My Multi-Tasking Secrets Revealed

I am honored and thrilled to be the first Featured Multi-Tasking Mom. In the blog-world, I am TCC of The Campbell Corner. I am a real mom with real kids learning how to navigate real life. Sound like you? Let's find out what else we may or may not have in common...

Do you enjoy laundry; thrilled at the opportunity to scour off a layer of skin while attempting to remove a stubborn stain from your child's clothing? Are your children naturally obedient, prepared to responsibly respond to the next request that is made of them? Do you have hot fresh meals prepared daily with apron cleanly pressed and pearls around your neck? If you answered yes to all of these questions then sadly, this post is not for you. However, if a "no" crossed your lips, then read on...there may be something that has worked for me that will work for you too.

#1 The Moldinator
Do you know what this is a picture of? It is a petri dish covered with mold. I am actually comfortable with this. I did many labs with my students where we grew colonies of common bacteria and fungi. It allowed them to become familiar with how quickly bacteria form colonies and what environmental variables impact that growth, observe and classify bacteria according to their physical properties, follow the procedure of Gram staining and determine if the colony was Gram + or Gram -. They were also able to observe differences between bacteria and fungi. It was scientific. It was in a controlled environment. Procedures were followed for the completion of the growth and disposal of material which is considered to be a biohazard. This is when I am OK with these 'germs'.

Outside of the classroom I am not a fan of bacteria - or any other microorganism. I wash my hands after I handle raw meat or crack an egg. I make sure I use a cleaner with paper towel to wash down my sink and counter tops and table and any other surface in my home. I NEVER use a sponge. Even though I zap it in the microwave to kill those microorganisms - you just never know.

You can imagine my glee when I discovered that Barber's train sweatshirt (that he received as a Christmas gift and has worn maybe 3 times) was covered with mold because it was left in a plastic bag, soaked, for about 2 weeks in the basement laundry room. I am not proud of this fact. I didn't realize it was soaked but obviously this means I hadn't frequented the laundry room for about 2 weeks...

Back to the point. It was covered and stinky with teeny reddish dots. Although those teeny dots had merged in certain areas making it simply a red patch. I was utterly disgusted and annoyed with myself. I was feeling a bit helpless too. Kind of like the time when I discovered that I had somehow overlooked a purple crayon in Jeter's clothing and only noticed it after everything was dried. Loverly. The difference was this was mold...a biohazard. Ugh.

I have no idea why but I decided to lay it on top of the washer and sprayed a little bit of OxiClean Active on a spot. I really didn't think it would help. I was looking for definitive proof to declare the sweatshirt a 'lost cause' and toss it. To my utter amazement when I went down to the laundry room the next day (to actually do some laundry) I noticed that there was a patch that was lacking red spots. NO WAY!?! Was it actually possible to clean mold out of this sweatshirt?!?


YES!!! Granted I used about half of my bottle of OxiClean Active but it was well worth it. I put the sweatshirt on an old white sheet and sprayed this all over one side - no scrubbing. Just saturated it and let it sit. 24 hours later I repeated the step. 24 hours after that I turned the sweatshirt over and saturated the back of it. After another 24 hours I sprayed the few spots that still remained. If I had a digital camera I would be showing you a clean mold-free sweatshirt that cost me $2 (to fix - I bought it at BJ's), about 15 cumulative minutes of spraying and then patience to wait for the spots to literally disappear. I do not typically advocate products on this blog but seriously, this is amazing. I also don't plan on this ever happening again but you never know... On another note, it's also excellent at removing grass stains with limited scrubbing - if you don't feel like waiting for them to disappear.

#2 Growing Up and Being Responsible
I know charts are not for everyone but these have worked wonders for our family and you never know...it could give you the peace you need as well.

Barber experienced tremendous success with the potty chart and kept asking me for a new chart. We are still figuring out what he will receive besides stickers but right now the stickers mean a lot and I have seen tremendous improvement in his behavior is just three days. I needed this. Three is an important age. I prefer to reinforce positive behavior and there has been a need to focus on areas where improvement is needed - like making good choices, quick obedience and respecting others. At the same time I added areas where he is already pretty successful but we want to continue to reinforce; brushing teeth, zero accidents and being a helper fall into this category.

