Being Offline has Worked for Me

Works for me Wednesday is usually a time to share household tips, tricks-of-the parenting trade, or methods of increasing your blog traffic.

I've shared some good stuff with y'all in the past, like setting up the coffee maker ahead of time, my homemade personal planner, and preschool ideas.

I don't have any tips for you today.

None.

I will tell you what has been working for me, though -- staying off of the computer!

It started out as a Lenten sacrifice -- an embarrassingly difficult sacrifice for me. The first few days were brutal. My eyes would drift to the screen as I walked past; my fingers would graze the keyboard. When the computer was on for necessary tasks, I would find myself reading email and blogs before I even noticed the transition.

These slip-ups offered a great opportunity for prayer and reflection. Why was I online anyway? What did I gain online, and what were the corresponding costs? Over time, I found myself enjoying this break from the internet. It was calming, relaxing, and even FREEING. There was no longer an obligation to read through every post, no feeling of inadequacy that I wasn't doing enough. I also found myself being more attentive to the children's needs. There was more time for the here-and-now.

On Easter Monday (Dingus Day for all of you back in South Bend), I went right back to the computer with glee. I read the paper; I checked every blog.

Then, the next day, I heard a crash from behind me as I read "just one more" email. One of the children had knocked over a tray of tomato seedlings while I was distracted by the computer.

That was enough for me; I resolved to be more responsible in my computer usage. I am still struggling to find my exact limits, but for now I have started by abandoning Twitter, reducing blogging, and marking all blogs as "read" before I turn off the machine at night. I feel no obligation to visit every blog every day, or to post the minute details of our every day.

I am enjoying some time online, but nothing like I used to. The cost, however, has been the companionship that I had been getting online from other stay-at-home moms. I will try to build some time into each day for correspondence, because it is important to stay in touch.

Has anyone found a balance that really works for them?

A Week of Posts

There are several ways to tackle a 7 Quick Takes Post -- today I will do a quick summary of the posts that I didn't get the chance to write over the course of the week.

1. Even if it weren't for my Lenten discipline of staying off of the computer when the children are awake, I would not have been online very much this week. For the first time in the children's memories, March has felt springlike in New Hampshire. We have spent every possible moment outdoors enjoying the tropical temperatures. For those of you south of Boston, anything above 40 degrees qualifies as "tropical" in our minds. For comparison's sake, here is a picture from last March and a picture from yesterday:














2. Of course, there is a reason we call this "mud season."
   
   Any volunteers to help me keep up laundry over the next few weeks?
   
   
   


3. We have also been very busy learning about saints this week with two important feast days. In addition to cooking a boiled dinner for the extended family, we learned about Saint Patrick, shamrocks, and the trinity on Tuesday. We colored this shamrock and talked about how the shamrock can be used as an analogy for God in three persons. We also sang a cute "3 in 1" song sung to the tune of "Frère Jacques." On Thursday we reread a few nativity stories from the children's Bible and colored this image of the Holy Family in honor of St. Joseph's feast day.
   
   
   


4. I never got around to posting this week's Unplugged project or last week's art gallery picture. Here are both:


We marbelized paper by dripping colored oil onto water, then floating the paper on top. Amazing effect, but very messy project. We used syringes instead of droppers, and my fine-motor delayed child had a very difficult time. That child, however, is the one who has asked to repeat the project, so you may see more oil-slicked art in our future.




5. I never posted books for the week either, probably because I was reading too much! Over the past week I have read The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Nourishing Traditions, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, and started in on Against Medical Advice: One Family's Struggle with an Agonizing Medical Mystery. I probably owe y'all a good book post soon.




6. In place of "Works for me Wedensday," here is my tip of the week: To make rolls, mix up your favorite bread recipe, then divide into small balls after the first rise. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes, then form into miniature boules. That's it! When I make rolls for salmon burgers I use Easiest French Bread, and put some kosher salt and rosemary sprigs on top of each roll. (Yes, yes, I read Nourishing Traditions and I am still using processed flour and farm-raised fish. I am trying to eat naturally, really I am!)
   
