Keeping House
shirarocklin
Hi,
I would really appreciate some ideas about how to keep house while unschooling. I don't mean meticulously, or even most standards of clean. I'd like to accomplish a semblance of 'picked up.'
As it is, I often feel very overwhelmed (and it was that way before unschooling as well, and before children, I guess I never knew how to keep house and now its so much harder) by how quickly it all devolves into what looks like chaos. If I pick up a room, when I wake up the next morning it seems back to where it started. In every room the floors are covered: the kitchen and hallway next to it are constantly scattered with food, despite my sweeping many many times a day. The bedrooms with clothing, the living room with toys and snacks and who knows what else. Dirty dishes are all over the house. I desperately want to clean out the sofas to find lost toys. We've had mice before and I d't want tthem to come back. When I clean dishes, its in order to make room to move the dishes on the counter off the counter so that I can use the counter to make a meal for the kids. About once a week we 'catch up' on the dishes and counters and table. Rarely do I get to mop, or clean a bathroom, etc. We live in a spacious (but old) 3 bedroom apartment, 2 adults and a 1 and 4 year old.
A lot of the advice I've seen in the past isn't working for me right now. Such as cleaning after kids go to sleep. They go to sleep irregularly, and late, and we fall into bed exhausted too. When my husband is home in the evenings, it also doesn't seem possible. And going to sleep so late, I can't wake up earlier to clean (plus the baby nurses non-stop in the early hours of the morning).
Today Temima said "I don't want more cleaning days" - I think she was talking about how we did several loads of laundry yesterday. Today I'm ignoring the mess, but feel immobilized to do anything else because there isn't any space to do it.
Is there any way at all, with this age children, to keep some semblance of order, while unschooling, so that we can just even function day to day?
I could write tons more, but Temima needs me.
Thanks,
Shira
I would really appreciate some ideas about how to keep house while unschooling. I don't mean meticulously, or even most standards of clean. I'd like to accomplish a semblance of 'picked up.'
As it is, I often feel very overwhelmed (and it was that way before unschooling as well, and before children, I guess I never knew how to keep house and now its so much harder) by how quickly it all devolves into what looks like chaos. If I pick up a room, when I wake up the next morning it seems back to where it started. In every room the floors are covered: the kitchen and hallway next to it are constantly scattered with food, despite my sweeping many many times a day. The bedrooms with clothing, the living room with toys and snacks and who knows what else. Dirty dishes are all over the house. I desperately want to clean out the sofas to find lost toys. We've had mice before and I d't want tthem to come back. When I clean dishes, its in order to make room to move the dishes on the counter off the counter so that I can use the counter to make a meal for the kids. About once a week we 'catch up' on the dishes and counters and table. Rarely do I get to mop, or clean a bathroom, etc. We live in a spacious (but old) 3 bedroom apartment, 2 adults and a 1 and 4 year old.
A lot of the advice I've seen in the past isn't working for me right now. Such as cleaning after kids go to sleep. They go to sleep irregularly, and late, and we fall into bed exhausted too. When my husband is home in the evenings, it also doesn't seem possible. And going to sleep so late, I can't wake up earlier to clean (plus the baby nurses non-stop in the early hours of the morning).
Today Temima said "I don't want more cleaning days" - I think she was talking about how we did several loads of laundry yesterday. Today I'm ignoring the mess, but feel immobilized to do anything else because there isn't any space to do it.
Is there any way at all, with this age children, to keep some semblance of order, while unschooling, so that we can just even function day to day?
I could write tons more, but Temima needs me.
Thanks,
Shira
shirarocklin
Hi Again,
To clarify a bit. I spend so much time playing, or going out to do fun things, that its easy to just eat and run, or play and walk away, and that the cleaning just doesn't happen in little bits as things happen, which is how I see other people keeping their homes clean. Just picking up after themselves. And if I DO take larger chunks of time to clean up the amount of accumulated mess, its hours long job, and its not fair for the kids, and they don't like it much.
Thanks again,
Shira
To clarify a bit. I spend so much time playing, or going out to do fun things, that its easy to just eat and run, or play and walk away, and that the cleaning just doesn't happen in little bits as things happen, which is how I see other people keeping their homes clean. Just picking up after themselves. And if I DO take larger chunks of time to clean up the amount of accumulated mess, its hours long job, and its not fair for the kids, and they don't like it much.
Thanks again,
Shira
Amanda's Shoebox
I can totally relate!!! I'm not the best housekeeper and have a tendency to do all of the things you've mentioned. First of all, don't be too hard on yourself. You do clean, even if it's not at the times you think you should (i.e. - after dinner instead of before dinner). Also remember that most people clean more when people are watching them... so just because they are cleaning while you are there, doesn't mean they keep their house that way when you're not!
Thankfully, I'm married to a guy who's really good at knowing how to keep a house clean and he's helped me a lot over the past 15 years showing me how to make my life easier. Here are some of the things I've learned from him...
Laundry: If you have more than 3 loads of dirty laundry, bag it all up in trashbags and take them to a laundromat. Start all of the loads at once, then go to the park or lunch or something else fun. Come back in about half an hour and transfer everything to dryers. Leave and go do something else fun. When everything is dry, don't even bother folding anything. Bring the clothes home in the trashbags, put on a movie (or two) and fold clothes while watching movies. Have snacks available for helpers that want to fold and watch the movie(s) with you :) Don't put the laundry away! Put it in boxes and put the boxes next to where you usually store clothes. Anything that is not worn over the next couple of weeks... get rid of it. Put unworn items in your car with the intention of giving it away. If you don't give them away within a couple of days, throw them away.
Dishes: Only keep two of everything (glasses, spoons, bowls, etc.) for each family member in your kitchen cabinets. Store the rest, for when you have guests, in a box in a closet or garage. Also, store anything that is not used frequently somewhere other than your kitchen.
Papers: This has been a major problem for me. I don't know why, but I have a really hard time filing things. What I've found that works for me is "piling". I pile papers on my desk and put them away about twice a week. I "file" my papers in a box like this: http://www.officemax.com/office-furniture/literature-holders-sorters/literature-sorters/product-ARS22110?cm_mmc=GBase-_-Office%20Furniture-_-Literature%20Holders%20and%20Sorters-_-Literature%20Sorters&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=03100067 ... for some reason, I hate putting things away in folders in a drawer, but have no problem sliding them on a shelf. Once a year, I take all papers out of their slots, put them in folders and put them in a box. When I'm "filing" twice a week, I drag the kitchen trashcan next to my paper box so it's really easy to throw things away. Otherwise, I would just leave the "trash" papers on my desk and they would get mixed up with the "keep" papers.
Toys: Get all of the toys both lying around and in toyboxes and bag or box them up. Don't try to sort the toys into categories or think about it too much. Just run around your house and bag or box everything up. Don't think about what might be used. Store these boxes/bags either in the corner of the room where they were laying, a closet or garage. After you've done this, allow the kids to pull whatever they want out of the bags/boxes. Each night run around the house with a laundry basket and take all of the toys that are lying around and put them in your empty toyboxes. After a couple of weeks, you can donate anything that's not been played with or store them and rotate toys (trade them when they're bored of what they've been playing with).
Hope this helps!
~ Amanda (a true hoarder by nature)
Thankfully, I'm married to a guy who's really good at knowing how to keep a house clean and he's helped me a lot over the past 15 years showing me how to make my life easier. Here are some of the things I've learned from him...
