Friday Things
1. Joseph turned 15 months old this week, what?! After spending most of his first year under the 10th percentile for height and under the 20th percentile for weight, he has skyrocketed to 52nd for height and 76th for weight! If someone had told me two years ago that I would find a little toddler so incredibly funny and so much fun, I would have never believed them. He’s the best :)
2. I’m still a ways out from this, but a great article on not raising bullies.
3. What’s your favorite store-bought salsa? GO!
4. I don’t think I have enough time to knock all of these off before I turn 40, but definitely saving this list! >> 50 Books Every Woman Should Read Before 40.
5. Talk to me about Swiffers! Our entire first floor is hardwood/tile and we run a Roomba every night when we go to bed, so that helps keep the dog hair and any random dirt/crumbs at bay. I also steam mop, but probably not as often as I need to – it’s takes awhile to keep reloading the water, moving the power cord, etc. and I don’t like doing it while Joseph’s awake because I don’t want him to slip on the wet floors. So I’m wondering if a Swiffer that I could use quickly would help with the dust and little smudges in between steam mop sessions? Thoughts? Regular/wet-jet?
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6. A question for those of you that use metric measurements… I’ve been trying to include metric measurements in my new recipes, but I’m curious how large amounts of liquids are typically reflected? For example, I have 1,183 mL – write it as is, round up/down, use liters, like 1.2 liters? Teach me :)
7. Cinco de Mayo is coming up in a couple of weeks! What’s your favorite Mexican food? I’ve been a sucker for tacos since I was super little, and always nachos, of course.
8. What recipes would you like to see for the summer? Lay ’em on me!
9. Hockey playoffs! Are you watching? The first round is always so much fun, so much hockey to see! I just hope we can get over the first round hurdle this year!
10. TGIF! Duke wishes you a sunshine-filled weekend!
I have an 80-year-old home with 100% hard wood on main floor and upstairs…as well as two shedding Labs. I have used dry and wet swiffer (not jet just regular) for many years and think it works great. My cleaning lady uses mop with Bona once a week and said she never sees a build up from the swiffer. For the record my dogs constantly lick the floor and have had no issues with gettimg sick…maybe breed of dog is a factor?
I have been pondering the Roomba…do you recommend?!
Hi Julie, I absolutely, positively recommend the Roomba if you have hard floors and dogs who shed! We came from a home with mostly carpet and were in shock when we moved in here with all hard floors – so much flying dog hair! Sigh. We were vacuuming at least every other day, which was just such a pain in the butt. You can set the Roobma to run on a schedule, so we have it run downstairs every night after we go to bed. You can’t hear it and the floors just need a quick touch up with the vacuum attachments to get the corners, under end tables, etc. once or twice a week.
Thanks so much for the info! I am sold. Great Mother’s Day gift…
I love that 50 books for every woman to read list. Great collection!
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
I am not a fan of Swiffers. I like the e-cloth Deep Clean Mop which comes with a microfiber type damp mop pad. I also recommend getting the dust mop head (sold separately) as well. Let us know what you decide to get!
http://www.amazon.com/E-Cloth-10620-e-cloth-Deep-Clean/dp/B003WKSTJY?ie=UTF8&keywords=ecloth%20mop&qid=1461357127&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1
How do they turn from babies to boys so fast? Joseph is officially a little man!
Hockey: Go Blues!!
I know!! It seemed to happen overnight! Rooting for your Blues tonight!!
I use a regular swifter, sometimes paired with bona or another safe hardwood floor spray. I bought reusable microfiber cloths on amazon and can’t recommend them enough. I got them years ago when my oldest was a toddler because you can take the middle sections out of the swifter handle and make it toddler sized. I loved letting him help clean, but choked at the cost of him using the swifter cloths.
I had a Swiffer, but I really didn’t like the idea of using more chemicals so I quit and just use my steam mop. Maybe not all steam mops are the same, but it literally only takes about a minute, two tops, for the floor to dry after I use it. I know toddlers can be crazy fast, but it shouldn’t be that difficult to contain your son for a minute or two. Have your husband take him for a walk outside or up to his bedroom for a few minutes!
The best store bought salsa I’ve had is called La Mexicana. I love it because it’s fresh and not jarred. It’s in the refrigerated produce section at my grocery store, and they have mild, medium and hot.
I LOVE pico de gallo. Guac, too, but I couldn’t live without pico de gallo. My favorite dish is any kind of enchiladas.
