I am sitting in my house at the moment enjoying the peace and quiet secretly dreading Saturday yet looking forward to it at the same time. Saturday, gate night, is the day that I as the good mom I am trying to be decided to throw a halloween dress up party for my youngest son's 5th birthday. Sigh..... think the migrane is kicking in allready. A room full to capacity of 5 and 6 year old kids hopped up on sugar and cake for 2 hours under my direct supervision - WHY MUST I DO THIS TO MYSELF??
Lol all kidding aside I am looking forward to this party for some pretty big reasons! 1) Halloween is the best holiday of the entire year! What could be better than going door to door with kids who are too young to be able to count (and thus notice there are a few less chocolate bars in their bags the next day) trick-or-treating? Yummy chocolate, chips, licorice, etc... 2) This tends to be a hard time of year for our family as this October represents 4 years since my husband and the father of our children passed away and celebrating in style with an occasion such as a halloween party is a great way to boost spirits, especially for kids. and 3) due to financial constraints, moving and the maturity level of my youngest in pervious years this is his first full out birthday party and I am loving every minute of his countdown to his "Halloween Birthday"!
This party, 5 years in the making is going to be alot of fun. Pop, chips and a space alien birthday cake, kids in costumes, prizes for games they will play, what could be more fun for a 5 year old! Still once the fun is over I will be glad to be done for another 6 months before the next child has their birthday. Planned it well this year though, its not every year that Halloween comes 2 days in a row for kids.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
And the winner is.... Sam Katz
The end of October is nearly here and what a month it has been for the city of Winnipeg.
The major source of news for our city has been the recent civic election where our current Mayor Sam Katz was voted in for a third term. Good or bad his being re-elected it is what it is. Unfortunately in his being voted in we lose a well respected MP in the failure of the Judy team to gain sufficient support to replace Sam. Irregardless of where a persons loyalties lay, I believe that Winnipeg may have been cheated of the chance for change. We currently live in the most violent city in the entire country and these stats continue to rise. Under Mr. Katz's rule we have seen a series of promises that have seemed to good to be true prove to be exactly that - too good to be true. Millions of dollars in Provincial funds given for projects like the rapid transit fiasco have been diverted to other projects. Contracts have been signed in secrecy without the input of the constituants involved, and violent crime has risen dramatically.
During Mr. Katz's current campaign, many promises were made such as a continuation of the current property tax freeze which based on an economic perspective is unsustainable. One need only look at the state of our roads and the consequences of an inadequate police force to see that more injection of cash is needed desperately in these areas to see improvement. Additional police officers on the streets and a heightened police presence in the gang plagued north end along with a police helicopter were touted by our illustrious mayor during his campaign, and although that sounds great, the reality is can we trust him to keep his word? Based on his propensity to change his mind and divert funds dedicated to projects and campaign promises elsewhere I sure hope for the city of Winnipeg's sake we can. Good or bad however, we are stuck with him for another term.
The unfortunate reality here is we will never actually know as a city who the real mayor would have been had it not been for the state of apathy in which many of the eligible voters here in our city are in. Many hundreds of thousands of eligible voters did not turn out on voting day. Maybe it was the weather which sure was terrible, but more than likely it was a combination of the same mix of emotions seen in this city in every election. Why should I bother; My vote won't make a difference; its too cold out; I just don't care...etc. Whatever the answer is, we will never know and Winnipeg will no doubt continue to elect a mayor because the majority of voters quite simply are upper middle class people. Hopefully next time the election comes around, we will have a better showing at the poles. What ever it is worth congradulations Sam Katz, don't let us down (again).
The major source of news for our city has been the recent civic election where our current Mayor Sam Katz was voted in for a third term. Good or bad his being re-elected it is what it is. Unfortunately in his being voted in we lose a well respected MP in the failure of the Judy team to gain sufficient support to replace Sam. Irregardless of where a persons loyalties lay, I believe that Winnipeg may have been cheated of the chance for change. We currently live in the most violent city in the entire country and these stats continue to rise. Under Mr. Katz's rule we have seen a series of promises that have seemed to good to be true prove to be exactly that - too good to be true. Millions of dollars in Provincial funds given for projects like the rapid transit fiasco have been diverted to other projects. Contracts have been signed in secrecy without the input of the constituants involved, and violent crime has risen dramatically.
During Mr. Katz's current campaign, many promises were made such as a continuation of the current property tax freeze which based on an economic perspective is unsustainable. One need only look at the state of our roads and the consequences of an inadequate police force to see that more injection of cash is needed desperately in these areas to see improvement. Additional police officers on the streets and a heightened police presence in the gang plagued north end along with a police helicopter were touted by our illustrious mayor during his campaign, and although that sounds great, the reality is can we trust him to keep his word? Based on his propensity to change his mind and divert funds dedicated to projects and campaign promises elsewhere I sure hope for the city of Winnipeg's sake we can. Good or bad however, we are stuck with him for another term.