   
7. And finally.... This week's art gallery:

Where the Ideas Come From

A friend of mine once commented on a preschool post that I was "so creative." Heh. If only he knew... I just creatively use others' ideas!

Since this is "Greatest Hits" week at Works for Me Wednesday, I thought I'd tell you about those great resources that I depend on to make my happy little preschool work.

Here is a quick list of the free resources I use to plan our preschool time.

1. Books More of a background resource than as a specific planning tool, I have borrowed a number of art, activity, and theory books from the library. Currently the most influential:
   • Mudpies to Magnets: A Preschool Science Curriculum
   • The Little Hands Art Book this just happened to be the book available to me; I am sure that there are better books on the market. I have heard nothing but good reviews of MaryAnn Kohl's books, for example.
   • Basic Montessori: Learning Activities For Under-Fives
   • Teaching Montessori in the Home: Pre-School Years: The Pre-School Years
   
   
2. Blogs Sometimes it is best to see how someone else manages to make preschool work in the real world. In a blog you can see how a Montessori theory applies in the home, or you can get a new angle on an old problem. You may see some of "my" ideas displayed on these blogs in particular:
• Chasing Cheerios
• Mind Games
• Shannon's Sharings
• Muses of Megret
• The Wonder Years
  
  
3. Groups The best ideas come from those in the trenches. I have been a member of the Homepreschool Yahoo group for three years, and although the message volume has ebbed and flowed over time, the advice is always invaluable.
   
   
4. The Google - When in doubt, search the web for answers. A recent search for phonics activities netted two treasures -- Fun Fonix and the Clifford Make-a-Word game , both of which have proved very helpful to Agent 004.
   

How about you? Any resources to suggest to the rest of us?

How We do Preschool (Posts 3+4 of 4)

Two weeks ago I left you with a description of Circle Time. Rereading my own post it sounds like a rigid and monotonous routine. In all honesty, though, that is the only formal school we do, and it really isn't all that formal! I 'm pretty sure that my troop of toddlers is incapable of formal, rigid, or monotonous anyway.

Circle Time is followed by Table Time. While Cousin F sings the alphabet, Agent 004 sits down at the table to complete the weather chart. I watch that F points to each letter as she sings, then set her up with a number or letter task. Today she worked on the clothing number matching cards on her mat.

As soon as Agent 004 completes the weather chart she starts the task that I have set out in her cubby. Recently this has included her sound mat, a maze, or a file folder game.

When the girls complete their assigned task, they move onto "Mat Time," which is a Montessori-ish child led activity period. It isn't so much preschool time as it is time to play with small and messy things that would otherwise drive Mama bonkers.

In practice the only differentiation between Table Time and Mat Time is that I choose the first activity for each child (Table Time) and from that point forth the children choose their own activities (Mat Time).

Here are a few snapshots of Mat Time this week:

Cousin P is gluing a collage while Agent 004 uses a workbook and Cousin F plays a number matching game.

Agent 002 pours split peas while Cousin F, Cousin P, and Agent 004 watercolor.

All four children drawing on the windows with Crayola markers.

And that is how we make preschool time Work for Us.

How We do Preschool (Part 1 of 4)

I often wonder how other people get this "preschool" thing done with lots of little kids running around.

I see these pictures of fancy craft projects, creative math manipulatives, and smiling children. Then I listen to the cacaphony in my house and wonder how on earth anybody gets kids to do anything productive.

Of course, once I open my eyes, I notice all that they are learning and doing and experiencing all the time. Plus they have some academic skills:

• The 2yo is starting to express thoughts in words and sentences. He loves to scribble, glue, and paint. His new trick is pointing at the letter chart and humming the tune of the alphabet song.


• The 3yo can recognize letters, count to 15 and recognize numerals to 5. She knows her shapes and colors.


• The 4yo can count and recognize numbers to 50, read short vowel words, and write family members' names.

