Earnest Parenting

Review: Eco Store Cleaning Supplies

Amy LeForge — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:24:27 +0000

Earlier this summer Maggie from EcoStoreUSA contacted me about the plant based cleaning and personal care products offered by her company. She was kind enough to send me the All Purpose Cleaner as well as the Dishwash Liquid, which I’ve been trying out around the homestead lately.

EcoStore is actually a New Zealand company and has moved into the US market as well. The products are plant based and non-toxic. I’ve got some friends that are quite enthusiastic about being as chemical free as possible. I see great value in that approach. Why put more chemicals into our lives than we need?

There are two things I’ve been concerned about though: effectiveness and price. Because green products are still new on the market, prices can be high. And do they really work as well as they claim? While those questions don’t keep me up at night, they do rattle around in my brain on sundry shopping trips.

I’m pleased to report that both products worked just as well for me as my usual cleansers. I was able to remove dust and mold from some hard surfaces with the All Purpose Cleaner quite easily. The citrus fragrance was light and pleasant. At $9 a bottle, the price is rather high when you compare it to other cleaners. But if being free of chemicals is a priority, then this would be an excellent choice.

When I used the dish soap my dishes got clean for me as quickly as they would have using my regular cleanser. I did notice that the bubbles don’t pile up as quickly or as high; this was disappointing for Captain Earthquake. He likes to come by and bat the bubbles out of the sink while I’m scrubbing. In terms of cleaning though, the Dishwash Liquid got the job done. The price for the liquid is $5, making it closer to traditional products but still a bit expensive.

A friend of mine from church along with some other folks I know are dreadfully allergic to the fragrances and chemicals in many cleaning products. One time I accidentally caused an allergy attack simply by having scented garbage bags. I can see where the EcoStoreUSA products would be extremely helpful in these cases particularly. Families with small children would also benefit greatly from the safety and peace of mind having fewer strong chemicals in the home.

FTC Disclosure: This is my honest opinion of the EcoStoreUSA products I received (All Purpose Cleaner and Dishwash Liquid).

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Adolescent vs Parent: I Don’t Like the Win/Lose Thing

Amy LeForge — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:06:03 +0000

The Mercenary is well on his way to perfecting the adolescent sigh of irritation whenever I breathe. Yesterday I said to him “Hey, please take the sheets off your bed and bring them down to my room so I can wash them for you.”

His response was to roll his eyes, droop his shoulders and say in an irritated sigh: “Mom!!!”

Really? It’s annoying for him to perform a ten second task to help me complete a service for him??? He had gotten into some poison ivy recently, and I was concerned that his bedding may have some of the oil on it. Hence the desire to get it washed for him. But apparently my request of him was just too much, even though I made the request while I was in the kitchen preparing food. That he was going to eat.

Ahem.

Why is it that teens and pre-teens want to turn everything into a battle? Just because something is my idea doesn’t make it objectionable. Well. In my universe anyway. The boys appear to think differently.

We’re talking more about the whole thing over at GNMParents in my weekly post this week. Check out the comments as well. They’re pretty good!

photo credit: Homini:)

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FFYF: Recovery Edition

Amy LeForge — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 07:57:57 +0000

So yesterday was a fun day for us here at Earnest Parenting. We spent our first day as a family at an amusement park. After a slow start, a good time was had by all. Certain individuals came home with mild sunburn, and after an extremely late night I’m letting everyone sleep in. Shhhhhhhh! Don’t wake them up. They might be grouchy.

While we’re all being quiet, how about a little Fun For Your Friday?

Dave Dann presents Slap, Punch, Throw posted at RelaxOn Video Blog | Funny Videos | Funny Pranks | Funny Commercials | Interesting Videos.

Casey Markee presents 16 Unbelievable Shopping Disasters Caught on Tape posted at ShopGala Blog, saying, “Don’t become a statistic, check out the following 16 Unbelievable Shopping Disasters Caught on Tape and make it a point to be “nicer” to your fellow man this holiday shopping season. The life you save may well be your own!”

MummyT presents 10 Ways to Tell Your Child Has Been in Asia A Long Time « Travels with a Nine Year Old posted at Travels with a Nine Year Old, saying, “Children change when they’re travelling long term. In ways you might not have expected…”

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Tricky Limerick posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog.

Carrie Oakley presents 15 Famous Authors With Surprising College Majors posted at Online Colleges, saying, “These famous authors didn’t major in writing, or literature, or even journalism. Instead, they enriched their minds taking other, equally challenging classes, and used their experiences to become successful writers.”

