A Green Bucket, a Pink Cow, and My Laundry Room's Dirty Little Secret

Okay, I have been blogging a little over two and a half months now, and I keep telling myself that I am not writing a "mom blog".  I am not.  I.  am.  not.

Well, lets face it.  I am a full-time mother and a full-time housewife.  If you are counting, that is two full-time jobs.  I spend a lot of time thinking about those things.

So, today, I decided not to fight it.  I am going to share a few of the things that make my life a little simpler.

The Green Bucket That Saved Five Thousand Steps

I have a small green bucket that cost a dollar at Target.  My mom left it here.  I kept it.  It sat on my kitchen counter for a few days until I realized it was the best invention EVER.  I call it the green bucket that saved five thousand steps.

It used to be, that any time I found something in my kitchen that didn't belong there, I would pick it up, carry it to where it belonged, and put it away.  This happened five-thousand seven-hundred and eighty-two times a day.

The situation was the same each time I needed to sweep.  I would pick up one or two toys, books, articles of clothing at a time and return them to their proper place, several times, before the floor was clear enough to clean.  Well.  No more!

I have my magic bucket.  It still sits on my kitchen counter, and now, when I find things in my kitchen that don't belong in my kitchen, into the bucket they go.  Size permitting of course.  Even the greatest invention ever has its limitations.

Then, about twice a day, thrice if necessary, I take the green bucket and make a sweep of the house.  I start at one end, and anything on the floor, or in the wrong room, goes in the bucket.  When I get to the other end of the house, I turn around and go back, putting every thing away where it belongs.

The empty bucket, goes back on the kitchen counter.

Why did I not think of this before?

Holy Cow, It's Pink

Holy Cow is a non-toxic, and PINK, multi-purpose cleaner developed by a mom who did not want to poison her kids, her pets, or her planet, but still wanted a clean house.

I swear by it.  And it is dirt cheap.  I pay under two dollars.  It is available at Wal-mart and other locations nationwide.  There is also blue cow for windows and green cow for your barn or boat, or in my case, bathtubs.

The Holy Cow company is nearby, but I don't know the people and they are not paying me.  (Though I am beginning to think maybe they should.)

My Laundry Room's Dirty Little Secret

It doubles as a diaper changing station.  Actually, the only one in the house.  

Once we had more than one child in diapers, and they were sharing rooms, having a changing table in the bedroom did not make sense.  We could not afford two changing tables, and didn't have room for a second one anyway.  And, one child would invariably need a diaper while one of the other ones was sleeping in the room.

Our solution was the centrally located laundry room.  I change diapers on the washer and dryer.  I have a front loader now, but I did not always.  I just moved the pad off to do laundry.  The diapers and paraphernalia are in the cabinets about the machine.  And best of all, I am right next to the door to the garage, so that is where we dump the dirties.  No diaper pail in the house!

So, there you are.  My housewife blog.  If any of you found any of this useful, I am glad.  I hope I have it out of my system for awhile.