The last 5 years have been great as far as changing diapers, spending money on diapers and cleaning up dirty diapers! That is due to my youngest child finally moving to regular underwear! Back then, one of the most popular potty training books my friends and I used was Toilet Training In Less Than A Day by Nathan Azrin.

Many of my friends have had great success with this book.

I also picked up a few other ideas along the way.

Below are my favorite tips for potty training a toddler.

Potty training should start when your child is truly ready in all three areas: physical, mental and social. Your child must have the physical ability to perform the steps involved. They should understand how the body works and know the clues. Also, they should have the desire to learn.

Once you have a potty chair, and you are sure your child understands moving from diapers into underwear, ask them to bring you their favorite “lovey” or stuffed animal. Have them teach their “baby” first. This assures that they understand the process and are ready to move forward. If they have a hard time with this, you may want to put it off, but if they are willing to try, go ahead with the thought of introducing it to them.

The basics of the one day training was to set aside one full day that you can teach your child without interruptions. I explained that they were showing signs of being ready and were old enough to move into regular (big girl/boy) underwear. I gave my daughter some lightly salted popcorn and her first coke and explained that these would help us with our potty training for ONE day! Some smart kids may decide to prolong it for a few more days just to get these treats! I had her sit on the potty for 10 minutes and kept her entertained with books, cards, coloring etc. After 10 minutes she could eat some popcorn,drink her soda and play for about 10 minutes. We kept her out of diapers, pull-ups or underwear during this time, yes that means bottom half is out in the open. Then we started over again, sit on the potty for 10 minutes and then we increased the time off the potty about 5 to 10 minutes each time. So you would start off with 10 minutes on, 10 minutes off, 10 minutes on, 15 minutes off, 10 minutes on, 20 minutes off, etc. Continuing to fill them up with her snack which would make them thirsty, the more they drank the more opportunities you gave them to practice. You can use any snack or drink, but these were my preference for this special day!

Once you have introduced potty training, buy several pairs of underwear with your child’s favorite character. Wrap them up in some fun paper or present them in a special way. Let your child know that they have had some success potty training and they are now ready for underwear with their favorite character on them. Then after they model them and put them on and you clap and make a big deal about it, inform them that Cinderella (replace with favorite character name) doesn’t like to get wet or dirty. So, as soon as you need to go to the bathroom, don’t forget, run quickly to keep them dry and clean. A few of my friends tried this when they knew their kids were ready, understood and were still too busy playing to take care of business. If they do have an accident, you could try this note (or email)…

Dear (child’s name),

I am so proud of you for learning how to use the potty! I am also glad you got some underwear with my picture on it. Try to remember to tell your parents as soon as you feel the urge and then go to the restroom. Please remember that I don’t like to get wet or dirty and I love it when I stay dry!

We all have accidents sometimes and if you do, please tell your parents right away! They won’t be mad and then they can wash them quickly, clean me up and you can wear them again.

I am proud of you!

(sign characters name)

Remember each child develops differently. An age range could be anywhere from 18 months to 3 years. By 4, most kids are completely independent.

If you start and realize your child is not ready, try again in a few months.

You can’t make your child complete potty training until they are ready. You can start the training but they decide when it ends. This is not a battle and if it starts to head in that direction, put it off.

Toilet training usually cannot be accomplished in one day. You can accomplish a lot and get the basics down but expect accidents to happen and be prepared in case they do.

Have an extra set of clothing, a plastic bag to put wet clothes in and some wet wipes available nearby when you are out. Do not yell, punish or criticize when they have an accident.

Use positive reinforcement. Point out how proud you are when they make it to the bathroom.

Bedwetting is normal. For both kids the nighttime took much longer. We used night pull ups at bedtime and would try a few nights in a row every couple of months.

Nighttime dryness is achieved only when a child’s body is developed. You can’t “teach” this because it is not a skill. I know many boys that continued to wear night pull ups until the age of 7 and 8. I asked our pediatrician about this and they recommended to bring it up to the doctor to rule out any problems but that some kids may not develop this ability until later.