Ronnie6676 presents 3 Reasons Why I Can’t Be Your Shrink « The Candy Shoppe posted at The Candy Shoppe

Jessica presents Internet Dating #1 posted at ANGR is a Four Letter Word, saying, “Humor, satire, angry rants, and fun”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of fun for your friday using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Get your bonus copy of my book Fun & Free Activities for Families on a Budget. Download here

Limiting Choice Can Improve Sanity

Amy LeForge — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 17:23:45 +0000

I’m going to come right out and admit that I had a meltdown on Saturday. I had just picked up the older boys from a friend’s birthday party and was relating to them how their father and I had taken apart the trailer in their absence. We were expecting to just replace the wood, but there’s enough rust on the metal parts that we’ve decided to get it sandblasted and repaint. I explained to the boys that we might know someone who owns an auto body shop and I was going to ask him if they do sandblasting, and also if he’d be willing to show the boys around the shop. They’ve been watching some auto repair shows on television lately and I thought they’d be thrilled at the opportunity to see some of the work in action.

Yeah, right.

The Mercenary’s response was: “Ah, that’d be boring. I want to learn how to do all that work myself.”

What?????!!????

This is actually a pretty typical exchange around here. I come up with an idea for something that I think they’ll love, suggest it, and they shoot me down. If this was just an occasional happening, I wouldn’t mind. I’m all for input from the stakeholders. After years and years of it though, I’m getting to the end of my patience. I’ve even asked them to come up with their own suggestions of things they’d like to do (within reason) or learn about. So far, there have been very few ideas.

Probably half the time I’ve gone along with dropping whatever idea they’re poo-poohing. As a result, we don’t go out for many enrichment activities with other kids and I listen to a LOT of complaining whenever I drag them out to activities.

A new homeschool co-op is starting up in our area, and as soon as I mentioned it to the boys, they gave the usual responses. “That’ll be dumb/boring/a waste of time/not cool.” I was this close to saying that they don’t have to go and meet new friends and have new experiences when The Mercenary opened his big mouth on Saturday.

Well friends, no more. Even though I myself was nervous about doing the co-op and getting the rest of our schoolwork done, we’re signing up. They no longer have a choice in the matter, they’re going to go and try it out. It’s only ten meetings, and if we hate it we don’t have to sign up again. But at least they’ll see some other homeschoolers and have some practice taking a class.

And that’s not all. There are other things coming up that boys will just have to shut up and attend because holy cow. We can’t spend all our lives here at home. They have to start taking some steps toward independence and get some experiences under their belt. What if they went off to college (ulp…in 6 years) never having sat in a classroom learning environment? That wouldn’t be good.

How are they going to learn things like welding or auto repair if they don’t go to a place that work is being done? We’re not just going to learn by watching it on television.

So! We’re all about doing things I know they’ll enjoy around here. Or at least trying them anyway. And I’m learning not to even suggest things or offer choices. I just let them know we’re going to do such and such. Perhaps enough exposure to new activities will get their creative juices flowing.

Either that or I’ll have another meltdown and growl at people.

photo credit: dsasso

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1 Tool to Improve Parenting Effectiveness

FFYF: Lawnmower Repair Edition

Amy LeForge — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 03:40:32 +0000

We’re going with better late than never publishing this week’s edition of Fun For Your Friday. I’ve been working along trying to get the lawnmower back into shape. With TechnoBoy and (a lot of) Hubby’s help, we got the oil changed, replaced the air filter and pre-cleaner, and replaced the oil filter. We also took the mower deck off, scraped and treated the rust, then painted it. This whole process took us over a week, working a little bit every day. When we finally got the mower deck replaced, I drove it out to the lawn and turned on the blades. Ohhhhh, did they spin smoothly and quietly! For about 5 seconds. That was when I ran out of gas.

So the next day, I bought some gas and Hubby filled up the tank. As soon as I started to turn the key, I realized the problem. The battery was dead because someone (cough-me-cough) left the key turned on all night! Oy.

Another day later, the battery was recharged and the lawn was mowed. Phew. So that’s my smile today, that the grass is level.

Welcome to the August 20, 2010 edition of fun for your friday.

June Tree presents How To Save Money On Haircuts posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “How about a look at some funny haircuts? Here’s how to save money on haircuts (for men).”

Good News Weekly presents Black Bear Goes for a Joy Ride posted at Good News Weekly Vancouver, saying, “Too much to “bear”?…”

Pamela Jorrick presents Slow Water Float Trip posted at Blah, Blah, Blog.

Tamaricek1974 presents The Top Ten Craziest Baby Video Clips posted at miracle-of-pregnancy.com, saying, “Wonderful thing about babies is that even in the most difficult moments of our parenting , they know how to make a smile on our face. My top ten list of craziest baby videos.”

Aviva Jorstad presents You Can Never Have Enough Sharks. Or Mayonnaise. posted at DISH Network News.

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Facebook Straits posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog.

Get your bonus copy of my book Fun & Free Activities for Families on a Budget. Download here