Jeter's chart is set up to reinforce positive behavior, establish new levels of responsibility and teach him valuable lessons about tithing, depositing money into his savings account and saving for the purchase of something special. Each sticker he receives represents five cents. Last week was his greatest earning of $1.95. Since I recently added two categories, he has the potential to earn $4.20 per week. In a few weeks his level of obedience has improved and he is quick to complete his responsibilities and even jump in to help with things that aren't on the list. Simms and I are purposely not labelling this as an allowance. Rather, it is a tool to teach Jeter responsibility while instilling in him (hopefully) a strong work ethic.

Finally, I shop and cook in bulk. This allows me to provide healthy meals for my family amidst the busy-ness of life. It allows us to enjoy the seasons of soccer, t-ball, swimming, church activities and whatever else ends up on our schedule and still eat a good meal together as a family. If this interests you, check out the food category of The Campbell Corner. You will also see cakes and cookies that I have made (I love to bake) but if you scroll down you will find information about bulk preparation and cooking as well as some neat recipes to try.

Thank you, Multi-Tasking Moms for the opportunity to share with you today. I am still learning how to master the art of multi-tasking and appreciate the encouragement and practical resources that the women of MTM provide daily. If you are interested in being the next Featured MTM click here for more details!

Keeping it Clean

I hate to clean. I LOVE to organize but hate to clean. (make sense?) In my mind, cleaning just didn't work for me:

I am home with 3 little children and do NOT have time to clean. They need me.

I am just not good at it.

I am too tired at night to clean. I need time to relax.

We should have a housekeeper. (oh yes, my favorite one)

Oh yes, the list goes on. I had plenty of excuses, but they weren't keeping the house tidy.

That being said, I am pretty good at daily chores. I load the dishwasher and run it nightly. I keep the counters fairly clear. Our house is regularly picked up and straightened.

It's those darn weekly/monthly cleaning jobs that were being neglected. Instead of keeping up with the bathrooms, vacuuming, and dusting, I would go crazy trying to clean before guests were coming over OR I would get fed up with the mess and spend a evening cleaning while my husband had to watch the kids. Something had to be done.

I finally put my foot down and stomped on all of my excuses! I had to get things organized. The time had come to put on the cleaning lady hat, so I did what I know best...I made a list. (yes I love lists) I wrote out all of the things that had to be cleaned on a weekly basis in my house. Then I took each of them an assigned them a day that made the most sense. I was able to cover all of it by Thursday, so that left me Friday with nothing to do.

Take a break, right?

Nope, not this cleaning lady! Friday is used to rotate in cleaning tasks that don't need to be done weekly.

The result:
Monday: (basement focus)
Laundry gets completed and folded and maybe put away!
Vaccum and dust basement
Empty all small trashcans in bathrooms (our trash day is Tuesday)

Tuesday: (upstairs bathrooms
Clean toilet, sink, and mirror in both upstairs bathrooms
Refill toilet paper rolls in both bathrooms
Put away any remaining laundry

Wednesday: (main level)
Vaccum and dust main level
Clean toilet, sink, and mirror in main level bathroom

Thursday: (upstairs level)
Vaccum and dust upstairs

Friday: Shopping Trip to BJ's
1st Friday- clean all kitchen appliances (microwave, toaster oven, etc)
2nd Friday - organize fridge/freeze and pantry as needed
3rd Friday - wipe down all cabinets
4th Friday - chores as needed - windows? OR break!

Sunday PM - Sort and begin laundry
*Husband vacuums main level and washes laminate floors. Then week 1 cleans tub and shower and on week 2 cleans the bathroom floors. Yes, he does a GREAT job! The man cleans better than I do.

I have been using the schedule for about 3 months now and I love it. It has worked wonders for our house and my life. I don't have to spend time on Saturdays cleaning at all, which I love. My house is ready for guests pretty much anytime without me having to quickly scrub out toilets!

The goal is to get these things done during the day with the kids, but that doesn't always happen. The nice thing about the schedule is that I know exactly how to focus my time once the kids go to bed. I can immediately get my cleaning task done and then relax. (or blog...he he)

My favorite cleaning resource is Real Simple Magazine's Cleaning Section. Visit and poke around. It is a great place. If you don't know what should be cleaned in your house daily, weekly, and monthly, then you'll find it there!