Laundry: If you have more than 3 loads of dirty laundry, bag it all up in trashbags and take them to a laundromat. Start all of the loads at once, then go to the park or lunch or something else fun. Come back in about half an hour and transfer everything to dryers. Leave and go do something else fun. When everything is dry, don't even bother folding anything. Bring the clothes home in the trashbags, put on a movie (or two) and fold clothes while watching movies. Have snacks available for helpers that want to fold and watch the movie(s) with you :) Don't put the laundry away! Put it in boxes and put the boxes next to where you usually store clothes. Anything that is not worn over the next couple of weeks... get rid of it. Put unworn items in your car with the intention of giving it away. If you don't give them away within a couple of days, throw them away.
Dishes: Only keep two of everything (glasses, spoons, bowls, etc.) for each family member in your kitchen cabinets. Store the rest, for when you have guests, in a box in a closet or garage. Also, store anything that is not used frequently somewhere other than your kitchen.
Papers: This has been a major problem for me. I don't know why, but I have a really hard time filing things. What I've found that works for me is "piling". I pile papers on my desk and put them away about twice a week. I "file" my papers in a box like this: http://www.officemax.com/office-furniture/literature-holders-sorters/literature-sorters/product-ARS22110?cm_mmc=GBase-_-Office%20Furniture-_-Literature%20Holders%20and%20Sorters-_-Literature%20Sorters&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=03100067 ... for some reason, I hate putting things away in folders in a drawer, but have no problem sliding them on a shelf. Once a year, I take all papers out of their slots, put them in folders and put them in a box. When I'm "filing" twice a week, I drag the kitchen trashcan next to my paper box so it's really easy to throw things away. Otherwise, I would just leave the "trash" papers on my desk and they would get mixed up with the "keep" papers.
Toys: Get all of the toys both lying around and in toyboxes and bag or box them up. Don't try to sort the toys into categories or think about it too much. Just run around your house and bag or box everything up. Don't think about what might be used. Store these boxes/bags either in the corner of the room where they were laying, a closet or garage. After you've done this, allow the kids to pull whatever they want out of the bags/boxes. Each night run around the house with a laundry basket and take all of the toys that are lying around and put them in your empty toyboxes. After a couple of weeks, you can donate anything that's not been played with or store them and rotate toys (trade them when they're bored of what they've been playing with).
Hope this helps!
~ Amanda (a true hoarder by nature)
--- In [email protected], "shirarocklin" <shirarocklin@...> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I would really appreciate some ideas about how to keep house while unschooling. I don't mean meticulously, or even most standards of clean. I'd like to accomplish a semblance of 'picked up.'
Sandra Dodd
The first thing I thought was that nursing a baby always made me kind
of a contented cow, and low on energy, but one of these months or
years, the baby won't be nursing and your energy and spark will
return. Also you'll have more time and be more mobile.
I liked Amanda's response but one thing here made my flags go up.
First, I was thinking instead of toy boxes or bags: Laundry baskets.
A stack of half a dozen or ten matching laundry baskets can be stacked
when empty (IF ever empty) and so don't take the space of boxes.
Then she talked about using a laundry basket! So cool. But at the
end of this...
-=-Toys: Get all of the toys both lying around and in toyboxes and bag
or box them up. Don't try to sort the toys into categories or think
about it too much. Just run around your house and bag or box
everything up. Don't think about what might be used. Store these boxes/
bags either in the corner of the room where they were laying, a closet
or garage. After you've done this, allow the kids to pull whatever
they want out of the bags/boxes. Each night run around the house with
a laundry basket and take all of the toys that are lying around and
put them in your empty toyboxes. After a couple of weeks, you can
donate anything that's not been played with or store them and rotate
toys (trade them when they're bored of what they've been playing
with). -=-
I could name you toys and clothes that my mom got rid of without a
word, and that did not improve our relationship or my increasingly-bad
opinion of her.
Just because something hasn't been played with (a couple of weeks!?!)
doesn't mean it's not still loved and good. KIds won't play with
stuffed animals as much in summer as in winter when it's cold, maybe,
or with sand toys in winter as in summer (or jump ropes or hula hoops
or bubbles...)
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
of a contented cow, and low on energy, but one of these months or
years, the baby won't be nursing and your energy and spark will
return. Also you'll have more time and be more mobile.
I liked Amanda's response but one thing here made my flags go up.
First, I was thinking instead of toy boxes or bags: Laundry baskets.
A stack of half a dozen or ten matching laundry baskets can be stacked
when empty (IF ever empty) and so don't take the space of boxes.
Then she talked about using a laundry basket! So cool. But at the
end of this...
-=-Toys: Get all of the toys both lying around and in toyboxes and bag
or box them up. Don't try to sort the toys into categories or think
about it too much. Just run around your house and bag or box
everything up. Don't think about what might be used. Store these boxes/
bags either in the corner of the room where they were laying, a closet
or garage. After you've done this, allow the kids to pull whatever
they want out of the bags/boxes. Each night run around the house with
a laundry basket and take all of the toys that are lying around and
put them in your empty toyboxes. After a couple of weeks, you can
donate anything that's not been played with or store them and rotate
toys (trade them when they're bored of what they've been playing
with). -=-
I could name you toys and clothes that my mom got rid of without a
word, and that did not improve our relationship or my increasingly-bad
opinion of her.
Just because something hasn't been played with (a couple of weeks!?!)
doesn't mean it's not still loved and good. KIds won't play with
stuffed animals as much in summer as in winter when it's cold, maybe,
or with sand toys in winter as in summer (or jump ropes or hula hoops
or bubbles...)
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
alexandriapalonia
Most people I know who are neat (or aspire toward that general direction) are proactive more than they are reactive.
In our house, this includes things like eating in the kitchen/dining room (keeps dishes and food mess contained to these two areas -- less trekking to find dishes), lots and lots of conveniently located laundry bins (for both clean and dirty clothes), and toy bins in public spaces (for quick pick up). We have cleaning up the dishes as part of the meal -- preparation of the meal, eating the meal, cleaning up after the meal -- and we work together, so it's short and fun.
We always bought little tools we ours were wee ones. (I bought two swiffers and made one shorter than normal and one longer, too). You can get brooms and mops and dust pans and all sorts of tools for smaller hands -- they're really cute and it can be a fun game to do housework together. (And the nice thing about starting from a place of not being a TypeA, neatnik mother is that your wee one won't run afoul an impossibly high standard -- her efforts will be great).
I found that keeping cleaning supplies handy (toilet brush immediately beside the toilet) helped -- I'm not off looking for something to give the toilet a quick scrub -- I can simply do it, and it's done. A squeegie in the bath (I squeegie before I towel off) keeps the grime and water/soap build up down in the shower. I do a deep clean on immediately before my shower when I do the big scrub -- I'm already there, and, when I'm done and feeling grubby, I'm ready to shower).
Decluttering our lives (toys we weren't using, clothes we don't wear, things we don't use) helped us immensely. Fewer things to care for = less housework = more time to put into that which we want to do. You don't even have to "get rid" of the stuff, you could just box up stuff you're not using and either rotate it in and out, or see if you have any want of it in the next year, and decide then if it's something that is enhancing your life.
I'd start with just one thing -- probably the kitchen/meals (because dirty laundry piles don't generally attract pestilence), and tackle one thing at a time, establishing new habits and routines that fit your family.
Andrea
In our house, this includes things like eating in the kitchen/dining room (keeps dishes and food mess contained to these two areas -- less trekking to find dishes), lots and lots of conveniently located laundry bins (for both clean and dirty clothes), and toy bins in public spaces (for quick pick up). We have cleaning up the dishes as part of the meal -- preparation of the meal, eating the meal, cleaning up after the meal -- and we work together, so it's short and fun.
We always bought little tools we ours were wee ones. (I bought two swiffers and made one shorter than normal and one longer, too). You can get brooms and mops and dust pans and all sorts of tools for smaller hands -- they're really cute and it can be a fun game to do housework together. (And the nice thing about starting from a place of not being a TypeA, neatnik mother is that your wee one won't run afoul an impossibly high standard -- her efforts will be great).
