Actually, I'm more like Donna Reed's less famous, lazier little sister. We do have green Jell-O and instant mashed potatoes, but it tastes pretty gross; when I do vacuum, I'm usually wearing pajamas; and we only use dryer lint if I forget to buy TP, which is sadly frequently.* BUT, I do have some nifty products I have discovered by being the mommy of a small child. These things have made my life easier and slightly less embarrassing because at least I can say I am clever by discovering them.
1.) Chucks, also known as underpads. I love these things. They're normally used in hospitals or nursing homes to keep beds/sheets clean in case of accidents or oozy wounds. I use them as disposable changing pads. They're huge (like 2 feet by 3 feet) so little cutie never has to touch one of those nasty changing tables at Wal-Mart. Plus, if the changing table at Wal-Mart is broken, which it always is, you can just use the floor! Plus plus if cutie decides to go potty mid-diaper change, you can just throw the thing away. Plus plus plus they have a plastic backing so any mess doesn't soak through to whatever is underneath (ie: grandma's bed). Plus plus plus plus they're like $5 for 20 of them and you can get them at Wal-Mart or Target.
2.) Bag Balm. In ancient days of yore when people got their milk from the family cow instead of the grocery store, the poor cows used to get chapped udders sometimes from all that milking (ouch!) Bag Balm was invented to be used like cow chapstick to help Bossy feel better. But it's modern times, and I use it as diaper rash cream. It comes in pints or in little travel size tins and it sticks to sore red bums better than regular diaper cream. I switched when baby Katherine had a diaper rash for over a week that was so icky, it was actually oozing. Some lady at the check-out heard me lamenting to the cashier about Katherine's persistent rash and told me about it. Two days later, the diaper rash from H-E- double toothpicks was gone and Katherine had a nice, happy heinie again. This lovely product can be bought at pharmacies like Rite Aid or probably Wal-Mart/Target, but you gotta ask the pharmacist. For some weird reason, they keep it behind the counter.
3.) Zout. This is the most amazing stain remover I have ever used. It gets pretty much everything out. It has only failed me once, when Casey got dry erase marker on his shirt (your guess is as good as mine how he managed that one, seeing as how the marker was on his back). It gets yucky, orange baby poop out perfectly, although it does need a couple of washings sometimes. I have even used it to get old stains out, you know the ones that you don't notice until your shirt has gone through the dryer. I have also successfully used this to clean cat poop stains out of my carpet. I have only ever found this stuff at Target, but it's not expensive, so good news!
So, I may not be Donna Reed or Martha Stewart or even Mrs. Jones down the street who makes the best snickerdoodles and has a gorgeous lawn, but I do have a few tricks up my sleeve and I can live with that.
* I'm actually kidding about all this, except the vacuuming thing.
Ha ha. I have the first 2 products from you!! I've never heard of using dryer lint for toilet paper- that's pretty sad, Kirsten.
ReplyDelete:-P I haven't tried Zout. Here's another great product: Resolve Deep Clean Powder for carpets. We have nasty carpet in our townhouse. The complex uses cheapy wet cleaning, which takes forever to dry and doesn't get out the oils. So, when the spots show up, I sprinkle this stuff on, scrub it in with a brush, then vacuum it up 20 minutes later. Works great!
What's this about little sisters?!? ;) How's baby in the belly doing?
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