I once read a story about a mom who let her kids have chocolate chip cookies for Sunday dinner. Twice. After much whaling during church, she told her kids they could have the cookies if they were quiet. Dad however did not think this was the best idea. He decided to take it upon himself to cook Sunday dinner, which included lamb pilaf and lamb with couscous and apricots. It took him hours to make it and in the end the kids looked at it and him in dismay and hardly ate anything. The next Sunday he made chocolate waffles. I suppose the point of the story is it's okay to relax a little and let them eat cake. Or in my case M&M's on their heart- shaped pancakes. Which is what we had for dinner on Valentine's Day.

Pancakes

This morning we had pancakes. Not all that eventful. But to a two year old it can be. Dad made a pancake in the shape of the first letter of the kids' names. The two year old took a bite and promptly wanted the piece put back. It was too special to eat. He would only eat the round ones.

Tried and True

Here is a recipe for homemade

All Purpose Cleaner

It has been used by my grandma (a master cleaner) for a long time and I think it works great.

I have used it to clean counter tops, sinks, mirrors, floors, carpet, windows, walls and lots of other things. It has rubbing alcohol in it so it can be a disinfectant.

1 gallon minus 1 pint water

1 pint rubbing alcohol

1 Tablespoon ammonia (non suds)

1 teaspoon dish soap

You can mix all the ingredients in a gallon water jug then pour some in a spray bottle.

A little side note- based on experience- If you leave the mixture in a plastic jug, the ammonia will corrode the jug after awhile and make a big leaky mess on your shelf. A glass container would probably be better to put it in if you are going to store it.

Happy Cleaning.

Oh to be a Pirate

A conversation between a two year old and five year old:

"I love pirates, I love pirates!"

"You can't be a pirate because you have to go to school and work."

"Oh." (a very solemn, thoughtful Oh).

I have no idea where the love of pirates came from.

Then again, I have no idea where a lot of two year old thoughts come from.

This comes from an eight year old who LOVES (triple underlined) to read. The conversation went something like this:

"I wish you could see when your eyes were closed."

"Why."

"Because then you could read while you are asleep."

After some thought

"But then you might stay up until midnight and be really tired."

Wouldn't it be nice to see with your eyes closed. Think of all the things you could do while sleeping.

Bad Tooth Fairy

I admit it. I make a really bad tooth fairy. On multiple occasions I have forgotten that someone's tooth has fallen out earlier in the day, laid my head on my pillow and fallen asleep without putting the much anticipated, hard-earned money under said person's pillow. Then in the morning the person is sadly sitting on their bed, head hanging, with the tooth in their hand...and no tooth fairy money. The last episode ended in a conversation that went something like this: "I know you're the tooth fairy mom. Maybe you were really busy. Maybe the tooth fairy will come while I am at school." Well in the end the tooth fairy remembered late the next night.

Who came up with the idea of a fairy flying around putting money under your pillow in exchange for a tooth anyway? That person should be in charge of remembering every time one of your kids' teeth fall out.

In some part of Africa the tradition for a first lost tooth is to give the person a chicken to take care of. Think of how useful a chicken would be.

???

A five year old question: Why do octopuses eat cake anyway?