The unfortunate reality here is we will never actually know as a city who the real mayor would have been had it not been for the state of apathy in which many of the eligible voters here in our city are in. Many hundreds of thousands of eligible voters did not turn out on voting day. Maybe it was the weather which sure was terrible, but more than likely it was a combination of the same mix of emotions seen in this city in every election. Why should I bother; My vote won't make a difference; its too cold out; I just don't care...etc. Whatever the answer is, we will never know and Winnipeg will no doubt continue to elect a mayor because the majority of voters quite simply are upper middle class people. Hopefully next time the election comes around, we will have a better showing at the poles. What ever it is worth congradulations Sam Katz, don't let us down (again).
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Dirt poor tip of the day!
Tried out this supper cheap supper yummy recipe tonight thinking I would have leftovers for tomorrow. I am guessing by the fact that an entire crock pot full of it is gone that it was a complete hit with my kids!
Noodle Soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup (or any other cream based soup probably)
1 - 2 cups of any kind of noodles, I used the shell kind
Pepper to taste
1 tbsp bacon bits
1 cup of milk
Dump all of the above into a crock pot and turn on high - by the time you get back from picking up the kids from school and getting all the bags and books put away it should be done - about an hour and a half give or take. Soup is done when the noodles are the firmness that you like.
Noodle Soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup (or any other cream based soup probably)
1 - 2 cups of any kind of noodles, I used the shell kind
Pepper to taste
1 tbsp bacon bits
1 cup of milk
Dump all of the above into a crock pot and turn on high - by the time you get back from picking up the kids from school and getting all the bags and books put away it should be done - about an hour and a half give or take. Soup is done when the noodles are the firmness that you like.
Manitoba Women and Poverty
Manitoba is a province of inequity. For those that are single men or women, Manitoba represents a multitude of opportunities to get ahead. There are no shortage of jobs, despite what some people in the media and politics would like us to believe. All one has to do to confirm this is look of the HRDC website or in the weekend edition of the Winnipeg Free Press. The job opportunities may not be ones ideal, or their first pick but they are there non-the-less. For two income families, again Manitoba can represent a promise of a decent life. Low property taxes and home values in comparison to other large cities and again an abundance of jobs represent affordable living opportunities and career advancement. Daycare may be an issue, but generally speaking private daycare exists and is within the means of most dual income earning families. Private daycare may not be a desired expense but it is doable. And then there comes the single parents.
Single parents, moms in particular are the at the bottom of the barrel of opportunities in this province. Private daycare on a single income is simply not possible and the wait lists for licenced subsidized daycare are in most cases years long and as a rule are only available to those working a regular day job and are completely unavailable to those who work shift work. We have in our province an unfathomable amount of women and thus children living in poverty and often times living on Welfare. Unfortunately we live in a society that re-victimizes victims and refuses to acknowledge that it is largely our social structure that has caused this to be so in the first place.
Take for instance a woman who is the sole supporter of 2 children for whatever reason. How she got to be a single mother is irrelevant. Lets just say in our example that one of her children has issues with behaviour as many children living in poverty unfortunately do. No lets say this mom has never been on welfare and fights every day to stay off of it but has no education past high school and cannot find a daycare centre willing to take her child with behaviour issues. What does she do? Get a job many would say. Sure that can be done, but with no daycare who watches her kids? She can get her kids on as many daycare wait lists as possible but what happens when her kids end up school age and she is limited even further in available daycare centres. Another question is what kid of job is she actually going to be able to get with only a high school education? More than likely it would not be a Monday to Friday day job that would be compatible with daycare hours even if she could get a daycare spot for her child with behaviour issues.
So, now we will say she has found daycare and a regular job and has beaten the odds substantially. What happens when her daycare will not take her children because they have a temperature, or the flu? Obviously she stays home, losing pay for the missed day but due to our daycare regulations still having to pay for the daycare spot her child is not using. What happens to her job if her child ends up with more than one cold in the cold and flu season? Will she be lucky enough to have a caring and compassionate boss? More than likely given her lack of skills she will risk losing her job as unskilled workers are a dime a dozen in our province and can readily be replaced.
