WFMW - Toddler and Shoes

I'm so glad it is a backwards edition for Works for Me Wednesday because I have a problem. See this little guy?

That's Josh. He turned 1 just last Friday. He walks. He walks a lot. He can walk 1/4 mile. He also climbs...stairs, couches, tables, and large rocks at Woodland Park Zoo.

This photo was taken at Woodland Park Zoo. He walked most of the day there. I picked him up to lift up high enough to see animals and when he decided he'd rather go somewhere other than where I was going. What do you see on his feet? Are there any shoes protecting those feet walking on that concrete? No! There aren't! Why is that you ask. It's because he won't wear them. Oh I've tried putting shoes on his feet. He screams loud enough for the entire store to here him while violently shaking his feet trying to get them off. Apparently, he also cannot stand or walk with those awful things on his feet. I've tried getting him to stand with them on; he just fell as if I was trying to make a newborn stand straight out of the womb and continued screaming and shaking his feet. I also tried getting him the really soft infant shoes but I can't find anybody that carries them in his size...size 5.

I've had a couple of people suggest Robeez. Anyone use those? How would they stand up to a toddler that walks and climbs as much as Josh does? The only place local that I can find that sells the larger sizes is Nordstroms; I want to know how they'll hold up before I spend $40 on a pair of infant/toddler shoes that will only last a couple of months before he outgrows them.

Also, do you have any other ideas for this problem of mine? If you've experienced this problem, what did you do? If you haven't, what would you try?

Find links to other questions and their answers at Rocks in My Dryer.

WFMW - Bromelain

When I was pregnant with my first child, my midwife introduced us to Bromelain, a digestive enzyme made from pineapples. That was over 8 years ago and bromelain continues to be a staple in our home because of its effectiveness in treating pain and swelling. I am so excited about how bromelain has eliminated my need for ibuprofen, saved both my husband and I from surgery, and cured our pain, that I tell everyone I see that may benefit from it.

We first heard about bromelain, my husband was suffering from severe pain in the tendon that moves the thumb. It rendered his hand nearly useless and he was under the care of his primary physician. His doctor prescribed two prescription anti-inflammatory drugs and gave him a brace to wear on his wrist. After four months, he experienced serious side effects from the medicine but no relief to the tendonitis. Our midwife suggested he try bromelain which can be bought at a health food store or other store that sells natural supplements (Fred Meyer, Super Supplements). Three weeks later, he had regained use of his hand, no longer needed the brace, and was pain free. We were sold.

During my pregnancy, I dealt with a flare up of my carpel tunnel, a condition I had suffered from for several years. I took large dosages of ibuprofen regularly and wore braces on both wrists. As soon as I delivered and my baby was a few weeks old, I began using bromelain too. I experienced no side effects and noticed none in my nursing baby. What I did notice was that my carpal tunnel appeared to be cured.

I mentioned that I keep bromelain as a staple in my house. This is because we haven't stopped the repetitive motions that caused our problems in the first place. I still type a lot, knit, crochet, write, and all the other repetitive motions that cause carpel tunnel. So, I still get flare ups. However, now that the initial problem has been taken care of, I find that if I begin treating it with bromelain when I first notice the first twinges in my wrists, it only takes a couple of days for it to go away again for another half year to a year.

It is generally considered safe at recommended dosages; however, there are precautions. Because it is a natural blood thinner (like aspirin), it should not be used by people who are taking blood thinners. It should also not be used by people who are allergic in pineapples.

The side effects, if you are not allergic to it, are mild if you have them at all. They include include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and heavy menstrual flow. I've experienced loose stools and heavier than normal menstrual flow but only when I was taking a very high dosage and it didn't bother me.

I am not a medical doctor so take my recommendation as cautiously as you would if someone were to recommend any other supplement or drug. Many medical doctors are not educated in the use of natural supplements and will steer you to prescription medicines instead. Any good naturopath should be able to answer your questions and help you out though. I only share about this because I hate to see people having to go through life with those annoying wrist braces on or having surgeries that they don't need.

Bromelain works for me and my husband.

For more tips, visit Rocks in My Dryer.

WFMW - Kids Closet Organizing

I just love Wednesdays because I now have a reason to finish clearing out the clutter in my house. Lately, I've been sharing the few organizational tips that have worked for me. By the time I'm done with this series of tips, you will think that I have a spotless house because that's all I'm showing you. Really, though, all around the nice area is clutter, clutter, and more clutter. You don't think I'd take a picture of the clutter around the organized part, do you? Of course not! That is why I love Wednesdays. The clutter surrounding the organized part is slowly receding. Hopefully, in time, I'll find tips that work for me all over the house and not just the current sections and then I can post those too. For now, I'll stick with what already works for me. Afterall, this isn't called "Doesn't Work for Me Wednesday."

Up today is my children's closet. We have a somewhat unique situation in that we have a large, walk-in closet in each bedroom. Each closet has tons of shelves so we've never needed dressers for the kids. While I realize not everyone will store their kids' clothes on shelves like we do, some may have a shelf or two on top that needs some ideas or you can adapt the idea to another area of the house. Perhaps you'll see this idea and love it so much that you are inspired to install shelving in your kids' closets and do away with dressers so that they have more room to play. Maybe. Probably not. Either way, I've learned (the hard way) not to assume that I'm the only person in the world that has a certain problem.

