Monthly Chore: Polishing Furniture

I’m essentially a work-at-home-mom. I’m not ashamed of the title, and I find that I get judged a lot less for it than I did when I was a work-from-home-person. People have a tendency to assume you’re lazy or an anti-feminism Suzy Homemaker if you tell them you work for yourself when you don’t have any kids. I assume they do that because of social norms or something, but it doesn’t much matter to me, as I am the only one who can judge my own self-worth.

That totally unrelated point being said, time-management is a serious issue for me as a work-at-home mom. Throughout the day I need to find time to keep the house clean, the laundry done, the people and animals of the house cared for and fed, my own work done, as well caring for myself in whatever form that happens to take. This is hard. No, this is not another blog about a mom who can’t handle the responsibilities plenty of people swear that their mothers handled no problem and whines about it (though I can sympathize), or really anything like that. I’m not even going to go off on a rant that I almost just started about how more is expected of us as PEOPLE, not just as moms, than ever before. This is a post about one of the many things I do to manage my life and my household. Once a month I polish all of my wooden furniture.

Today is Friday. I have a cleaning schedule that I pretty much stick to. I believe in it, and it’s what works for me. I regularly read and visit other mom blogs such as A Bowl Full of Lemons and Clean Mama, and I adapt some of their ideas to fit my lifestyle when appropriate. My cleaning schedule is pretty much like theirs. On Fridays, I do a rotating set of monthly and semi-monthly chores. On the first Friday of the month, I polish my wooden furniture.

Why I Do this Monthly

I like the look of well polished, clean wooden furniture. It isn’t practical, or good for the wood, for me to do this on a daily basis, and I have too many things to keep together to do it weekly. I suppose I could do it less often, but I have pets and a toddler, so finger and paw prints start to show up pretty quickly. I do a quick swipe of the most used furniture before gatherings or visitors to keep things from getting too out of hand. Again, this is just what works for ME. I grew up in a household where the wood furniture was polished on a weekly basis. Great, good, that works for you. Do it whenever you can, if you can. Have your cleaning lady do it, fine. I do it the first Friday of every month.

The Process

I use Pledge lemon furniture cleaner for this. It’s what I grew up using, I don’t think it smells overly chemical-y, and I appreciate the results. Also, one can of it lasts a super long time when you’re only doing this monthly. I’ve been itching to try a homemade version, since many of my homemade cleaners have been superior to the store bought stuff in both performance and cost, but this last can I bought appears to be bottomless, so maybe I’ll give it a try when it’s gone. I also use a microfiber cleaning cloth (Zwipes are my favorite, because you can get a ton of them for very little and they work for almost everything).

I start at the top of the house and work my way down. This works best for me because my laundry room is in the basement, so once I’m done down there, I just throw the cloths in the laundry and go about my day. The whole process takes less than fifteen minutes. For each piece of wooden furniture, I take everything off of it, spray the top with a little Pledge, and wipe along the grain of the wood. Then I use the already damp cloth to wipe down the sides and front. I replace everything I took off of it and repeat for each piece of furniture in the house. There are things I don’t take everything off of, like Baby Girl’s crib. This I just wipe down with the damp cloth. Also the entertainment centers…too many cords. Sometimes I skip taking everything off of the bookshelves and DVD storage shelves, but if I do, I try not to skip it two months in a row or those things start to look grimy! Usually one cloth will get me through the entire task, but sometimes I need two.

I intend to try out some different furniture oils to reduce scratches and things on some of my nicer furniture in the future, but right now it seems silly since a lot of my furniture needs to be refinished anyhow. Do you have a favorite one?

Happy Polishing!

Citrus Lane Review: February 2013 Box

For the last couple of months I have been posting reviews of each box that I have received as part of my subscription to Citrus Lane. This is the third box I have reviewed. I have also posted reviews for my December and January boxes. This review includes detailed information about each product contained in the box, as well as an overall review to determine whether or not the subscription is worth the purchase price. A three month subscription costs $25 per month, while a six month subscription costs $21 per month, and my subscription was $16.50 a month because I used a Black Friday/Cyber Monday discount. I should mention that everyone’s subscription is different based on your baby’s age and gender. Baby Girl received a seven month old box, and I designated that I wanted gender neutral products.

February 2013 Box

This month the box came earlier than expected, so it’s arrival was a surprise, which made it even better. I still find myself wishing that Baby Girl was a little older so that she could better enjoy getting a package that is addressed to her personally and have fun opening it up, but that time will certainly come.