I found that keeping cleaning supplies handy (toilet brush immediately beside the toilet) helped -- I'm not off looking for something to give the toilet a quick scrub -- I can simply do it, and it's done. A squeegie in the bath (I squeegie before I towel off) keeps the grime and water/soap build up down in the shower. I do a deep clean on immediately before my shower when I do the big scrub -- I'm already there, and, when I'm done and feeling grubby, I'm ready to shower).
Decluttering our lives (toys we weren't using, clothes we don't wear, things we don't use) helped us immensely. Fewer things to care for = less housework = more time to put into that which we want to do. You don't even have to "get rid" of the stuff, you could just box up stuff you're not using and either rotate it in and out, or see if you have any want of it in the next year, and decide then if it's something that is enhancing your life.
I'd start with just one thing -- probably the kitchen/meals (because dirty laundry piles don't generally attract pestilence), and tackle one thing at a time, establishing new habits and routines that fit your family.
Andrea
> As it is, I often feel very overwhelmed (and it was that way before unschooling as well, and before children, I guess I never knew how to keep house and now its so much harder) by how quickly it all devolves into what looks like chaos. If I pick up a room, when I wake up the next morning it seems back to where it started. In every room the floors are covered: the kitchen and hallway next to it are constantly scattered with food, despite my sweeping many many times a day. The bedrooms with clothing, the living room with toys and snacks and who knows what else. Dirty dishes are all over the house. I desperately want to clean out the sofas to find lost toys. We've had mice before and I d't want tthem to come back. When I clean dishes, its in order to make room to move the dishes on the counter off the counter so that I can use the counter to make a meal for the kids. About once a week we 'catch up' on the dishes and counters and table. Rarely do I get to mop, or clean a bathroom, etc. We live in a spacious (but old) 3 bedroom apartment, 2 adults and a 1 and 4 year old.
>
> Is there any way at all, with this age children, to keep some semblance of order, while unschooling, so that we can just even function day to day?
> Shira
>
Amanda's Shoebox
Sandra Said:
###################################################################
I could name you toys and clothes that my mom got rid of without a
word, and that did not improve our relationship or my increasingly-bad opinion of her. Just because something hasn't been played with (a couple of weeks!?!) doesn't mean it's not still loved and good. KIds won't play with stuffed animals as much in summer as in winter when it's cold, maybe, or with sand toys in winter as in summer (or jump ropes or hula hoops or bubbles...)
###################################################################
You're right Sandra. The kids should definitely be involved in what to keep/store and give to someone who needs them when their stuff is involved. Toy rotation can really help if your kids want to keep a lot of their stuff. You could rotate once a week and it's like getting a new present...
"What's in the box? Oh, I remember that, let's keep that in the permanent toy box for a while!"
Often times, though, kids stop playing with things (or never started) because it doesn't really interest them. Those things should really not be in your house making your life harder.
~ Amanda :)
###################################################################
I could name you toys and clothes that my mom got rid of without a
word, and that did not improve our relationship or my increasingly-bad opinion of her. Just because something hasn't been played with (a couple of weeks!?!) doesn't mean it's not still loved and good. KIds won't play with stuffed animals as much in summer as in winter when it's cold, maybe, or with sand toys in winter as in summer (or jump ropes or hula hoops or bubbles...)
###################################################################
You're right Sandra. The kids should definitely be involved in what to keep/store and give to someone who needs them when their stuff is involved. Toy rotation can really help if your kids want to keep a lot of their stuff. You could rotate once a week and it's like getting a new present...
"What's in the box? Oh, I remember that, let's keep that in the permanent toy box for a while!"
Often times, though, kids stop playing with things (or never started) because it doesn't really interest them. Those things should really not be in your house making your life harder.
~ Amanda :)
Sarah
The thing that has helped me the most is to organise our living space so that most of the stuff we use day-to-day is in the living room and kitchen - this takes up the whole of the ground floor.
Upstairs is the office, bathroom and bedrooms and they're used for quiet stuff like sleeping and stories. There are almost no toys in their bedroom (partly because it's small). Not that there is any rule not to play upstairs- just that I store stuff where it is used.
The advantages are that we can all be together while we're doing our thing, we aren't carrying things all over the house as we used to, and I essentially have only one room to tidy- the rest of the house hardly gets messy.
Ten minutes of popping things in boxes and five minutes with a Hoover and we look quite respectible- even after a seriously creative day. And even if I can't get to that then we cam retreat to quiet, clean spaces when we get tired/go to bed.
Sxx
Upstairs is the office, bathroom and bedrooms and they're used for quiet stuff like sleeping and stories. There are almost no toys in their bedroom (partly because it's small). Not that there is any rule not to play upstairs- just that I store stuff where it is used.
The advantages are that we can all be together while we're doing our thing, we aren't carrying things all over the house as we used to, and I essentially have only one room to tidy- the rest of the house hardly gets messy.
Ten minutes of popping things in boxes and five minutes with a Hoover and we look quite respectible- even after a seriously creative day. And even if I can't get to that then we cam retreat to quiet, clean spaces when we get tired/go to bed.
Sxx
Su Penn
On Jun 29, 2010, at 11:21 AM, shirarocklin wrote:
Daily brief routines a la Flylady: a quick 15 minutes in the morning of wiping down the bathroom and sweeping some floors, say. Doing one load of laundry and putting it away as soon as there are enough dirty clothes for a load.
Identifying the things that make me feel most uncomfortable in my house and targeting those. For instance, if the kitchen counters are clear, I could walk on a filthy kitchen floor for months and feel no discomfort at all; likewise, if we can keep the big table cleared off so we have space to do things there, that's huge.
Doing quick-and-dirty pickups--like tossing everything on the floor into one big laundry basket for sorting out later at my leisure.
Asking other people in the house to do really targeted tasks. My partner David is good for helping the kids pick up the living room floor, and sorting out the big baskets of random stuff from time to time, but usually only if I ask him. Likewise, the boys (who are 6 and 9) usually respond very cheerfully to a specific thing like, "It would be a big help if you'd pick up all the Playmobil off the floor and put it in the bin," or, "If you're done with your cups and plates, please put them in the kitchen."
Shifts of perspective. Just this morning, I saw my therapist (I've recently gone back to therapy after not needing it for a long time, because of some big life stuff that left me not coping as well as usual). I told her that this past week I hadn't spent any time going through these bins in the living room that have been piling up full of random toys and junk for months, as I had planned to and have been planning to for weeks but having trouble tackling, and she said, "Oh, that's OK. Your family's values are really more about family connections and supporting people's development than about your physical space, and it sounds like you did a good job connecting with your kids this week. That's more important." She's right, and it's something I've lost sight of when I get caught up in thinking I have to do it all.
I mentioned to someone recently that I've figured out I can do 2 of the following 3 things on any given day: keep up with the house; be present for my kids the way I want to; other things that matter to me for me, like reading and writing. Some days I can do all 3 more or less, but I can only do 2 of them really well, right now. Sometimes I am successful at just not caring about a mess.
Su, mom to Eric, 9; Carl, 6; Yehva, 2.5
tapeflags.blogspot.com
> I would really appreciate some ideas about how to keep house while unschooling. I don't mean meticulously, or even most standards of clean. I'd like to accomplish a semblance of 'picked up.'I am doing a terrible job of this right now, but I know what works for me when it's working:
Daily brief routines a la Flylady: a quick 15 minutes in the morning of wiping down the bathroom and sweeping some floors, say. Doing one load of laundry and putting it away as soon as there are enough dirty clothes for a load.
