You know that chemicals might be bad for you, but how do you live without them?

First, you have to remember that people used to live with the same pests that we fight today, before chemicals existed. When you use chemicals, the natural balance of predator and prey is upset in your house and yard.

Allowing your yard and house to come back into balance will take about three years. Since you have been artificially killing the bugs that you don’t want, you have also been inadvertently removing the food for the bug’s predators. Once you stop using chemicals, the “bad” bugs will temporarily explode in growth. You can control them through non-chemical methods; vacuuming often, using cedar chips, etc. Then, over the course of the next three years, their natural predators will return, and the predators will take care of them for you. During the temporary explosion, here are some things that have always worked for us, to discourage bugs and rodents: Read the rest »

Episode #17: OH! Organizing Hints - Trash Eve

Geralin Thomas Introduces Clever Parents to “Trash Eve”. Plus, a clever family organizer. Watch the vidcast on Clever Parents TV.

Talk about Clever: Brad and Jera Deal made up a creative way to teach the alphabet to their daughters then transformed it into a personalized gift business.

As a way to introduce the alphabet to their daughters, Brad and Jera Deal made a game of ‘letter hunting’ while out for walks or spending days in the park. Since, like most parents, they always had a camera with them, they took pictures of the letters that they spotted whether they were in nature, art or surrounding architecture. Soon they had pictures for every letter in the alphabet. Read the rest »

Create memories by making fall décor with items that you already have in or around your home. Not feeling especially crafty? The best way to become inspired and get ideas is to grab your children and go on a nature walk. Allow your children to come up with suggestions on their own! Take along a bag and collect some items throughout your walk; pinecones, wheat, interesting fall leaves, some twigs, acorns, etc.

Bring the nature items home and have the kids help create beautiful fall decorations from what you found. This task has nothing to do with showcasing how crafty you are, and everything to do with the time spent working with your children. What is great about the majority of these decorations is that after the season is over, the decorations can be discarded and there is no need for storage.

Here are just a few of my suggestions: Read the rest »

Today we goto The Best Nanny Newsletter to get some tips on how to interview household employees.

Interviewing household employees such as nannies, chefs, personal assistants, housekeepers, health care aides, and butlers is important. Each family and home has unique needs. Many potential problems can be avoided if the interview is properly conducted. During interviews the families and the job candidates often rely on their intuition. Although it is not wise to jump to conclusions, it is natural to get a sense of what individuals are like in the first minutes of meetings. As prospective employees and family members learn more about each other they can make informed decisions if their relationships may work.

In-person interviews are essential in helping families and potential employees determine if they are compatible. For example, in nanny in-person interviews the parents can judge how nannies and their children interact. Parents can describe activities their children enjoy to see if nanny candidates have an interest in those areas.

Read more on the Baby Swap site…

Thanks for SWAPPING!

Decorating on a Shoe String Budget: Part 1 “Guilt Free Shopping”

Why do I have clutter? Often, the answer is very simple… because I simply buy too much. In order to win the battle of clutter, we need to first correct the behaviors that created it!

A common mistake made by many of us is buying unneeded items with the justification that it is on sale. A sale is not going to save you money! Seriously, I know we have trained ourselves to calculate to the penny exactly how much we save when we buy… but the truth is, if we spend money on things we don’t need, we are not saving a dime. Worse yet, we are taking money from much worthier expenses such as: vacations, retirement, college, or paying off debt.

This week I want you to challenge yourself to redecorate an entire room simply by using things from other rooms in the house. This is fun exercise to get the children involved! This is also a great time for you to invite a friend over to help. Make up a pot of tea, grab some snacks and have fun! Pick a room and take out everything except the furniture. Now, start shopping around your home. Groupings can be created either by like objects not of the same color or like colors, not the same type of objects. Experiment and have fun. Only put items back into the room that really work for you. This is your house and there are no rules! You certainly can feel free to swap furniture from other rooms as well! Read the rest »

Turn any surface into a chalkboard! Don’t worry about writing on the walls anymore with chalkboard paint. The paint, which is acrylic based, turns any painted surface into a chalkboard. Make A-frame easels with plywood and then paint - no need to buy expensive slate. Paint sections of walls or doors for fun. Paint a section of a toy chest or dresser and then use the chalkboard to label contents. Read the rest »