Given my obvious success (pause for chuckle here) I decided to devote my Works for Me Wednesday blog posts this month to explaining how we do it.

First of all, I do not do it at all. My job is to shape the environment and set the routine. Otherwise, the kids run the show.

Routine is the key element. Our entire day has a routine, and preschool time has its own routine. Not only do we repeat the routine every day, it is posted on the wall for their review:


When I was sick last week, Agent 004 and Cousin F did an entire preschool session without any involvement from me. They knew what to do, when. Obviously there was no new material, but they got a great review just by running through the routine.


Preschool time has three components -- Circle Time, Table Time, and Mat Time. I will focus a post on each of these components on the next three Wednesdays.

Please drop a comment if there is anything specific that you would like to make sure I cover in this series of posts.

Beginning - To - Read- Resources

The Agents are both on a reading kick, and it is me that is struggling to keep up with them. Where do I find activities and age-appropriate reading materials?

Agent 004 is working through the Reading A-Z phonics program. I downloaded it for free during their trial week last spring, and from our experience would recommend it to other families. We supplement that with some word family work. She is most proud of her "Word Book" which lists every word that she can read. We are up to 47 words!

I have been writing some of her stories, but I am just not creative enough to make it all from scratch. That is when I refer to various sites online. This is what I have been visiting this week:

• Hubbard's Cupboard : A free, comprehensive, Christian preschool curriculum. We used the Bible and Rhyme 3's Curriculum when the Agents were 2 and 4 years old. It covers the Bible, letters, numbers, colors, shapes, and anything else that a preschooler needs to know. We no longer use it as a curriculum, but we constantly integrate components including the sorting letters, playdough recipes and printable books.
  
  
• Carl's Corner : Maintained by a retired elementary school Language Arts specialist, Carl's Corner is an amazing resource for reading resources. In particular, F uses the alphabet activitied and Agent 004 uses the Word Family activities.
  
  
• Mrs. Meacham's Classroom Snapshots : Although this site's intended audience is elementary school teachers, mnay of the ideas are easily adaptable to the home. Our circle time activities are strongly influenced by her calendar page. Since I have a "multi-age" classroom, I plan on making each of the children a mini-office highlighting the areas that he or she is currently working on. I also get a lot of ideas fro Mrs. Meacham's literacy centers.
  

These Work for me. Do you have any more suggestions of resources for early reading instruction?

Toys Worth Buying

Shannon is hosting a special themed edition of Works for Me Wednesday - the Toys Worth Buying Edition. Since I plan on leaning heavily on these "Kid-tested, Mother approved" ideas in my Christmas shopping, I thought it would be only fair for me to contribute. This is a quick list of those toys that I never need to rotate out, because they are in constant use

Games

• Don't Break the Ice -- a classic for a reason! Probably the best "first" game for an older toddler.
  
• UNO Stacko -- stacking blocks like Jenga, but played by matching color or number like the Uno Card Game
  
• Chairs -- even a toddler can play this stacking game, but it is complex enough for the adults to join in

Dolls and Doll Accessories

• Dolls and Animals -- their collection is probably excessive (at my last count we had 12 dolls and 200 stuffed animals), but a variety of people and animals is a requirement for imaginative fun.
• Clothes -- the dolls have their own dresser (a 3-drawer wooden nightstand shared with the dress-up clothes) and the kids are constantly dressing their babies. Cabbage Patch and other large dolls can wear infant clothing which is very easily purchased at yard sales.
• Strollers -- THE INDISPENSABLE TOY. All four children love to wrap their babies and blankets and walk them through the house. Cousin P has been pushing the blue Graco around since he could barely walk.
  
• Almost-Homemade Crib -- It doesn't need to be anything special (one of my nephews used a shoe box when he was a toddler), but every imaginary baby needs a place to sleep. Our crib is large enough for several babies and the cat loves it for naps.
• High chair, diaper changing table and other "real" things
  

Dress Up Clothes --

• In addition to worn out dress clothes and silly hats, my children have a few wonderful purchased pieces:
• Imaginarium Fire Fighter Dress Up Set(look at our Halloween picture carefully) and Cowboy Dress Up Set give the boys a chance to join in
• princess dresses! We have this one and this one.

