SingleWorkingMama

I have been working slowly and steadily to reduce the amount of “stuff” in my house.

Something I have been avoiding like the plague is the mountains of toys in almost every corner of my house.

I’m on a mission to do this now. It is unfortunate that rummage sale season is over, since there’s no other good way (is there?) to unload these things and earn a little return on the initial investment.

It is also unfortunate that I would prefer sticking hot pokers in my eyes to actually assembling, organizing, and facilitating a rummage sale. I’m almost positive that last year I said “I will never do this again,” in fact. My personality doesn’t allow for a whole lot of dickering over items that are marked .50.

The kinds of things I’m looking to get rid of are arguably “hot sellers” in the rummage world. Toys, toys, toys.

I’m looking for tips and tricks to maximize my big blowout. Or, is there a better way? Please submit in the comments area below!

My plan is to start collecting apple boxes at the grocery store (free, sturdy, and with lids) and filling one or two each weekend. As I do this, I am going to price the items. Theoretically, when the time comes, I can carry up the boxes and only have to set up tables and fend for myself when it comes to the customers.

Last Christmas, I bought the kids a Fisher-Price Kid-Tough Waterproof Digital Camera.

It is the perfect camera for fledgling photographers in the 3-7 year-old range.

It has a flash, a simple interface, and comes with all the tools you need to transfer their photographic masterpieces to your computer. The image quality isn’t that great, but the camera is (so far) indestructible. Considering the beating it gets from my son, that is a critical quality. *Note – since I bought ours, they have also waterproofed the camera! Awesome.*

Every now and then, they go off and set up still-life pictures, as well as inventive trick photography.

Trick photography case in point: One night, as I cooked dinner, they were playing in the yard with the camera. They came running in, gasping for breath and shouting that they saw a real giraffe in the back yard. I looked at them and asked, “A real giraffe?”

“Yes! Mom! We can prove it!”

With that, they showed me their astonishing proof.

Funny... I never saw any news reports about an escaped giraffe!

This picture led me to think instantly of the famous photo of Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster. I feigned shock, the three of us tried to figure out what a hungry lost giraffe might like for dinner, and then all had a good laugh.

A carefully arranged still-life.

I think this camera is well worth the investment. We have a lot of fun uploading their pictures to Walgreens, then printing them and putting them in albums. An amateur photographer myself, it excites me greatly to see them developing their own techniques.

I’m all about simplifying my life. As any parent knows, the electronic toys of today require many batteries, tools, and an iron determination (as well as at least twenty minutes) when it comes to replacing those batteries.

My kids are now beyond the point that I have to worry about them removing a AA battery and trying to ingest it, so I have started using clear packing tape to hold the batteries in on such fun toys as the Vtech – V.Smile Pocket Learning System.

Hold in batteries, change and more...

Another notable implementation of clear packing tape is to replace a lost piggy bank plug. If you keep a tiny piggy bank from Las Vegas on your dryer like I do, you might find that you have to empty it into your Disney fund frequently. The tape provides easy access to your ching-a-ling.

Finally, if you are late to work and notice a major lint or fuzz invasion on your black pants, a strip of clear packing tape can be a fast alternative to more costly (and often missing) lint rollers.

Welcome to November in Wisconsin. My kids woke up yesterday, thrilled and screaming because there was snow on the ground. My first thought was “I hope it melts while I’m at work!”

Last year, I had a snow removal service, which was perfect, convenient, and ultimately too expensive.

As a result, I will be doing my own snow removal this winter, and was lucky enough to acquire a darling Yard Machines 31A-2M1A700 21-inch 123cc OHV 4-Cycle Gas Powered Single Stage Snow Thrower (Non-CARB Compliant) for the season. True, most would not think to describe a snowblower as “darling,” but this thing is tiny, compact, and easy for me to turn on as well as control.

My neighbors probably thought I was berserk for using a snowblower on about .5 inches of snow, but I wanted to practice. After all, someone had to clean up the giant pile of snow my four year-old so helpfully shoveled off of the grass and onto the driveway…

My little helper.

I quickly learned that you have to start in the middle of the driveway. Doing anything else will result in having to re-blow previously-blown snow. We all know that’s not cool.

I could see my neighbor silently watching me learn this lesson, and am sure he got a kick out of it.

Live and learn, right? I’m not quite ready to challenge Mother Nature to “bring it on,” but I do feel more prepared for a big one!

Clutter is my enemy. The clutter in my house seems to multiply at an alarming rate, and I have had a goal for a while now of learning how to cope with it.

Oh, how I would LOVE to be selected by Oprah to have Peter Walsh come knocking on my door… I’d be willing to sacrifice my dignity and let the world see the chaos behind my blessedly opaque front door in exchange for his customized advice!

But, since that is not probable, I have started my own clutter management program using Walsh’s “stuff reduction” techniques in his book It’s All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff.

The book offers very insightful tips to begin to get rid of stuff bit-by-bit, which as any working mother knows is much more realistic than being able to devote a few hours, a day, a week or solid month (in my case) to improving our living environment. It’s a quick read and a good reference manual for those times the junk sneaks back up on you.

Don’t get me wrong, Oprah… If you picked me, I’d love it!

You know how the kids are always entertained by the cardboard box the expensive toy comes in?  Well, I for one am scaling way back for Christmas this year.

They find a great deal of entertainment in things like a strainer and a ball…  And it encourages creativity!

What fun and creative activities have your kids come up with?  Tell me about your ideas below and I will feature the most popular in future posts!

I’m a product junkie.  I am a sucker for packaging, smooth-talking hair stylists and advertisements.

The other day, it occurred to me that I would be crazy to buy ANY MORE PRODUCTS until I’ve used up the hundreds of half-used bottles in my bathroom.

This is only a fraction of the insane amount of products I have.

I will be keeping track each time I kill a bottle, and will tally up the dollar amount of each product I finish.  Each time I do this, I am going to put that dollar amount in the Disney fund!

Have you created a similar challenge for yourself? If so, comment below!

Well, and once all of those items are gone, I guess I’ll need some new shampoo…

The very first weekend my kids went to stay with their dad after he moved out, I called my friend Robin and droned on about how I couldn’t imagine waking up without them in their beds.

Divorced for about nineteen years at this point (and since happily re-married), she said “Don’t worry, Heidi…  You’ll get used to that very quickly.”

She was right.  I miss them every time they are gone and cannot wait to get them back, but I’ve gotten used to using that time to do “household administrative tasks,” and even schedule in some social activities.

I think the toughest part is flipping from on to off, with no in-between.  When I have the kids, no matter how tired I am, I am the source for whatever need they may have.  This does not change if I have to do work from home, or if I have a raging case of the 24-hour stomach flu.  Let me tell you, when my youngest was still in diapers, that made 24 seem like 72 in a jiffy!

Share your story!  What is the craziest thing that has happened to you on one of your “on” times? How did you cope?  Who did you call?  Submit your story by clicking on the comment link below!

You aren’t alone.  We are everywhere.  Sometimes, it doesn’t seem like that is the case, but every day more and more mamas are facing the world solo.

It’s a tough job, but the rewards are immeasurable.  Some days are easier than others, but as time goes by it gets easier on the whole.

My goal in creating this site is to provide resources, platforms for discussion, a place to exchange tips and tricks, as well as share parenting, dating and work advice.

Single working mamas unite!