mightynancy

Members
  • Posts

    876
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by mightynancy

  1. Congratulations! Being a parent is amazing. :)

    As for what you need, go to Office Max right now and get a pack of posterboard. Stick it behind the couch. One day, in 9 years or so, on a Sunday night at 9 p.m., when your fourth grader has a report to do on the moons of Jupiter or ostriches or Kenya....you'll be glad you did. Trust me.

  2. My kids sort their own laundry. In the laundry room, there are four hampers: light colors/delicates, whites, darks, and towels/bedding. When one of those gets full, I start a load of laundry. I'll often run the washer in the evening, then put the stuff in the dryer when I get up in the morning. I'm up at 6 and don't leave until almost 8, leaving time, usually, to fold that stuff while it's still warm and unwrinkled. Stacks of folded clothing get delivered to rooms, but everyone puts their own away.

    The winter-to-spring transition is the worst for me as far as having too much clothing in circulation. We can go from 70+ degrees to snow overnight, so in springtime the dressers are bursting. I just live with it through April and May, then I can put away the winter stuff, except a few warm things for camping.

    I keep a Rubbermaid tub for each kid - it holds stuff I buy on sale for next year, and out-of-season stuff that will fit again in a year. I stash those in the basement, which I'm lucky to have. :)

    Also, I can't tell you how much I LOVE school uniforms! One of my kids wears uniforms to school, and it makes my life EASY when it comes to his clothing. He is allowed trousers in khaki or black, and shirts in white or maroon. He has some of each, so whether I've just washed darks or lights, he has fresh clothes. He owns five pairs of school trousers and 6 or 7 shirts. As much as I love to doll up my other kid, I wish the whole district would go to uniforms.

    My daughter has folded towels for about 4 years now (she's 8). She is still too petite to properly fold bath towels, but she takes care of all the kitchen towels, washcloths, and hand towels. She also pairs and folds socks. She delivers the folded items where they go.

    I'm sorry your stuff is out of hand, OP...but I agree that having too much and washing too much are two separate issues. If the kids are changing so many times a day, they need to either stop it or pick up the slack with the laundry. If you can't put things away because there's so much, there needs to be some kind of agreement to purge. It's really liberating to have less! Maybe if your wife won't agree to get RID of stuff, maybe some of the stuff could go into temporary exile in the garage to see how it feels to be free of the excess. I used my spring break to purge the closets, and it felt great. How blessed are we that we can give away so much, and still have plenty? It's an embarrassment of riches!*

    *our income is "poverty" according to any chart you consult, yet we have so much we can give away bags and bags, and still have enough. God is good!

  3. Ska, she's in the Philippines...she may not be watching the snow melt away. ;)

    Can you link earth-friendly activities to saving money? Maybe you could have an educator from the electric utility teach the kids about conservation, which is both earth-friendly and financially wise.

    It sounds like a wonderful activity!

  4. The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis is my favorite children's chapter book. Close on its heels is the Hank the Cowdog series...that author is a master of voice! Then Anne of Green Gables.

    Favorite picture book? That's really hard...I LOVE picture books! Pig and Crow is a favorite, Bertie Was A Watchdog, anything by Graeme Base...

    When I was a child, my favorite children's book author was Laura Ingalls Wilder.

  5. Perhaps there is other food that all of us see at Ward Potlucks that we need to list.....you know what I mean.....that family always brings...etc...

    come on...we know green jello....now we have tuna pasta salad.....any others....

    Funeral potatoes...they're not just for funerals anymore!

    There's usually a "salad" that is made of cut-up fruit, cut-up candy bars, and so much whipped cream/cool whip that you can't distinguish one from the other.

    There's also usually a deli container of salad (potato, mac, whatever) from the frazzled working mom (that would be me) or a man who was left in charge of his family's contribution.

  6. LilWy, it's part of being a parent. I can't effectively tell them "Wash your hands," or "If you're on wheels, you must have a helmet on your head!" or "Be careful on the Internet" just one time and have it stick. It's relentless as much for me as it is for them. While they are under my stewardship, it is my obligation to check up on them and help them correct their course when necessary.

  7. This thread makes me sad. I can sympathize with your various situations but as a parenting method this is very sad.

    :confused:

    I tell my kids to put their helmets on before they go out biking...but I still look out the window to make sure they've obeyed. By this time, they are already in the street. If I find they haven't complied, I call them back in to get the helmets on.

    With the computer, we have it in a public area of the house. My son gets home a few minutes before I do...if he must be online, I check up on his activity. When I'm home and he's online, I regularly walk by to see what he's looking at.

    How is it sad to instruct, then check up on the kids? I don't get it...please explain, Captain! Or are you sad about the differing values in the kids' two homes?