What was in the box:

Item 1: Spring is Here by Taro Gomi from Chronicle Books
Retail Price: $6.99
Bought it Anyway?  Yes
Notes: Books are always a good thing. We are a house of readers, so we always welcome a new book into our home. How lucky for us that this is such a good one. While Baby Girl loves books, we’ve had to stick with the board book variety lately due to her excitement at turning (and possibly tearing) pages, so it was great that this is a board book. This book is simple, a quick read, and the illustrations are fun and high contrast. It was a Bologna Graphic Prize Winner, so it’s definitely not a throw away (like some of the other board books we’ve ended up with). Awesome that this was included in the box, and a great addition to our little library! If you’d like to purchase it for yourself, it is available on Amazon or directly from Chronicle Books. If you’re interested in purchasing it directly from Chronicle, or are interested in some of their other titles, use coupon code CITRUSLANE for 20% off and free shipping through 6/26/13.

Item 2: 8 Inch Rainmaker from Hohner Kids
Retail Price: $12.00
Bought it Anyway? Yes
Notes: I love innovative baby toys! So many baby toys these days are tacky looking and have way too much going on. I’ve actually been surprised to find that the majority of the baby toys that Hubby and I like usually end up being made by only a handful of toy companies (and they generally aren’t the big ones like Fisher-Price and Little Tikes). Enter Hohner Kids. This company only makes mini, kid or baby friendly musical instruments. How fun, right? For babies six months old and older they make rain sticks, maracas, drums, bells, and even a little “adapted for baby” tambourine. I knew the rainmaker was going to be a hit when Hubby started playing with it before we had even taken it out of the packaging. Baby Girl still hasn’t quite figured it out, but she’s on the young end of its age spectrum, so I know it’ll be a hit for years. The great thing about a toy like this is that kids don’t really grow out of rain sticks. My brother had one in his room until he was a teenager. This is a great versatile toy for her to enjoy for the next several years, fostering a love of music that can be encouraged with Hohner’s other kid friendly products. If you’d like a rainmaker of your own, or you’re interested in other products made by Hohner Kids, you can visit their website, or you can also find their products at Amazon, or even at Guitar Center.

Item 3: Washcloths 6-Pack from Kushies
Retail Price: $6.49
Bought it Anyway? Maybe
Notes: It is true that baby washcloths are very useful in any household. If you’re in a pinch, a regular washcloth works fine, of course, but I’ve found that my baby hates the thickness of my regular washcloths and prefers the softness of her baby ones. The thinness of baby washcloths also comes in handy when you need to get into those tight spaces in between tiny fingers and behind tiny ears. I’m also a believer that it’s hard to have too many washcloths. After all, you never want to be without one when you need it! Those are the reasons why I have this little pack of washcloths a maybe. They didn’t earn a yes because they’re a little pricy for baby washcloths, and after feeling them, they don’t seem like they will hold up any better than the cheap Circo ones that I got at my baby shower and have been using just about every day since Baby Girl was born. The colors are fine and gender neutral (even if Kushies says they are “boy colors”). After browsing around the Kushies website, I found that while they sell some pretty things, the majority of their products are exorbitantly expensive, and I don’t anticipate that I will purchase any additional items from them. That said, I know we’ll get some use out of these washcloths. If you’d like some, you can get them directly from the Kushies website.

Item 4:Tooth Gel from Branam
Retail Price: $5.69
Bought it Anyway? Yes
Notes: I have to say, I’m a bad mom when it comes to dental care. When Baby Girl was only a few days old, a nurse came to our house with a package of gauze sponges and told me that I should be rubbing her little gums with one after every feeding so that her gums would be healthy when her little teeth come in. I didn’t. She said that if I thought doing it after every feeding was a little over the top that I should at least do it morning and night. I didn’t. Now that Baby Girl is sprouting her first tooth, I’ve actually started to consider doing it. I do have a little finger toothbrush and some baby toothpaste that I got at my baby shower, but the tube is quite small and won’t last long if I start doing this as often as I’m supposed to. Enter the Go Go Grape Tooth Gel from Branam. Branam only manufactures dental products, and they have good reviews from pediatricians and dentists alike. They make all kinds of things, from toothpaste to pacifiers. I don’t know that the flavoring of this baby toothpaste is really necessary, since I’m pretty sure Baby Girl will hate it no matter what it tastes like, but it’s nice to have a good sized tube of toothpaste that I can use on her now until she’s old enough to use real toothpaste and is safe for her to swallow. If you’re in the market for some baby toothpaste, you use coupon code CitrusLane for 25% off through 12/31/13 at branamsmile.com.