Identifying the things that make me feel most uncomfortable in my house and targeting those. For instance, if the kitchen counters are clear, I could walk on a filthy kitchen floor for months and feel no discomfort at all; likewise, if we can keep the big table cleared off so we have space to do things there, that's huge.
Doing quick-and-dirty pickups--like tossing everything on the floor into one big laundry basket for sorting out later at my leisure.
Asking other people in the house to do really targeted tasks. My partner David is good for helping the kids pick up the living room floor, and sorting out the big baskets of random stuff from time to time, but usually only if I ask him. Likewise, the boys (who are 6 and 9) usually respond very cheerfully to a specific thing like, "It would be a big help if you'd pick up all the Playmobil off the floor and put it in the bin," or, "If you're done with your cups and plates, please put them in the kitchen."
Shifts of perspective. Just this morning, I saw my therapist (I've recently gone back to therapy after not needing it for a long time, because of some big life stuff that left me not coping as well as usual). I told her that this past week I hadn't spent any time going through these bins in the living room that have been piling up full of random toys and junk for months, as I had planned to and have been planning to for weeks but having trouble tackling, and she said, "Oh, that's OK. Your family's values are really more about family connections and supporting people's development than about your physical space, and it sounds like you did a good job connecting with your kids this week. That's more important." She's right, and it's something I've lost sight of when I get caught up in thinking I have to do it all.
I mentioned to someone recently that I've figured out I can do 2 of the following 3 things on any given day: keep up with the house; be present for my kids the way I want to; other things that matter to me for me, like reading and writing. Some days I can do all 3 more or less, but I can only do 2 of them really well, right now. Sometimes I am successful at just not caring about a mess.
Su, mom to Eric, 9; Carl, 6; Yehva, 2.5
tapeflags.blogspot.com
Shira Rocklin
Now that we have children... I've started to see my mother's hoarding
wisdom. I'm quite the purger ordinarily. Its cheap to use space to
hoard things, rather than buying them when you need them again. I've
started keeping all the kids clothes for future kids, organized really
well in closets by gender/age. I've also started looking out for
cheap/thrift/free games, toys, craft stuff, books, for when the are
older, so I can always have new interesting things ready to try out. It
takes up lots of space, but saves money.
--- The first thing I thought was that nursing a baby always made me
kind of a contented cow, and low on energy, but one of these months or
years, the baby won't be nursing and your energy and spark will return.
Also you'll have more time and be more mobile.---
I need to keep this in mind more.
--- Most people I know who are neat (or aspire toward that general
direction) are proactive more than they are reactive.---
This seems to come and go for me. How do those people maintain the
proactiveness? I didn't find Flylady type stuff useful.
Today, after sending my first message, we had a sofa cleaning bonanza.
The sofas were boats, the kids rode the boats while I shifted the sofas
around and vacuumed. Temima rescued little pieces from the vacuum, i
got the dirt. That felt good.
---- In our house, this includes things like eating in the
kitchen/dining room (keeps dishes and food mess contained to these two
areas -- less trekking to find dishes), lots and lots of conveniently
located laundry bins (for both clean and dirty clothes), and toy bins in
public spaces (for quick pick up). We have cleaning up the dishes as
part of the meal -- preparation of the meal, eating the meal, cleaning
up after the meal -- and we work together, so it's short and fun. -----
In an apartment, we wander throughout the day from room to room. Spaces
are multi-purpose. Temima wants to eat all over the place, and won't
accept eating only in the kitchen. Recently we've been 'setting' the
table, counting people, making a big deal of that, and sometimes that
results in us all sitting around the kitchen table, sometimes not. She
likes to eat in many different sorts of places around the house
(stairwell, floor, bedroom, her table) Cleaning up after meals at night
is really tough, because the baby is ready for sleep around just that
time, and Temima won't play by herself in the evenings at all, so both
of us parents are doing other duties right after dinner, until late at
night when finally both kids are sleeping, and we fall into bed, or read
or something for a bit. Laundry does get done regularly, but it is
difficult because its shared with the other tenants and its 3 flights down.
I find sorting things into boxes not so useful. I've tried it, and we
just end up with tons of mixed up stuff and can't find things. I'd
rather just put them away where they go in one step. Same with laundry
baskets for clothing that gets tossed on the floor... I find it still
tossed on the floor, or the clean and dirty baskets all mixed up. We
have so many mixed spaces, that I can't get into certain rooms once kids
are sleeping (like I can rarely get my folded laundry put away because
the 1 year old goes to sleep at 6:30PM often. I can't do anything that
makes lots of noise once they are asleep, either.
But, considering what I got done today, after originally writing, if I
could do that much every day, it would be pretty clean here. I think
maybe the problem is that I clean, and then feel like I'm DONE, and a
few days later I look around and realize that its all back where it was
because I haven't cleaned since it felt clean already.
wisdom. I'm quite the purger ordinarily. Its cheap to use space to
hoard things, rather than buying them when you need them again. I've
started keeping all the kids clothes for future kids, organized really
well in closets by gender/age. I've also started looking out for
cheap/thrift/free games, toys, craft stuff, books, for when the are
older, so I can always have new interesting things ready to try out. It
takes up lots of space, but saves money.
--- The first thing I thought was that nursing a baby always made me
kind of a contented cow, and low on energy, but one of these months or
years, the baby won't be nursing and your energy and spark will return.
Also you'll have more time and be more mobile.---
I need to keep this in mind more.
--- Most people I know who are neat (or aspire toward that general
direction) are proactive more than they are reactive.---
This seems to come and go for me. How do those people maintain the
proactiveness? I didn't find Flylady type stuff useful.
Today, after sending my first message, we had a sofa cleaning bonanza.
The sofas were boats, the kids rode the boats while I shifted the sofas
around and vacuumed. Temima rescued little pieces from the vacuum, i
got the dirt. That felt good.
---- In our house, this includes things like eating in the
kitchen/dining room (keeps dishes and food mess contained to these two
areas -- less trekking to find dishes), lots and lots of conveniently
located laundry bins (for both clean and dirty clothes), and toy bins in
public spaces (for quick pick up). We have cleaning up the dishes as
part of the meal -- preparation of the meal, eating the meal, cleaning
up after the meal -- and we work together, so it's short and fun. -----
In an apartment, we wander throughout the day from room to room. Spaces
are multi-purpose. Temima wants to eat all over the place, and won't
accept eating only in the kitchen. Recently we've been 'setting' the
table, counting people, making a big deal of that, and sometimes that
results in us all sitting around the kitchen table, sometimes not. She
likes to eat in many different sorts of places around the house
(stairwell, floor, bedroom, her table) Cleaning up after meals at night
is really tough, because the baby is ready for sleep around just that
time, and Temima won't play by herself in the evenings at all, so both
of us parents are doing other duties right after dinner, until late at
night when finally both kids are sleeping, and we fall into bed, or read
or something for a bit. Laundry does get done regularly, but it is
difficult because its shared with the other tenants and its 3 flights down.
I find sorting things into boxes not so useful. I've tried it, and we
just end up with tons of mixed up stuff and can't find things. I'd
rather just put them away where they go in one step. Same with laundry
baskets for clothing that gets tossed on the floor... I find it still
tossed on the floor, or the clean and dirty baskets all mixed up. We
have so many mixed spaces, that I can't get into certain rooms once kids
are sleeping (like I can rarely get my folded laundry put away because
the 1 year old goes to sleep at 6:30PM often. I can't do anything that
makes lots of noise once they are asleep, either.
But, considering what I got done today, after originally writing, if I
could do that much every day, it would be pretty clean here. I think
maybe the problem is that I clean, and then feel like I'm DONE, and a
few days later I look around and realize that its all back where it was
because I haven't cleaned since it felt clean already.
