I feel like I accomplished something.......some cleaning and general tips

So I was stuck in the house yesterday with the kids all day thanks to freezing rain and bus cancellations. I figured it would be pointless to attempt any sort of paperwork because, kids, (and actually my littlest did lay down and have a bit of a nap and I was able to get through a big chunk of paperwork!) But don't even get me started on how it's easy to feel guilty when nothing gets accomplished in the house. I have days like those and I decided today would not be one of those days.

They were both getting along pretty good for most of the morning so I decided to tackle some of the cleaning jobs that don't get done on a regular basis. Here's some quick cleaning tips that are chemical-free, all natural, and use ingredients you have around the house. My hope is it will help you to remember to clean these things before they get forgotten because they are definitely not a big priority on the daily list of chores.

My main cleaning ingredient is fresh lemon, and you may want to use dish gloves to protect your skin. It stings! (Thanks winter dry skin)

First I started with the microwave. Not too dirty at this point, but doesn't hurt to give it a clean to keep it from smelling bad.

Slice up a lemon and throw it into a shallow dish with 1-2" of water. Microwave for about 3 minutes and let it sit for about 10 minutes. The steam will break up any cooked on food. After 10 minutes, wipe everything down with a warm washcloth and leave door open to air dry. I did use a scrub sponge on the tough spots.

While I was waiting for the 10 minute mark, I did a complete clean out of the toaster. Our poor old girl has been neglected the last while (she's melted on the top and in a bit of rough shape, but we love her!) It's so easy to forget the crumb trays underneath. This is a potential fire hazard if it gets built up too much.

And I thought I'd give a shot at the burnt areas on the top of the toaster. I actually grabbed a slice of lemon from the microwave and squeezed a bit onto a paper towel, dabbed that in some baking soda and rubbed it all over the burnt areas until completely covered. I let it sit for awhile and then using my scrub sponge was able to get it mostly all off. I did the same with the outside plastic areas. Make sure you let it sit to dry completely before using it and give it a good shake to get any additional particles out. And don't forget to unplug it before even attempting to clean!!

Save those lemons! I used them to clean hard water stains off the kitchen sink tap. Rub the lemon all over the hard water stains and sprinkle baking soda over it all. Using a paper towel, gently rub mixture all over and let sit for 5 minutes. Using a scrub brush or sponge, scrub the areas until polished and wipe with a warm cloth.

It didn't get it completely clean but definitely looks a lot better.

While all this was going on I was also doing some laundry. Don't forget to check and empty the lint trap on a regular basis. I emptied mine today. It's a potential fire hazard if the lint trap is left full and the dryer will run more efficiently if you clean it regularly.

Finally, some of my eyeliner pencils needed sharpening. Because the lead is so soft, It's easier to sharpen them after they have been frozen for a few hours. After sharpening, draw on an angle across a paper towel and the tip sharpens just that much more, and you're all set.

So that's what I got accomplished yesterday. And that's what one of my quiet days looks like! I hope you can find some of these tips useful.

I Hoarded My Kids' Things!

So for some strange reason that I have yet to understand, I decided to hold on to every piece of clothing both kids ever wore and most of their toys. Jenna is almost 8 and Jacob is almost 3. That equals a TON of clothes. Like I mean bins and bins and bins. Last week I sold the last bit of clothes that I had for sale, and I did feel relief. It wasn't just out of the blue one day that I decided I wanted to get rid of it all either. I did think through it and I did contemplate the possibility of having another baby, but It's just not something I can foresee in  our future. So make sure you have thought thoroughly about selling or donating your kids clothes. I realized the clothes were losing their value and could become outdated sitting down in our dingy basement. I had everything in Rubbermaid totes, but our basement is unfinished with a stone wall and it's damp. I was worried that eventually they would be ruined. Plus my constant need to de-clutter was on my mind.

What easier way to sell it all then to have a sale at our home and have people come to me? There was no way I was going to haul it bin by bin to a second hand kid clothing store and have them pick through only what they wanted, and  have to bring most of it home again (I'll explain more on that later). I knew I wanted each bin of a certain size to be sold all at once. Social media is a wonderful way to get other parent's thoughts about things, so I posted the question on Facebook if anyone would be interested in buying bins of clothes for around $30 each. I received a lot of positive response. And that's how it all started.