A common argument in a case like this would be to say she should go back to school. Most single mothers have neither the time, money, or credit rating to facilitate going back to school. To be able to upgrade ones education one must be able to support themselves while in school. For a single mother giving up even one days pay from work is painful and the thought of having to give up significantly more is not a possibility. Savings are not likely to be an option as it is virtually impossible to save money when you live paycheck to paycheck and are never more than a paycheck away from homelessness. Credit to obtain student loans government or bank is nothing but a fantasy for most as many impoverished single parents have killed their credit ratings at some point in the past either through payday loans or credit cards that could not be paid off. Please note that in alot of cases these debts would be racked up on items like groceries and bus passes not TVs and cars.
Now what? We have a province that is so severe in its inequitable treatment of single parents that many are on and stay on welfare because it is the only sure way to keep from starving and most single mothers despite the attitudes of the haves in this province do not wish to be on welfare and really do want better for their children. Increases to daycare funding and regulation of daycare centres acceptance policies for what children they take are key here, as are better access to training opportunities that will gain women employment in jobs they can actually work, i.e. day jobs compatible with daycare. All the job training in the world would be worthless if the mother in our above example were not able to coordinate daycare and work. Regulated hours that daycares can be open to include shift workers and people who start work earlier is also necessary. Many jobs start before 7 am but most daycares in Manitoba open after 7. Most importantly however is needed a shift in our collective consciousness in this province away from one that blames single parents for their situations to one that supports getting them to a point where they are self sufficient and self reliant.
The next time that you hear in the news the statistics about women and children in poverty in Winnipeg, think a little deeper about what has put them there. Change begins with thought versus knee jerk reactions based on societal beliefs.
Single parents, moms in particular are the at the bottom of the barrel of opportunities in this province. Private daycare on a single income is simply not possible and the wait lists for licenced subsidized daycare are in most cases years long and as a rule are only available to those working a regular day job and are completely unavailable to those who work shift work. We have in our province an unfathomable amount of women and thus children living in poverty and often times living on Welfare. Unfortunately we live in a society that re-victimizes victims and refuses to acknowledge that it is largely our social structure that has caused this to be so in the first place.
Take for instance a woman who is the sole supporter of 2 children for whatever reason. How she got to be a single mother is irrelevant. Lets just say in our example that one of her children has issues with behaviour as many children living in poverty unfortunately do. No lets say this mom has never been on welfare and fights every day to stay off of it but has no education past high school and cannot find a daycare centre willing to take her child with behaviour issues. What does she do? Get a job many would say. Sure that can be done, but with no daycare who watches her kids? She can get her kids on as many daycare wait lists as possible but what happens when her kids end up school age and she is limited even further in available daycare centres. Another question is what kid of job is she actually going to be able to get with only a high school education? More than likely it would not be a Monday to Friday day job that would be compatible with daycare hours even if she could get a daycare spot for her child with behaviour issues.
So, now we will say she has found daycare and a regular job and has beaten the odds substantially. What happens when her daycare will not take her children because they have a temperature, or the flu? Obviously she stays home, losing pay for the missed day but due to our daycare regulations still having to pay for the daycare spot her child is not using. What happens to her job if her child ends up with more than one cold in the cold and flu season? Will she be lucky enough to have a caring and compassionate boss? More than likely given her lack of skills she will risk losing her job as unskilled workers are a dime a dozen in our province and can readily be replaced.
A common argument in a case like this would be to say she should go back to school. Most single mothers have neither the time, money, or credit rating to facilitate going back to school. To be able to upgrade ones education one must be able to support themselves while in school. For a single mother giving up even one days pay from work is painful and the thought of having to give up significantly more is not a possibility. Savings are not likely to be an option as it is virtually impossible to save money when you live paycheck to paycheck and are never more than a paycheck away from homelessness. Credit to obtain student loans government or bank is nothing but a fantasy for most as many impoverished single parents have killed their credit ratings at some point in the past either through payday loans or credit cards that could not be paid off. Please note that in alot of cases these debts would be racked up on items like groceries and bus passes not TVs and cars.
Now what? We have a province that is so severe in its inequitable treatment of single parents that many are on and stay on welfare because it is the only sure way to keep from starving and most single mothers despite the attitudes of the haves in this province do not wish to be on welfare and really do want better for their children. Increases to daycare funding and regulation of daycare centres acceptance policies for what children they take are key here, as are better access to training opportunities that will gain women employment in jobs they can actually work, i.e. day jobs compatible with daycare. All the job training in the world would be worthless if the mother in our above example were not able to coordinate daycare and work. Regulated hours that daycares can be open to include shift workers and people who start work earlier is also necessary. Many jobs start before 7 am but most daycares in Manitoba open after 7. Most importantly however is needed a shift in our collective consciousness in this province away from one that blames single parents for their situations to one that supports getting them to a point where they are self sufficient and self reliant.
