Friday, October 14, 2011

Make your own Febreze!

So this mommy is a firm believer that you should get rid of the smell rather than just covering it up, but when company is coming over this mommy likes to do a quick spray over just to make sure there are no offensive odors that she missed somehow (hey, it happens, this mommy does have 3 dogs and a cat, plus 2 messy kids!).  Now this mommy is NOT a fan of the price of Febreze, especially since its so easy to make!  This will cost you next to nothing to make!

Here's what you need:
1 spray bottle (this mommy used an old Febreze bottle, then she didn't have to re-label it and everyone knows whats in it) 
2 cups warm water
1/4 cup fabric softener (find one you like the smell of, or make your own...... stay tuned, that will be another post!)
1 Tablespoon baking soda

And here we go......
pour your water into the spray bottle, add the fabric softener and baking soda.  Screw the top back on the bottle and shake well.  That's it!  Honestly, that's it!  Super easy, costs next to nothing and you can control the scent you want!  This mommy is a fan!  Now go spray your offensive smells! 

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Our potty training adventure : How it took the boy 1 week to be completely potty trained!

So the boy is 28 months now and this mommy decided  last month that she was done changing his diapers (especially since I also have the princess to change).  I know all the statistics that say that "boys are harder to train" and "boys aren't ready as early" and blah blah blah.  Just for the record this mommy thinks thats all a bunch of bologna and it just depends on whether you want to spend the time working with them or not.  Now this mommy had researched every possible potty training technique, "put pull ups on them" (well arent pull-ups just glorified diapers?  How would that work?!?)  "watch for signs and then take the diaper off and take them to the potty" (well for my boy by the time he showed signs of going he had already gone! so that was out) "wait until he tells you he's ready to try" (well this mommy wasn't going to change diapers until the boy was 4!).  This mommy was getting frustrated..... how was I ever going to potty train this kid?  He knows what the toilet is and he knows what its for..... This mommy just knew he was ready!  Then this mommy read about a technique called Naked Training.... this one made sense!  Basically you take the diaper off and let them go naked (yikes, this is where this mommy was nervous).  But reading on, it was based on the theory that if they don't have the diaper they are more aware of what is going on and what they are doing with their bodies (well that makes sense, nobody wants to pee on themselves!)  So with a big sigh and a determined mind I decided I'd try it, what did I have to lose?!?  So the next day, off went the diaper!  I took it off and told him we didnt have any more diapers for him, the only diapers we had now were for the baby and he had to use the potty since he was a big boy.  He didn't seem to care at the time and ran around naked perfectly happy.  Then came the time he had to go, he quickly asked for a diaper, and when I responded "we don't have any diapers for you, you have to go in the potty" the thing I dreaded happened, he stood there looking at me and pee'd on the floor!  Sigh!  This mommy cleaned it up and thought "well at least he knew he had to go!"  I'm not going to lie to you, that first day of no diapers was a disaster and very frustrating, we cleaned up about a million messes (or so it felt) and this mommy was following him everywhere watching his every move to rush him to the potty at the first sign of pee!  At the end of the day this mommy was exhausted, then I thought "what do I do at night?!?"  they reccommend not having the diaper on at night either, which would be fine if he slept in his own bed, but we co-sleep with him and this mommy didn't really want to end up waking up in a pool of pee!  Then it hit me.....a cloth diaper!  He would feel it if it was wet but it wouldn't be the same as his diapers he was used to!  So on went the cloth diaper, we called it his "big boy sleeping pants" and off to bed we went!  We woke up dry!  This mommy was happy, and she rushed the boy to the potty to go, and he did!  Off to a good start!  This mommy looked like an idiot cheering and jumping but I didn't care!  He went in the potty!  Then the boy went naked again, with this mommy determined this day would be easier!  The day started off horribly!  More accidents and this mommy was getting frustrated and thinking this wasn't going to work!  Then right after lunch something changed...... the boy went to the potty, sat down and peed!  (granted he had bad aim and not much went in the potty but still!)  Yay! a breakthrough!  We cheered, we danced, we had candy, and we got a new hotwheels car!  This was a big deal!!  The boy was so excited that the rest of the day we were pretty much going to the potty to pee (sometimes we'd miss, sometimes we would wait too long, but it was progress!).  But then..... uh oh, this mommy knew that look, he had to poop!  This mommy took him to the potty and sat him down, the boy started screaming saying "no!!  need diaper!!  need diaper!!!"  I again told him we didnt have any and he had to go on the potty....... the screaming and kicking continued for about 20 minutes, then he calmed down and nothing happened for another 10 minutes.  This mommy figured she misjudged and let the boy get off the potty.  He took about 5 steps and pooped on the floor!  Sigh!  Well its a work in progress and this is only day 2!  Time for bed again so "big boy sleeping pants" go on and off to bed we go!  Woke up dry again!  yay!  Day 3 was a good day!  we ended up being around 90% there through the whole day, including pooping!!..... not too bad at all!  We didn't dare go out yet.  Day 4 & day 5 were even better getting up to about 95% there.  Day 6 we put on big boy underwear and worked on taking them off and on and going, still about 95% there even with the extra step, this mommy was very proud!  Day 7 we braved going out and about with only underwear on under his pants.  We only went out for about 2 hours, and we stayed dry the whole time!  As soon as we got home he ran to the potty and went!  Yay!  Good job boy!!  Only had 1 accident but it was my fault, he wanted help and I didn't hear him ask until it was too late.  No blame on the boy, and this mommy knew he wasn't going to have any more accidents, and she was right!  We then started letting him go to bed with only underwear on and have been dry every night!  Its been about 3 weeks since we started this process and I can honestly say I don't ever worry about him going in his pants, I trust him 100% with pottying, he plays and then you'll see him run into the bathroom and take his pants off and go all by himself!, he still wants to cheer and dance when he goes so he'll come get me after to show me he went and we cheer and dance!  So this mommy is a happy mommy, I have a completely potty trained 2 year old and less diapers to change!  And who ever has said he's too young to potty train doesn't know anything!  The proof is here sitting next to me!  I'm a very proud mommy!!! 

If you have questions about this method feel free to ask, I'd love to help you so you too can have a potty trained little one!!!  :)