The Monkeys Will Eat You

So, I promised to share stories that would make you feel like you're not alone in your parenting journeys and mishaps.   As it says in the "About Me" section, I am the proud parent of two young children...let's call them Haylee and Daniel.  Currently Haylee is 5 and Daniel just turned 1, they keep my life very interesting.  This is just one of many adventures that we've had together, I like to call it "The Monkeys Will Eat You".  

It was a beautiful day at the zoo.  Even better, it was Mother’s Day!  What a perfect day to spend time with my entire family at the zoo.  My husband Jeff, and our children Haylee and Daniel had made the drive out to the Brookfield Zoo to meet my mother, sister, brother-in-law, and nephew.  

We spent the day hiking around the zoo, visiting different exhibits, and after about every other one we finished, I was asked “can we go to the playground now?” by my beautiful daughter.  Why, oh why, do they have to put playgrounds in the middle of the zoo?  My reply was always “we are here to see the animals, not the slide...you have one of those at home!”  On we went to the next exhibit.

After fighting our way through exhibits of lions, and tigers, and bears (oh my) we arrived at the bison.  We trekked through the exhibit amongst complaints of, “I can’t walk any more, I’m hungry, my feet are tired,” and my personal favorite, “can we go to the playground now.”  At the end of the exhibit we were funneled through the crowded gift store that then brought “can I have this, I have always wanted one of these.”  After elbowing my way through and stealthily evading requests for various zoo toys we made our way out.

Just outside the exit were the baboons.  What a site to behold.  Such majestic creatures, their colorful rear ends ablaze in the sunlight.  As Haylee marveled at their antics she tried to get a closer look by standing on the fence.  As a responsible parent, I promptly removed her from the fence and firmly told her not to do it again.  After several more cycles of removing her from the fence and lecturing her I became even more stern.

At this point my sister decided to join us in looking at the baboons.  As I was chatting with my sister I looked over to see Haylee climbing the fence once again.  I stood silently for a few moments and took three deep breaths before approaching Haylee.  

As I came up to her and took her from the fence I could tell that she knew she was in trouble.  I gently put my arm around her and had her look at the baboons with me.  After a few minutes I pointed to the animals and said “see those monkeys over there?  They may look nice, but they’re not.  They’ll eat you!  If you fall over this fence they’ll get ya!”  

My sister stared at me in disbelief as she asked “Did you just tell her the monkeys would eat her?”  I responded “Yeah, I know, they probably wouldn’t eat her, they'd probably just maim her...”  She responded with a still shocked “I can’t believe you said that to her!”

Ok, so maybe not the best way to stop my four year old from climbing the fences at the zoo, but it was effective.  She didn’t climb any more fences that day, and she hasn’t asked me if we could have a monkey since.  For those of you who are feeling bad for Haylee, don’t.  After observing a few more animals in their “natural” habitats, grandma talked me into letting her play at the playground, and that was followed by the traditional Dip n Dots.

I hope this at least made you crack a little smile.

Have a great weekend!

A Few of My Favorite Homemade Cleaners

My husband has been threatening to buy me a cauldron ever since I got hooked on Pinterest and started making a lot of my own cleaners.  So far I've made liquid laundry detergent, a fabulous antibacterial all-purpose cleaner, "no-poo" (not so sure I like the name) shampoo and conditioner, an unconventional facial cleanser, and tonight's triumph was body wash.

 I've started making these things not only to save a few bucks, but in most cases also to keep away from a lot of the chemicals in conventional products.  Not only can I control what goes into these cleaners, but I can also use whatever scent I want!  So yes, I guess I do look like I'm playing with potions while I'm leaning over my bubbling kettle with bottles of essential oils and such, but at least I'm having fun.

Tonight I will give you the recipes for the Antibacterial Surface Cleaner and Liquid Laundry Detergent.  I will follow up later with the hair products, facial cleanser and body wash once I have thoroughly tested them (and have forced my husband to test them as well).

The first product that I tried was the antibacterial all-purpose cleaner.  I love it!  I will never go back to a store bought cleaner after using this.  It's not only quick and easy to make, but it cleans just about everything effortlessly.  It even did an amazing job cleaning the dreaded toddler prints off of the stainless steel appliances!  In this recipe it's the vinegar, rubbing alcohol, and essential oils that give this cleaner it's antibacterial properties.

I found this post through a Pinterest search that led me to olymomma.com, and she found the original recipe on Elizabethobsesses.blogspot.com.  

This is the recipe along with the changes that I made:

Antibacterial Lavender Surface Cleaner

2 Cups of warm water

2 teaspoons of Dr. Bronner's lavender liquid castile soap (I used unscented)

1 teaspoon vinegar

2 teaspoons rubbing alcohol

8-10 drops of lavender essential oil - optional (I used grapefruit essential oil in one of my cleaners, and equal parts of eucalyptus and mint essential oils in another, 10 drops each)

Mix well and add it to a spray bottle and your good to go!

Next, I tried my hand at laundry soap and was pleasantly surprised.  This brew actually got my whites whiter!  I'm guessing it was the Borax, but whatever it is, I'm happy!  It is a little more labor intensive than the surface cleaner because you have to grate the soap, but it's worth it.  It makes about 2 gallons, so I've been able to share with a few friends and I've still got a ton!  I have an HE washing machine and this works perfectly in it as it is low sudsing.  I store mine in an old detergent bottle and use the measurements on the cap.

Once again, this was a great Pinterest find on thefrugalgirls.com They also have a bunch of other DIY cleaner ideas and a powdered laundry detergent alternative to this recipe listed.  Definitely worth a visit!

The recipe that they use is as follows.  I have also listed any substitutions that I have made.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

1/2 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (not the same as baking soda)

1/2 cup of Borax

1/3 Bar of Fel's-Naptha Soap (you also can use an entire bar of Ivory soap, or I used a 1/2 bar of Zote soap)

Bucket (2 gallons or lager with lid, I used a washed out cat litter bucket)

Grate the soap into a large pot or saucepan and add 6 cups of water.  Heat over medium-high heat until the soap dissolves and melts into the water.

Add the washing soda and Borax, stir until dissolved.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket, then add the soap mixture.  Stir well. 

Next add 1 gallon + 6 cups of additional water and stir well.  Put the lid on the bucket.

Let it sit overnight to gel and thicken.  Mine got very thick, but when I stirred it up it became a laundry soap consistency.  You will have to stir or shake this up before every use because it will continue to go back to it's thick state as it sits.  That's it, you are ready to wash some clothes!

I hope that you'll enjoy these cleaners as much a my friends and I have!  Let me know if you try them out, I'm curious to hear your experiences with DIY cleaners.

I'm off to knit!  Have a great week!

A Whole New World

Let me start by saying that I believe every day is an adventure.  Oh, the adventures I've had!  Turkeys of shame, child eating monkeys, and a child that will eat ABSOLUTELY everything, oh my!  Don't worry, we'll get to these in good time.

Today's adventure is creating this blog.  After much procrastination, I've finally done it...I've created a blog!  My little space in the universe to share my trials and any tips and tricks that I have learned along the way to make life easier.  As an added bonus there will also be funny stories that you can point to and say "phew...at least I'm not _________." You fill in the blank.  That crazy, that bad of a mom, the only one...etc.  

I hope that you'll enjoy reading about my journey as much as I enjoy being on it!