Musical Instruments

• electric keyboards
• harmonica
• whistles
• homemade shakers / rainsticks / drums

Wheels and Transportation toys

• We love our ThomasTrains, but at that price we wouldn't have them if we didn't get them as a hand-me-down.
• Shake 'N Go Racers -- annoyingly loud, but even a toddler can shake the car and make it zoom accross the room. We also have the Shake 'n Go Speedway, but I would not consider it indispensable
• Hot Wheels - the brand name is important on this one. The cheap imitations are not as durable. Don't worry, the real ones last -- my children are playing with the ones that my husband asn I played with as children.
• Playmat -- a place to drive all of those cars. We have and love the Discovery mat which has roads and railroad tracks.
• Fisher Price Garage - we have an older version of this toy, big enough for four children to play together. It has ramps, elevators, and adequate parking for a convoy of wheeled vehicles. It is also on its third generation of play, it is a very durable toy.
  

Eery Invisible Ghosts

Amber taught me about using white crayon and watercolors "Magic Art," but it was my own idea to create mysteriously reappearing ghosts for Halloween.

To create this spooky effect, draw a ghost with white crayon on white paper. Color it in. This is harder than it sounds, so you may have to do it for the child.



Have the child paint the entire sheet of paper.


If she is feeling particularly spunky, she may paint it varied colors. It does not matter -- so long as she covers the entire picture with paint, the ghost will magically appear.

The kids LOVED watching the ghosts appear as they painted. We will definitely do this again. Maybe I will write secret messages for my emergent readers?

Two Questions and an Advertisement

Shannon is hosting a backwards WFMW today at Rocks in My Dryer. I'll take advantage of this opportunity to tap the wisdom of the internets.

1. Read-Aloud Suggestions? My husband reads to the children from a novel every night. Thus far they have read Charlotte's Web, Stewart Little, The Trumpeter Swan, Doctor Dolittle, The Just So Stories, and they are currently finishing up the Little House series. We haven't decided what to tackle next. Any suggestions?
   
   
2. Preschool Prayer Songs? We begin "preschool" every day with a prayer. I have only just realized that a song is a good way to do this and get the kids really involved. Cousin F in particular gets into hand motions and spontaneous riffs on well-known songs. We have been singing "He Has the Whole World in His Hands" and "This is the Day." Does anyone know any good Christian songs that a 1, 3 and 4 yo would be able to sing?
   
   
3. Photographs of Nuns? Sr. Mary Martha and her cohert of sisters are organizing a Nun Beauty No Contest to show all of the good work that nuns do around the world. Sr. Mary Martha asked me to advertise this for her, and since when can I say no to a nun? Even in my 1980s nearly secular Catholic school we learned that much! You can read more about the rules (or lack thereof) at her blog.
   

A Day in Our Life

With the start of the school year comes a more structured routine for everyone. This is what the day looks like for the children.* Other than bus times, it hasn't changed much from our routine last spring.

• Morning Routine
• Wake up
  
• Change into clothes
• Breakfast
• Brush Teeth
• (7:25) School Bus
• Free Play while Mama completes her morning routine
  
• Clean up toys
  
• Red Room School
• prayer
• calendar
• phonemic awareness
• table work
• free choice mat work (increasingly Montessori in format)
  
• Snack
• Morning Activity
• Monday: errands
• Tuesday: house cleaning
• Wednesday: library/playground/picnic
• Thursday: visit
• Friday: house cleaning
  
• Lunch
• After-lunch clean-up
  
• bus table
  
• (1 child) wipe placemats
  
• (1 child) put stray items away
  
• (Cousin P) go in for nap
  
• Art Project (frequently superseded by Morning Activity on Monday, Wednesday & Thursday)
  