Item 5: Lavender Cardamom Lip Balm from Pangea Organics
Retail Price: $12.00
Bought it Anyway? No
Notes: I can admit that I am a lip balm/chap stick addict. I’m never sad to see a stick of lip balm in a gift bag, which is a good thing, as it is a frequent sight. Just in the past year I have purchased three sticks of Blistex and stick of Burt’s Bees, received two sticks of Chap Stick in my Christmas stocking, and a stick of Bath & Body Works cinnamon at my baby shower. That was great! I love having a stick of lip balm by the bed, one in the bathroom, a couple in my purse (one tinted, one not), and generally one in the diaper bag too. If I put a stick of chap stick or lip balm everywhere, I’m never without it, and I have been without it too many times! I hate being somewhere and realizing my lips are absolutely parched and I have nothing to moisturize them with, so I try to avoid it at all costs. So it’s not that I was sad or disappointed to see a stick of lip balm in the box that gives this product a no. It’s a combination of the fact that I am full up on lip balm at the moment, and the cost of this. $12? Really? I don’t think I’ve ever spent more that $4.00 on a stick of lip balm, and I’ve never been dissatisfied. While the lavender cardamom scent is pleasant and unexpected, I hardly think it’s worth the price tag. I would have much rather received some body wash, or lotion, or under eye cream (yes, I checked, Pangea makes eye cream)! I’m always looking for a good lotion or eye cream! If you’re in the market for organic cosmetics and don’t mind paying an arm and a leg for them, this might be a good brand for you. Use coupon code NEWCITRUS for 20% off through 3/31/13 at pangeaorganics.com.

In Summary: Is It Worth It?
Items I would definitely have bought before the box: $24.68
Items I love now that I have them: $6.49
Total value of stuff I’m glad I got: $31.17
Answer: YES

I definitely got more out of this box than I put into it, even if I had paid full price for the subscription! Since all three boxes so far have earned a yes, there is no reason for me to average the value of them in order to find out if the subscription overall was worth it. If I had purchased a three month subscription at the full price of $25 per box, I would be very happy with what I have received so far and would be renewing. It is worth it to me to recommend a subscription to Citrus Lane to all moms and dads out there!

CLICK HERE TO GET $10 OFF YOUR CITRUS LANE ORDER OR SUBSCRIPTION!

My Diaper Service, A Tale of Convenience

Shortly after I found out I was pregnant with Baby Girl, Hubby and I set about making all the decisions that you are expected to make about the rearing of your child. The concrete ones, that is. We still haven’t really discussed matters of discipline or religion, but we managed to hammer out things like breastmilk vs. formula (breastmilk), cry it out vs. attachment (attachment…sort of), midwife vs. OB (midwife), etc. We chose a pediatrician, picked out nursery items, and chose a name. While we didn’t argue about cloth diapers, my husband had some concerns. I really wanted to cloth diaper, as I really hate disposable diapers (It’s not even a hatred I can actually justify. I hate how they look, how they feel, and the smell they emit while sitting in the trash.). Hubby had zero experience with diapering, so he didn’t know what he should be concerned about, but he knew he had concerns. My concerns had to do with diaper pins, ugly rubber pants, and cost. Where our concerns overlapped was laundry. Not the usual problems men have with cloth diaper laundry, like the naive “you’re going to put poop in the washing machine?!”, but actually a sweet concern: “While you’re getting used to having a newborn baby and recovering from giving birth, you’re also going to use trial and error to find a laundry routine that will get the cloth diapers we rely on clean?”

When you say it like that, it sounds crazy. So, I talked to my mom about it. She actually offered to pay for a diaper service for us for a little while until we got used to the cloth diapering. We figured three months would be all that we needed. During that time we would build up a cloth diaper stash (If you’re thinking about cloth diapering, do NOT expect to get any cloth diapering supplies as gifts unless you have lots of friends who cloth diaper. Nobody expects you to stick with it, and they all look down their nose at you a little bit.), figure out a laundry routine that worked for us, and recover from the process of becoming parents. The cost was pretty small, and we got a deal on the first six weeks, which was helpful.

Here we are now, Baby Girl is almost six months old, and our last diaper pickup from our chosen service is next week. Why did we wait so long? Convenience, mostly. When we approached three months we decided to keep the service a little longer because the holidays were coming up, and we didn’t want to be perfecting our wash routine while also having to be out of town for several days at a time. Then we didn’t discuss it again, until a few weeks ago. A few weeks ago Baby Girl’s diapers started to smell. Up until then, there was no real odor to the diapers, so it was a little disconcerting when we first started to notice it. Do you know what a whole week’s worth of dirty baby diapers smells like? Gross. The longer it sits there, the grosser it smells. All of a sudden I started thinking about the benefit of washing the diaper laundry myself. Then I could do it every other day, or even every day if I wanted, and there wouldn’t be smelly dirty diapers sitting in the nursery for a week. Also, with the service, prefolds and covers were the only option available to us. A fabulous option to be sure, until you have to get a babysitter. Babysitters struggle a little with prefolds. Covers are fine, but folding and fastening prefolds is tricky for teenagers and inexperienced adults alike. I wanted to be able to stick some pre-stuffed pockets and AIO’s into the diaper bag for babysitters to alleviate stress on both our ends. Finally, Baby Girl fits into the one size diapers, and we can finally switch.

I loved our diaper service, I really did, but there’s no good in justifying the extra cost when I have all the diapering supplies we need (and we paid good money for them), and the glow of convenience is wearing off with the smell of the diaper pail.