, underwear, and clean pants, and leaves behind more stray shirts than I ever knew we had!

My new plan to tackle this problem is included in what I call my black bag project. It's my version of some of the FLYlady's concepts, tailored to our large, young family who has moved five times and increased by eight people in eleven years. Who on earth could have a clean house after all that, and more?!

But first, the laundry. As of a couple months ago, I finally began using homemade laundry detergent. I have a recipe from my sister in law, which I'll give you in a moment, but never had all the supplies to make it. In the meantime, I bought a chunk from the local family from whom we buy our (raw) milk and (organic, free-range) eggs. This I grated, dissolved in hot water on the stove, and poured into my empty vinegar bottles. When I use it, I just pour some in the washer, and put vinegar in the rinse cycle dispenser. If the clothes are unusually soiled, I'll add washing soda to the wash cycle as well. I have done this with playclothes that saw time in the woods, socks that (I didn't realize) were worn night and day for a week or more, and baby items (from the times I forgot to change the diaper soon enough) that I never did get rinsed out. I have been very pleased at how well the soil comes out many times, just through this process, although some of the baby things will sometimes still have a yellowish tinge and need another run through.

I do not use bleach, except on rare occasions when the girls' Sunday white socks or tights were worn a few too many times without shoes.

I have noticed that since using the homemade detergent, before which I too was using the free and clear commercial detergent, there is a marked difference in the end result. The clothes smell truly clean. Not 'fake' clean. And once you see the difference, you'll know what that means. Maybe like the difference between the days I wash my hair and put on clean clothes, thinking I'll skip a day of showering, and the days I just shower, even if I put on yesterday's clothes. Make sense?

Even if all the spots or smells don't always come out, when they do I know it's because they really came out, not because something is covering it up, faking me into thinking it's cleaner, when really it's not. And I read recently that even products which claim to be 'free' actually use some chemical to make them colorless and odorless. Isn't that unsettling? (I'll have to find that information again, if I can, for you to peruse.)

Without further blathering, here's the recipe I was given:

Laundry Detergent

3 pints (6 cups) hot water

1/3 bar Fels Naptha soap, grated*

1/2 cup Arm & Hammer washing soda (NOT baking soda)**

1/2 cup 20 Mule Team Borax**

1 quart hot water

Additional hot water to dilute

essential oil, optional, if desired

2 gallon capacity bucket for mixing

saucepan used for soapmaking***



In saucepan, mix grated Fels Naptha with the 3 pints of hot water and heat on low till dissolved. Stir in washing soda and borax. Stir over heat until thickened, remove from heat. Add one quart hot water to empty 2 gallon bucket, add soap mixture and mix well. Add additional hot water to fill bucket, and again mix well. ( At this point a few drops of your favorite essential oil may be added for fragrance, if desired.)

Set aside for 24 hours or until mixture thickens.

Use 1/2 cup mixture per load of laundry.



*I found this on the Ace Hardware website, but never got around to looking at the stores. It's not sold everywhere.

** I found these at Meijer, but none of our area Wal-marts have carried them.

*** I designated one of my older pans for this purpose, as once you've done this you shouldn't be cooking food in it anymore.

The "Poop" on Diapers

I really do detest these terms, and here at our house we've opted to use the real names for both anatomy and bodily functions. So bear with me (no pun intended). :)

I have used cloth diapers on and off over the course of ten plus years with eight children to date, and this is only my experience and preference. Someone else may think I am totally bonkers on my choices... but then, you may already think that anyway, eh? ;)

*** Having done it both ways, I prefer to use disposables for the first weeks. I just don't have the energy to change all those newborn-nursing-youknowwhat-didies at that point. And I have done it-- it's just not worth it to me anymore. LUVS are my favorite-- and the commercial is correct, in my opinion. "Live and learn, and then get LUVS." They work. And they work great. No leaks unless you really leave them on too long, and fewer of those "sitting in the car seat through the grocery shopping, up the back or up the front explosions, slap my forehead I wish I would've changed it once more before we headed home" situations.

In the current case of our (yesterday) six month old, I haven't switched to cloth yet. It is just not on the priority list.


***If and when I end up going to cloth with a child... (the one before this baby didn't use them till we started potty learning, maybe 18mo? I don't remember, I was expecting another one.)...my favorite cloth diapers are Barefoot Baby prefolds. They are thick, thirsty, and versatile. Yes, that means I use diaper pins, but there is no velcro in the laundry to stick, and I can custom-fold them according to size and gender to put the absorbency where I need it to be. Oh, and they can't take them off as easily at inopportune times. We had one of those, and had to watch out after a nap if it was too quiet in the crib. :}

These flat diapers with extra layers down the middle are also wonderful for burp cloths (that actually absorb the fluid, rather than let it sit in a puddle on the surface, like birdseye cotton does... ewwww. I like to use ONE burp cloth and know it will last me at least half the day, rather than constantly changing for a new one.) I use the term burp cloth loosely, as I have for a long time given up after the first few weeks on keeping one on my shoulder. My husband has finally *almost* learned not to hug me on that shoulder. Instead, I keep it handy for right after a feeding, and to mop up in-between gurgles, or whatever.

They are wonderful during potty learning time, as they can be quickly tossed over a puddle, and it is absorbed almost without effort. Gotta love that. Also good folded in thirds as a diaper doubler, and to pad carseats or high chairs with potty-learning-toddlers, just in case. I keep one in the carseat during that stage, and if there's an accident, I simply replace the diaper.


***On laundering diapers, I have done the diaper pail soaking and the bleach in the past, but once I learned I didn't have to do that, it simplified the process SO much more. Barefoot Baby also has instructions for this.

Here's what I do. I have a nylon drawstring bag ( I keep one to use and one to wash-- the largest SimpleSac from Barefoot Baby) which I keep inside a trash can for this purpose. (I use a slim Rubbermaid one with the step-open lid.) Soiled diapers are rinsed well in the toilet first, while wet ones are tossed in as is. When I was using commercial detergent, I used the wash cycle, then an extra rinse, to make sure all the detergent came out. I have since switched to homemade laundry detergent. When it's time to wash, I put them all on a prerinse with vinegar, then launder on the longest "whites" cycle on hot wash/cold rinse. I put detergent in the wash cycle and put more vinegar in the dispenser cup. It really cuts the strong acid of the urine. Then, ideally, out on the clothesline they go. Nothing satisfies me quite like seeing all those nice, identical, flat diapers hanging out to sun and dry. When my husband or I don't have time, they go in the dryer, which I like to do every now and then anyway as they 'quilt' more that way.

I love the smell and feel of clean diapers just in from the line. And as far as stains? Well, they are diapers, you know. :)


***I used Gerber plastic rubber pants with my first one or two, and it didn't take long for me to hate them. I didn't use bleach, I didn't put them in the dryer, and still after a while they cracked and the elastic deteriorated.

I also tried wool pants, but realized how silly it is to think something that is so "breathable" wouldn't also leak something awful. Guess which one is more important to me.

I was thrilled when I found Bumkins Whisper Wraps. I use the pull-on kind, and I fell in love with them right away. They are very lightweight, they don't "crunch" when they move, and they don't deteriorate so quickly. Waterproof nylon with lycra waist and leg gatherings, which are more leakproof than elastic.

Oh, and they last forever. I bought several pair for our second child, and although I have since purchased more in more sizes, I still have and use the original ones. ( And we are on our eighth child!)

p.s. You may want to check out Bumkins bibs too. They too are awesome. I have used these for several years and they are still going strong, even though I had to sew new velcro on some of the older ones when it stopped sticking. I can wash them in the dishwater (not to be confused with dishwasher) or throw them in the laundry. We hang them on the curtain rod above the sink, and they dry very quickly-- even better out on the line.


***With regard to nighttime diapering, we decided several children ago that it was not worth the discomfort to the child or the parent to cloth diaper at night. We went to cloth for day, disposable for night. Fast forward to this fall, when we found ourselves with five children (of eight!) needing nighttime wetness protection. We decided GoodNites (tried others, these were the only ones that worked all night long) were getting too expensive, so we let the new baby and the two year old have their disposable diapers, and for the other three we invested in cloth waterproof nighttime pants. We got ours through OneStepAhead, and each child wears this with a doubler (see Barefoot Baby) inside and a pair of Whisper pants on the outside. In the morning they are to put them in the bathtub, and one of us parents rinses the worst of the urine out before running them in the washing machine.

We also use these soaker pads on the beds, from the time they are potty learning (especially at naptime) till they can consistently stay dry through the night.

Since then the two year old started on this nighttime routine as well, and is in the midst of potty learning, so we only have ONE child in disposable diapers. THAT is a first.


***Regarding potty learning itself, that is a topic for another post.

The Patter of Little Feet

Question: What is your system for shoes?


Shoes... The best solution, don't wear any if at all possible. :)

I wear shoes in the house all the time, because I wear orthotics, but I'd rather be barefoot, so often I cheat. However, wearing shoes in the house DOES have its benefits: I don't step in puddles in my socks-- ew, worse than barefoot! I don't hurt myself on small hard objects, like LEGOs, for example, or unpopped pocorn kernels. (Yes, my house is really that untidy) And I can't feel the crumbs and crud on the floor when it needs to be swept, which is pretty much every five minutes, and is why I don't sweep it every five minutes, because , hey, it's just going to need it again in another five!

The kids, on the other hand, are _not allowed_ to wear shoes in the house. When they come in from playing, they stay in the porch. In fact, I almost have to forbid socks in the summertime, because I do have one child who prefers socks and shoes to sandals, likes to wear his socks to bed, and would keep them on, day and night, for five days straight before I would notice. This has happened more than once. And, while I don't want to feel crumbs, puddles, and LEGOs, I figure if the kids get sick of it, they'll be more motivated to clean it up. As I have told many, many people who have seen me tell a child pick something up off the floor rather than bend down myself, "It's easier for them, they are closer to the floor." So the shoes are to be worn outside only, and to make things much simpler ALL the kids' shoes of ALL types are kept in the back porch.

We have three or four sets of Rubbermaid organizers, each of which is two large bins with handles, one on top of the other, slid into a frame, so that it's like drawers, except you can easily take the whole thing out. Some of those bins hold potatoes, onions, and plastic grocery bags (aka trash can liners), but four of them hold shoes.

Right now, as it's still summer here in southern Indiana, one bin has what we call sandal-shoes. These are Lands' End HydroQuest shoes, which look like a cross between a sport sandal and a tennis shoe. They have elastic laces with toggles to adjust the fit, and have mesh and open areas for breathability. They boast anti-microbial materials which keep them from stinking as quickly, as they are worn barefoot (by all but my sock-lover), and when they get too ripe, I just toss them in the washing machine on cold, gentle cycle and air dry, and they are fresh again. Once summer hits, the kids are not to wear their usual tennis shoes anymore. By then, most of them are too small and/or worn out anyway; when fall comes, we buy new ones or dig up handmedowns from the basement. We have done this for two summers now, and it has worked great! I do not buy any sandals; this is their summer play shoe and sandal in one. (This summer, a few bought flip-flops with their own money, which are their responsibility.)

Another drawer holds mud boots, aka overshoes to some, I understand. Where we live, we don't have a winter, at least not my my definition, so snow boots are not economical. At the same time, when it's not summer, it rains a lot, so the ground is usually muddy. Faced with the choice between keeping the kids in the house and therefore clean, and letting them play outside, inevitably finding someone's shoes encrusted with dried mud when I'm trying to get them out the door to go to town. So I got smart and bought a set of mud boots, aka overshoes, at the local farm store for $15 a pair. I have gotten a good return out of that investment, and as with most things in a large family they will be handed down.

A third drawer hold the current set of play shoes. In the summer the drawer is hardly cracked, but I leave them there just in case... In case we have a chilly day, or an occasion that calls for real shoes.

A fourth drawer holds the children's dress shoes for Sunday. We tried keeping these in the bedrooms, but it got to be crazy trying to make sure they were all located in the midst of other Sunday morning preparations. Tried getting clothes out the night before, too, but while it was better it really just transferred that frantic search to an earlier time slot. The boys wear black dress shoes year-round. The girls wear black in the fall/winter, and white in the spring/summer. This hearkens back to my childhood, when I was told there was a rule that it was black from Labor day on, then White from Easter Sunday on. Don't know that I'm strict on that, as we wear what fits, even if it's not the right color, but it does look funny to see black mary janes in the summertime and white ones in the winter, so I try. I have waffled on the issue of girls wearing sandals to church. I do, but then there aren't four of me. I got tired of keeping track of both, so I went to just shoes, both out of fairness to the boys, who don't have that option, and to make it easier. That was when we had them in the rooms, though, so this year I found sandals for all the girls and it worked out okay. Whatever the case, I'm not giving up my freedom... my feet get HOT in the summer.