• Potty/brush teeth
• Quiet Time
• {Girls stay in room with books/quiet toys}
  
• {Mama's free time}
  
• 5 minute pick up
  
• 15 minutes on computer (email, blogs, news, write blog)
  
• fold laundry
• household projects
  
• put laundry away in bedrooms / set out tomorrow's clothes
  
• (3:02) School Bus
• Snack
• Play Outside
• (4:30-5pm) Cousins depart
• Television or indoor play while Mama prepares dinner
  
• Dinner
• Evening Routine
• bus table
  
• (Agent 002) shower or bath / (Agent 004) play with Papa
• (Agent 004) shower or bath / (Agent 002) play with Papa
• Bedtime Book Club
• {Mama tidies house}

Next task? Put this into a format that my non-readers can refer to.
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*Agent 002 is at school between the two designated bus times, and thus scheduled items between those two points do not apply to him. The Cousins arrive dressed, but do eat breakfast at our house.

Home Cooking on the Road

I love the occasional restaurant meal. It is so refreshing to sit back and let someone else prepare a meal, to have the liberty to have an actual conversation at the table instead of jumping up every ninety seconds to fill someone's plate or clean a spill.

But eating out for two straight weeks? Not so much fun. Especially not so much fun on a limited budget or while traveling with small children who despise sitting still.

So I prepare as many of our meals as possible, saving our restaurant money for quality meals that we all will enjoy. Seven days into our trip, we have eaten at three restaurants -- for fresh seafood on the wharf, Thai noodles, and pancakes at IHOP.

We have been eating cold cereal for breakfast along with mini-bar refrigerated soy milk and fresh fruit. I have "cooked" lunch and dinner using shelf stable ingredients. These recipes can easily be accompanied by couscous or ramen noodles if you have access to hot water from a coffee maker.

In addition to washable plastic flatware, we also brought along 6 bowls that store nested inside of each other -- two mixing/serving bowls as well as four cereal bowls. Our kitchen tools are minimal -- a thin cutting board, a paring knife, a vegetable peeler, and a large spoon.

The recipes are old family staples as well as new family favorites culled from the disaster recipes at Busy Cooks.

Mango and Bean Salad
can black beans, rinsed and drained
can corn with peppers, drained
can mango slices, cubed (we used one whole fresh mango)
1/4 cup minced onion
1/4 cup oil and vinegar salad dressing

Gazpacho
14 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 red onion, chopped
11 oz. can corn, drained
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
3 cups vegetable cocktail juice
6 oz. can tiny shrimp, drained
1 cup garlic croutons

Combine all ingredients except croutons. If possible, refrigerate before serving. Top with croutons.

Bean Salad
1 can kidney beans
1 can green beans
1 can chick peas
½ cup oil
½ cup vinegar
¼ cup sugar
dill or other spice

Mix sauce, pour over beans.

Tuna
2 cans tuna
1 stalk celery
½ onion
mayo
saltines or bread

Mix first four ingredients; use as sandwich filling or as a dip with crackers.

Carrot Salad

3-4 cups freshly grated carrots
½-1 cup raisins
1 large apple, cored and chopped
¼ to 1/3 cup mayonnaise (or yogurt if refrigeration is available)

Combine all ingredients . If possible, refrigerate before serving.

I Need my Coffee

It is Works for Me Wednesday, when women around the web share their secrets for making their worlds go round. Today's tip is such a simple one that you may scoff, "Doesn't everyone do that?" But there are others out there who will blush and wonder, "Why didn't I ever think of that?" I am also aware that there is the third possibility that you will consider this a very bad idea.

I am one of those people that does not function before my first cup of coffee.

Which makes it awfully difficult to actually prepare that first cup of coffee. I just am not capable of pouring water or measuring coffee grounds when I first wake up. At least not without turning the kitchen counter into a sticky mess.

The solution? Set up the coffee-maker the night before! After breakfast each morning, I rinse the pot, refill the tank, and measure out the coffee grounds. The next morning I flip on the power switch and voila -- hot coffee with no fuss.