I just got an ice cream maker a month ago and have really been pumping out ice cream recipes. I have the custard for David Leibovitz’ mint ice cream with stracciatella (made with mint leaves that were steeped for an hour and not an extract) in the fridge right now, in fact! So obviously, I’m most excited for more ice cream recipes this summer. :)
Joseph is getting so big, and he’s going to be an awesome big brother. My fave store bought salsa is the one from Costco. Something about it makes it so yummy and so much better than the stuff at the traditional grocery stores. Swiffers are great at cleaning but I stopped using mine several years ago when it came out that the solution was toxic to animals. I don’t know if the story is true or not, but i decided to not take the chance. I switched to the system from Bona. I found the laminate system at Ace Hardware, but the hardwood floor on is at Target. It makes my floor look amazing and it cleans up the dog hair and foot prints quick and it dries fast.
Please stay away from the Swiffer with having dogs! My mother knows a woman who’s dog licked the floor and it eventually poisoned her dog! Check out a product line called Norwex instead!
I like Green Mountain Gringo Salsa, for a really good “jar” type. I also use a regular Swiffer dry mop for everyday dusting on my wood & tile floors. I use the wet pads on it for quick mop-ups….pretty simple & easy to grab! I don’t have any small children around, but have one very spoiled Black Lab who leaves a trail of hair! Lol!
Joseph is so adorable!
The best salsa out there, IMHO, is Newman’s own peach salsa. So so good!
I am a big fan of the Swiffer dry sweeper but not the wet version. The floors end up with a coating over time and really don’t look or feel clean.
I loved the article about bullying. As a former, long time kindergarten teacher, I used to see the seeds of bullying developing more often than I would ever have imagined. I learned to be aware of the subtle signs and used every opportunity I could to address issues before they got out of hand. I had a serious addiction to children’s picture books and accumulated a good collection that I used to open up discussions about kindness, acceptance, honesty, inclusivity and tolerance. There is nothing like a great book to get kids talking.
That said, I have come across two adult books recently that you might want to keep on you list for future “child rearing” reads. The first is “You Are Not the Boss of Me” by Betsy Brown Braun. It addresses “brat proofing” your child. I hate the term “brat” but essentially Ms. Braun speaks to raising kids that are respectful, grateful, generous and have a positive, healthy sense of self. The second is “The Opposite of Spoiled: Raising Kids Who Are Grounded, Generous, and Smart About Money”. In a world in which many kids have no sense about money other than you can get it from a machine by pushing a few buttons, this book addresses how to raise children who are less greedy and materialistic and more grounded and generous.
I have two German Shepherds so I also vacuum daily. I found the Swiffer to be to small to do the wood floors quickly so I purchased a Rubbermaid commercial floor mop, it’s twice as wide as the Swiffer. It has two mop heads that attach by Velcro. One mop head is for dry floors and one is for wet. I got tired of changing the mop heads so I bought another mop so I have one mop for dry floors and one for wet. I use a spray bottle of plain water and touch up where the floor needs it. The mop heads are machine washable.
I would like to get a Roomba, do your dogs leave it alone?
Hi Beth, With the Roomba model that we have, you can schedule it to run at certain times every day, so it’s set to run downstairs at midnight every single night (after we go to bed). So we don’t have to deal with dogs or a toddler trying to chase it or pick it up :)
I use the Rubbermaid Reveal. A couple squirts of Method dish soap and water and away I go! The heads are washable, so there is no need to buy refills. But do buy a couple to get you through the week before you do laundry.
Joseph looks so happy and healthy – he’s adorable.
iRobot also has the Braava which is the mopping version of the roomba. I’d get one if we had less carpet.
I love our roomba! My 20 month old loves to chase it around and “oomba” was one of his first words, lol.
Loved the article on bullying! And also added some must-read books to my list! (The ones I had already read on that list were all great so I knew if must be a good list.) Thx!
Sewiffer has a try me free rebate, so you can’t go wrong with that. http://swiffer.com/en-us/our-commitment-to-clean/swiffer-money-back-guarantee
My daughter, in her preteen and teen years, would do my cleaning and that is what she would use. Worked great for ME! :D She would use wetjet.
My favorite brand of store bought salsa is Herdez.
Beware of the Swiffer wetjet. I have heard that it is not really safe for pets!
I grew up in Canada with metric and I can tell you that almost all of my friends and relatives still bake with imperial measurements. So unless people have been begging you to do the conversion, I honestly wouldn’t bother with it. Just my 2 cents!!
