Stay Wee

Growing-up, my parents liked to push on my head and exclaim "stay wee." They didn't want me to grow-up and I could never understand why. Growing-up was so exciting. New Experiences...what could be better?

My Little Guy turned five on Saturday. Now, it's my turn to push on his little strawberry head and tell him to stay wee. I really mean it.

During one of my head pushing sessions Little Guy asked if he could start to eat ice cream for every meal. Then, he surmised, he wouldn't grow and could stay little forever. I wish.


For the birthday party update, my KISS rule worked smashingly. Two hours and I was done. No cleaning, no cooking, no decorating.

Hope over at A Little Imagination made the most beautiful cake ever. I asked her to KISS and this is what she came up with. Creative people blow my mind.

Instead of goodie bags, I skipped the waste and instead gave each child a Mr. Birthday book. (Thanks for the idea Jen!) The indoor jumpy place cleaned-up after the party and even corralled the gifts.


Even though I may have overdone the jumping...skinned my elbow...tweaked my neck...A wonderful time was had by all! Indoor jumpy places weren't created for just the five year-olds to have all of the fun.

Keep It Simple Stupid

Throughout life I have picked up a few pearls of wisdom that have really stuck with me.

On the drive up to college my mummy gave me the pearl, "never leave your drink unattended." I think that we could all benefit from that one.

While in college a teaching professor shared her one theory on teaching. "KISS". Keep it simple stupid! So I did.

I like to think my classes learned something....Time will tell when my former students start to graduate next year. Do you think that they remember how a banana gets to the food store, place value or the capitol of Cambodia?

Living green and living simple go hand in hand.

Simple food.
Simple housing.
Simple clothing.
Simple needs.
All equal a simple life. Right?

What about raising simple kids in the suburbs and planning their simple birthday parties when mummy was a party planner in her last life?

Not so simple, stupid.

I love to pick themes and run. Invites, cake, clothing, party favors, decorations, table...You get the idea.
There was Girlie's sixth birthday where we did a tea party theme. I collected antique tea cups from Freecycle and Salvation Army for the girls to sip from and ultimately take home. Then, there was Little Guy's fourth birthday complete with a tanker truck pinata, shirts and cake. Let's not forget Girlie's red party. Red snacks, red art project, red outfits and red gifts.

This year is a little crazy to say the least. After hubby's back surgery and my mummy's battle with cancer I am not interested in planing an elaborate back yard party. Little Guy has asked for a trash party (can you believe the irony?). He wants an arm trash truck to visit the house and give all of the kids rides. Little Guy must not have received the KISS memo.


This is the year to pull out one of the pearls of wisdom that is lurking in my deep dark memory. Keep it Simple Stupid.

So I did.

I went online and found the website for a local indoor moon bounce gym. I clicked. It is booked. That's it.

Let's call the theme this year "jump" and call it a day.

Organizational Specialist?

This week a local group invited me to attend their organizational seminar. A real, live organizational specialist was going to speak. Having a good friend in this group, I thought that I would go to do a little socializing and maybe pick-up a tip or two.

I enjoy organizing closets, drawers and the such. Do not confuse organizing with cleaning. Cleaning is not my thing. My home is pretty well organized except for occasional spruce-ups. I enjoy organizing so much that I have offered, even pleaded, for the chance to help a friend who is planning on organizing her basement. I hope she takes me seriously.

This organizational expert displayed all of the wonderful things that we could buy to organize our homes. Plastic buns, plastic totes, plastic envelopes. Plastic, plastic, plastic crap! The entire seminar seemed like a big infomercial. "Buy this and you too can be organized." The women attending furiously scribbled notes looking for a way to simplify their busy lives.

After the seminar I raised my hand to suggest that maybe people should stop bringing more stuff into their homes as a way to get organized and make life easier. I even suggested ways to cut back on catalogs and financial offers. The pens were flying. The speaker was scowling. The idea of making our lives more simple could put her out of business.

If you too are interested in cutting down on the stuff that comes into your home, check out these two great website. Visit Catalog Choice and those unwanted catalogs will stop arriving in your mailbox ASAP. OptOut Prescreen is another free website. Just register all of the adults in your home and kiss those annoying mortgage and credit card approvals goodbye.

For anyone out there looking to get and stay organized, my not-so-expert advice would be to keep it simple. Your clutter will expand to your area. So lots of bookshelves or plastic totes may not be the answer.

In my house we have a few organizational tricks that are working great!

• Keep a few vertical folders in the kitchen for all of those papers that come into the house. Each person/action gets their own color.
• We have four small drawers near the back door where each person can fill their own drawer up with all of the mittens and hats that will fit.
• In the basement each person gets two memory totes for yearbooks, baby shoes, report cards, art, etc. When your totes are full then it's time to purge.
• There is a donation bin in the basement. Just one bin. When you outgrow something, toss it in. When the tote is full it's time to take a trip to the Salvation Army.

So, we're not perfect. Things get cluttered and messy. For the most part I'm happy when we can all get out the door remembering backpacks, mitten, dance shoes and coupons. Every day remind me self to KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid!