WFMW - The metoo Seat

This week's Works For Me Wednesday is a tribute to the Phil and Ted's metoo. I looked around for a good, simple, chair that I could use for C-Rex. We have a very small apartment, and floor space, especially in the kitchen is at a premium. There was just no way I could fit a high chair in there. Unfortunately, most everything I found was huge, bulky and impractical.

Until I discovered the metoo. It is lightweight (weighs only two pounds!) and collapses to just one inch thick. It's nylon, so it wipes clean with just a washcloth, although one time in the summer I took the garden hose to it after an outdoor cookout. No need to wrangle off the washable cover or any such nonsense. I've found that it attaches to most tables, although I have had problems with foldable picnic tables. Phil and Ted's is a great company with an impeccable reputation, so you can buy with impunity.

Check it out, but don't blame me if you're tempted to chuck your bulky highchair.

WFMW - Be A DIVA!

My humble submission for this week's Works for Me Wednesday, hosted over at Rocks in My Dryer is the Diva Cup, hands down the most life-altering product I've ever used. In high school - as I dashed from class to the crowded girls' bathroom during my five minute pass period in a vain attempt to deal with my leaking tampon without being tardy for 3rd period English - I used to dream about a product I could put in place at the beginning of the day and not worry about until bedtime. Back then I thought my dream was hopeless, but then I discovered the Diva. The Diva Cup is a soft silicone cup that is worn inside the body like a tampon, but instead of absorbing blood, it simply catches and holds it until you are ready to deal with it. The only catch is that you have to be comfortable dealing with your own body fluids. You will get blood on your fingers, but - as I tell my six-year-old when she begins to freak out over dirty hands - they will wash. It is a small price to pay for TRUE freedom during your period.

I wish I had had this product as a teen, and I fully intend to induct my daughter into the Diva club when she comes of age. It Works For Me!

Hair Help!

This week's Works For Me Wednesday works in reverse. That means I get to post a question for y'all to answer, and, boy, I've got a doozy.

My life is full of hair drama. Coio - who turns six TODAY (wow!) has long, fine hair. It can be quite pretty, but most of the time it's a tangly, snarly mess. We do braided ponytails most days because I can't handle the trauma of combing out hair that has been through the day of an energetic little girl.

But yesterday, out of the blue, she announced that she wants to cut her hair. I'm astounded, as every time I've even mentioned it she has responded with adamant protestations that she *loves* her hair and wants to keep it LONG.

I'm happy to turn over the task of hair care, but I want to make sure I don't leave her with a task that is too much. So my question to you is this: how much hair can a six-year-old manage, and what can I do to help her take responsibility for her own head?

Thanks!

OH! It's Wednesday!

Gosh, how did that happen?

OK - Works for Me Wednesday, round two: Peaceful bedtime.

Coio is a typical five-year old (for another week, anyway). Up until recently bedtime has been bath-jams-teeth-prayer-story-nightnight music . . . followed by an hour of trips to the bathroom (for obvious reasons) or the kitchen (I need a drink!!) or living room (I just have to tell you something . . . ).

But that has all stopped.

A few weeks ago I told her she could come out of her room three times - not counting bathroom trips - and that after that her bedroom door would be closed. Now, her door is usually left cracked, but she does have a nice night-light, so it wouldn't be totally dark. Since she wants her door open, she took to the routine very quickly. Now she carefully keeps track of the times she comes out of her room, and after two times out she stays in bed.

AAAHHHHH, peace.

It works for me!

WFMW - Pretty Presents

It's been ages since I blogged, but I'm thinking I'm going to try again. I'm going to start slowly by posting just once a week as part of Works For Me Wednesday over at Rocks In My Dryer.

So here it is, my debut WFMW post: Pretty Presents. I've gotten several compliments on the stack of presents underneath my (tiny) Christmas tree this year (yeah, we just put up the little tree and have the whole display fenced off from señor destructo-boy, AKA C-Rex.) What, you ask, is my secret?

Drum roll please: Let's hear it for cheap-o brown kraft paper! Three bucks will get you a roll of forty feet that can get you through this year's mountain of packages and well into next year's too.

But brown paper is pretty boring, you say. Well, you have a point. Now it's time to make with the pretty, and I direct you to fancy fabric ribbon. It's sort of pricy, so right after Christmas, hit up your favorite craft store and raid the Christmas ribbon display. It ought to be between 75% and 90% off, so you can splurge and get ten or fifteen (or twenty) rolls. Put it away until next year, and you'll be ready to put together a beautiful pile of presents.

Don't despair if you don't have any fabric ribbon on hand, or if you run out of ribbon before you run out of boxes to wrap. I ran out this year, and I was able to pick up more at 50% off at JoAnne's in early December. Not quite the steal it will be after the holidays are over, but still not bad.

So that's it. Plain brown paper and pretty fabric ribbon. It Works For Me!