New Beginings

Fortunately, creating this blog set up the perfect situation for me to write about here. This will be a place for random musings on motherhood, couplehood, and things that go along with them. As I locked myself away into the playroom to set this blog up (and to email a few lost friends), my children kindly created the exact kind of thing I love to write about. I was MIA for about an hour (they were in and out with me), and I walked back into a wonderland of diaper wipes and playing cards. I would like to speak with the gentleman who decided that one deck of cards wasn't enough for the kids, and they should have eight decks in one box. Here is the thing with kids...if there is a group of something (diaper wipes or cards, for example), and it is within their reach, they are going to do their best to "ungroup" it. They do this as a favor, so that you don't get bored with always finding things in one spot. See, this way, you can find wipes in your houseplants, under the coffee table, in the sink, and swinging from the fan, instead of constantly having to get the diaper bag. And if you are ever sitting inside of your kitchen cupboards with nothing to do -- Look! There are some cards to play! You can Go Fish and Old Maid for hours in there without ever needing to come out! And if you accidentally make a mess, check under your frying pan, there is bound to be a diaper wipe.

Another thing that is always in need of ungrouping is flour. Flour is really a staple, and most of us use it quite a bit. So why should it only be kept in the pantry? If you had some on your floor, it would keep the brownie batter you spill from sticking to it. If you had some all over the shelves in your pantry, you wouldn't have to be always getting out the entire bag. If you put a little in your trashcan, you get an exiting poof when you tie up the bag. And a little bit on the living room carpet goes a long way when you need to be able to see where you forgot to vacuum. You see? This is a favor, Mom!

If your kids are tired of the same old chores, you can have them try some other things. My kids don't really get tired of ungrouping very quickly, but on those rainy days, I like to have them do some "printing". Printing is an excellent way to childproof your house. In order to do this, you feed your children something that shouldn't be messy, but, somehow, it is. This could be ham and cheese, chips, some kind of noodle with nothing on it...be creative. The trick is to remember that, when touched to a child's hand, normal food becomes abnormally sticky and gooey. This has to do with hand chemistry, although I am not a scientist, so I can't explain how it works. Anyway, after they are good and gooey, you send them out printing. They run randomly through the house, touching everything they can reach. This may be your TV, your couch, the tables, the walls, the doors (and don't forget door handles), the stove, the potty, whatever. Let them go for about an hour. (One hour is good for one kid. I actually have five that can walk, so it really only takes them about eight minutes.) When they are done, check your house. Anything that has been printed is then labeled a "known reachable", and can therefore be childproofed accordingly.

Keep reading for some more excellent tips on getting your kids to help with the housework!