So I picked a day and time for a one-day sale, created a Facebook Event page and started sorting through clothes. This was the simplest way to get the information for the sale to the public. And it was easy to just post a photo of each bin of clothes or each item with the appropriate information (size, price, etc,) to the event page, and then share the event link to the buy/sell Facebook groups. A good picture means a lot too - make sure  you have good lighting. Lay items out on the floor and get a shot from above. If you aren't a member of a local Facebook buy/sell group, I suggest you try searching for some in the search bar at the top of the Facebook home page. It's a great way to purchase gently used items and to connect with other moms. But buyer/seller beware. You have to be careful how you do your business because there are scammers and inconsiderate people out there. I also created posters to match the Facebook Event profile picture (to be consistent and recognizable), and put them in areas frequented by parents, like our local Early Years Centre and Arena. Just make sure you ask for permission before doing this.

It took a month to sort and clean clothes and toys. Be prepared to invest a lot of time into doing this if you've held on to as much clothes and toys as I have. And if you do decide to keep everything your kids have ever worn or played with, be organized. At one point I had all the unisex clothes in one bin, but when I found out I was pregnant with Jacob (we didn't find out the gender), I dug them all out and then put them away with the boy clothes that didn't fit him anymore. They should have gone into their own separate bin. And keep outfits together. Even if the pants fit for a longer period of time, put them back with the shirt of the outfit when you put them in storage. I also recommend having a bin of just shoes, hats, socks, etc. where you can just throw those items that don't fit. Fill it with a starting and ending size and label it. I was finding so much of these items mixed in with the clothing and it was more time consuming to sort it all out.

I brought up bins from the basement four to five at a time and literally dumped each one out and started categorizing by size and gender. Baby sizes were sorted into groups by month sizes (0-3 months, 3 months, 3-6 months and so on). I labelled each bin as I went, or used Post-it notes on the floor if I was sorting a variety of sizes. Sizes 1-7 each had their own separate bin. I ended up with one full bin for each of these larger sizes. There was a good mix of half winter and half summer clothing styles.  Socks and shoes were also sorted by size and gender and as were hats and bibs. Dresses, snowsuits and coats were grouped by gender. And if you have a favourite outfit that you just can't give up, keep it. I did keep two to three of my favourites for each kid.

I found clothes mixed in with bins of the wrong size. This was because some clothes fit differently than others. So the size 12 month shirt made by Gymboree fit Jacob an extra 3 months longer than the size 12 month shirt made by Old Navy. The shirt that fit for the longer time period got put away with the next size up. So, just be mindful of the sizes when you put them away. What fits your child at a certain age may not fit another at the same age. It just helps make sorting more efficient if all sizes go together, no matter how they actually fit.

So how do you price everything? Take a look through a local second hand or gently used clothing store. Generally, thrift stores ask a little less than a gently used store. The "big name" stores seem to have the highest prices, but you are paying for better quality there. I had 68L Rubbermaid totes priced by how full they were; half-full was $25, below the rim was $30, and if it was crammed full it was $40. This was an excellent deal for clothes in my opinion. Any of the larger items like my change table and Exersaucer, I compared to the second hand store and also looked at the condition, quality and how current the style of the item was. Be careful when selling items like car seats or baby walkers; these items follow strict safety standards. Do your research and make sure there are no recalls or legal ramifications to selling these things. It's illegal in Canada to sell a baby walker, even at a garage sale. Don't forget to check the expiry date on car seats.

If you decide to get rid of your kids' clothes and toys one day, I wish you only success if you decide to do it the way I did. I do not recommend it though. Sell or donate as you go if you can. Eventually I did donate quite a few items that didn't sell at the big sale to my local thrift store because there just wasn't any interest. Give yourself a timeline if there is something that isn't showing interest in selling. I started with a month and then went down to two weeks (I was still trying to sell items individually on the buy/sell groups after the sale.) I also filled my car one day of bins of clothes that didn't sell and took them to a gently used chain store - they buy clothes from you at a certain percentage of what they would sell them for. And they were extremely picky about what they took and I ended up filling my car full and bringing most of it home (all this after shopping at Costco first - BIG MISTAKE!) I'm not trying to make these businesses sound bad, because if you are shopping there for your own kids, the quality of clothing is excellent. It's just frustrating as a seller to be able to "get rid" of everything you brought in.

It can be one overwhelming endeavor to do what I did. Thank goodness I like to organize and sort and tidy things. Now my basement is in order the way it should be.