Su Penn
On Jun 29, 2010, at 9:58 PM, Shira Rocklin wrote:
My mom used to dust before things were dusty. I used to be so cranky when it was my job--I'd move the knick-knacks to dust under them and you couldn't even tell where they'd been! I'll never be like her, but I do understand better that if I'm wondering how the heck my mom kept the house so spotless the whole time I was growing up, it was that 1) her kids were in school; and 2) she had a cleaning routine that included cleaning before things got dirty. That's pretty much the definition of proactive.
Su, mom to Eric, 9; Carl, 6; Yehva, 2.5
tapeflags.blogspot.com
> But, considering what I got done today, after originally writing, if IThis is where being proactive and coming up with a routine really helps, though. If, like me, you're (generic you, not Shira-you) a person who doesn't much like to clean, it's really easy to do a big project and then say, "Oh, if I could only do that every day it would be easy!" But I, for instance, am _not_ a person who is going to do that kind of deep cleaning project, or something similar, every day, in part because of that, 'Hey, didn't I just clean?" feeling. At 44, I'm finally beginning to accept this. I do much better with a routine of 10 minutes a day, say.
> could do that much every day, it would be pretty clean here. I think
> maybe the problem is that I clean, and then feel like I'm DONE, and a
> few days later I look around and realize that its all back where it was
> because I haven't cleaned since it felt clean already.
My mom used to dust before things were dusty. I used to be so cranky when it was my job--I'd move the knick-knacks to dust under them and you couldn't even tell where they'd been! I'll never be like her, but I do understand better that if I'm wondering how the heck my mom kept the house so spotless the whole time I was growing up, it was that 1) her kids were in school; and 2) she had a cleaning routine that included cleaning before things got dirty. That's pretty much the definition of proactive.
Su, mom to Eric, 9; Carl, 6; Yehva, 2.5
tapeflags.blogspot.com
Julie
> Daily brief routines a la Flylady: a quick 15 minutes in the morning of wiping down the bathroom and sweeping some floors, say. Doing one load of laundry and putting it away as soon as there are enough dirty clothes for a load.FlyLady is good. There is another home cleaning/organization site that I thought looked interesting: http://www.justmommies.com/articles/home-organization-plan.php
>
I haven't needed either much because I have OCD tendencies in some areas (dishes/kitchen/laundry) and, for some reason, most of the other things don't bug me too much :)
About 3x a weeks I do a sweep through the house and put things in their designated bins, making sure to leave active and important projects intact (miles of train track creations, it seems).
Julie M
james 2005
tyler 2007
audrey 2009
alexandriapalonia
It seems you have a couple of choices:
1) Choose to geographically contain the messes that must be made.
2) Choose to clean up after the mess, wherever it is made.
3) Choose to not mind attracting pestilence (bugs and mice).
In your original, you seemed to indicate that your preference was to avoid number three.
But avoiding pestilence rather necessitates either containing or cleaning (nos. one and two). If you're in the northern hemisphere, we're coming into summer -- so other creative options are certainly available: eating outside the house, for example.
I've also seen families choose to use trays (so that the dishes and mess are contained and easily trotted back to the kitchen for cleaning), or set up a fun dining room (comfy chairs, low tables, etc), or use tv tray/tables.
It might be very helpful to your wee ones for them to experience the whole cycle of meals -- preparation, eating, clean up. She's probably a bit young to appreciate the finer points of food safety and hygiene, but doing dishes is great fun if you do it as a team. We often have family reading time in conjunction with things like sweeping up and washing dishes -- taking turns reading and working as it suits us. I'm not sure "won't play by herself" and "cleaning up after is really tough" have to be mutually exclusive hardships. I think they're an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.
Andrea
1) Choose to geographically contain the messes that must be made.
2) Choose to clean up after the mess, wherever it is made.
3) Choose to not mind attracting pestilence (bugs and mice).
In your original, you seemed to indicate that your preference was to avoid number three.
But avoiding pestilence rather necessitates either containing or cleaning (nos. one and two). If you're in the northern hemisphere, we're coming into summer -- so other creative options are certainly available: eating outside the house, for example.
I've also seen families choose to use trays (so that the dishes and mess are contained and easily trotted back to the kitchen for cleaning), or set up a fun dining room (comfy chairs, low tables, etc), or use tv tray/tables.
It might be very helpful to your wee ones for them to experience the whole cycle of meals -- preparation, eating, clean up. She's probably a bit young to appreciate the finer points of food safety and hygiene, but doing dishes is great fun if you do it as a team. We often have family reading time in conjunction with things like sweeping up and washing dishes -- taking turns reading and working as it suits us. I'm not sure "won't play by herself" and "cleaning up after is really tough" have to be mutually exclusive hardships. I think they're an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.
Andrea
> In an apartment, we wander throughout the day from room to room. Spaces
> are multi-purpose. Temima wants to eat all over the place, and won't
> accept eating only in the kitchen. Recently we've been 'setting' the
> table, counting people, making a big deal of that, and sometimes that
> results in us all sitting around the kitchen table, sometimes not. She
> likes to eat in many different sorts of places around the house
> (stairwell, floor, bedroom, her table) Cleaning up after meals at night
> is really tough, because the baby is ready for sleep around just that
> time, and Temima won't play by herself in the evenings at all, so both
> of us parents are doing other duties right after dinner, until late at
> night when finally both kids are sleeping, and we fall into bed, or read
> or something for a bit. Laundry does get done regularly, but it is
> difficult because its shared with the other tenants and its 3 flights down.
>
> I find sorting things into boxes not so useful. I've tried it, and we
> just end up with tons of mixed up stuff and can't find things. I'd
> rather just put them away where they go in one step. Same with laundry
> baskets for clothing that gets tossed on the floor... I find it still
> tossed on the floor, or the clean and dirty baskets all mixed up. We
> have so many mixed spaces, that I can't get into certain rooms once kids
> are sleeping (like I can rarely get my folded laundry put away because
> the 1 year old goes to sleep at 6:30PM often. I can't do anything that
> makes lots of noise once they are asleep, either.
>
> But, considering what I got done today, after originally writing, if I
> could do that much every day, it would be pretty clean here. I think
> maybe the problem is that I clean, and then feel like I'm DONE, and a
> few days later I look around and realize that its all back where it was
> because I haven't cleaned since it felt clean already.
>
Shira Rocklin
Yes, we definitely don't want to attract pests. From what I understand,
it wasn't our mess that brought the mice, but that its an ongoing
problem with all the triplexes on our street. It just didn't help that
we were feeding them quite so much.
The idea of trays is intriguing, and I might try that out. Eating
outside doesn't work so well for the million snacks a day while living
on the third floor with no balcony.
Involving her in the whole 'meal cycle' is something we would really
love to do, and do sometimes, depending on her interest. Sometimes
she's just not interested, especially when there are parts that she
can't help so directly with, like stirring a hot pan, or chopping
vegetables.
Shira
-----------------------------
It seems you have a couple of choices:
1) Choose to geographically contain the messes that must be made.
2) Choose to clean up after the mess, wherever it is made.
3) Choose to not mind attracting pestilence (bugs and mice).
In your original, you seemed to indicate that your preference was to
avoid number three.
But avoiding pestilence rather necessitates either containing or
cleaning (nos. one and two). If you're in the northern hemisphere, we're
coming into summer -- so other creative options are certainly available:
eating outside the house, for example.
I've also seen families choose to use trays (so that the dishes and mess
are contained and easily trotted back to the kitchen for cleaning), or
set up a fun dining room (comfy chairs, low tables, etc), or use tv
tray/tables.