Please let us know if you have used any of these tips, have a book recommendation or other ideas to pass along!

Cammie Moise is the founder and editor of Moms Material.  She is a Texan mom who writes about all the fun and educational things she has come across in her 10 years of mommyhood.

Last night I posted this picture:

And I asked if anyone could guess what Reese & I were up to! My one commenter guessed it right…that the dogs had encountered a skunk and fully reeked.

We were sitting in the living room & caught a very strong smell of skunk, which I thought had just come from the woods behind our house. Skunk smells are nothing new around here…they’re always squashed on the roads. I didn’t give it much thought. The back door was open & the dogs were going in & out. Again, I didn’t give it much thought.

I noticed the strong skunk smell again when Zoe came back in the house. Being the ding dong that I am, I called her over to me, grabbed her body and stuck my face into her neck to smell.

HOLY CRAP! Either she was rolling in burning rubber, or a skunk got her with a direct shot. And now my face smells like skunk. And I can taste the smell in my mouth. AHHHH!

Zoe gets put outside, I put myself in the shower and scrub my face with every abrasive, soapy product I can find on the shelves in my bathroom. The smell is not coming off. I want to vomit. This just plain sucks.

While I’m showering, & Reese is watching me saying “I’m glad I didn’t get sprayed by a skunk Mommy!”, I’m wondering if the dogs are trying to escape this family. Earlier in the day, they both got out into the front and bolted. Reese & I went down the street to try and find them, Jeff followed in the golf cart shortly after, & after about 5 minutes we found them. But they were wayyyyy in the back of a house down the street, & if it wasn’t for Jeff’s good eyes, we would have never found them. They don’t wear collars (I know, shame on me) and I don’t remember if I ever microchipped them or not.

Anyway–chasing two dogs in one afternoon is enough for me. Then add a skunk sprayed dog? Are they trying to tell me something.

I also had another thought while showering…I didn’t think to check Buddy to see if he got sprayed too. In the past, when the dogs have cornered a turtle in the shrubs or see another dog on the other side of the fence, they bark like mad & won’t stop until the perpetrator is gone. With the back door open, I never heard any barking so I thought perhaps Buddy had been spared.

I could only be so lucky. He’s a Jack Russell, and his hunting genes led the way. He smelled worse than Zoe. I could hardly be near him.

After my shower, I went onto the internet to look up skunk/dog remedies. I knew about the tomato juice theory, but 1) I didn’t have any tomato juice, 2) it was 9:30pm and I didn’t want to run out to get anything, & 3) tomato juice isn’t supposed to work very well anyway.

Google provided me with a host of options. There’s a peroxide/baking soda/dish soap mixture, but I didn’t have any peroxide. I found a vinegar/dish soap recipe. Many people suggested using a douche. Ewww.

I did have on hand a 2 gallon jug of apple cider vinegar, lots of dish soap, & 1 can tomato paste and 2 cans tomato sauce. I decided I’d tackle Zoe first with my homemade remedy.

I wrapped her in a towel, held her as far away from my body as possible because she was sooooo smelly. I soaked Zoe in a 50/50 mixture of apple cider vinegar and water. Next, I loaded her down with Dawn dish soap and scrubbed away. Skunk spray is oil based, & I figured if dish soap helped the animals stuck in an oil slick, then perhaps it would remove skunk oil too. I skipped her muzzle up to this point. Last, I applied a thick coat of tomato paste to her body & coated her muzzle in tomato paste.

The face I’m making is not for the camera. The combination of skunk/tomato/dish soap/vinegar made me feel like I was going to vomit at any moment.

Yum! Tomato paste!
I let that sit for about 5 minutes. I rinsed her well. Then repeated the apple cider vinegar mixture, repeated Dawn, & then used a can of tomato sauce to scrub with. Again, I applied the tomato sauce generously to her muzzle.

I let that sit as long as possible…probably about 5 minutes again. I rinsed her well, stuck her back outside & hoped for the best.

Next it was Buddy’s turn. And he was worse off than Zoe. I read that skunk spray can blind a dog for up to 2 days, & it makes their nose and mouth burn. I can only imagine how horrible it must have been for the dogs, because I couldn’t stand to smell them for one second. These poor babies were covered in it for an hour!