Simple, neat, and dependable. Works for me!

Simple Exercise Plan

Once upon a time, I was in shape.

I exercised every day -- not out of duty, but because it was fun or because biking was the quickest way from here to there.

But then I got a car. And a job. Then graduate school on top of a job. Then kids. Then daycare on top of my own kids. And I was always able to find an excuses to avoid exercise.

I don't have time.
I'm too tired.
The gym is too expensive.
The gym is too far away.
The weather is too yucky to run outside.
We don't have any weights.
I don't know how to workout.

I knew that I had to do something. I NEED exercise -- it gives me energy, patience, and perspective.

I needed a plan that would actually follow through on. Something simple, quick, and fun. And it couldn't cost money.

Which led me to circuit training.

I do a routine with four exercises in quick succession that combine strength training with aerobic intensity.

• 10 body weight squats
• 10 push-ups
• 10 burpees
• 20 bicycle crunches

I currently complete three full circuits, which takes about ten minutes. Over the next month, I want to incrementally work up to a fifteen-minute, five circuit routine.

I have no reason to avoid exercise. I have a plan that can be done anywhere with no specialized equipment in a very short window of time. It is not affected by weather, location, or kids' napping schedules. No reason not to do it, and plenty of reasons to do it.

Works for me! For more great ideas, visit Works for Me Wednesday.

A Monstrous Birthday Cake

Here's what works for me -- using some donuts and a simple cake mix to make a monster of a birthday cake for my 6-year-old gearhead.

Make a chocolate pound cake (recipe below) in two 9x5 loaf pans. Lay one loaf down with the rounded side down. This is the body of the truck. From the second loaf, cut a trapezoid that will become the cab of the truck. Cut the remainder of this loaf into slices. Layer the slices on top of each other to create a small incline that the truck will rest on. If desired, use the last slice to build up the bed of the truck.

Make a double batch of frosting. I used nondairy buttercream, but any thick frosting will work. The frosting is both decoration and mortar. Color 1/3 of the frosting in your desired truck color; color 1/3 brown or black; and leave 1/3 white.

Frost the windshield and side windows white, then frost the body of the truck. Make sure to frost the window frames in the body color. Using decorator frosting, paint details like doors, headlights, and front grill. Then carefully place the truck on top of the arranged slices. You may want to arrange a row of toy cars next to the truck.

Frost four donuts (preferably not powdered donuts, as the frosting does not adhere well to the sugar coating). Place donuts next to truck body, using toothpicks to hold the tires in place if necessary.

Then make plenty of VROOM VROOM noises as you carry it to the table.

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Chocolate Pound Cake

Ingredients

• 1 box of devil's food cake mix
• 4 eggs
• 1.25 cups water
• .5 cup oil
  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix ingredients until well blended.

Pour into greased pans.

Bake at 350 degrees until a tooth pick comes out clean. It will take about 10% longer than the package directions.

No Tips Today

You know what works for me? Spending every possible moment outdoors enjoying that time-honored New England spring tradition....

....of riding your bike full-speed into a snowbank.

Now that the temperatures have been reaching up into the 50s, we have been outside until dinnertime every evening. Which means, of course, that my posting schedule will need to be adjusted accordingly. Maybe 2 or 3 posts a week from here on out.

Wish me luck on my tan :)

Learning to Learn to Read

Sometime in February, Agent 004 informed me that she was ready to read.

Actually, she handed me a book (I wish that I could remember which) and said, "I will read this." And then she asked me what each individual word said.

When we finished reading that book I asked her if she wanted to learn how to read all kinds of books. She said yes, so we started in on a new adventure together.

Due to its glowing recommendations, we started with Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. Agent 004 thought it was a lot of fun to say things fast and then say them slow, but I wasn't such a big fan. It just felt too stilted and didn't fit into the rhythm of our days. There is no set "preschool" time at our house; I consider each moment of their lives educational. Teach Your Child to Read might well be effective, but I am not quite ready to have my three-year old involved in a formal reading curriculum with structured lessons. We quit within two weeks.

