WFMW - Disinfecting the House/Don't share germs

Updated: I keep updating this list as more tips come to mind or someone shares some.

With all the flu variations going around and schools closing, I have been pondering disinfecting my house. I've had friends make the comment for years when a little one was sick "I've just finished disinfecting my house". This past week I've been asking what that means to several friends. I thought I'd share their tips and mine on disinfecting the house and preventing the sharing of germs - even though I don't do all of them but I think about it.

1. Use a Clorox wipe to wipe all lightswitches and doorknobs. Also wipe telephones, remotes, Wii remotes, television buttons, front of VCR, etc. More things to wipe down - refrigerator handles, oven door handle, microwave buttons, faucet handles, cabinet handles, toilet handle, thermostat. Do this at least every other day.

2. Wash hand towels every day; give each person their own hand towel.

3. Replace hand towels in bathroom with paper towels.

4. Replace toothbrush/toothbrush head after illness; or run through dishwasher to disinfect.

5. Change clothes and wash hands immediately after getting home from school or event with lots of other people.

6. Wash pillowcases several times a week and immediately after being ill; wash sheets once a week and immediately after illness.

7. Spray all surfaces with Lysol every other day if not ill, every day if ill.

8. Wipe down hard surfaces with Clorox wipes every other day if not ill, every day if ill.

9. Spray Oust for 10 seconds in each room every other day if not ill, every day if ill.

10. Don't share drinks with others.

11. Cough/sneeze into inside of elbow or into kleenex; throw kleenex away instead of piling beside bed (I personally NEVER do this :) ); wash hands after sneezing or coughing.

12. Wash hands often.

13. Don't touch face.

14. Don't forget to wipe down the computer keyboard and mouse plus lamp switches.

15. Give each kid their own tube of toothpaste instead of sharing.

Do you have any additional tips/suggestions to add to this list?

For other tips today, enjoy Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family!

WFMW - Whose is Who's

I apologize for any grammatical error in my title - especially to my mom. I'm tired and I just don't want to think about it any more. And so that I don't have to remember to do this post on Wednesday, I'm doing my Works for Me Wednesday post today.

So for my tip this week, it's primarily about towels.

My daughters share a bathroom and, within the bathroom, a towel rod. They both love Princess and TinkerBell so they have Princess and Tinkerbell towels. For the longest time, I could never remember who's towel I hung up on which side of the towel rod. Finally, I came up with this idea. Princess1 is left-handed and Princess2 is right-handed. So, Princess1's towel gets hung on the left side of the bar and Princess2's towel is on the right side. Now I never have to remember who gets Princess this week and which one has Tink, or if they are both using the same style.

This tip may not work if your kids have the same hand preference, but it Works for Me!

My inspiration - a must read.

Last week, I posted about how we have implement "points" in our home, primarily for Princess1. Well, the same source that inspired that has inspired me again. I'm not sure how I'm going to implement the concept but I have to share the concept with you today.

Please click here and read Lara's post. See if it inspires you too.

WFMW - Earning Privileges

I love reading blogs. Some I read to find out about deals to help me save money. Some I read to share in other people's lives. And some I read to help me improve myself and my family. One of my favorite blogs combines the middle and last reasons for reading... The Lazy Organizer. I enjoy Lara's sense of humor and have especially appreciated her sharing of adventures in improving her parenting. One post really caught my attention at the right time in our life here...Follow the Dream. I'll let you read Lara's approach yourself. But here's how we modified it for Princess1, and somewhat Princess2 who wouldn't be left out.

Originally, my plan was to use the notebook approach that Lara uses. Handwriting is hard for Princess1 and I thought this would be a good way for her to practice without a "sit down, time to practice" event. But quickly we realized it wouldn't work. And I stumbled across another blog who did something similar but used craft sticks (sorry, I didn't pay attention to which blog it was but I thank you for your post whoever you are).

So I bought a set of colored craft sticks (I thought colors would be more appealing to the girls and therefore they'd be more cooperative). I took some gold paint and put it in an old applesauce tub (I save these for everything - which I guess could be a WFMW post in the future). I then dipped the sticks in the paint and hung them from a string with clothespins to dry. I then used a sharpie to write a chore/task on each one. Coming up with the list of chores/tasks was quite the effort because Love and I had to agree. I wanted to give Princess1 a point for playing/spending time with Princess2. But Love thought that Princess1 might fight being "forced" to play with Princess2.

So we compromised and created "CTR Points". This is the BEST part of our program. Anytime we spot Princess1 choosing the right (CTR), we will spontaneously give her a CTR point. This is often for playing with Princess2. It can also be used for an overall attitude or immediately responding when we call her or ask her to do something. It is also used for abnormal tasks that we need her to do.