The next time that you hear in the news the statistics about women and children in poverty in Winnipeg, think a little deeper about what has put them there. Change begins with thought versus knee jerk reactions based on societal beliefs.
Manitoba Housing Hell Part 2
Amazing how yet again in a matter of days there is another report of a crime involving the Tuxedo area Manitoba Housing Complex. This time a high speed chase by police in pursuit of a Neon reaching speeds in excess of 160 kilometers per hour is reported. Although initially when reading the article found in the Winnipeg Sun about the chase in Charleswood does not seem to involve Manitoba Housing, a simple knowledge of the whereabouts of particular complexes brings to light the involvement of Housing. The fact that the car was found abandoned in the 300 block of Doncaster st. aka the Tuxedo Manitoba Housing complex blatantly exposes the involvement of the less savory residents of that complex ruining the chance for affordable safe housing for those that deserve it. My guess is that the people involved in stealing this car and risking the lives of everyone they recklessly drove by on their race through Charleswood are people of whom many complaints have been made. And yet, even if they get caught red handed, there is little chance of repercussion from the Manitoba Housing Authority.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Manitoba Housing Hell
Last February after a year of living in fear and having to drive around the block a few times after I got home from an evening shift to make sure that my neighbours were not outside making a drug deal before pulling into my parking lot I moved my family into a much better housing situation. It never ceases to amaze me now how many times in the news it is reported that there was a beating, murder, drug bust etcetera in any of a number of Manitoba Housing complexes here in the city of Winnipeg.
The aim of Manitoba Housing was at one time to provide sustainable,not for profit, suitable housing for those residents and families of Manitoba who for whatever reason were not able to afford decent housing on their own. This included those on welfare, single income earning families, those on disability and others who could not work or were underpaid and needed subsidized housing. However, Manitoba Housing complexes at least in this city have become nothing but a nightmare for those who have no other options and a haven for illicit criminal activity for those who choose to abuse the system.
Take for instance the recent Meth lab bust in the Tuxedo Housing complex. This happens to be the complex that I moved my family out of and for me this story recently reported in the Winnipeg Sun and Winnipeg Free Press newspapers brings a feeling of distaste and ire for having to have lived in the same complex as the lowlifes that felt it was ok to endanger their neighbours and their own children. However, this also brings no surprise whatsoever. It was a daily thing living in that complex to see vandalism of peoples cars in the parking lot in broad daylight by the children of uncaring and missing parents living there, drug deals out behind my unit completely out in the open, pot smokers standing around smoking joints with no fear of reprecussion, children and teens dismanteling stolen bikes for the fun of it and then tossing the remains in the trash, and the list goes on. I refused to be one of the people there who let this kind of thing happen without reporting it and regularily did. Only once when I called the Housing after hours contact number did security ever show up. This despite repeated calls. Never did I see any representative from Manitoba Housing deal with any of my complaints including those that were of blatently criminal activities. All of the people of whom complaints were made are still living in that complex.
Add to these issues were two more completely unaddressed reasons for our departure from this housing complex. The first was that my daughter was routinely being threatened by our neighbours children who decided for whatever reason they hated her. My poor daughter could not even step out of her own house without me being with her. The second and certainly one of the biggest reasons that we moved was the constant battle with Manitoba Housing to spray for bugs. Yes, disgusting as it is having a home infested with beetles, grain beetles, spiders and yes the dreaded bed bugs, Manitoba Housing refused for 3 months to acknowledge there was a problem and I had to fight continuously and threaten to go public before they finally conceded and sprayed our apartment. After the second round of spraying I said to hell with it and moved - not before I saturated everything I owned with raid. Thankfully the bugs have not followed us and we now have a safe, affordable home in a great neighbourhood with great neighbours.
Until the powers that be in Manitoba Housing start cracking down on the wrong doers living within the housing complexes, and go back to what housing was meant to be, housing will continue to be nothing but an embarasment to the residents that really need to be there and the rest of the city that suffers from the spill over effect of the riffraf that occupies some of their suites. Having on site management and 24/7 security guards AT EACH SITE and not shared amongst half the city is the bare minimum needed to start. Of course the likelyhood of this ever happening is slim to none as poor people tend to be the least likely to speak up for themselves.
The aim of Manitoba Housing was at one time to provide sustainable,not for profit, suitable housing for those residents and families of Manitoba who for whatever reason were not able to afford decent housing on their own. This included those on welfare, single income earning families, those on disability and others who could not work or were underpaid and needed subsidized housing. However, Manitoba Housing complexes at least in this city have become nothing but a nightmare for those who have no other options and a haven for illicit criminal activity for those who choose to abuse the system.
