What on earth do you end up doing with all the 'stuff' your kids bring home? Do you keep every single creation that is ever made, every work of art etc...and if so, I'm thinking you must have an extra room in your house just to store it all. Noah's only been at school six weeks and we've already been inundated with art and crafts and I'd love to know what the official etiquette is re keeping everything or just some special things and how you are supposed to decide exactly what to keep. And if you do throw the odd thing away (I think I'm quite possibly a little too ruthless in this area at times) how long do you wait before you quietly just slip it into the bin unnoticed? Cos I'm not sure that I'll still be able to get away with this particular tactic anyway in a few years' time?
In my minds eye, I sometimes imagine the volume of stuff over the years piling up like this and it just makes me wince:
We always recycle all we can from what gets thrown away, but still!
To the chefs in the kitchen...
Don't you think that by now someone should have invented a gadget that would collect up all the hard to reach bits of the bowl in baking and cooking that even the best spoon or spatula seems to leave behind? I'm seriously contemplating patenting something that I'd call a "Zapper Upper" that could easily handle sucking up any kind of liquid and texture so you waste less mixture. It'd be a little like one of those horrible nasal aspirators that you shove up your kids nose to try and suck bogeys out, only a little more sophisticated!
Maybe a little like this?
To those who like to waste not....
The same goes for toiletries. I hate wasting that last bit that is so hard to get out of the bottle/jar/tube. I'm wondering if anyone else cuts up their moisturisers or make-up containers to try and get a little more out of the bottom of the container (or am I the only McScrooge in the house?!). When I do cut things open, I often find I can make it last for days if not weeks longer. I reckon my Zapper Upper could come in real handy here too.
What do you reckon, should I see if i can get the Dragons Den team interested?
How much is too much?
One of the things I continually find myself with a guilty complex over is how much TV my kids watch. They are allowed to turn the TV on at 5pm (I pretty much never let them turn it on before 5pm on a normal week day) until dinner is served at around 5.30 or 5.45pm. Then they often watch another 15-30 minutes after dinner until bathtime. So I guess it's about an hour to an hour and a half a day. This is usually either Disney Junior or Kidzone channels on the TV (we never watch Ben 10 or more violent cartoons) or they'll put on one of their own kids movies like Finding Nemo, Snow Buddies, Little Einsteins, or Timmy Time.
But I'm curious to know what are your family's rules around TV? And how much do you think is too much?
4 comments :
I only keep the really cool paintings..but I have heard of a family who uses the their precious artwork as wrapping paper for gifts...quite a good idea.
And about TV...I think as long as my kids watch less TV than I did as a kid...then thats already a massive improvement! My kids watch and hour before school and an hour after school...but if its a nice afternoon, they'll often flag it on their own and go and play outside instead...which is music to my ears.
I think your tv time sounds really good compared to a lot of families :) and I'm not sure about the artwork thing. My son's first 'painting' I certainly didn't keep! But I guess when they get a bit older it becomes harder as they are more aware of what you keep and throw away. I'm sure you'll work something out! Love the Zapper idea. I hate wasting stuff too xo
As a teacher myself I am so used to throwing paintings away, if i can see a real step up or change in teh development of how the picture has been created i put it aside for special or include it in portfolio books. My mum created a portfolio of my special art from kindergarten to year10 and its not big or full, she must have done a lot of culling off! Pictures could be used for wrapping paper that way they're gone and sharing the love ;)
Its totally not scrooge to chop containers, if i've spent $80 on lancome or dior cleanser i'm going to use $80 worth of product too :)
we have a slow sneaky method of culling...first its up on show, then it goes on the bench, then a few days later I have a pile by my computer which I go through and throw out from eventually. that way they have forgotten about it by the time its thrown out.if its a great change, like the first of something, then I keep it in a pile (to be stuck into a folder eventually) but lately I have started photographing them so I have an electronic copy of it and then I thought I'd make a quick book on snapfish of their art...
Your tv watching sound good, i think its about being flexible and moving with what is needed, definitely in our house when its raining or sickness or when tired from new change- like school, it creeps up but what is important is that you keep it down. Another note I think is using it as a babysitter when you need it. In our house its not usually on before school but if I need to get alot of stuff ready before we leave the house, then I put it on to give me the space to get jobs done. Good to allow yourself the freedom to do that.
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