Posts Tagged ‘make it do’

Thankfully my children are past the age of drawing on walls with crayons.  But the other day my girls were in full art mode at my kitchen table.

After they cleaned up their crayons and pencils, I was left with crayon marks and smudges from the lead pencils all over my painted cream table.  A washcloth with hot soapy water just couldn’t cope with the mess.

The solution is simple and doesn’t require a special cleaning product… ie. Magic Eraser or other such product.

Baking soda works wonderfully well on crayon marks, is very cheap, and safe for the environment– and it’s always in my cupboard.

Is there no end to what baking soda can do?

1.  First dip your washcloth into hot soapy water and wring it out.

2.  Then dip into or sprinkle a little baking powder onto the cloth.

3.  Then lightly rub out the mark.

4.  And the mark is gone.

5.  Now rinse off the baking soda by wiping down the table or wall with a hot soapy washcloth.  I just dip the soda washcloth back in the sink and then wring it out.

Now let’s try it with the pencil smudges.

And the result is the same.

This process works just as well on a wall-  the perfect solution for those budding little artists who love to color on walls.

I love, love, love baking soda.   And if you don’t believe me, check out a just a few of the other ways I clean with it.

• Clearing a slow drain.
• Cleaning and deodorizing a refrigerator.
• Cleaning a dirty sink.
• Cleaning a dirty frying pan.
• Deodorizing carpets.

Yesterday Ben and I went to the bank and to open his very own savings account.  In went the money he has earned by taking care of our neighbor’s cats while they are on vacation, lemonade stand earnings, and birthday money.

The savings account was his idea.  Up until now he has kept his money in a small red lockbox in his room.  And every once in a while he’ll buy a toy or a candy bar.

But recently he decided that toys and candy are a waste of his money- he didn’t like seeing the amount in his box dwindle.  He’d rather have it in the bank where he wouldn’t be tempted to spend it.  Great idea Ben.

In the car ride to the bank, I was bombarded by questions:

Do they keep my money separate from the other money in the bank, in a box with my name on it?

What would happen to my money if a bank robber came and robbed the bank?

Can I have a check book?

Can I have a credit card?

Will they give me $10 for keeping my money in the bank?  (Where did that question come from?)

Can I put more money in the bank if I earn more?

Can I have my money back if I need it?

All in all the trip to the bank was so satisfying for me.  It felt wonderful to see Ben planning for the future… making goals about how much money he wants to earn and save.

It also spurred a conversation last night of whether or not we should be paying our children an allowance in cash.  We have job charts currently.  The kids can earn points with the charts… to be turned in for privileges or used to earn something they really want.

But should they have money in hand?  Money that can be used to learn to budget- what to spend, save and give.

The hardest part is I would have to be organized enough to have the right amount of money on hand every week– and then how much money?  What is fair?  What is reasonable?  Should some jobs be done because they are members of our family?  And just the bonus jobs earn money?  What happens if they don’t make their bed one morning?  How much do I deduct?

The most important thing I want to teach my children is that budgeting money is important.  Saving is important.  I also want to teach that spending money doesn’t make you happy…

Does anyone out there have a system of allowance they are happy with?  I’d love to hear.

And if any of you are in love with the darling mushroom bank shown above- like me, it’s from one of my favorite toy stores The Magic Cabin.