Can you tell Buddy isn’t very happy?

They had to sleep in the laundry room last night because I wasn’t sure if my remedy would do anything or not. This morning, I was proud to find that their bodies smelled more tomato-y than anything else. Their muzzles still smell slightly skunky, but certainly not any thing close to what they smelled like last night.

I think part of my success came from the fact that they must have just been sprayed when we found them. The oil was fresh & hadn’t dried yet.

It still puzzles me though that they didn’t bark. They bark at everything. They were either caught off guard (because they didn’t make a sound) or were busy sniffing before they figured it was another animal (because they were both sprayed heavily in the face).

Ugh. Yea for home remedies!!

I have admitted repeatedly (hoping confession is good for the soul) that I am not the world’s best cook.

Or even the world’s second best cook.

Really, the world screams “uncle” when I cook.

Aware of my one fault, I have attempted to make up for it in other ways so my family isn’t completely malnourished.

I watch what the boys have for snacks.

I pack healthy lunches.

I do what I can.

The boys like all those little packets of drink mix that you add to water bottles. As a treat once in awhile we choose a flavor…peach tea, pink lemonade, grape, etc. and shake, shake, shake for fun.

I was happy to find pink lemonade with added protein made by Special K that the boys drink with gusto. A little extra protein mid-morning seems to help dispositions.

I then found a drink with a full serving of vegetables! It is called “Veggies To Go”!

Be still my malnourished heart. What could be better than that? The boys are always a little light on the vegetables.

So we added it to the water.

We stirred.

And stirred.

And stirred.

It tastes as bad as it looks.

Using a goldfish glass might have been a little pond-water foreshadowing…

Last weekend, I took a shower.

Not that this is in and of itself stunning news.  I take a lot of showers.  But this wasn’t just a shower: it was a Shower.  Specifically, it was a shower at a hotel, with no kids, no time limit, and no interruptions.

It was heaven.

Now the physical aspects of the shower stall left a little to be desired.  The bathroom was built in the 1920s, when apparently women were a lot shorter than I am, so I had to hunch over and catch the trickling water in order to wash my hair.  Plus it was small, cramped, and there wasn’t anywhere to hang my razor.

However.  The emotional component of the shower– sorry, Shower– was out of this world.

Before I had the Maiden, I did not properly appreciate the joys of private bathing, private dressing, private showering, and private usage of the potty.  I continued in blissful ignorance until the Maiden became mobile.

That’s when it began to unravel.  I spent my showers with one eye on what the Maiden was pulling out of the vanity drawer, always ready to jump out, dripping all over the floor, to rescue the toothpaste from becoming the Maiden’s second breakfast.

I complained then, but still, I didn’t know how good I had it.  It wasn’t until the Maiden began talking that my downward descent into shower time madness started in earnest.

I don’t know about you, but I prefer to bathe in silence.  The gushing of water from the shower head and the low-pitched hum of the water heater provide just enough background noise to suit me, thank you very much.

The Maiden, however, has always been one to disagree.  As soon as she started speaking in sentences, my shower sessions became “Oh, awesome, Mommy is trapped in this little box and can’t escape! I can now hold her prisoner with nonstop spiels, soliloquies, and other forms of endless entertainment!” sessions.  I can’t run.  The door is glass, so I can’t hide.  If I attempt to plug my ears, my hair won’t get washed.

Maidenified water torture goes on for the first few minutes.  Then as, my mumbling, half-hearted comments signal to the Maiden that my attention is elsewhere, she starts addressing me directly.  Questions.  Polite propositions.  Demands.  I spend the next few minutes fielding requests of “Can I have some candy?” (No), “Can I come in and shower too?” (No), “Mother dear, may I please I shave Hello Kitty’s legs with your razor?” (No!  Are you insane?!?).

Since the Maiden became interested in letters a few years ago, we’ve added something new to the showering routine.  She now prefers me to communicate via the written word.  On the shower door.  They say the family home is the child’s first classroom.  But does my shower door really have to be my child’s first blackboard?