It might be very helpful to your wee ones for them to experience the
whole cycle of meals -- preparation, eating, clean up. She's probably a
bit young to appreciate the finer points of food safety and hygiene, but
doing dishes is great fun if you do it as a team. We often have family
reading time in conjunction with things like sweeping up and washing
dishes -- taking turns reading and working as it suits us. I'm not sure
"won't play by herself" and "cleaning up after is really tough" have to
be mutually exclusive hardships. I think they're an opportunity to kill
two birds with one stone.
Andrea
it wasn't our mess that brought the mice, but that its an ongoing
problem with all the triplexes on our street. It just didn't help that
we were feeding them quite so much.
The idea of trays is intriguing, and I might try that out. Eating
outside doesn't work so well for the million snacks a day while living
on the third floor with no balcony.
Involving her in the whole 'meal cycle' is something we would really
love to do, and do sometimes, depending on her interest. Sometimes
she's just not interested, especially when there are parts that she
can't help so directly with, like stirring a hot pan, or chopping
vegetables.
Shira
-----------------------------
It seems you have a couple of choices:
1) Choose to geographically contain the messes that must be made.
2) Choose to clean up after the mess, wherever it is made.
3) Choose to not mind attracting pestilence (bugs and mice).
In your original, you seemed to indicate that your preference was to
avoid number three.
But avoiding pestilence rather necessitates either containing or
cleaning (nos. one and two). If you're in the northern hemisphere, we're
coming into summer -- so other creative options are certainly available:
eating outside the house, for example.
I've also seen families choose to use trays (so that the dishes and mess
are contained and easily trotted back to the kitchen for cleaning), or
set up a fun dining room (comfy chairs, low tables, etc), or use tv
tray/tables.
It might be very helpful to your wee ones for them to experience the
whole cycle of meals -- preparation, eating, clean up. She's probably a
bit young to appreciate the finer points of food safety and hygiene, but
doing dishes is great fun if you do it as a team. We often have family
reading time in conjunction with things like sweeping up and washing
dishes -- taking turns reading and working as it suits us. I'm not sure
"won't play by herself" and "cleaning up after is really tough" have to
be mutually exclusive hardships. I think they're an opportunity to kill
two birds with one stone.
Andrea
Sandra Dodd
alexandriapalonia
You might want to reconsider your position on sharp knives and hot pans -- she's four, right?
We encouraged cooking skills from a very early age when our daughter want to. She was using extremely sharp knives (we don't believe in dull ones -- they're dangerous) from a very early age, and was shooing us out of the kitchen (and closing the door behind us) by four to make dinner on her own.
(And this is a child whose motor skills, both fine and gross have always been behind the curve -- so it's not that I had a some savant chef child or something -- this was just a logical outgrowth of involving her in her own life, and not preventing her from learning to use real tools in real situations).
We provided some instruction and insight on how to wield a knife with care, showed her which knife to choose for which situation, and how to curl her fingers . . . and not to try and catch a falling knife (I did that just once -- required a few stitches -- I always figured we'd be bandaging her up at some point, but she's more cautious than I am . . . there's interesting information out there on how, when there's possible danger, most kids become more cautious -- which is how we all played in glass covered sandlots and on rickety forts we built without many injuries, but how much of an increase there is in injuries sustained in "safe" playgrounds . . .).
We had a sturdy chair in the kitchen so she could reach the stove, and kept a few lightweight pans around in case she were making something where she needed to be able to pick up the pan (most of mine are cast iron or very heavy stainless).
If she's anything like my daughter, she'll end up chopping one carrot or one celery while you chop everything else . . . and that's okay. or, you could get her working further up the line, washing and peeling while you chop.
:-)
Andrea
We encouraged cooking skills from a very early age when our daughter want to. She was using extremely sharp knives (we don't believe in dull ones -- they're dangerous) from a very early age, and was shooing us out of the kitchen (and closing the door behind us) by four to make dinner on her own.
(And this is a child whose motor skills, both fine and gross have always been behind the curve -- so it's not that I had a some savant chef child or something -- this was just a logical outgrowth of involving her in her own life, and not preventing her from learning to use real tools in real situations).
We provided some instruction and insight on how to wield a knife with care, showed her which knife to choose for which situation, and how to curl her fingers . . . and not to try and catch a falling knife (I did that just once -- required a few stitches -- I always figured we'd be bandaging her up at some point, but she's more cautious than I am . . . there's interesting information out there on how, when there's possible danger, most kids become more cautious -- which is how we all played in glass covered sandlots and on rickety forts we built without many injuries, but how much of an increase there is in injuries sustained in "safe" playgrounds . . .).
We had a sturdy chair in the kitchen so she could reach the stove, and kept a few lightweight pans around in case she were making something where she needed to be able to pick up the pan (most of mine are cast iron or very heavy stainless).
If she's anything like my daughter, she'll end up chopping one carrot or one celery while you chop everything else . . . and that's okay. or, you could get her working further up the line, washing and peeling while you chop.
:-)
Andrea
> Involving her in the whole 'meal cycle' is something we would really
> love to do, and do sometimes, depending on her interest. Sometimes
> she's just not interested, especially when there are parts that she
> can't help so directly with, like stirring a hot pan, or chopping
> vegetables.
>
> Shira
>
> -----------------------------
> It might be very helpful to your wee ones for them to experience the
> whole cycle of meals -- preparation, eating, clean up. She's probably a
> bit young to appreciate the finer points of food safety and hygiene, but
> doing dishes is great fun if you do it as a team. We often have family
> reading time in conjunction with things like sweeping up and washing
> dishes -- taking turns reading and working as it suits us. I'm not sure
> "won't play by herself" and "cleaning up after is really tough" have to
> be mutually exclusive hardships. I think they're an opportunity to kill
> two birds with one stone.
>
> Andrea
>
Jenny Cyphers
***You might want to reconsider your position on sharp knives and hot pans -- she's four, right?***
Oh yes! A rocking knife is really great for small kids that want to help in the kitchen! They have handles up and away from the blade. Both of my girls started using sharp knives as soon as they expressed an interest in it, about 3. I helped them. Both were proficient in using sharp knives on their own at pretty young ages. It's hard to watch at first because you think at any moment they'll cut themselves, but they were very careful.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Oh yes! A rocking knife is really great for small kids that want to help in the kitchen! They have handles up and away from the blade. Both of my girls started using sharp knives as soon as they expressed an interest in it, about 3. I helped them. Both were proficient in using sharp knives on their own at pretty young ages. It's hard to watch at first because you think at any moment they'll cut themselves, but they were very careful.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
k
Karl is very careful and he started with butter knives pushing thru
and spreading soft butter. And he gradually asked to cut harder stuff
with sharper knives. I let him because his cousin was so curious at 5
and didn't know how sharp knives are since his parents strictly
forbade the kids touching them. He was unloading the dishwasher and I
think he thought his folks were lying when they said it can cut so he
tested it out and had to have stitches... TOO scary. I thought ok. I
am not hiding knives and I'll show Karl how to handle them.
We have experimented with lots of cutting tools together. His favorite
for a time was the round pizza cutter. The wire cheese cutter was
another fave as was the wire egg slicer and a pocketknife- he likes
miniatures.
The toughest thing he has sliced so far is part of a carrot. It takes
a good bit of concentration to do that perfectly as he likes to, so he
had me cut the rest.
~Katherine
and spreading soft butter. And he gradually asked to cut harder stuff
with sharper knives. I let him because his cousin was so curious at 5
and didn't know how sharp knives are since his parents strictly
forbade the kids touching them. He was unloading the dishwasher and I
think he thought his folks were lying when they said it can cut so he
tested it out and had to have stitches... TOO scary. I thought ok. I
am not hiding knives and I'll show Karl how to handle them.
We have experimented with lots of cutting tools together. His favorite
for a time was the round pizza cutter. The wire cheese cutter was
another fave as was the wire egg slicer and a pocketknife- he likes
miniatures.
