1. Dual Incomes
I am glad that women are able to work. I’ve certainly enjoyed being able to support myself and the satisfaction that can come from doing something you enjoy and are good at. However, I find it very frustrating that dual incomes are a necessity for most families just to make ends meet or to be able to save for their child’s college or for their retirement. This financial burden can limit the number of children people have because after all, how are they going to support them and who is going to take care of them? For some women, being at home with their children would make them miserable and unable to enjoy their children. However, women that want to be able to raise their kids and run their household are often financially unable to. To make matters worse, there is a stigma associated with being a stay at home mom that must come from people who’ve never tried it. Being a stay at home dad has an even worse stigma, which can prevent dads from staying home with their children even if that is the best thing for their family. I’m sure I’m being unreasonable, but I wish there were better options: that two people working could be an option for families in need of extra income, that a mom working could be an option for a woman that desires a career, and that one parent staying home with the kids was a realistic option for more people.
2. Housework with kids
I read this lovely post from Authentic Parenting that talked about the importance of allowing children to help with the housework while they are young and interested in doing whatever Mom and Dad are doing, rather than refusing their help now and then wondering why they don’t want to help later. We do try to let Parker help occasionally, but there are times when it’s easier to just turn down the “help.” Also, I often prefer to do housework when the kids are sleeping. However, this post inspired me, so I decided to wait to clean the toilets and the bath tub until after Parker woke up from his nap. Crazy? I thought I might be, but it actually worked out a lot better than I imagined. Parker was all about helping me and was even somewhat helpful. Then when he did his potty time and took his bath I pointed out the good work he had done, and he was pleased that he had made them clean. I hope more lessons like this will pay off in the future.
3. Ah, to be young
So my brother (who is almost 21) is staying at our house right now in order to be closer to his summer internship. As you may recall, we live in a two bedroom condo… with our two kids and our dog… and now my brother. Where does he sleep you ask? He has a lovely blow up mattress on the floor of our living room. He also has two totes in our entry way (we didn’t think the strollers you see when you walk in were enough of a deterrent for guests) and shares some of our boys’ closet. He whines and he whines about the “rent” he has to pay… doing dishes. Ha! Plus he likes to enjoy an evening whining session about various random things like his shoes, traffic and how tired he is. It’s entertaining. My favorite though is when he talks about money because he has no perspective yet. Salaries sound like a lot before you realize how much you actually take home and how much life costs. You’ve got to appreciate the youthful attitude though– college is a great time to enjoy the first tastes of freedom without all the responsibility that will come with it later. So hey, let him enjoy it! I know I did. As much as I love teasing him, my brother is actually really awesome, and I’m loving getting to spend time with him.
4. Soaking
One of my mom’s favorite cleaning tricks is soaking, so I decided to give it a try. It miraculously made my son’s brown lunchbox white again (well, mostly), so I didn’t have to be the horrible mom that sends her son to school with a dirty lunchbox. I started thinking I do not want that to be the last thing he touches before he eats… ick! It also saved me from the endless scrubbing that would have been required to get my son’s booster seat clean… amazing! Of course, he spilled on his perfectly clean seat first thing the next morning, but I don’t think there’s a miracle cure for messy toddlers is there? Anyway, if you haven’t tried it, soaking… totally works!
5. He’s not bad!
Does anyone else cringe when they hear someone refer to their pet or their child as “bad?” It makes me crazy! Behavior can be bad, food can go bad, people can make bad decisions, but people and animals are not bad! Enough said.
6. Wheat bread is good for you
While I’m going off on things that bug me, let me offend some people and just say that I don’t know why someone, somewhere decided that bread is bad for you. Bread is not bad for you! Sure if you buy white Wonder Bread then you’re not getting any food value, but a nice whole wheat bread… good for you! Stop the nonsense people! You can cut out all foods except for ice cream and lose weight, but that’s not healthy and not sustainable! Everything in moderation.
7. Potty Training
In case you missed it on Facebook, Parker had his first accident free day on Tuesday since pull-up-less potty training started last Friday. Yea! However, there are some disadvantages to teaching your child how to pee on command. I asked Parker to do a potty check after he woke up from his nap yesterday, and apparently he didn’t feel like it, so he decided to express his frustration by deliberately peeing on the floor. That deserved an automatic timeout in my opinion, but in the few seconds it took me to start the timer for his timeout, Parker peed on the chair! Mommy was not a happy camper!!
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Have a great weekend everyone!
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I so agree with you. I wish we did not need dual incomes to make ends meet too. I loved that your Parker had a good week. I love wheat bread also. I think the processed wheat breads have too much sugar in them. It would probably be better if we baked our own and did not include a lot of sugar. The whole wheat is good for you.
Mary-andering Creati recently posted…My Creative Mary-andering for the Week of June 17
Hi Mary. I'm so glad you enjoyed my post today. Thanks for stopping by!
I agree that you definitely have to seek out good wheat bread. A lot of breads will claim to be wheat but have almost no fiber.
Oh I love your cleaning idea! I've been trying to let my oldest (almost 3yo) help more, but it's hard when you just want to finish something. You've inspired me to keep trying though! 🙂 He does love putting things in the trash now though.
Jeanine recently posted…Quick Takes (Vol 10)
Hi Jeanine. Thanks so much for stopping by! My son is almost 3 also, so I totally understand! This time I actually let him try things that I normally wouldn't, like using the toilet bowl brush, and was amazed to discover that he was much more capable than I had anticipated. He even did a decent job with his rag when I showed him where to clean. Having him around actually made it more pleasant to clean toilets! Who knew?! I hope you have similar success.
I live in such an expensive area to live that essential means that even to get a teeny house requires both parents working high powered jobs. I teach only once a week and my husband has a great job, but it is still so hard!
Kathleen recently posted…7QT: Keeping it Light
Also I'm a first time read…
Kathleen recently posted…7QT: Keeping it Light
So glad you stopped by! 🙂
Hi Kathleen. We live in an area with a high cost of living as well, so even with both of us having decent paying full time jobs we can only afford a condo. More and more I wonder if it's worth the price we pay to live here.