Anyway, I found a good price on a playground on Craigslist and it was right around the corner from us. The boys seem to love it. Once I can figure out why WP won’t let me put any pics up and I have some pictures of the thing, you will see the kids climbing all over it. Maybe I’ll take some video and put it on youtube.

I now always do an initial cold water wash with a few spoonfuls of baking soda. After that I do a hot water wash with some Arm and Hammer perfume/dye free detergent (as per the diaper makers suggestion.) I add one important ingredient to the detergent though! To my bottle of detergent I always add tea tree oil. This seems to be my magic ingredient in keeping the diapers clean and odor free. I find that twelve or thirteen drops does the trick.

After the hot water wash I do another cold water wash, adding vinegar to the fabric softener dispenser. I use the vinegar to restore the ph balance of the diapers after using baking powder.

A majority of the time, this system seems to work the best. Occasionally I have to do a second or third hot water wash with the detergent/tea tree oil mixture. Never more than three, though. This has been a great improvement considering that before I started using the tea tree oil I was having to do six to ten hot water washes to get the smell out, on top of the cold water washes.

I’m glad to have a system that finally works!

On a side note, two of my older sets of cloth diapers are falling apart. I got a bunch of diapers on Craigslist for really discounted prices and some of the diapers were pretty old. Right now I really wish that I had a sewing machine to fix them. Since I don’t I’m ordering two more sets of Fuzzi Bunz and I am going to try two Happy Heinys at the suggestion of a friend. She has been doing cloth with her boy a lot longer than I have and has tried many different diapers. According to her, the Happy Heinys run large. Just what my kids need!

I’m way jazzed that back in February Trent and Hunter started getting into “Blue’s Clues.” I kind of like that one, plus Aunt Dottie got Trent a Blue doll for his first Christmas and now he really knows what it is! I have a picture of him with Blue to come…

The other day I put on a night gown. My Mom made it and wore it when she was pregnant with me and I wore it while I was pregnant with both the kids. I haven’t worn it in a while and when I came into the kitchen wearing it, Trent took a look at me and said “Mommies a princess!” I know he said this because the night gown is big and billowy and probably reminded him of all the princess’s he’s being see on DVD, but it sure made me feel good. That boy got the biggest hug!

Now that my second son is a year old I am ready to move him to his own crib after doing a year of co-sleeping and am once again looking to the Pantley method for solutions. With my second child, I face a lot of different challenges then I did with my first, so I am going through and re-reading the book. Since Hunter poses some unique challenges, I decided to go the source herself and email Elizabeth Pantley with a question that is unique to Hunter. Or at least check out her website to see if there is already advice that I can use to my advantage.

While on her site I discovered that she has a new book out, “The No-Cry Separation Anxiety Solution.” She has a series of six books at this point, and I would love to own all of them. Here the publishers summary of the book:

BOOK SUMMARY FROM THE PUBLISHER

A tear-free approach to child separation blues—from the bestselling No Cry author a generation of parents have come to trust

Almost every child suffers some sort of anxiety during their first six years of life. Babies cry when grandparents hold them, toddlers cling to mommy’s leg, children weep when their parent leaves them at daycare, at school, or to go to work. This can cause frustration, sadness and stress in an already too-busy day and can break a parent’s heart.

Trusted parenting author Elizabeth Pantley brings you another winning no-cry formula that helps you solve these common separation issues. Pantley helps you identify the source of anxiety and offers simple but proven solutions.

In this exciting addition to the series, she ingeniously includes a free “magic” bracelet inside the book as a special tool for children to feel close to their parents—even when they’re not together. This successful method gives anxious children something to remind them their parents aren’t too far away—instantly providing them with the comfort and reassurance they need 

Here’s what the professionals have to say about The No-Cry Separation Anxiety Solution

“In The No-Cry Separation Anxiety Solution, Elizabeth Pantley teaches us the difference between love-based separation anxiety and anxiety that stems from fear. She leaves us knowing that most childhood experiences are healthy, natural stops on the path of development. Through wisdom and many pointers, Elizabeth Pantley will provide a generation with an easier and happier journey through childhood – while also soothing the worry and guilt most parents feel. I’m grateful for this resource – and can’t imagine raising another child without it.” 
~ Gavin de Becker, Bestselling Author
The Gift of Fear and Protecting the Gift

“Pantley has replaced the angst of separation anxiety with solid practical tips and empathy for both child and parent. Her magical solutions are remarkably easy to implement and result in calm and happy separations for all.” 
Kathy Lynn, President

To learn more about the No-Cry Solutions, you can visit Elizabeth Pantley’s page.

Sure made me feel good.

That said, today I took the kids to a play date. We were the only ones to show, but it was still a really nice time since the host has twins Trent’s age. It got to be time for them to eat their lunch and I asked her how she got her kids to eat vegetables, since Trent eats none. She told me how her one kid won’t eat any veggies, but the other one is pretty good about it. She has a system where she brings out the the veggies first. When the kids finish that, she brings out the meat. Once they eat the meat then she brings out the starch.

I watched her bring out the veggies and the kids just ate it. I resolved that I would try this method for our own lunch time once I got home. We drove back and I set Trent up at the dining room table and made him a small amount of corn. My plan was to give him a PB&J after he ate it. Instead he refused to eat any corn at all, not even to try it. I then decided to dig my heels in! He wasn’t going to get another course until he ate some corn! Finally he said he was done. So I figured we should stop fighting over the stupid corn and go try and take a nap.

Nap time was another disaster, which is a story in and of itself. Suffice it to say, I was determined to continue with my experiment again at dinner time and right on to the next day for breakfast and lunch if need be. I knew it was going to be very difficult, but I was feeling very adamant when Garrick got home and told him of my plan. He agreed.

Dinner time rolled around and I again presented the corn, much to Trent’s dismay. I also gave him a plate of the dinner Garrick and I were eating, a pasta bake which came out pretty good. He wouldn’t touch any of it and dinner dissolved into a mess of crying, screaming and tantrums; the magnitude of which Trent had never before reached. Thank goodness Hunter was being so good during all of this.

By this point I was starting to second guess myself. Should I just buckle and let Trent eat something he likes, cereal maybe? Or should I stick to my guns? Garrick made the decision for me, saying it was time for some tough love since we have been letting Trent have his way for so long. The entire night was then Trent screaming. I was cleaning the kitchen listening to him in his room calling for me. By this point I had totally cracked, but Garrick was standing firm on the issue now. I even came up with the suggestion of just offering the same vegetable with every meal in hopes that Trent will try it, but that didn’t fly with him. I was also thinking to myself that maybe we should just go back to the way were doing it before, presenting him with food, and making sure there is at least one thing that he likes on the plate.

Now I felt really awful. And stupid. All because I was so enchanted by two kids sitting nicely eating vegetables at lunch time. Poor Trent couldn’t control himself after not having lunch or dinner in addition to being tired from no nap. I don’t want Trent to have melt downs and tantrums, but I don’t want to let him walk all over me either. No one ever said parenting would be easy…