Just you try attempting to wash your hair while writing “The dog sat on the bug.  Splat!  The bug is flat!” in mirror writing on the inside of your shower door, while being careful that you don’t accidentally rub out the letters with your elbow, and praying that your kid will read the sentence fast before it fades from the door and you have to write a third time it in letters that start bleeding water droplets the second you pen them with your index finger.

Finally, I can no longer conjure up intelligible sentences that are simple enough for the Maiden to read, and appropriate enough for a 3 1/2 -year-old to be saying.  I give up, get out of the shower, mutter dreadful things about people who use “shower” and “relaxing” in the same sentence, and get dressed (all with an audience, of course, who doesn’t hesitate to provide commentary where appropriate.  Or, where inappropriate, as it generally is.).  Then I go on to the rest of my day.

Last weekend’s Shower was uneventful.  I got in.  I showered.  I got out.  It was boring.

But it was wonderful.

The Picture below is of me shortly after arriving at the hospital… in labor. That was 17 months ago. Time flies, and at this very moment the baby girl that was in my tummy in this picture, is now running back and forth across the living room babbling to herself on a play phone! I think she has a bad connection, because she keeps yelling “hi!… hi?…hi!!?!” into the receiver

The day this picture was taken was the best day of my life, because it brought me my sweet smelling, pink bundle of love. But there is something else about that day that leaves me with a pit in my stomach.

My husband and I had hired a birth doula to help me through my labor. I lost my mom when I was 16, and when I married my husband I moved to Texas far away from all my relatives and friends. My desire for a doula was for all usual reasons, but also because I knew in that pivotal moment of my life – I would be missing an older female to guide me. It was important to me that I have a “mother figure” with me when I got scared, or when the pain became too much for me. But, the doula that we hired to be there, took our money…and never came.

You may wonder if we did our research? We did. We interviewed several different doulas, we took notes, we made sure they were in good standing with DONA the most notable doula association, an agency that oversees doulas and certifies them, we even picked a doula that had been voted the best in our area by readers of local magazine. And we asked questions…lot’s of them. In the end they all seemed great, but I felt most drawn to the older woman, I was looking for a stand in for my own mom after all. The doula was on her way to becoming a midwife, and was a trainer to new doulas in our area. She seemed like a great choice, she seemed motherly. We paid her, and she agreed to keep the two weeks surrounding our due date free.

When I went into labor we called her right away. She advised us to go get something to eat, and to rest up. Productive labor she said, was still  far away. My water broke a short while later in the cosmetic aisle in Walgreens … so we knew our baby was on it’s way! We called the doula again, she suggested we continue stay at home as long as we could. But she kept giving us reasons she shouldn’t come to our house, help me with the labor. We were both excited and scared, and went along with what she said. We stayed home despite the fact that I had Meconium in my amniotic fluid. She advised us to not call our doctor, since he would likely say to come to the hospital, but she advised us that wasn’t necessary. But as the evening got later my husband and I both felt uncomfortable following that advice, and went to the hospital anyway. She explained that she didn’t need to meet us there yet, because “we would have so much paper work” to fill out  first. And when we called her after I was given a room – she felt it would be better for her to “nap, and then wake up later and have lot’s of coffee.” She said she would call us in a little while, and let us know she was on the way. I was in full labor, and being given Pitocin to increase the strength of my contractions all night. She never called. And she never came. I was in labor through the night, and in the morning it was finally decided I needed a C-section ASAP. My husband called the doula, and told her she had missed my labor.