The toughest thing he has sliced so far is part of a carrot. It takes
a good bit of concentration to do that perfectly as he likes to, so he
had me cut the rest.
~Katherine
On 7/2/10, Jenny Cyphers <jenstarc4@...> wrote:
> ***You might want to reconsider your position on sharp knives and hot pans
> -- she's four, right?***
>
>
> Oh yes! A rocking knife is really great for small kids that want to help in
> the kitchen! They have handles up and away from the blade. Both of my
> girls started using sharp knives as soon as they expressed an interest in
> it, about 3. I helped them. Both were proficient in using sharp knives on
> their own at pretty young ages. It's hard to watch at first because you
> think at any moment they'll cut themselves, but they were very careful.
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
Shira Rocklin
--- You might want to reconsider your position on sharp knives and hot
pans -- she's four, right? ---
Yes, I've been introducing her to some things to do herself in the
kitchen as she gets older. We hadn't approached knives yet, and peeling
became boring a long time ago for her. She does wash some veggies once
in a while for me, but again, it lost its novelty quickly. I do worry
about hot things spilling or splashing on the stove... you read stories
about horrible burns and its just really scary. Maybe we'll try cutting
vegetables next.
Its not easy to balance letting her help, and the supervision required,
and keeping the one year old happy at the same time, with supervision
for him. I think I want to find a way, now. Thanks.
Shira
pans -- she's four, right? ---
Yes, I've been introducing her to some things to do herself in the
kitchen as she gets older. We hadn't approached knives yet, and peeling
became boring a long time ago for her. She does wash some veggies once
in a while for me, but again, it lost its novelty quickly. I do worry
about hot things spilling or splashing on the stove... you read stories
about horrible burns and its just really scary. Maybe we'll try cutting
vegetables next.
Its not easy to balance letting her help, and the supervision required,
and keeping the one year old happy at the same time, with supervision
for him. I think I want to find a way, now. Thanks.
Shira
Sandra Dodd
-=-
Its not easy to balance letting her help, and the supervision required,
and keeping the one year old happy at the same time, with supervision
for him. I think I want to find a way, now. Thanks.
We had a frame backpack--aluminum frame with a cloth seat, seat belt,
padding...
Marty and Holly, especially, spent LOTS of time in there. If you
could find something like that, the baby can be head-level and see
what's going on, but be safely behind you.
What about kitchen scissors? I use those quite a bit myself. That
might be easier and safer for kids and food prep.
What about grating carrots rather than cutting? Carrots are just
dangerous sometimes.
In our old house, we only had one kitchen drawer. One. How sad.
The new house (in which we've lived for 13 years, but it's still "the
new house") has seven drawers. So I reserved one for sharp things.
Knives, scissors, can openers, ice pick, cork screw, etc. Then the
kids were warned to be careful with that drawer. Not "stay out of
it," but "here's where the sharp things are."
When Kirby moved into a house with three roommates a year and some
ago, he said when they were deciding how to arrange the kitchen he
said "Shouldn't we have a drawer for sharp things?"
He said the others all just gazed at him, and he started to think
maybe that was something particular to our house, and not universal. :-)
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Its not easy to balance letting her help, and the supervision required,
and keeping the one year old happy at the same time, with supervision
for him. I think I want to find a way, now. Thanks.
We had a frame backpack--aluminum frame with a cloth seat, seat belt,
padding...
Marty and Holly, especially, spent LOTS of time in there. If you
could find something like that, the baby can be head-level and see
what's going on, but be safely behind you.
What about kitchen scissors? I use those quite a bit myself. That
might be easier and safer for kids and food prep.
What about grating carrots rather than cutting? Carrots are just
dangerous sometimes.
In our old house, we only had one kitchen drawer. One. How sad.
The new house (in which we've lived for 13 years, but it's still "the
new house") has seven drawers. So I reserved one for sharp things.
Knives, scissors, can openers, ice pick, cork screw, etc. Then the
kids were warned to be careful with that drawer. Not "stay out of
it," but "here's where the sharp things are."
When Kirby moved into a house with three roommates a year and some
ago, he said when they were deciding how to arrange the kitchen he
said "Shouldn't we have a drawer for sharp things?"
He said the others all just gazed at him, and he started to think
maybe that was something particular to our house, and not universal. :-)
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
k
I kept knives up and got them out when Karl wasn't looking for his
first 4 years or so. Honestly he never seemed curious but some kids
are and some are climbers... I was but apparently never got into
knives.
I wised up after that thing about my nephew. That's when I put the
knives in a wooden block and started talking a bit here and there with
Karl about what they were and how I handle them.
When I got the Hugabub, the instruction video had an Australian mom
with her "bub" in a carrier as she chopped veggies, hung laundry,
whatever. Karl at that point turned 8 months and suddenly outgrew most
of the around the house uses for a carrier being much more mobile and
playing for hours on the floor. I used it for walks, browsing in
stores, etc. I was late on the carrier but it came in handy a lot
anyway. If I could do it Karl would still love for me tote him
sometimes at 7 years of age. No can do. :)
Ramblin' a bit...
~Katherine
first 4 years or so. Honestly he never seemed curious but some kids
are and some are climbers... I was but apparently never got into
knives.
I wised up after that thing about my nephew. That's when I put the
knives in a wooden block and started talking a bit here and there with
Karl about what they were and how I handle them.
When I got the Hugabub, the instruction video had an Australian mom
with her "bub" in a carrier as she chopped veggies, hung laundry,
whatever. Karl at that point turned 8 months and suddenly outgrew most
of the around the house uses for a carrier being much more mobile and
playing for hours on the floor. I used it for walks, browsing in
stores, etc. I was late on the carrier but it came in handy a lot
anyway. If I could do it Karl would still love for me tote him
sometimes at 7 years of age. No can do. :)
Ramblin' a bit...
~Katherine
On 7/4/10, Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
> -=-
> Its not easy to balance letting her help, and the supervision required,
> and keeping the one year old happy at the same time, with supervision
> for him. I think I want to find a way, now. Thanks.
>
> We had a frame backpack--aluminum frame with a cloth seat, seat belt,
> padding...
> Marty and Holly, especially, spent LOTS of time in there. If you
> could find something like that, the baby can be head-level and see
> what's going on, but be safely behind you.
>
> What about kitchen scissors? I use those quite a bit myself. That
> might be easier and safer for kids and food prep.
> What about grating carrots rather than cutting? Carrots are just
> dangerous sometimes.
>
> In our old house, we only had one kitchen drawer. One. How sad.
> The new house (in which we've lived for 13 years, but it's still "the
> new house") has seven drawers. So I reserved one for sharp things.
> Knives, scissors, can openers, ice pick, cork screw, etc. Then the
> kids were warned to be careful with that drawer. Not "stay out of
> it," but "here's where the sharp things are."
>
> When Kirby moved into a house with three roommates a year and some
> ago, he said when they were deciding how to arrange the kitchen he
> said "Shouldn't we have a drawer for sharp things?"
>
> He said the others all just gazed at him, and he started to think
> maybe that was something particular to our house, and not universal. :-)
>
> Sandra
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
Shira Rocklin
---We had a frame backpack--aluminum frame with a cloth seat, seat belt,
padding...---
--- When I got the Hugabub, the instruction video had an Australian mom
with her "bub" in a carrier as she chopped veggies, hung laundry,
whatever. ---
I run a babywearing group, educating and loaning out baby carriers of
all sorts. I use carriers all the time. One of the very common safety
'rules' that are on lists of 'babywearing safety' is about using common
sense, not cooking, using knives, bicycling, running marathons, etc,
while a baby is in a carrier. I'm surprised that Hugabub showed a photo
like that promotionally, as most of the manufacturer's I've met/spoken
with seemed very careful of that sort of thing. Of course, I know that
I, and the other experienced babywearers do some of those things
anyways. I shifted away from wearing him while doing kitchen things
because a few times he grabbed at things that were behind or to my side
that could have been dangerous but luckily weren't. But I'm sure I can
find a space to stand in where things can't be reached by him but where
I can work with Temima to learn cutting. Shredding is a great idea
too. Scissors is interesting; although I don't often use scissors
(except to cut open milk bags) in the kitchen.
