Quick Takes #26: Helpful Tips

Awhile back I lamented the time I spent trying to scrape sand off of my baby’s bottoms with wipes during trips to the beach. It was also a major problem when my kids played in a sandbox. The only solution that truly got all the sand off seemed to be complete submersion in water, until a commenter on my blog told me to try baby powder. It is amazing, damp little bodies can be covered in sand, diapers can be full of it, and all I have to do sprinkle on the powder (which my kids love!) and the sand that was stubbornly sticking to them before easily brushes away. Now we no longer have children complaining of sand irritation in the backseat on the way home from the beach.

After much trial and error, I have figured out how to chop onions without crying. I have always had a horrible reaction to chopping onions. My eyes would water, itch, and burn no matter how long I tried to hold my breath, what glasses I wore, or how many times I rinsed everything in cold water, or how many candles I burned. For awhile I settled for cutting them up as quickly as possible, and then taking like 15 minutes to recover afterwards. But we love eating onions, and the whole crying thing was getting old. Then one day I had a sinus cold. A really bad one. The kind of cold where your entire nose is so completely plugged that you cannot take in a breath through it not matter how hard you try. And when I chopped onions, I didn’t cry! No itching, no burning, no more tears. You’d be surprised how hard it is to keep from breathing in or out of your nose when you don’t have a sinus cold. You kind of have to seal it off in the back of your throat, and it takes some practice. But it works!

My children have inherited sensitive skin from both myself and my husband, and it was very difficult to find a diaper cream that didn’t irritate their skin further. Whenever my children got a rash, the creams I tried either did nothing at all to help relieve pain or irritation, or (in the case of the zinc oxide creams) they caused considerably more pain. Even if I found one that didn’t bother them too much, it tended to wear off very quickly and needed to be re-applied. And that was a real pain in the middle of the night or on a road trip. Then I remembered how impossible it is to get Lanolin Nipple cream off, even soap and water doesn’t do a good job. You have to use really hot water, or just wait for your body to absorb it. But it does a great job of protecting your skin! Now if my kids ever get a little bit raw, I use lanolin on their bottoms like I would use a diaper cream, and they are healed in like a day.

I’m the kind of person that forgets about the stains in my laundry. I have the bottle of shout, I just don’t remember which articles of clothing needs it. Or by the time I remember, it’s been sitting there for 2 weeks and no amount scrubbing is going to get it out. So this is what works for me. In the evening I load the washer with the usual detergent, cold water and clothing, let it swish for a minute, and then I open the top and let it sit there all night, soaking. In the morning I knock the lid down and let the wash cycle run as usual. That’s it. I have been shocked but the stains that have disappeared just from soaking overnight! This method has removed all manner of food and grease stains from children’s clothing. It even got out a stain on my tan pants that I had been unable to remove after months of trying. And it’s something I actually remember to do. Success!

This next one is gross, but I figure if we’ve had this problem, other people have too. So I’m going to share it, TMI and all. For some strange reason we have had a few planters warts at our house. First I had one on my hand, then Hubby got one on his thumb, and Ms Drama now has a large one on her finger. The reviews I read for the “freeze it away” stuff weren’t too encouraging, and the warts were driving me crazy. So, I did some research, and on a strange hippie-ish website, I found a solution to try. And to my shock it worked! You soak a small piece of cotton ball in Apple Cider Vinegar and put it directly on the wart, then you secure it in place with medical tape or a band aid, and replace the cotton with a freshly soaked one every day. That’s it. It takes a few days, first the wart swells up and gets all white and puffy, after a few days it turns black, and then it falls off! You may have a little dent in the skin where it was, but that goes away in a few more days. Best of all, the wart hasn’t come back!

This is a silly tip, but it has been helpful in handling my obsession. Dirty bathrooms are a pet peeve of mine. I think something about hugging the toilet throughout the first half of all my pregnancies has made me overly attentive to how clean it is. Cleaning it when my kids are around is usually not the greatest option, since they always want to “help” and that is just gross. And yet, locking them outside in the hall while I clean has backfired before., and by the time they are in bed I’m too lazy tired to clean much. But in the cumulative hours spent sitting next to the tub keeping them safe during bath time, I struck on the idea to clean while they are trapped. So now, while my kids soak in the bath, I give the toilet a quick scrub down. It works for me!

This last one is a collection of the toddler bedtime routines that have helped our babies settle down at night. I’ve always liked the idea of reading at bedtime, but unfortunately, I sometimes forget to get that started until way to close to bedtime, plus my kids usually barter for an insane amount of books and then fight over which one I must read first, and while I can handle that in the afternoon, I can’t handle it right before bed, so reading hasn’t worked for us. Instead, I’ve looked for easy quick routines I can manage to get done even when the baby is trying to nurse through my shirt and I need to hurry.

1. We always have a snack. Half a slice of bread and butter is the usual around here. You never know if dinner was enough, and there is nothing more annoying than a kid waking up hungry in the middle of the night.

2. We talk about what we did that day. After everyone is washed, brushed, and in pajama’s and tucked into bed. We talk about what we did together. Example: “We had so much fun today! We went to the park and played on the swing, we had Popsicles, and we ate spaghetti for dinner. We read books and played with our dolly’s and did the dishes. And we had a snack, we brushed your teeth, we went potty, we got our pj’s on, and now you are in your bed with your blankie and your bear and it’s time to go to bed!” I’ve gotten this down to a science, so it’s a pretty quick part of the routine.

3. We pray. After the usual hugs and kisses, either my hubby or I will pray for each baby. My hubby can be more elaborate with his 30 second prayers, but if he is not home, I usually pray “Dear God, please give Ms Action a good night’s sleep and help her to wake up happy in the morning, Amen.”

4. We have music. Right before I leave the room and close the door, I wind up the music box on the closet shelf, it gives them something to distract them from any last minute attempts to keep me in the room and if I lucky, they are tired enough to fall asleep before the music runs out. Either way, it’s a pretty indispensable part of the bedtime routine over here.