Reining in all those clothes!!

I wish I was talking about my own clothes! Well, those need organizing as well but not to the extent my kids' clothes do. Since we're still considering having a 3rd kid, we're holding on to Derek and Kristen's old stuff but it's so hard to keep track of what is where.

** By the way, hello and thanks for checking in even though I have written in 3 months! Still catching my breath from the move - renting throws a whole other variable to the what-furniture-to-buy when under tight budget constraints, which puts askew what-goes-where, so we're still living with boxes - but I'm trying to gain traction again. Much has been going on in my head that I want to share and I can't wait! **

I originally bought these grey cloth storage thingies and thought they were the awesomest things ever. They're pretty spacious and....and...and!!.. they come with dividers. Dividers. I love dividers. Helps me find things. Bags with just one compartment throw me off because they're like cavernous mouths that swallow up my stuff. Dividers at least make the mouths smaller.

Anyhoo, I found out during the move that they aren't that great. We have to be gentle with them as the handles were tearing off, and I can't really see what's inside. Yes, there are windows but I have to position them a certain way in order to view them.

I've decided then to use plastic bins. I was advised by a professional organizer to get ones with straight sides so that there isn't wasted space when putting them away but I've barely had time to get the bins, never mind be uber picky. I happened to be at Target last weekend, looked at the bins and decided to go with ones which allow me to stack well. The lids allow the bottoms to nestle in and not slide around.

Since we're still adjusting to the budget of not living in a condo and have had other purchases due to the move (the Expedit cube is my new furniture fave, which I'll possibly write about in another post), I'm only going to buy a few at a time. The first ones I bought are 3 of the 60L size and a shallow one with the same perimeter dimensions.  I've started unpacking 2 grey thingies but realize I need to open up the others to see what goes in which bin. Yeah yeah, I'm a perfectionist, but I'll breathe easier once it's done. =)

In conjunction with this rearranging is my desire to inventory the clothes. Yep, I want to know exactly what baby and kid clothes I have, or at least how many of what, if not down to the colour and fabric (kidding! I don't have that much time!). I looked up any clothing inventory templates and surprisingly found very few offerings. I thought if there are tons on organizing chores and such, surely there would be a good handful on clothing inventory!

So, I decided to make my own, which is what I ended spending most of today on. I'll use these while I unpack the grey thingies and keep the sheets in a binder for easy reference for when people want to borrow things or if we have that craziness called a 3rd kid. =D

Here's a pic of my day's efforts, done in between meals and light cooking and nursing to sleep and consoling a clingy kid. Not bragging, just saying that you shouldn't expect much! At least it's useable and nice to look at. I'm hoping to make it a bit prettier and eventually purchasable on Etsy. If you're interested in a rough version tho, I'll be happy to send a copy to the first 10 people who comment!

It's not worth the latte

We've already heard of the recent deaths from children being left in baking hot cars this summer and the "real" summer temps only just began three weeks ago.  As for parents forgetting their children in the car - it's a horrible possibility that haunts every parent, or at least this one.  When rushing from one place to another I'm actually more paranoid of leaving a child at a previous site than in the car but either way its the same: We're sleep-deprived, going about our day and focus on the details surrounding our little loved ones that sometimes we may forget about those little loved ones themselves.

It hasn't happened to me but I can imagine, just like this mom did with her 10-day-old while also caring for her 18-month-old.  Being in a fog already with a 6-month-old and a 31-month-old, I can't imagine being 10 days postpartum with another kid under two years who is unable to communicate sufficiently with words and may be feeling a tad out of sorts with a new being taking up its parental resources.

What I can't imagine, however, is how a parent in good conscience leave his or her child(ren) in the car while s/he runs inside to get food or coffee, like this father did.  He essentially traded his 9-month-old daughter for a subway sandwich (assumption made based upon his intention to buy food at Home Depot).  Isn't there a McDonald's close enough to drive-thru? Haven't we all had sufficient experiences with cars in the summer to know that even a brief run-in to a store allows for the car to heat up to an uncomfortable level, which we deal with by blasting the air conditioning?  Children in the back don't have that option, never mind that they don't have the keys to even turn on the air conditioner if they could.  If you'd like to see just how hot things can get, check out the experiment of this Hamilton reporter.  Let's just say that he wasn't allowed to stay the allotted 30 minutes of the experiment, and even then it was a questionable length of time.

"But I keep the car running," some might say.  "The air conditioner is on so I can run in for a few minutes."