So get cleaning ladies and if you have a tip, please leave a comment. I would love some more cleaning ideas!

I am in love and his name is Baking Soda!

I must say I LOVE the smell of clean!! But I have recently come to appreciate a few of the basics that our Mothers cleaned with, back in the day. It all started when we were packing up and getting ready for our recent move. We had boxes everywhere and were feeling like we were making major progress by packing up so early. One afternoon, my kids went downstairs to the play room to watch a movie. It was a quiet moment for Mom to relax and maybe get a few things done.

I tiptoed down the stairs to peer in on my precious ones and found this:

JB = My 2 year old guilty son. He found a loose Sha*rpie lying around!

Wall = OMgoodness
Futon = Yikes
And Buzz = the least of my concerns! Cue the exhale! :)

So I realized quickly that my spray bleach cleaners were of no help to me. I was in need of real help! I began googling to find a cleaning product, for removing Sha*rpie ink, and was amazed at some of the simple suggestions.

The first one was BAKING SODA!!! You know the stuff you can buy BIG boxes of for $.35?! There were other suggestions but I tried this one. I took a baby wipe and baking soda and began my doubting journey of exploration. Guess what - it worked! I know it says on the box - for cleaning but I never used it for a cleaner. The only problem was the wall was so beautifully decorated that I had too much to scrub. So we did paint the wall instead. But the baking soda took the Marker right off of the Futon with little effort.

With my new love for Baking Soda fresh on my mind, I decided to use it when cleaning my tub or to remove scuff marks. My newest discovery is my new love and, I must say, I have about 4 boxes of the stuff lying around now! I am going back to the basics! I used the Baking Soda to scrub my tub at our prior home and it never looked cleaner. I wanted to leave the tub with a sparkly clean, so I followed with a towel, dried off excess dampness and sprayed Windex. My tub actually went 'Ding' when I looked at it! haha No, but really it shined! I felt freed from the $2 and $3 a bottle cleaners.

At our new home we have the baking soda in the pantry, ready for a mess, and Ammonia! Ammonia gives the clean smell I like but, once again, it is cheaper than the other stuff. Ammonia is my disinfectant and baking soda is my stain remover! Counter-Top Disinfectant recipe = 2 Tbsp. ammonia, 1/2 cup rubbing alcohol, 1/4 cup vinegar, and water. Put ammonia, alcohol and vinegar in a spray bottle and fill with water. **NEVER NEVER NEVER USE AMMONIA WITH BLEACH - THIS CAN TRULY BE DEADLY!!!!***

I mean really! Who can not love a product that is so economical and useful!!! And the ammonia is the same - economical and useful. Have you read the label on a bottle of Ammonia lately?? They boast of cleaning all areas of the kitchen and bathroom, as well as windows, washing machines AND dryers. You can use it on woodwork, painted walls. Put it in the oven overnight and spills should just wipe off with ease!! Not to mention both products are safe for using with laundry! I tell you I'm smitten!

As with any new relationship, Baking Soda and I are still learning things about each other. I tried my new love on our green hard surface luggage, to remove smudges, and it took a bit of work to get the white discoloration out of the grooves. After several attempts to wipe clean with water, I tried Windex and then we finally had luck with Armor All. So you may not want to use Baking Soda on dark colored surfaces, it isn't easy to wipe off without a touch of residue remaining.

As for my son's art work, both my son and the surfaces came clean with a little scrubbing and Buzz... well, we needed to keep him as is, for a souvenir!

Sticky Situation

I have always been a big sticker fan. They are cute, fun and they keep my little ones quiet for hours! Of course they stick them all over the walls, furniture, fridge, etc....and you wonder why they are so quiet.

A few days later they like to try to peel them off the wall, but some of the sticky residue is still there. You may not notice it yet, but you will.

(2-3 days later) See it now? It's some blackish, gray color. Not such a pretty sight, is it?

I'll share with you an easy trick to get it off though - Rubbing alcohol! It's cheap and I'm sure almost every one of you have it in your house. Just add a small amount of alcohol to a paper towel or cloth and wipe the sticky stuff away. I've also heard peanut butter will do the trick, but who wants to wipe away another mess?!