Dabbling in Domesticity

Craigslist!

Christie — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 14:30:30 +0000

Craigslist: You love it, or you hate it.

Either way, your feelings about Craigslist are justifiable. Where else can you get access to great deals and free advertising with such a wide-ranging audience? Where else could you trade a quad you have owned for a year for a boat that a dude has been trying to unload since January? On the flip side, where else can you get as royally screwed?

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Do I have everything?

Ransom Noble — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 20:46:17 +0000

I remember the days when all I really had to have was my keys, my wallet, and my cell phone to leave the house and sometimes sunglasses. Those items would fit in a small purse and I was good to go. I remembering laughing at similar women my age toting suitcase-sized purses with every conceivable thing inside.

Partly, this was because I had just about every conceivable need within a small bag that would easily have fit inside a shoebox. My conceivable needs – at the time – included a deck of cards as a standard staple. What else passes the time to wait for a bus or other delay?

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Failing in Front of the Kids

Christie — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 14:59:24 +0000

As role models for our children, we should be perfect at all times. After all, if we do stupid things, they might follow our example. We don’t want them to make the same mistakes we make, or even to make mistakes that they think up on their own, so we need to model appropriate words and actions at all times, right?

Wrong

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Is It Time To Change The Linens?

Ransom Noble — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:00:03 +0000

I’m sure we’ve all had that moment of sniffing the dish cloth to make certain it can be used again. Even me, though I have a very weak nose that only smells certain things and dish cloths aren’t one of them. Plus, by the time most people can really smell them (I think, I’m not sure I have much experience there) they’re quite far gone.

There are other linens to think about – the dish towels, the bed sheets, bathroom towels… Who let a house have so much linen to think about?

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Raccoons!

Michelle Tuesday — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 11:57:41 +0000

They’re so cute, aren’t they? Especially the babies. When Mama Raccoon shows up with her litter in the spring, you think, awwwww. Let’s feed them! They are so tame, they will walk up to you and take a hot dog right out of your hands.

But we advise against it

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Tips for Delivery?

Ransom Noble — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:00:20 +0000

We don’t normally order food for delivery. Last night I ordered pizza, and I haven’t ordered it for myself since I’m not sure when.

The other times I’ve ordered delivery pizza lately was for kids who babysat my daughter. It seems a very easy way to get them dinner, especially when they’re watching their little sister as well as my daughter while the parents go out. It also seems fairer to me for something they can share, rather than split the money I’d normally pay for her care three or four ways.

Back to the delivery, though

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Mt. Laundry

Michelle Tuesday — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:33:10 +0000

Why is it so difficult to keep up with the laundry? The pile gets so enormous that the hamper tips over, and miscellaneous articles of clothing end up scattered around the floor. Eventually, the mountain piles up over the hamper itself, hiding it like some cave covered in a burial shroud of denim, pink satin bras, and white cotton socks. It makes you wonder why you bother to have a hamper at all

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Work

Ransom Noble — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:00:43 +0000

A neighbor of mine said last night that work makes her so tired. I remember those days. It doesn’t matter how much you like your job – it takes a lot out of a person to keep at it for eight or more hours straight.

But what about those of us at home? We don’t get a set time where we go to work and then come home and leave it behind. There is still grocery shopping to be done, still dishes in the sink, still laundry in piles.

“Man may work from sun to sun, but woman’s work is never done.”

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Little Kids Have Big Ears

Michelle Tuesday — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:03:03 +0000

My boyfriend’s children live with us every other week. We have our fun times, we have our fights, and we go through all those things that make us a family. Dinner can be a chore, since the children are both picky eaters, and they naturally dislike exactly what the other child likes, causing the meal preparer (that’s me) angst and frustration. Lately, these dinner-related disagreements have escalated, and the nine-year-old has taken to firing underhanded jabs at me routinely. Since the dinnertime fights were petty and stupid, I started to suspect that something else was bothering her.

When I finally confronted her about the attitude, she confessed that she had overheard me tell her father, “I can’t wait until the kids are gone next week.”

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Daytrip

Ransom Noble — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:00:58 +0000

I never knew it took so much to get a baby out of the house. Not before I had one, anyway. She needs ten times as much stuff as I do, and that’s just for a quick trip to the grocery store.

So on my way out the door this morning, knowing I have a two hour drive each way ahead of me, I go through my mental checklist to see if we have everything. I need a notebook, my story, a pen, my purse, keys, and iPod. I take a snack to eat in the car, and if I don’t get time for breakfast, I can manage.

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Getting Out of Debt

Michelle Tuesday — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:55:18 +0000

We all would love to improve our financial health. But saving money is so hard today. First, our buy-now-pay-later culture has contributed to an outstanding cumulative American credit card debt of nearly one trillion dollars. Most of us hold a piece of that debt. And second, savings vehicles hardly yield what they used to. You would be hard-pressed to find a traditional savings account offering more than a fraction of a percent in savings (if I put $1,000 in a savings account, and I earn $0.02 in a month in interest, why bother?) Meanwhile, higher-yield savings options are hardly attractive. The real estate market has crashed, and stock market stability reminds us of a Forrest Gump table tennis match.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. You and your family can take steps to improve your financial health.