So let me get this straight.  You have left your precious cargo, which either you or your spouse or someone carried for 9 months in the womb, then nursed to thrive and survive in this world, in a car with the keys in the ignition, running, for some passerby to swoop up?  A car thief isn't going to politely leave your kids on the sidewalk, and even if they did, that action is still a better testimony for the thief than the parent.

I remember working at Starbucks where this particular location was at the end of a strip mall.  Parking was decent but we still got those uber-impatient people who would park right outside the door and run in to get their coffee.  I'm sorry, I don't care what rush you're in, that's just plain rude.  Not every customer will be able to do that and you're blocking the road that's supposed to allow 2-way parking while creating a blind corner for other drivers to turn into or turn from.  I don't understand how your bad time management must become an inconvenience and hazard to pure strangers.

That's just getting me started.  What really makes my blood boil are those parents who park their cars right outside the door and dart inside to grab their latte leaving their kids inside.  Car running or not, summer or winter, spring or fall, you've just traded your the safety of your kid(s) for your drink.  Is it really that necessary?  Not the caffeine jolt, the abandonment of children for the caffeine jolt.  If said jolt is truly needed, sacrifice taste for a Timmies coffee or McD's (Higgins & Burke ain't that bad!).  And if you know me, that's a big thing to say!  I love my Starbucks but I love my kids more.

Just please, don't leave your kids in the car.  Should anything, God forbid, happen to your children while your "run in real quick", you'll never forgive yourself and lattes will never taste the same again.

Singing the Future

Sorry this one's so late!  Got caught up with other things last night.

One suggestion almost everyone makes to help soothe babies is singing but what I realized when I first started singing to Derek, I was singing more to myself than to him.  Not in a selfish way, more like a I-need-to-be-reminded-to-keep-my-sanity way, especially at 3 am!  So I chose songs that had messages I wanted to impart to him and would remind me as to why I'm committing myself to less sleep and playing a continuous game of Guess the Wail (or Guess the Babble during happier times!).  They would keep me focused as to how I'm parenting, who I'm parenting and remind me to make wise decisions during tough times that will lay down a solid parenting foundation for future days that will hold other joys and struggles.

The songs I chose are Christian-based but you can use any song that will help soothe you as you soothe your baby.  Mine are the following:

This Little Light Of Mine (learn the song and lyrics here; fun gospel version here)
I chose this song because I wanted to remind myself to raise up a child who would be a light wherever he goes, prayerfully a light within God's church as he grows, and that he is my little light, reminding me of the blessing and opportunity God have given me to partake in creation by giving birth to life.  It also has 2 other verses to make it fun during more active times ("Hide it under a bush - oh no!" "Won't let Satan blow it out" with the option of a light blowing* into the face instead of saying "blow").

Beautiful (learn the song and lyrics here; my awesomely talented brother plays an acoustic medley with other songs here)
This song was chosen mainly for the line, "Jesus makes beautiful things of my life", which He has in the little lives he has blessed me with.  It reminds me in those wee dark hours that I have been charged to take care of this beautiful creation and not to harm it, as a fatigued and frustrated may stray to do.

I Cast All My Cares Upon You (learn the song and lyrics here - this is the series I sang with decades ago!)
I blend this song with "Beautiful" as they're both in 6/8 time.  It also keeps me from getting to bored and falling asleep!  This was especially helpful when Derek was crying and not falling asleep for who knows what reason - he's changed, fed and burped, so why won't he just sleep?  I'm comforted to know that God is watching over me and watching over Derek, and that I can lean on Him when I'm feeling so tired.  I can cast my worries about this crying child into His hands and know He'll be working with me to figure things out!

So if you're feeling at the end of your rope sometimes while caring for your little one, try picking up one of these songs, singing as you change a diaper or bathe a wriggling body or wait for a tantrum to let up, not necessarily to calm them down, although we hope it will, but to help calm you down and re-focus your purpose in parenting. Of course, no need to finish the song at their expense (I used to feel obligated to finish the song before I moved on to my next action, lol) but if you're feeling frayed, keep singing till you feel a bit calmer and more ready to handle the situation.  We'll never have it all together but anything that helps us be a bit better helps, right?  And the more you sing your repertoire, the more your child will become familiar with it which can help with bonding, his/her speech building, musicality, etc.  It's tons of fun especially when toddler months hit and sing-alongs begin!

How about you? What tricks or methods do you employ to keep yourself sane?  If you were to choose a song, which would it be and why?