After getting home from the hospital days later, my husband called the doula to see what happened. She had no explanation for why she never showed up, but did offer him a refund of the money she had taken from us. Months went by…no money. We e-mailed her, and could see she opened our e-mail, but she would not reply. Michael tried, I tried, at first saying perhaps she had misplaced our address, and later asking her why she was not responding. Eventually she e-mailed me, and acted like she didn’t know why we were asking for a refund! It was infuriating. We had a new baby at home and no time for her games. But eventually we saw we had been lied to a second time. She had no intention of following through. So we contacted DONA. I submitted a formal complaint, waited for them to get in touch with her, get her side, and then interview us both on the phone. After months of waiting, I received paper work from DONA letting me know they had found her at fault. And recommending she refund our money, and write us a letter of apology, along with other requirements. She never did. And when I let DONA know she hadn’t followed through on any of those requirements, they told me they were just “suggestions” and they could not make her do them, and that they would not be revoking her “good standing” with DONA! So if another person researches her, just like we did – they will never know her history. It remains hidden, and she can continue to do this.

My husband is a wise man, and he has often suggested that we try to forgive and forget what happened. That she was wrong, but we only poison ourselves by continuing to feel hurt by it. I understand his point of view. But I often wonder if we should continue to pursue the matter for the sake of other expectant parents who may hire this woman, and never know her history. I also wonder if letting her win, will only serve to show her that being a rotten person pays. That it’s ok for her to promise to be there for someone in a pivotal life moment, and take their money…but not respect that agreement enough to follow through. Or at the very least, to apologize if something came up, and refund their money. Not to mention her advice to stay at home when she knew we had Meconium in the amniotic fluid. That could have caused our daughter to have long term health problems had it gotten in her lungs. Which thank God it did not.

Readers, this is the abbreviated story. There are plenty of other details that eat away at me. And I feel like I need to make a decision about this – should I contact small claims court? Write the Attorney general? Or do I just walk away? I’d like to have some closure on the whole thing, but I don’t know if I’ll get it by being the “bigger person” or by standing up for myself.



Many years ago, before my 2nd born even HAD teeth, I bought 2 Tooth Fairy Kits. One pink set, one blue. They came with a little packet of fairy dust, a velveteen drawstring bag and a stack of notes from the tooth fairy printed on fairy stationary.

Both my kids, the oldest especially, have been “late bloomers” in the tooth loss department. He was the only kid in the 2nd grade with all his baby teeth.

He’s now in middle school and STILL has a lot of teeth left to lose. I don’t know how many. Does anyone out there know how many teeth kids lose? Do I lose Good Mommy Points for not knowing this?

In the Tooth Fairy Kit, every note is a bit different. They all say how proud the Fairy is for their bravery in the face of tooth loss, how beautiful and well-cared for that particular tooth is, and what the fairy is going to do with the tooth. Some notes allude to the fact that this was an especially hard tooth to lose, or perhaps took a long time. There is always a reminder to continue to practice good dental hygiene.

When the Fairy first started visiting our home, she signed all the notes “Moonbeam.”  Then, one weekend we were camping in Yosemite and my daughter lost a tooth (do I get Good Mommy Points for remembering to pack the Tooth Fairy Kit for vacation?), and so that note was signed “Awahnee.”  Teeth were also lost in Costa Rica, and though I don’t recall which particular Fairy signed the note, foreign currency was left.  When we relocated to Texas, the notes started being signed by “Buck Tooth” and more recently, just plain “Buck.”

Anyway…. my oldest has lost 2 teeth this past month. I think his mouth is getting sick and tired of those baby teeth squatters and is going to start evicting them in rapid order.

I dug out the Tooth Fairy notes from their top-secret hiding place, and there are only two notes left.

Note #1 was left under his pillow with the usual monetary compensation and I liberally sprinkled Fairy Dust all over Aidan. After all, only one visit to go, I might as well not skimp on the Fairy Dust.

Aidan showers every morning before school, so the Fairy Dust shouldn’t be a problem. Except that it sort of gets all over everything, and he’d just die, DIE, D-I-E I tell you, if he had to go to Big Bad Middle School with Fairy Dust twinkling from among his clothing and hair. He complained.  Repeatedly.

So, when the next tooth came out, I kinda rushed the Tooth Fairy ritual. It was the holiday season and I was tired.  No Fairy Dust and I forgot to sign the note “Buck” like usual. I didn’t even look at the note. Besides, I still had to hide the $%&* elf-on-the-shelf.