But, as I told you a few weeks ago, my little princess is starting to read. What has worked for her? Word families.

Not simply "sounding it out," word families help children to see the pattens in words (see Literacy Connections for more information). We start with two letters -- a common word ending like "-at." Agent 004 and I sound the letters out together. Then I whip out the "word-o-matic,*" a strip of cardboard with the word ending written on it. The initial consonants are written on a slip of paper that slides through two slits on the cardboard. We slide the paper up and down reading each new word as it appears.

After learning the "-at" words, she read her first book -- a printable from Hubbard's Cupboard called In My Hat. The next day I wrote her a very silly book called The Cat that Sat on a Hat, which she read with glee.

I wanted to make sure that she could have instant success by reading real books. She is very proud of new found ability.

Of course, she is still learning through exploration as well. I recently made her a set of Montesori-style** movable letters following these instructions at ehow.***

Here are some "-at" words that she spelled out on the table.

Here is Agent 002 trying out different initial consonants. Whenever he came up with something that made a recognizable word, he would get excited and ask us all to look.
The cards clean up easily into their very own filecard box with alphabet dividers. As an added bonus, the kids are learning alphabetical order as they clean up.

-----------------------------------

*I have since learned that these are called "word slides," and are commonly used in elementary school phonics. I was so proud of myself for coming up with these all on my own! Reinventing the wheel again :)

** Yes, I am aware that Montessori purists would cringe to hear these called movable letters since they are on cards. We use a lot of Montessori methods in our schooling, but do not follow the Montessori Method.

***I made two modifications to these instructions -- (1) I made a small yellow dot (ala Handwriting Without Tears) in the top-left corner of each card to prevent letter reversals and (2) I made a template to ensure equally sized letters by cutting a small-letter-sized rectangle from an extra index card.

WFMW: One Stop Planning (Reprise)

In a special edition of Works for me Wednesday, Shannon has asked us to "share our very best with the internet." If there is one thing that makes my household "work for me," it is this simple organizational scheme. So here it goes (again):

I have always been a bit of a do-it-yourselfer when it comes to organizational systems. I have never found a commercial product that has all of the features I want in a size or price that I am comfortable with.

In college I photocopied a grid with my weekly class and work schedule drawn in, penciled in meetings as they were scheduled, and then planned homework and my social life around those parameters. I could see my entire week at a glance and know just where I needed to be when. I used some variation of this system for ten years. It was simple and flexible, but thorough. It really worked for me.

Then I became a stay-at-home mom, day care provider, and owner of a very high maintenance home. I had things to be done, but no set schedule -- my time-based organizational system fell apart. With all of the constant (blessed) interruptions, I could not keep track of all of the things I needed to remember and do. I could not remember what on earth I needed at the store, or when I had last vacuumed the playroom. With the help of Flylady, I got daily routines going, but still needed to make the system my own. This January, I finally sat down and made a planner that fits my life. The sheet has a box for everything I need in a week -- appointments, menu plans, preschool plans, shopping lists, and ongoing projects. I also have a checklist of all of the tasks I complete once per week. I even found room to record the kid's milestones and what books we have read together.

I print off a month's worth of sheets, pop them into a soft-covered binder, and keep it in the kitchen cabinet above the computer. The binder rolls up small enough to fit in my coat pocket, which allows me to bring it along to the grocery store and doctor's office even when my hands are busy. Here is what it looks like in use.
That is what works for me. To see what tips others have come up with, visit Rocks in My Dryer.

WFMW: Bringing Cookies to the Party

It is Works for Me Wednesday, the day on which I wow the world with my acts of home-making wonder. Please don't laugh at me when you realize that all of my tips are things that you, your mama, and your cousin Thelma have been doing for years.

Disposable containers irk me. Call it just another sign of our affluent society, but I just can't see any justification for the financial and ecological cost of single-use plates, bowls, and containers.

How difficult is it really to put plates in your dishwasher after the meal?

