Suzy Q Homemaker

My kitchen is huge, but I hate mopping it!  I think I hate it more than the boring zumba class I went to a few weeks ago.  The teacher seemed to be more out of shape than I was and she mumbled into her mic the entire time.

“[mumble mumble] left [mumble mumble] right [mumble mumble] WOO!”

I was so uninspired that I almost walked out.  The promise of a yoga class right afterward was my only saving grace, although that night we had a sub who thought it would be hilarious to call out every variation of boat that there was.  Canoe?  REALLY?  I considered it a major victory just to be able to let go of my legs in boat.  I’m pretty sure I ripped something that night.

Anyway, my kitchen.  Can you imagine trying to keep a kitchen floor clean with four boys?  Especially now that one of them (TIMOTHY!!) likes to say “Uh oh!” and then proceed to drop pieces of food over the edge of his highchair tray.  Then add to that a retarded cat who makes a huge mess while she eats and you’ve got a recipe for danger.

Asking all of the kids to stay out of the kitchen while I mop is a near impossibility, so I took an idea from my sister, who got the idea from my mom:

Four boys plus + bowl of soapy water =

Let’s take a look at last week’s list:

Mop the kitchen–so didn’t happen.  Gross, I know.  It’s seriously discouraging, though, when every time the kitchen gets mopped, about five more things spill on the floor in the first thirty minutes .

Dust my dresser & jewelry box collection–happened today!  Nothing like waiting till the last minute, right?

Sort through clothes–didn’t happen.  I think it will make me depressed, so I keep procrastinating.

Finish reading books–done.  {check out the review & giveaway here}

Start birthday garland–done.  I picked out fabric and cut out my templates.  Yay!

Stick to the list!–um.  See above.

I managed to get dog sick on Sunday, so I’m a day behind on a lot of stuff, but now that I’m on the mend, I’ve got to get the ball rolling.

This week:

• Keep working on the birthday garland
• start seeds for the vegetable garden
• read the book club book–I haven’t participated in book club in three months.  It’s quite sad.
• BUY DEODORANT–I ran out of deodorant and have been using Jamie’s for the past two days.

And if I’m feeling adventurous:

• Wash the curtains in the house
• Mop the kitchen.  Seriously, you have no idea how big my kitchen is and what a huge undertaking it is to get that entire floor mopped.

With four little people following me around undoing everything I’ve done {a quote from a friend of mine}, it’s really a wonder why I even bother cleaning at all.

I thought I had a relatively simple list made up last week, and I did manage to get some stuff done.  Thing is, stuff happens.  I’m now going to examine last Tuesday’s list and give you a play-by-play:

√  Clean out my email inbox

I successfully unsubscribed to a number of newsletters that I never, ever read.  A lot of them I had been signed up for for more than ten years, so like a typical hoarder, I had some emotional attachment to these virtual papers.  It feels good to have a less cluttered inbox, though.  That’s fo’ sho’.

X  Dust the house before Saturday’s crop

There’s no excuse for this other than I just didn’t feel like it.

√  Put together a Creative Memories order

That’s self-explanatory.  Along with some paper and an album for a big project, I ordered the new rotary trimmer which I am very, VERY excited about.

√  Do yoga!! Or go jogging!! Or do something by way of exercise!!

I didn’t do yoga, but I did manage to drag myself out of the house twice with Timothy in the Didymos and Simon underfoot for a walk down the road and back.  Then it rained during the last half of the week, so I went to the gym on Thursday to run on a treadmill for about thirty minutes.

½  Incorporate beans into at least one meal a day

I’m giving this one a half because I didn’t take into consideration the Wednesday night supper at church (LASAGNA HELLO!) or the fact that I might forget.  Ha!  So we had beans a few days out of the week.

Are you ready to see this week’s list?  Here we go:

• DUST!
• Go to the post office
• Take the pile of clothes by the front door and the pile of stuff in the back of the van to Goodwill
• Go for more walks with Simon & Timothy (weather permitting)
• Try the recipe for roasted chickpeas I saw in one of my cookbooks
• Clean up the convertible car seat and graduate Timothy out of the infant car seat!!

See more To-Do Tuesday and add your own over at Crazy Adventures in Parenting!

How many different laundry detergents have I tried?  A lot.  I’m always on the lookout for the next big thing in laundry.  I think that if our water wasn’t as hard as it is, I would probably stick to one detergent and be done.  Also, I am never completely satisfied with my laundry.  It’s either not all clean, smells funny, or just looks dingy.  I also thought that I was on the losing end of a battle with stains.  I almost gave up!

So, how was I to turn down the opportunity to try Clorox Green Works Laundry detergent and stain remover?

The claims from the Clorox website:

Q. What does natural mean? Are Green Works® products 100% natural?

A. Currently, there is no industry standard definition for natural cleaners. To create Green Works® natural cleaners we set ourselves a very stringent standard. The ingredients must come from renewable resources, be biodegradable and free of petrochemicals. Green Works® cleaners are at least 95% natural. In certain cases we had to use synthetic ingredients, like the preservative and green colorant. But we’re working hard to develop natural alternatives so the entire line can be 100% natural.

My opinion:

I’m happy that the laundry detergent is plant-based and mostly natural, but I don’t believe they should claim a detergent is “natural” if they are still putting in green colorants, synthetic preservatives, and fragrances.  There is a free-and-clear option, but I was sent the scented version.  We don’t use scented laundry products as a rule because they exacerbate Corey’s eczema, so I mostly used the detergent on towels and my clothing.

The scent of the Clorox detergent is VERY strong.  I had only done two loads of laundry when Jamie came home and said,

“You’re doing LAUNDRY.”

Then when Aiden got home from school, he asked,

“What smells like mint?”

It’s not an unpleasant smell by any means, so if fragrances float your boat, good for you!  I just happen to know that the process of creating fragrance oils added to household products is far from “green”.  We prefer not to have them in the house at all.

Cleaning-wise, I think that the Clorox washes as well as any other plant-based detergent I’ve used.  I honestly saw no difference.

The Stain Remover

I am impressed!  I have never been the stain-remover type of person, but since I have it on hand, I had to see what the hype was.

Since Timothy has been sick for the past week, we’ve been having to give him medicine and the stuff is full of dyes!  I didn’t want to admit it.    But hey, we weren’t the ones who bought the stuff, so I’ll save that argument for another post. Anyway, I sprayed all the spots on Timothy’s pajamas that were covered in puke, ibuprofen suspension, and most recently the bright pink antibiotic.  It ALL came out.  All of it–even the spots from four days ago!  I was afraid that all the new pajamas I had just bought him were ruined, but nope!  So now you’ll find me poring over all the boys’ shirts and pants, hunting down stains before I throw them in the wash.

I don’t have any other stain remover to compare the Clorox brand to, but I think I’ll be buying this in the future.  As a mother of four boys, I can’t afford not to.

Hey you guys! My cleaning confession video is up on the Kenmore Youtube channel.  I’ll embed it here so you can watch it and if I’m chosen as a finalist, voting will begin next Friday.  Enjoy!