Fun Tips for Home/Child Rearing! (New Entries 8/28/2008)

Here are some fun tips (well, I think they are fun) that I’ve learned over the years from friends, family, Internet, and just good ol’ trial and error!!! I know there isn’t much here, be patient, there’ll be more comin’!

My dear mother set such an awesome example to me of a homemaker growing up. No, she wasn’t perfect, and no one is. But I watched her faithfully cook, clean, iron clothes, rub feet, give kisses, hugs, and hold those who were crying. Thanks for all you’ve done for me mama! Now this is no offense to her, but one thing I can definitely say, is SHE NEVER MADE ME DO ANY OF IT!!! I had so little responsibility at home, that anytime she did ask me to do something, I threw a big hissy fit. Poor mom. Well, while I did learn by watching her, I’m a hands-on girl. You tell me something, great, you come on a Saturday and show me how – I’ll do it for life!! So as a new wife and homemaker, I found myself at a loss and ill-equipped for my new role. It was quite embarrassing because my husband is an AMAZING cook, and very skilled at all the things I should have been skilled at. He has also been an inspiration and wonderful teacher – thanks honey!! I’ve started a homemaking journal for Maron in the hopes that she will someday be blessed with a husband and children, filled with tips for her. So this will help me sort my thoughts more, too! And if little Jackson thinks because he’s a boy he’s off-the-hook with all this cleanin’ & cookin’ stuff, he’s got another thing comin’! I plan on making my boys as equipped as my girls so they can serve their wives and others!! So anywho, feel free to laugh at these things and wonder why I didn’t know them before, but if you’re like me, these things were pretty danged exciting when I first discovered them!! Just scroll down to the category that interests you. Hoping to bless you,

~Rachel Maes

FOOD

• Food goes fast in a family!! Don’t let yourself get easily overwhelmed and not know what you are going to cook. When you put a crock pot of beans on, go ahead and sort another batch of beans and prepare them to be rinsed for the next pot! Always stay a step ahead of your life (when possible). Love, love, love your crock pot, it’s your best kitchen friend!!!

• Grate potatoes with a cheese grater to make hash browns, also makes potatoes cook faster.

• From Thomas Dollahite: Heat your pan to hot before putting oil in, keeps food from sticking!
• From Christian Maes: The best eggs must be cooked (scrambled or fried) in a pan heated up slowly and kept on low heat, and don’t touch ‘em too frequently. My grandma also made some FIERCE fried eggs! I miss her dearly.
• If you like to make your own baby food, freeze it in ice trays that you can pop out and defrost – one cube is perfect size for first introductions to solid food!!
• From Bryan Maes: A pinch of salt in low-quality coffee grounds takes away the bitterness.
• Pinto beans and lentils are an excellent food if you are poor, or don’t have time to make a hearty, fancy dish. Full of fiber and protein, and just down-right good!
• From Trisha Poff: If you’re so worried about the non-organic, non whole-foods meal you had to make because of lack of time, or sickness, etc. (I don’t have to have/be either to not worry too much about that kind of meal just remember, your “unhealthy” meal at home is still ten-times better than fast food, and still ensures you have a nice family meal together at home which blesses everyone.
• From Jen Connell: Boil an entire carton of eggs at once, and leave in the fridge for easy/constant access for salads, other lunches, etc. Same rule is GREAT for baked potatoes!
• Try making dinner during breakfast. I find that after a long, hard day, when “that time” rolls around, I’m less enthusiastic than I was in the morning or the night before when I was planning dinner for that day. So, instead, throw in that meat loaf and start boiling the potatoes at 8am! Then you can heat it up with a little bread and/or salad and be ready in no time for dinner. I also love to immediately set aside a portion of whatever I made for dinner in a plastic container for Bryan’s lunch for the next day. If it’s already put away we won’t miss it when we’re scrounging for seconds, and then his lunch is not a worry!
• From my MIL:  Add frozen fruits to hot oatmeal to cool it off quicker for those hungry little ones!

