WFMW - Ask for help issue..

Today's WFMW is a backwards day and I have been looking forward to this. I actually have 2 issues so please offer all of the advice you can.

1.) My first question has to do with play-doh. How can I get ground in, dried up play-doh out of my carpet? It seems that when my neighbor's daughter was over to play she didn't think that the table was so good for play-doh since the floor is so much easier to reach. Anyway - since it's happened I've just been placing the play tent over that spot when we have company. I would like to remove it though without removing the whole carpet...any ideas?

2.) My second dilemma is how do you teach a child to ride a bike. My sweetpea is 5 now and all of her friends on our street can ride without training wheels. In addition, she is just too heavy for training wheels to balance her effectively anyway. We have spent several sessions of me running next to her holding the back of the seat while she cries hysterically because she wants to do it but she is terrified of falling and we aren't getting anywhere that way. This is not a pretty scene for either of us. I need help and fast or I might be hanging from my balcony by the end of the week. So what worked for you? All ideas are appreciated and will be tried!

WFMW - Safe from the "Magic Potty"

Today's WFMW edition has to do with those self flushing toilets. These are great and wonderful inventions since it limits the number of times I go in a stall at a public restroom and get disgusted by what is in there. Since I have a child who has to pee every 5 minutes I know intimately all about public restrooms. The problem with the magic potty is that it is not designed for little people. This means that when Sweetpea leans way over to get some toilet paper, the toilet will flush. Many of these have a super flush suck everything down water pressure issue that scares the pants right off my kid even if they weren't around her ankles. When we first started using these bathrooms, there would be much whining if it was magic and I would have to straddle her on the toilet so I could keep my hand over the magic eye so it couldn't "see" her. One day I happened to have a Walmart sticker on my shirt and so I stuck it over the magic eye - voila - no more accidental flushes and no more stretching over a peeing child while trying not to touch anything else. Of course I didn't have a steady supply of stickers on me so I thought of the next best thing, POST-IT notes! These are cheap, easy to come by, self sticking miracles. Now when Sweetpea has to go and it's magic, she asks me for a sticky paper and off she goes by herself. She puts the paper over the eye, does her stuff making sure her clothes are back in place, then pulls the paper off, drops it in the toilet, and runs as fast as she can out of there. These have been our savior at most restrooms. I use the small one inch ones, if you use huge ones be careful about dropping it in the bowl, you may want to put it in the trash can instead. Another thing that is convenient about having a pack of these on you at all times, if you ever need to give anyone some information (phone #, etc), you just happen to have the perfect piece of paper to put it on.

For more WFMW ideas check out Rocks in My Dryer

Multiple toothbrushes

Today's WFMW edition is all about making things such as basic hygiene convenient and easy in order to avoid battles with the offspring. Getting said offspring back up the stairs to brush her teeth after she has already walked down them was becoming a daily battle. Usually she would just suggest that I give her a piece of gum to make her breath smell good (I guess I should have never told her that one) instead of having to walk all of the way back up the stairs just to get clean teeth. Since I do not like arguing first thing in the morning I decided to move her toothbrush downstairs to our powder room. Then the next problem developed, you have to remember to brush before you head upstairs for bath and pajamas at night. This wasn't working either. So I went to BJ's and bought one of those multi packs of toothpaste and toothbrushes. I then equipped each bathroom with it's very own toothbrush. Now we have have 3 easy to access locations for teeth cleaning. This has led to some very clean teeth in our house. This worked so well I even bought the grandparents their own toothbrush for her to keep at their house so I don't have to pack any when she spends the night. We haven't had a battle over her teeth in months and so this works for me.

Apple slices to go

With school here and having to pack snacks I have been using an age old trick to preserve those apple slices. Of course we all know that apples brown due to oxidation of the sugar but once they look gross like that, I can't eat them. I know they sell those handy dandy pre-sliced citric acid preserved apples in the store but I think they taste funny so I prefer fresh "made" ones from home. To do this I pull out my quick corer/slicer from pampered chef, slice the apple of my choice, toss it in a Ziploc bag, add a few drops of lemon juice, shake it around, and ta-da no more brown apples. You can't even taste the lemon (unless you use too much - then you get a lemony kick). These only take a few seconds to make. In addition I think it is easier to buy and store fresh apples (especially with apple picking season starting soon). Here's to getting your apple a day!

WFMW

Ok -I've also enjoyed the editions of Works for me Wednesday over at T with Honey so I decided to get in on the fun. Now I've always had this issue with sponges, the kind you use at the kitchen sink. We all know that they get immediately full of bacteria and all sorts of unpleasant things but they are still handy to have around and saves numerous rolls of papertowels. What I have done in the past is buy the ones that supposedly deter microbial growth but to no avail they always end up smelling awful within a week or two of use. I have also tried dumping bleach on them but I finally found what works for me with no effort on my part. In order to keep your sponge smelling fresh and clean just put it in the dishwasher on a weekly basis along with your normal dishes (top rack only please). The dishwasher maintains a high temperature and then dries it too. Your sponge comes out looking and smelling brand new. I have found this very effective and I don't go through sponges as quickly since I was always throwing them away just because I felt they were too disgusting to use. Ahh you say you don't have a dishwasher(or you like to do dishes by hand)....well if you have a microwave this will work too. Every few days wet the sponge, put it in the microwave, and zap it on high for 1-2 minutes. This gives you a very hot and germ-free sponge (which can then be used to clean the inside of the microwave or stove top). Add a few drops of dishsoap in your favorite scent and your microwave will smell good too. You don't get the pretty new all clean and dry sponge effect that the dishwasher gives but anything is better then the nasty smelling germ ridden sponge that you were using before to "clean" up with.

Now I will desparately try to think of something else for next Wednesday...hmmm maybe I shouldn't have started this.