In fact, I feel the self-righteousness rising up in my gut when we go to a party where there are stacks of styrofoam plates, bins of plastic forks, and coolers full of un-recyclable juice boxes.

This is a moral imperative, people. Disposable is wasteful!

Here's the rub: I hate chasing down my bowls and platters at the end of a party. Especially because I rarely want to stay until the end of a party. So when I am asked to bring something along, I lean toward disposable packaging. But I just can't bring myself around to purchasing Gladware for this purpose. Then I devised a simple, unwasteful (but tasetful) solution -- gift boxes. Look at those egg cookies the Agents painted this weekend:

Shirt boxes leftover from Christmas are the perfect size, quite stable, and very cute. These were a hit at Easter dinner at my sister's house. I sent a dozen cupcakes off to a PTA event* in a gift box last week, and they fit perfectly as well.

I keep a stash of used boxes** in the art room for impromptu gift-giving, marble painting and contained sensory fun, but even if you don't hoard Christmas wrappings,you may have something equally useful around the house. I know from experience that a single-layer cake fits snugly inside of a cereal box, and that shoe boxes are very versatile containers.

I can feel good (or at least better) about the container being discarded at the end of the day, since it is something that otherwise would have gone to waste.

Works for me!

*Yes, you read that right. P-T-A. And yes, I was in fact humming Harper Valley P.T.A. as I smeared homemade chocolate buttercream across the cupcakes.
**Yes, the waste of single-use wrapping bothers me as well, but that is a topic for another post.

WFMW: 5-minute Pick-Up

It is my solemn duty to bequeath wisdom upon my readers in the form of a Works for Me Wednesday post each week. For more of my brilliance, check my WFMW archive. To find out what others are thinking, go to Rocks in My Dryer.

Let me start by telling you what does not work for me -- cleaning the house for 15 minutes straight. Flylady might tell you that "you can do anything for 15 minutes," but it just ain't happening here. Blame it on a busy schedule, four small children, or my minuscule attention span, but by the time 15 minutes has elapsed I have gotten sidetracked three times over. The normal stuff of life happens -- a diaper needs to be changed, a toddler needs a bandaid, the IM notification beeps... you get the picture.

What is manageable, however, is cleaning for 5 minutes. Okay, not cleaning, exactly, but managing the mess. I set a timer and walk around the house putting things back where they belong. I set aside 5 minute increments throughout the day -- after lunch, before dinner, and as the kids go to bed -- and also "take 5" as the mess demands. 5 minutes is also, coincidentally, the same amount of time that a 5-year old child spends in time out, so my timer is frequently already set for the correct increment. I even use my little darling's time outs as an opportunity to tidy up a bit.

I have recently started getting the kids in one the game - setting the timer and seeing if they can get a small job done in that time. On good days, Agent 002 is very excited when he can "beat" the timer. Even on bad days, it sets a limit on the kids' defiance I set the timer, and let them clean. I do not nag except to notify them when they have two minutes left. At the end of five minutes I put any remaining toys out in cold storage for the rest of the week. Cruel, yes, but it gives them great incentive to get the job done.

Here is an example of a mess-induced 5-minute-pick-up. This is our art room at 11:17 and 11:22 this morning. It still doesn't sparkle, but it "works for me."
Updated at 12:05 pm to include pictures

WFMW: No-Spill Batter

Welcome to Wednesday at reprehriestless warillever, when I give you the little tips that "work for me." To find more handy-dandy tips, visit Rocks in my Dryer for Shannon's weekly WFMW carnival.

Today we have a cooking tip from mr warillever. Yes, you read that right -- a cooking tip from my blessed and wonderful but hopelessly culinary-impaired husband.

Mr warillever makes pancakes nearly every Sunday. He mixes the pancake batter in a 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup, then pours the batter from the spout into the warm frying pan.

No mess, no dribble, and no ladle to put down between batches.

A splendid hack, and one that I have taken on with gusto. I now mix batters, sauces, and dressings in my liquid measuring cups, then pour without a mess.

Works for me!