Aidan stomps down the stairs in the morning and thrusts the note under my nose. “Look at this!” he demands. I take the note and hold it farther from my 45-year old eyes, scanning it quickly just to make sure I didn’t accidentally put the Tooth Fairy Kit Instructions under his pillow or some other gross error.

“How nice! A note from the Tooth Fairy!” I say.

“Read that!” he points to the 2nd paragraph:“This diamond will have a special place in my tiara, the other fairies have chosen me to be Queen of the Fairy Ball” the note says.

“That doesn’t sound like BUCK!” he proclaims.

“Um…. it must not have been? See, son, there’s no signature. Must’ve been a substitute Fairy?”  He just glares at me.  “I think that maybe this is your last visit from the Tooth Fairy anyway, what do you think?”

He fixes me with that oh-so-superior middle-school glare and mumbles ”Whatever.”

Fairies. &%$# Elves. Bunnies. Fat men is red fur-trimmed suits.

Whatever, indeed.

When she’s not chauffeuring over-scheduled children or procrastinating about the housework, Pam can be found scratching her head in her garden, making a giant mess in her kitchen, channeling her inner redneck, or sneaking off for a bubble bath with a fat novel.  Her monotonous adventures are chronicled in painful detail here.

In a poor economy, it seems that the only businesses doing well are those promoting survival in a poor economy.

Everywhere I look, I see the same advice on how to lower your grocery bills: clip coupons, clip coupons, clip coupons.

Here’s a twist: I’ve also got tips on how to save a lot on your grocery bills, but I won’t tell you to clip coupons. In fact, I’m going to recommend that you don’t!

Intrigued? Read on.

Get Ready

The real way to save money at the checkout is to know why you’re buying what you’re buying. This means that planning is essential. If you invest a little time every week, it can mean the difference between plenty of savings and none at all.

• Make a menu. The single best way to make sure you don’t overspend your grocery budget is to create a menu for the week, and use it to build your shopping list. Then stick to it. If a week’s worth of planning seems daunting at first, try three days’ worth instead.

• Check the weekly grocery ads ahead of time (they’re almost always available online if you don’t get a hard copy in your mailbox), and write down the items that you could potentially use. Use these lists to populate your upcoming menu, and from there make your grocery list.

• Go online to find bargains. Websites like My Grocery Deals allow you to “subscribe” to several stores at once. You can run searches by store, category, or item to see who has what on sale this week. It’s especially handy when you’re searching for a specific item.

• Make sure your grocery list is detailed. The fewer trips you need to make, the less temptation you’ll have to make impulse buys.

• Commit to sticking to your list; it will make a difference. Try one shopping trip in which you don’t put a single item in your cart that’s not on your list. At the same time, add up the cost of the items you would otherwise have thrown in. It’s quite an eye-opener; those extras that you don’t need can double your grocery bill.

• Consider using multiple stores. If you have to drive all over the city to take advantage of sales, you’ll use up the savings on gas, but if you’re creative you’ll probably be able to combine errands. For example, if you pass by a grocery store on your way home from your daughter’s ballet class, consider its sale flyer. Are there any savings worth the extra stop?

Get Set

As important as planning is to grocery savings, it’s not enough on its own. When running a marathon, you won’t succeed if you’re not physically and mentally prepared, regardless of how good you look on paper. Grocery shopping is no different.

• Don’t shop on an empty stomach. When you’re hungry, pre-prepared foods and snacks are especially attractive. Unfortunately, they’re also the most expensive (not to mention bad for your waistline!).

• Again, stick to what’s on your grocery list, and realize that it won’t be easy. I frequently toss an impulse item in the cart, then stop and mentally remind myself why I need to return it to its shelf. If you like checking out new things, limit yourself to one impulse buy per trip.

• Arm yourself with a calculator; it will not make you a nerd. Well, actually, it might. But if the price-per-unit comparisons on the shelves are hard to figure out, a calculator will be helpful. And at least you’ll be the nerd with the fatter wallet!

Go!

The aisles of a grocery store are filled with traps to make you spend more than you need. If you think through some of the following pitfalls, you’ll be well on your way to savings.