I have been doing the battle of the hardwood for years. Everything I used left a film. I spoke with the woman who sold me the flooring and she said that you really don’t want to mop it very often. A dry Swiffer is fine for the most part. But every so often you need something more and she said only use warm water. And that has worked the best for me as far as not leaving a film behind. I have several Swiffer and Swiffer-type contraptions, but will often use the Swiffer wetjet but dumped out the solution and just replaced it with warm water. I will also use one of those heavy duty squirt bottles with warm water and use the Swiffer pad to dry it.
We have hardwood floors and I use a basic Swiffer mop. I didn’t want anything but a basic mop because, at least for me, the more features a product has the more there is to go wrong. Buying the Swiffer refills is a waste of money. When I bought the mop, I also bought a supply of very cheap washcloths (because they are thin which works better). I keep a spray bottle of 50/50 water and white vinegar with the mop and spray it on the washcloth before I mop. After mopping, the pad comes off and goes in the laundry. I recently read a tip that using generic wet wipes works well for replacement pads and I may try that. We have both cats and dogs and this works well for corralling the hair and dirt.
For metric measurements we use Deciliters in Sweden for (DL) there are 10 DL in a L and then once you hit over 10DL you switch to L.
I would use a flat mop and a rag that you tie around it and just vinegar/water for cleaning floors. You don’t want the toxins that comes with a swiffer as you have an infant. The rags you can wash. Vinegar is cheap.
I have 18 month old twins, two dog,s and a cat, so I really understand the floor cleaning issue. I tried the swiffer products a month or two ago, and I was not impressed at all. I finally purchased a Hoover cordless vacuum, and it is the absolute BEST! It obviously doesn’t handle any mopping, but I buzz around the house with it almost every single night and it keeps the floors perfectly clean. I LOVE it and highly recommend it!
I have wood floors and one cat. I swear by Bona wood floor cleaner and the Bona spray mop with the washable pads. As for salsa I absolutely love Trader Joe’s Salsa Verde! I’m half Mexican and I LOVE carne asada soft tacos and Posole with all the toppings ( sliced radishes, shreddred cabbage and lime squeezed on top.) Your sweet son, Joseph, is just so cute! Enjoy each day a they grow up so quickly. This coming from the mother of three daughters and six grandchildren ❤️
My favorite salsa is Trader Joe’s Salsa Autenica, followed closely by their Tomatillo Salsa. Favorite Mexican food? Well, if that’s based on what I make (and eat) most often, it would have to be guacamole. I like tacos, burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas, Mexican rice, refried beans — all accompanied by guacamole.
Joseph is so adorable…those toes look too cute not to nibble a bit. ;) Swiffers are the bomb. I use the dry and wet ones. Great on hardwood, tile or vinyl. Enjoy these precious days.
I have hardwoods though also and have a dog. I bought the Swiffer wet jet thinking it would be a game changer, but I am sad to say it leaves residue everywhere. We have lots of windows and the sun is always telling on me as far how clean your floor is. So instead of using the Swiffer wet jet, I use a Norwex dry/wet mop. Its a non-chemical base product. The dry is used as a broom, collects the dust without dropping it everywhere. You only use water to wet the mop head. Throw it in the wash once a week and you are good to go to use again, Simple! My floors have never looked better and I don’t have to waste money on buying refills on Swiffer products. Let me know if you would like more info about the mop. :)
Big fan of Swiffer dry. (Disclaimer: husand and I are both retired from Procter & Gamble) We’ve been using a Swiffer since my husband first got to try it before it hit the market years ago. When we had both a dog, cat and two boys, we had plenty of dirt, dusy and hair on our hardwood floors. Vacuuming leaves behind some dust and dander (as do Roombas). We vacuum, then Swiffer. I have taken a slightly damp washcloth, wrapped it around the Swiffer and used it in a pinch. Works great and into the wash it goes. We are not fans of Swiffer Wet, however. Our steam mop does a much better job and the floors are streak free.
One of our favorite Mexican at home meals is Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas from Kevin & Amanda. I’ve added onions (cooked) or extra green chiles, used different cheeses and it always turns out great. It’s quick, easy and requested by the grandchildren which makes it a winner! http://www.kevinandamanda.com/recipes/dinner/salsa-verde-chicken-enchiladas.html
I just love all the photos of Joseph. I have two grandsons about the same age and they are precious at that age (well, grandchildren are precious at any age). I have hardwood floors throughout the first floor of my home and I use a Bona floor mop (similar to a wetjet) with Bona Wood Floor Cleaner. It’s the best product to use on your wood floors and doesn’t make them too slippery and it’s so quick and easy.