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Potty “Training”

Ransom Noble — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:00:35 +0000

Given a number of books and a roomful of adults, no two opinions will match. At least, I haven’t seen it yet on the subject of potty training. There are even different names for it, from potty training to potty learning to elimination communication.

For all the different words, it doesn’t seem like we have a good handle on it. The history of training elimination functions is as old as mankind. Way back when, however, especially in the time of my grandparents, children were trained as soon as possible. It makes sense, with cloth diapers and hand-washing everything.

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Fighting

Michelle Tuesday — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:40:09 +0000

I have to laugh at the addictions of my stepchildren, which include Wizard101, Mario, Spongebob, iCarly, and Wizards of Waverly Place. They get so emotionally wrapped up in them, and it reminds me of myself, particularly when I hear the almost-teen yelling at the computer from the basement: “What?! That’s so unfair! How come the bad guys always get the first move?!” And the latest tragedy for our nine-year-old was the news that Selena Gomez has announced her intention to leave Waverly Place, which resulted in a cry of outrage at the television.

Yes, it’s fun to watch our kids yell at inanimate objects that flicker and make sounds at them. But in our household, like most households, we have the most fun when they’re yelling at each other instead

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Closet Cleaning

Ransom Noble — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:00:44 +0000

I meant to do this in the ’spring cleaning’, but I’m not one to get that deep-clean all done in the spring. It’s not dirty in there, or even too untidy, it’s just that it’s time to think about what I wear, because there are so many things in there that I don’t.

Prevailing wisdom will tell you to evaluate your wardrobe by whether you’ve worn it in the last year or two and if the answer is no, let it find a new home. Two years ago I was pregnant, though, and my wardrobe didn’t fit for almost a year. That makes it silly to throw out everything that I might have worn, but didn’t, or couldn’t, since then

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A Tale of Pillows

Ransom Noble — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:00:10 +0000

In search of a good night’s sleep? I am, and maybe not just because of the one-year-old down the hall. It turns out there are reasons for sore backs and necks that may not have anything to do with the mattress.

A friend of mine had her son research how to buy a new mattress, and the first thing he told her was to try out a new pillow. Wish I had a link to that, but it made me think about my pillow. When was the last time I got one? Was that the culprit of headaches, neck pain, back pain?

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Computer Time

Michelle Tuesday — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 11:00:51 +0000

As technology advances, so do the desires of our children. I remember asking my parents for a telephone in my bedroom – remember when phones were hardwired and trapped in one room? After months of begging, my parents finally conceded. But the concession was not without its conditions: we would have call waiting; should another call ring through while I was on the phone, I had to answer; time spent on the phone was limited; and times of day during which I was permitted to use the phone were limited.

Now our children want laptops with Internet access and free reign to check email, chat, Facebook, and play real-time interactive games with players around the world. So, should we concede? How much is enough? What kind of limitations should we impose

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A Latte Love

Christie — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 19:59:34 +0000

I’m not sure why it is that something as simple as a latte can be so exquisite, but there it is: the Starbucks empire has proven that lattes are a favorite treat. Lattes have been getting a bad rap lately, and frankly, for good reason: lattes are expensive and fattening. But we all need our vices to help us keep our sanity, and it turns out, there are ways to cut down on the cost and calories

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Middle of July

Ransom Noble — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:00:01 +0000

It’s horribly hot here, nearly 100 degrees. We stay in the house often. It isn’t easy to stay cooped up and keep things interesting for my daughter and me.

I think it’s funny how we forget how hot summer is and how cold winter is until they’re upon us again. It feels like the worst season every time. Except for the next time.

There’s a wading pool sitting in the garage that I think I’ll find a perfect day for. I sit on the ground and dunk my feet in while my daughter plays.

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And then there are days…

Michelle Tuesday — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 00:12:03 +0000

The child is literally the sweetest little girl you ever met in your life. She loves hugs; tells you she loves you; smiles and giggles; and generally has the whole sugar-and-spice thing down. Most of the time.

Sometimes, we just don’t understand her mood swings at all. Everything is going fine until you ask her to rinse her plate and place it in the dishwasher. She stares at you. When you shrug and say, “Okay, no ice cream for you,” she melts into a puddle of tears. Eventually, the tears turn into sobs, which turn into wails when she thinks you are ignoring her, which turn into shoes thrown at the bedroom door when you close the door to drown out the noise. Meanwhile, you can’t figure out why rinsing a dish is such a big deal

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Happy Birthday…

Ransom Noble — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:00:47 +0000

Have you noticed that a lot of parents – especially first-time parents – schedule birthday parties for all of their friends when the kid turns one? I’ve been invited to more first birthdays than any other year, and it isn’t because I have a daughter that age.

She’s actually only been invited to one party, I think, and that one is coming up this month. It’s exciting for us about her little friend, but it’s difficult to know how much she gets of the whole proceeding.

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