By earning points each day, Princess1 earns privileges. If she earns 4 points, she earns tv/computer/wii privileges. If she earns 6 points, she can invite a friend over or go play at a friend's house. If she earns 8 points, she can have a sleepover. We started this this summer when sleepovers could happen during the week. But since school has started, we've yet to earn 8 points in a day but we need to have some alternative special privilege for when it's during the week.

Eventually, I cleaned out some peanut butter jars, wrapped it in scrapbook paper and put their names on their jars (thanks to my neighbor who has a cricut machine). The girls were both very excited to have nice looking containers for their points.

We've been using the point system since the beginning of summer. Some days Princess1 is enthusiastic about earning points. Other days she decides she'd rather not watch tv.

What earns a point:

Make your bed

Get ready for the day (get dressed, eat breakfast, brush teeth and hair, hearing aid, glasses)

Schoolwork

Practice Piano

Water garden

10 minutes of cleaning in your room

10 minute clean of the living room (generally as a family)

Set table for dinner (or other meal)

Help cleanup dinner

I believe all of these chores/tasks are appropriate for her age and abilities. And none of them take a huge amount of time (note that she only has to work on her room for 10 minutes, not until it's spotless).

What I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE is that I'm not taking anything away from her, ever. She has to earn her privileges. This is a more positive approach than a punishment for not cleaning her room. And because she gets to choose which ones she does to earn points, she has even more control over her day.

We tried this where she earns the points on the same day as privileges - so if she earned 6 points, she immediately called a friend to play. But with school, we discovered that by the time she finished earning her 6 points, it was too close to dinner time to go play with someone. So we switched it to earning your points for the next day. Princess2 doesn't like this and feels her motivation to earn 6 points is gone, except on those days where she has the privilege of playing with a friend. So it's still a work in progress - but the point system definitely Works for Me! Click here for more Works for Me Wednesday tips!

I'm "famous"

I was so excited this morning to discover that one of my favorite blogs mentioned little ole me!

We are THAT Family is the host of Works for Me Wednesday which I participate in semi frequently. But often those thoughts are more in my head than I actually post because I forget about them when Wednesday comes around. In fact, I had an idea yesterday while visiting with my parents and now I can't remember what it was. But I'll call Mom so I can post it..

So a few days ago, Kristen posted a caption contest and today announced the winner... I didn't win :( But I was one of her favorites. To find out my caption, go here. And to see the picture, go here.

WFMW - FHE Outline

As I promised last week, here is how we do Family Home Evening...

Opening Song
Opening Prayer
Practice Song - the song they are learning this month in Primary
Family Calendar for the week and highlights coming up
Lesson (usually 5-10 minutes)
Closing Song
Closing Prayer
Treats (You HAVE to have treats every week - isn't that what FHE is all about?)

Generally the opening and closing songs are from the current year's primary program to continue to practice them. But we occassionally will do other favorites (Morgan always asks for Follow the Prophet).

Overall, FHE takes about 30 minutes, including gather the family time.

Now on the 4th week, which is Singing FHE. We replace the lesson with the songs from the primary program and Follow the Prophet.

Treats - this is your excuse to make all those dessert recipes you have in your recipe box.

Now many families will follow treats with an activity. But we haven't gotten that into our regular schedule yet. Maybe when the girls get a little older and FHE isn't followed immediately by family scriptures and prayer and bed.

And this works for our family. Go here for more Works for Me Wednesday!

What do you believe about heaven and hell?

We were recently visiting with our neighbors and it came up that our neighbor had once been told "If you don't believe the same as I do, you're going to hell." I've heard that before, but usually in the phrase "If you don't belong to [this religion], you're going to hell." I immediately wanted to jump in on my husband's conversation to say "We don't believe that." But didn't get the chance. Yes, a missed missionary moment... but I did talk with his wife a few days later and let her know we didn't agree with that statement.

As I pondered that and Princess1 being around kids of the full range of religious thought at school, I wanted to make sure she knows that we don't believe that. And to help her know what our Church teaches about "heaven and hell". So that's my FHE lesson topic for September. Explaining our viewpoint and what the prophets have taught is easy. I'll be doing something similar to this.

Princess1 already understands that not everyone believes Pres. Monson is the Prophet of God. And not everyone follows what The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints teaches. If you know Princess1 or Princess2, you've probably heard their comments about "He's a naked kid" when they see someone without their shirt on. They both know that modesty is important in our family but that not everyone follows that. Now, to teach them to not point it out loudly when we're at the park :)

Here's where I need your help. I also want to be able to let Princess1 (and Princess2) know what others they are around may believe. Rather than trying to go off my memory or guess what other religions or non-religious friends believe, I decided I would post it as a question. What do you believe (and/or what does your church teach) about heaven and hell. In your response, please include what religion you are, if any. My intent with this information is to show Princess1 how we believe the same and how we believe different from those around us.

Thanks for your help and for being willing to share your beliefs with us.