A Cough, A Sneeze

So when is a cough just a cough and a sneeze just a sneeze and nothing more? 
When is it safe to take the little cough-er out in public?
Is it bad to go outside on a somewhat warm day when they have a runny nose?
When do you worry and when do you not?
How do you not worry when they don't want to eat or drink and thus they only have 2 wet diapers in a 12 hour stretch?

Oh the things on my mind as my little ones are sick.

How to organize DVDs

ARE YOU TIRED OF THIS?

Movies constantly being pulled off the shelf by little hands?

Tired of picking them up?

Over and over again?

This was a daily, if not hourly issue at my house.  So after reading a few others' ideas and trying to decide what would work best for me, I came up with a new way to organize my DVDs that eliminates:

1-The constant 'clean up' poky that was going on between me and the kids,

2-lots of space to store the DVDs,

3-DVDs getting scratched because the kids got to them when I wasn't aware.

So if you are in need of an idea on how to avoid the above issues, here is what I did.

First- I ordered a CD/DVD binder that would be large enough to hold all the DVDs we have with enough room to add to our collection.  You might be able to buy them at your local retail store but I could not find one in my town and so I just ordered one I liked online through eBay.

They even have some really cool CD holders that look more like the binding of a book.  I just went a cheaper binder since it will be going in a closet.

Then I separated each DVD into 3 things; the DVD, the paper cover insert, and the plastic case.

I put the DVD into my nice new binder,

Three hole punched the paper cover insert and this will act as the guide/index to our movies. 

Another option is the clear protector sheets and then you don't have to worry about the paper getting spilled on or ripped (thought of this after I completed my project but just might be looking into it.  I think you can get 50 protector pages for around $4.)

I wanted to keep the DVDs separate from the guide so that they would not be miss handled by little hands, but liked the idea of them (or me) being able to see a picture when deciding what to watch.

Some DVDs come with only a cardboard front with a half plastic case like this...

But it removes easily and then I kept the cardboard piece to put into the index folder.

You could trim the edges since it will look like this once it is out, but I didn't. I did however remove the little proof of purchase strip in the middle as to avoid any pieces of paper that may get taken off by little hands in the future.

Added later: You can also put them in the plastic page covers.  It is much easier to add new ones and it also protects the paper from the little hands.

Then comes the plastic cases...

There are lots of them!  I figure I will ask the local library if they have any need.  Some are recyclable and that is a good way to go.  Who knows there may be some store or person in your local area who needs such a thing (I actually had someone offer to take about 20 of them from me.)  Listing them on "Craigslist" or another swap type site may just help you eliminate them from having to build up the trash pile!  'Go Green' if you can.

Check with your local Library, they took a whole box of them at mine

When you are all done, you will have a CD case full of movies...making the required storage space shrink down from an entire 4 ft x 2 ft shelf unit to about 12 in x 12in x 4in...depending on the size of case you need and if you only need one.  Plus it can be put in a closet or another area where it is now away from the kids. 

You will have a nice color illustrated index of all the DVDs...

...and a new book shelf for all the books that we have been slowly collecting and they were spilling out of the 1 bin they were in. 

I know I just went from picking up DVDs multiple times a day to now subjecting myself to the books being pulled off the shelf multiple times a day, but I figure books don't get ruined if they get scratched and a little hand can never go wrong looking at a book :)

 

Plus, I have only had to pick up books twice in over a week...and it has never been more then one shelf worth, which was not the case with the DVDs.  Go figure!  Maybe now that it no longer an 'off limits' area it just isn't as fun to mess up !?!

Hope this helps you with your constant DVD 'clean up poky' in your house.

Vomit or Diarrhea !?!

Kind of a scary title, but read on and you will understand :)

What would you rather clean up?

Since I have had both situations this past week with sick kids, I most unfortunately have had to clean up both :( ...
and...
It has been confirmed ...
I would rather clean up vomit.  For some reason the whole diarrhea thing just is grosser to me.  Whereas my husband would rather diarrhea because it 'tends to stay more contained'.  As least that was one of the reasons he gave. 
Funny enough, we actually had this conversation because he had it earlier in the day with a co-worker.  So far I am the odd one. 
It is a 1-2 score. 
Help me out people...
What would you rather clean up?

How do you do stains?

I had someone ask me how I get stains out.  So I thought this would be a good post topic and anyone could offer some advise on how to get stains out. 

How I get food stains out:
1-Spray N Wash.  But I don't just spray and walk away, I scrub after spraying usually with and old medium bristle tooth brush.  If it is a tougher stain I will scrub hard with my finger nail.
2-If it is a stain that looks set in after the scrub or just a tough stain, I use a soak of Oxy Clean.  My soak is 1/2 cup powder Oxy Clean to a half gallon (I use an old ice cream bucket) of water.  Then I soak for at least 2 hours.  If it is a stain that got fully washed and did not come out (thus it was put in the dryer) I have been know to leave the article of clothing in the Oxy clean soak for several days.
3-I try to check the stain before drying it but it doesn't always happen.

For pen and marker stains (I have even got permanent marker out this way)
1-Wet the area
2-Spray with hair spray then scrub.  Repeat if necessary.
3-Depending on how it looks at that point I may use Spray N Wash but not always.

I should treat when the stain occurs, but I usually don't...especially with the kids clothes.  I usually just treat before washing.  With the Oxy Clean soak, I don't usually combine colors and whites, and in order to soak for the few hours needed I wash the color that is soaking last on my laundry day or of the 4 or 5 loads I have to wash.

This is not a fail safe stain treat-er but it works for me...most of the time :)
Happy Stain Fighting!