• Ask yourself, for each item, whether you really and truly need it.

• Remind yourself over and over that your grocery list is set in stone. It’s easy to forget with that delicious fresh bagel scent wafting through the store. Stay strong!

• Put the cellphone down. Distractions make impulse buying a lot easier; paying attention to what you’re doing will save money!

• Shop the perimeter of the store as much as you can. There’s a reason why you have to pass by the crackers, chips, and salsa on your way to the milk or bread aisle; enticing prepared foods are common impulse buys that raise your bill.

• Don’t completely discount prepared foods, though: they might be more cost-effective than fresh foods, particularly when it comes to produce. Although precut cauliflower may cost a dollar more than the equivalent amount of fresh, if the fresh vegetable always rots before you get around to cutting it, it’s not a better deal.

• Beware of clearance. There’s no place more vital to second-guess your impulses than the clearance section. Yes, that bag of Valentine’s candy is 75 per cent off, but that’s still three dollars you don’t need to spend. And while soon-expiring produce and meats are often a steal, they aren’t worth the savings if they’re just going to go bad in the fridge.

• Beware of coupons! Yes, I know. You’ve been told a million times that you simply must clip coupons. It’s what people who save money do, right? Wrong. In principle it can work, but in reality it’s often a money waster.

First, don’t buy something just because you have a coupon for it. (That’s the real reason the manufacturers pass out the coupons—there’s no altruistic motive here!) Only use them for items you frequently use and/or were already planning to purchase. If you don’t normally buy pizza rolls, or if you already have three jugs of dishwashing detergent, then your coupon “savings” will be the opposite.

Toss them, share them with a friend, or join a coupon swap. And use the remaining coupons very, very carefully: at the store, compare per-unit amounts (a calculator helps). Other brands, including store brands, are often cheaper, even when you factor in the coupon.

• Resist the urge to stock up. While sometimes there will be a case lot sale or a fantastic meat reduction, be wary: most of those “stock-up” sales are ploys to get you to buy more than you need or want. Once you start reading the ads, you’ll begin to recognize what goes on sale, and how often. You’ll frequently find that every few weeks, a given item will be on sale in at least one local grocery store, so stocking up isn’t always as necessary as the store wants you to believe.

Finish Line

Cutting down your grocery budget is a work in progress. It will take time; I still occasionally come home with items that I know I shouldn’t have purchased. That’s okay! There’s no magic finish line to cross. Doing your smartest to save your family money is success enough in itself. However small, the boost to your finances is the best reward.

Nicholas just LOVES science experiments! He is always asking me if we can do an experiment of some kind. If I don’t have one for him, he will often do his own “experiment” which often just consists of measuring out and mixing up a weird combination of ingredients and seeing what it looks like.

So today, as part of Swine Break ’09, we did a science experiment and made our own slime. It was fun but while he was making it I also talked about the processes of saturation and chemical bonding to make it educational too! The slime stuck to itself well but didn’t make a mess by sticking to everything it came in contact with which I appreciated. I’ve included the recipe below in case you want to try it out too.

You will need:

Basic white school glue
Borax (found on laundry aisle)
Water
Mixing bowls
Spoon
Food coloring
Measuring cup
Measuring spoons

To make, mix equal parts of glue and water in a bowl. Set aside. Pour one cup of water in a bowl and add about one tablespoon of Borax and mix.

You want the Borax to completely dissolve in the water so that the water is saturated. Ours didn’t completely dissolve so we added a little bit more water until we got it just right. Once the solution is saturated, add two tablespoons of the glue and water mixture and stir quickly. The Borax binds the glue molecules to each other making the whole mixture a thick slime.

Add food coloring and knead into slime until color is thoroughly mixed throughout the slime.

You can make multiple batches of different colors and store them in Ziploc bags to keep them from drying out. Ours didn’t last that long. Nicholas wanting to take the slime outside and play with it.

He checked to see if it would stick to the side of his fort. Nope.

Then he took a stick and said that we were now playing Man vs. Wild again (he loves this game!). He said that the slime was a giant marshmallow that we found in the wild and that we could put it on the stick and cook it over a fire (aka his old turtle sandbox).