My previous problem was that my nice, neat, folded piles of clothes would topple over whenever one of my children tried to remove the item that they wanted. Of course, being children, they wouldn't properly remove the item to prevent the toppling over nor would they fix the pile after it did topple. So, I came up with an inexpensive solution thanks to Organizing Junkie: dollar store baskets!


I now use baskets from the dollar store to organize my children's clothes. Each basket holds something specific. This photo shows my daughter's side of the closet. It looks like a lot but it really isn't. Each basket only holds a few things. Her baskets (from left to right and top to bottom) hold the following: swim class stuff, gymastics class stuff, tank tops, t-shirts, non-denim shorts, denim shorts, capris, soft pants, pants, jeans, pjs, and old daddy t-shirts (used as pjs). As you can see from the list, we do not put away seasonal clothing. My son has eight baskets: swimming stuff, taekwondo stuff, sweatshirts, sweatpants, shorts (2) and pants (2).

We've had this set up for several months now and it has proven itself to work very well. My kids always know where to find certain items of clothes and they can put away their own laundry easily (they are 8 and 6). Best of all, no more messy, toppled-over piles of clothes.

Head over to Rocks in My Dryer for a ton tips from other participants or visit Organizing Junkie for some organizing ideas.

WFMW - Toy Storage

It's time for another Works for Me Wednesday. I think this is my favorite blogging day because I get to browse through everyone's Works for Me Wednesday tips and glean some great ideas to implement in my own home. Check out this week's tips over at Rocks in My Dryer.

Last week, I posted about how we store our large collection of stuffed animals. Someone asked me if I had a tip for the millions and trillions of action figures in their house. Well, yes...yes I do. Here it is...

I've seen these bins at Fred Meyer, Target, Walmart and other stores like that. To my knowledge, they come in primary colors, white/clear, and pink/purple. They aren't expensive. I've seen the white/clear ones as low as $9.99 but they are usually about $15-$20 each. The colored ones usually cost a bit more. They come with caster wheels but I prefer to use them without wheels in this situation; the drawers stay put better.

What I have done is sort out the toys into natural categories and placed each category into a drawer. For example, some of our drawers are sorted by balls, cars, action figures, Legos, Barbie, My Little Pony, Polly Pocket. etc. Some of these categories are too large for a drawer so I've further broken those down into subcategories such as Barbie and Barbie assessories.

Each drawer is labeled making it easy to remember what is in each drawer. There are two benefits to this; the kids can find all the pieces to a collection without having to dig into the bottom of a toy box and they can put their toys away quickly and easily. I have also found that guests can easily help put away toys after a play date as well because it is easy to find where everything goes. If someone doesn't know where something goes, my kids can simply say that it goes in the yellow one on the left or that red one there. I have found that since I've implemented this storage system, it is easier for my children and their friends to pick up after playing. If needed, each drawer can also pull all the way out which makes taking just a few toys to another room for playing easy.

Now, I'm not saying that their room stays clean all the time. We generally try to make picking up their room part of the nightly routine. Over time, though, it does tend to get messier and drawers get stuffed full of things that don't belong. I've found that once every few months, I need to take a day to help my kids sort through their things. We declutter and reorganize when needed. Overall, though, I find that this system works well for us and has lasted us for several years.

If you don't like plastic bins, try doing the same thing with the wooden cubicles that use fabric bins instead. They look very nice.

WFMW - Stuffed Animal Storage

My post on the awesome way that we store our stuffed animals has moved to my new blog. Read about our stuffed animal zoo at Homeschool Distractions.

WFMW - Backwards Edition

Today's Works for Me Wednesday is a Backwards Edition which means I get to ask you a question and you can give me all your advise. See more Works for Me Wednesday participants here.

My question is:

What is your favorite homeschool resource? What really gets your kids fired up and wanting to do school? Is there anything that you do that makes your kids ask, "Can we do school now?"

WFMW - Flavoring Soup

Every Thanksgiving I like to cook up a 20+ pound turkey for our family of 5. This gives me enough leftover turkey for a couple of days worth of leftovers/sandwiches and about 6-7 pots of turkey noodle soup. I don't consider myself a great soup maker and often have trouble getting the flavoring right. It's just bland. After trying a new recipe, I got my solution to making tasty noodle soup. I add salsa to all my homemade noodle soups now. I usually make a large pot of soup...a stock pot about 3/4 full...like I normal would. To that I add about a cup of medium salsa towards the end of the cooking time. The amount isn't an exact science; just add more or less to taste. After adding the salsa, all I have to check is the salt. I love how it adds tons of flavor easily, adds a little spice, and it tastes great. That and my kids (ages 6 and almost 8) love soup this way.

Find more tips at Rocks in My Dryer.

WFMW - Washing Dishes

I just love all the neat tips I've been reading about every since I first discovered and started reading blogs. Now I'm excited that I get to participate too. Check out Rocks in my Dryer for tons more tips from other blogs. You all rock!

We don't have a dishwasher so we have to wash dishes by hand. We (my husband and I both) have a tendency to wash the easy dishes (plates, cups, utensils) and run out of steam before we get to the hard dishes (pots, pans, and other larger items). I have found that if I wash the pots, pans, and larger items first I'm more likely to finish washing all of the dishes.


Here, in the photo, the larger items are completed and the easy dishes are soaking.




After the larger dishes are done, I usually either dry them and put them away. It only takes a few minutes. If I only have a few pots and pans, I'll put them on the stove burners (turned off) to finish drying while I finish up. Then I whip out the easy dishes and put away the now dry larger things and enjoy the fact that they are ALL done Yea!