CLEANING

• Vinegar works great on soap scum.
• From Sarah Cowart: Put your bottle brush/scrubber in the dishwasher! This was revolutionary for me, because I was constantly throwing them out and buying new ones!!
• From Sarah Cowart: Put discarded orange/tangerine/lemon peel in your garbage disposal to freshen it up!
• From my MIL: A blush brush from a makeup kit is a perfect duster for tiny crevices, and tedious things such as fake plants, etc.
• From FlyLady: Don’t try to do everything in one day, try to set goals for each day. Set a timer for 15-minute increments and see what you can accomplish with all your tasks, instead of spending 6 hours in one room and feeling too wiped out to do anything else. Think of it like this: Laundry (15 min.), Vacuuming (15 min.), Load/Unload the Dishwasher (15 min.) etc. with breaks in-between.
• Use baskets for misplaced clutter. Instead of going from the living room to your bedroom, to back to your living room, to the bathroom, to back to the living room, etc., to put away misplaced items, use baskets while cleaning. Put everything that belongs in the bedroom that is in the living room in a basket, and take it with you when you clean the bedroom!

HOME-MANAGEMENT

• From FlyLady: Set your stuff out for the next day the night before. I try to keep my calendar/schedule open on the kitchen table so I can look at it first thing in the morning. Make a journal, or just a quick list of a morning and before bed routines to keep life flowing easier.
• From Trisha Poff: Identify the things that are keeping you from accomplishing the necessities of homemaking, and remedy them however you can. For example, I noticed I was so discouraged to make breakfast because of the last-night-after-dinner dishes sitting in the sink. We remedied this by doing a quick 10-20 minute dishwasher load/kitchen cleanup as a family. It’s fun times together, and it ensures you can wake up to a clean sink!
• When you are in a room for whatever reason; in the kitchen for a glass of water, using the restroom, grabbing a movie out of the closet, do a little “chore” you see waiting to be done, while you’re there. For example, I may use the restroom, and on my way out grab the two hangers left on the towel rack to put them in the closet again. This keeps things manageable in a simple way, you’re already in there anyway!
• From Barbara Wedertz:  Leave a strainer in the side of the sink where your garbage disposal is, then you NEVER have to reach your hand in there to see what weird thing is in there making it not work, because you can always examine whatever food you need to dispose of for non-garbage disposal friendly things before letting it all go down!

DISCIPLINE

• Parent like God would. Psalm 145:8- The LORD is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger, and great in mercy.
• Be consistent, especially when you’re tired, and feel like letting everything go.

SANITY (No, Not Sanitation, SANITY!)

• A high chair makes a great place for necessary confinement with tiny tikes if you need to cook or do something else important in the kitchen or near it. Let them color, draw, play, etc. for their age group. And then they can still be close to mama!!
• Try to take a walk every day.
• Stay hydrated! And of course, drink Dr. Pepper too
• Journal, or Blog.
• Take adult time-outs, to re-group and remember what’s true before you yell at whoever is around that you feel like yelling at.
• From Trisha Poff: If it’s between sanity or some instant (and I mean, INSTANT and bad for ya) oatmeal for your kids’ breakfast, the oatmeal is the way to go, and they won’t die, nor will they mind.
• When you’re in the thick of the chaos, stop, and read your kids or yourself a book. Even just a quick chapter. Remind yourself if you are a “slave” to busyness or cleaning, that you don’t have to be. 5 minutes won’t make a difference!

RANDOM

• From My Mama: Run your ice trays upside down under cold water before crackin’ them, makes the ice all come out without a fight!! I love this one!!
• Drinking water is easier if you do it from your favorite cup!!!

CHILDREN

• Cocoa Butter works GREAT on a bad sunburn!
• Give kiddoes scheduled times not just for naps, but to learn to play by themselves. This will be such a valuable tool for ensuring they are not attention-hogs and are able to find creative ways to entertain themselves without getting “bored.”
• From my MIL: Breastfeed baby after giving them medicine, to help them metabolize it better.
• From My Mama: Prop baby up with a pillow or something else during bottle feeding, this prevents drainage leading to more ear infections.
• If your kiddo doesn’t seem to need naps anymore, still introduce them to the beauty of still, quiet time, reading or coloring alone during “nap” time.