--- The new house (in which we've lived for 13 years, but it's still "the
new house") has seven drawers. So I reserved one for sharp things. ---
--- I kept knives up and got them out when Karl wasn't looking for his
first 4 years or so. Honestly he never seemed curious but some kids
are and some are climbers... I was but apparently never got into
knives. ---
Yes, we live in the one drawer situation. Knife location is public
knowledge here, visible and reachable. She's never been so curious to
climb up to get one. The baby is another story, but we'll just have to
be very diligent about his safety. She's been close by while I chop and
I've taught her to keep her hands off the cutting board when I'm using a
knife.
padding...---
--- When I got the Hugabub, the instruction video had an Australian mom
with her "bub" in a carrier as she chopped veggies, hung laundry,
whatever. ---
I run a babywearing group, educating and loaning out baby carriers of
all sorts. I use carriers all the time. One of the very common safety
'rules' that are on lists of 'babywearing safety' is about using common
sense, not cooking, using knives, bicycling, running marathons, etc,
while a baby is in a carrier. I'm surprised that Hugabub showed a photo
like that promotionally, as most of the manufacturer's I've met/spoken
with seemed very careful of that sort of thing. Of course, I know that
I, and the other experienced babywearers do some of those things
anyways. I shifted away from wearing him while doing kitchen things
because a few times he grabbed at things that were behind or to my side
that could have been dangerous but luckily weren't. But I'm sure I can
find a space to stand in where things can't be reached by him but where
I can work with Temima to learn cutting. Shredding is a great idea
too. Scissors is interesting; although I don't often use scissors
(except to cut open milk bags) in the kitchen.
--- The new house (in which we've lived for 13 years, but it's still "the
new house") has seven drawers. So I reserved one for sharp things. ---
--- I kept knives up and got them out when Karl wasn't looking for his
first 4 years or so. Honestly he never seemed curious but some kids
are and some are climbers... I was but apparently never got into
knives. ---
Yes, we live in the one drawer situation. Knife location is public
knowledge here, visible and reachable. She's never been so curious to
climb up to get one. The baby is another story, but we'll just have to
be very diligent about his safety. She's been close by while I chop and
I've taught her to keep her hands off the cutting board when I'm using a
knife.
Sandra Dodd
-=-. One of the very common safety
'rules' that are on lists of 'babywearing safety' is about using common
sense, not cooking, using knives, bicycling, running marathons, etc,
while a baby is in a carrier. -=-
For a front sling, cooking and knives makes sense.
For any sling, bicycling or marathons would be dangerous, but for a
kid whose feet are at hip level and whose head is as high as or higher
than the parent, I don't see the danger of knives or cooking.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
'rules' that are on lists of 'babywearing safety' is about using common
sense, not cooking, using knives, bicycling, running marathons, etc,
while a baby is in a carrier. -=-
For a front sling, cooking and knives makes sense.
For any sling, bicycling or marathons would be dangerous, but for a
kid whose feet are at hip level and whose head is as high as or higher
than the parent, I don't see the danger of knives or cooking.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
aldq75
-=-. One of the very common safety
'rules' that are on lists of 'babywearing safety' is about using common
sense, not cooking, using knives, bicycling, running marathons, etc,
while a baby is in a carrier. -=-
If you are carrying a baby/toddler in a metal-framed backpack and they are properly restrained, there's no way for them to reach anything that is in front of you. I have one for hiking, but it was used a lot for cooking, doing dishes and cleaning. There's a lot of housework that can be done that doesn't involve sharp implements while baby is on your back.
I also wanted to echo the suggestion of going to the laundromat. It might be a fun outing for the family...babies sometimes like to watch the clothes in the dryer and your older one can help with counting out the quarters and running the machines. If you stay at the laundromat, it is so easy to be completely present with the kids, because there are few distractions!
Andrea Q
'rules' that are on lists of 'babywearing safety' is about using common
sense, not cooking, using knives, bicycling, running marathons, etc,
while a baby is in a carrier. -=-
If you are carrying a baby/toddler in a metal-framed backpack and they are properly restrained, there's no way for them to reach anything that is in front of you. I have one for hiking, but it was used a lot for cooking, doing dishes and cleaning. There's a lot of housework that can be done that doesn't involve sharp implements while baby is on your back.
I also wanted to echo the suggestion of going to the laundromat. It might be a fun outing for the family...babies sometimes like to watch the clothes in the dryer and your older one can help with counting out the quarters and running the machines. If you stay at the laundromat, it is so easy to be completely present with the kids, because there are few distractions!
Andrea Q
Sarah
Its not easy to balance letting her help, and the supervision required,
Or chop outside and give the kids a small bowl of flour, or. An egg!
Sarah
> and keeping the one year old happy at the same time, with supervisionTry giving the one year old a butter/plastic/kids knife and a banana... And stand well back :)
> for him. I think I want to find a way, now. Thanks.
>
Or chop outside and give the kids a small bowl of flour, or. An egg!
Sarah
alexandriapalonia
Shira, it seems you've got a lot of rules that keep you from living the life you want to live.
You can use arbitrary "babywearing rules" and fear that your older girl will (will what? cut herself? need stitches?) have some sort of injury to immobilize her and you from enjoying creating a really big, interesting, life . . . or you can use her interest in helping to guide her to using good tools as safely as possible.
Cutting oneself and stitches are probably going to happen . . . I had mine after years of knife-use when I was in my late 20s, because I tried to catch a falling knife (and I keep mine sharp enough that trying to catch a falling one resulted in several stitches).
Andrea
Shira wrote:
You can use arbitrary "babywearing rules" and fear that your older girl will (will what? cut herself? need stitches?) have some sort of injury to immobilize her and you from enjoying creating a really big, interesting, life . . . or you can use her interest in helping to guide her to using good tools as safely as possible.
Cutting oneself and stitches are probably going to happen . . . I had mine after years of knife-use when I was in my late 20s, because I tried to catch a falling knife (and I keep mine sharp enough that trying to catch a falling one resulted in several stitches).
Andrea
Shira wrote:
> -=-. One of the very common safetySandra earlier pointed out that >>for a > kid whose feet are at hip level and whose head is as high as or higher > than the parent, I don't see the danger of knives or cooking.
> 'rules' that are on lists of 'babywearing safety' is about using common> sense, not cooking, using knives, bicycling, running marathons, etc,> while a baby is in a carrier. -=-
> I run a babywearing group, educating and loaning out baby carriers of
> all sorts. I use carriers all the time. One of the very common safety
> 'rules' that are on lists of 'babywearing safety' is about using common
> sense, not cooking, using knives, bicycling, running marathons, etc,
> while a baby is in a carrier. I'm surprised that Hugabub showed a photo
> like that promotionally, as most of the manufacturer's I've met/spoken
> with seemed very careful of that sort of thing. Of course, I know that
> I, and the other experienced babywearers do some of those things
> anyways. I shifted away from wearing him while doing kitchen things
> because a few times he grabbed at things that were behind or to my side
> that could have been dangerous but luckily weren't.
gloriabluestocking
>> One of the very common safety 'rules' that are on lists of 'babywearing safety' is about using common sense, not cooking, using knives, bicycling, running marathons, etc, while a baby is in a carrier. <<If something is common sense, there need not be a rule about it.