Once we were done playing with our slime, it had an entirely new texture to it. It now contained lots of little pieces of dirt, leaves, sticks, grass, etc. so we decided to chunk it in the trash. But what fun we had with it and it was so easy to make!

When Kim and Nicholas aren’t experimenting they are exploring the metroplex with Nicholas’ little sister and Kim is reporting it all in Savor the Days.

It all started in July.  Seriously.  I walked into Hobby Lobby in shorts, a t-shirt and flip-flops, already pitted out from crossing the heat-baked parking lot.  I rejoiced in the momentary blast of icy air that hit me as the store’s doors opened. But then the assault began…Christmas music!  I am not kidding you!  I don’t know when it started, but I can assure you that by July 9^th, the Herald Angels were singing “Hark” in Hobby Lobby.  I turned on my flippy-floppy heels, and walked out of the store.

I’m really no Scrooge.  Ask my friends and they’ll tell you that there are a minimum of 5 trees in my house each year.  I regularly host a cookie exchange and a couple of holiday cocktail parties.  Most years my Christmas shopping is finished by Halloween, and my cards go out the day after Thanksgiving. (OK, truth be told, last year I didn’t get cards out at all, but that’s a first in 21 years of marriage.)

There used to be some sort of “holiday etiquette” that everyone followed.  Nothing was written.  There were no classes to take.  People just did it.  Things began to get a little off-kilter when retail businesses began to set up holiday displays before Thanksgiving.  That worked without repercussion, so the set-up day began creeping backward, first before Halloween, then before Labor Day.  But now, they have pushed the envelope too far in my mind!  I refuse to listen to “Dashing through the Snow” while sweat is running down the middle of my back.

Once the retail stores started pimping Christmas early, other businesses soon followed suit.  The Christmas Lighting guys began hanging folders on our doors in August.  The card stores started pre-selling their custom engraved photo cards in September.  In some areas, Salvation Army began setting up in October.  I can’t take it, so I have stayed away from the stores as much as I can.  Christmas is no longer “special” when it lasts for 6 months.

And herein lies the real problem.  Many of my neighbors and yours too, no doubt, have joined in the pre-pre-pre-Christmas sentiment.  So today, for you my friends, I will step into the role of Miss Manners, as I declare the new Holiday Lighting rules.  You can thank me next year.

1. Christmas lights should be hung with care. If the lights are to represent a straight line (like on a roof) use clips.  If the lights are on a tree or bush, check to make sure that one of the strands doesn’t flash while all the others are solid. If you really feel you must line your sidewalks with lights (honestly, Miss Manners thinks this can be a bit distasteful) use stakes so neighbor kids don’t trip. Please don’t leave extension cords hanging from any of your displays, it truly ruins the effect.
2. Exercise caution when purchasing inflatable scenes from large home improvement stores. Miss Manners realizes that some who choose to be festive do not have time to painstakingly string lights around their home, and that the ease of plugging in colored nylon and watching it come to life is nice.  However, there’s something a bit disturbing about driving through a neighborhood in the daytime and seeing deflated Santas and emaciated Frosty’s lying about in everyone’s yard.  Therefore, I will suggest that no more than one inflatable scene per yard is tasteful and since set up is relatively easy, can you please shove this type of décor in your garage (or behind a bush) at the end of each night, and plug it in freshly each evening?
3. Icicle lights are no longer chic. Enough said.
4. Purchase timers for your display. Lights should go on at dusk, and shut off no later than 11pm each evening.  Imagine living next to the Griswold’s and having to pull all the blinds in the house just to get your kids to sleep at night.
5. Holiday lights should not be turned on prior to Thanksgiving, and they should be turned off no later than one week after New Years Day. This should give everyone ample time to celebrate Hanukah, Christmas, Kwanza and the Epiphany.

My holiday wish for you is that your neighbors will embrace these rules.  Wouldn’t it be lovely?  Regardless, I will continue in my quest to make the holiday season both festive and tasteful.  Next year, we’re going to need to talk about those holiday sweaters.