Take for instance the recent Meth lab bust in the Tuxedo Housing complex. This happens to be the complex that I moved my family out of and for me this story recently reported in the Winnipeg Sun and Winnipeg Free Press newspapers brings a feeling of distaste and ire for having to have lived in the same complex as the lowlifes that felt it was ok to endanger their neighbours and their own children. However, this also brings no surprise whatsoever. It was a daily thing living in that complex to see vandalism of peoples cars in the parking lot in broad daylight by the children of uncaring and missing parents living there, drug deals out behind my unit completely out in the open, pot smokers standing around smoking joints with no fear of reprecussion, children and teens dismanteling stolen bikes for the fun of it and then tossing the remains in the trash, and the list goes on. I refused to be one of the people there who let this kind of thing happen without reporting it and regularily did. Only once when I called the Housing after hours contact number did security ever show up. This despite repeated calls. Never did I see any representative from Manitoba Housing deal with any of my complaints including those that were of blatently criminal activities. All of the people of whom complaints were made are still living in that complex.
Add to these issues were two more completely unaddressed reasons for our departure from this housing complex. The first was that my daughter was routinely being threatened by our neighbours children who decided for whatever reason they hated her. My poor daughter could not even step out of her own house without me being with her. The second and certainly one of the biggest reasons that we moved was the constant battle with Manitoba Housing to spray for bugs. Yes, disgusting as it is having a home infested with beetles, grain beetles, spiders and yes the dreaded bed bugs, Manitoba Housing refused for 3 months to acknowledge there was a problem and I had to fight continuously and threaten to go public before they finally conceded and sprayed our apartment. After the second round of spraying I said to hell with it and moved - not before I saturated everything I owned with raid. Thankfully the bugs have not followed us and we now have a safe, affordable home in a great neighbourhood with great neighbours.
Until the powers that be in Manitoba Housing start cracking down on the wrong doers living within the housing complexes, and go back to what housing was meant to be, housing will continue to be nothing but an embarasment to the residents that really need to be there and the rest of the city that suffers from the spill over effect of the riffraf that occupies some of their suites. Having on site management and 24/7 security guards AT EACH SITE and not shared amongst half the city is the bare minimum needed to start. Of course the likelyhood of this ever happening is slim to none as poor people tend to be the least likely to speak up for themselves.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Shame on Winnipeg
So today there is an article in the Winnipeg Sun newspaper here in Winnipeg in regards to a man who beat up his wife and is now sitting in the Remand centre. At first glance it seems that that is exactly where he belongs, on further inspection however, the Winnipeg Polices service should be seriously ashamed of themselves for arresting him in the first place. It seems that this man, who is now sitting in jail has alzheimers at such an advanced state that he asaulted his wife because he had no idea who she was. Working in a hospital, I see this type of fear and misplaced hostility in many of our alzheimers patients. I cannot even begin to imagine how scarry the world must be to a person who has no idea where he is, who anyone taking care of him is including his own family, is suffering panic attacks because of this and can even be so out of touch with reality that he doesn't even know exactly who he is anymore. This man's wife is now going public with her story to try and get help for her husband who is being incarcerated for an action which she firmly believes and medical research strongly suggests was not within his control.
Liberal Leader Jon Gerrard, who has taken up the family's cause, called the situation "appalling."
"The system should be operating so that there are places for people like Joe McLeod," Gerrard said. "He should never have ended up in jail in the first place, (but now) as fast as humanly possible he should be placed in an appropriate care home."
Would be nice if this were not anything but lip service......
The most shameful part of this story is the lack of appropriate services for a man such as this. It makes me wonder how many people are aware in the province of Manitoba that nursing homes and other care centres outside of hospitals are under no obligation whatsoever to take in a patient. From personal experince I know that nursing homes in this province get the opportunity to pick and choose who they will take and under what conditions. Due to the violence this man enflicted on his wife, his chances of being given housing in a personal care centre within this province are slim to none. If he doesn't die in jail, this mans family will be forced to endure watching him live out his final days in one of the city's hospitals. The amount of senours in this city who pass away in hospital waiting for a nursing home to accept them is astonishing. Until the province of Manitoba passes a law requiring nursing homes to take the patients that have been paneled for care, this will continue to happen. Its time for families such as this man's family to stand up and demand equality in nursing home placements. If a person has a right to adequate care as they age then the right of nursing homes to turn down patients that aren't within thier preferences needs to be abolished.
Shame on the Provincial Government of Manitoba for allowing such practices and shame on the Winnipeg Police service for arresting this man in the first place.
I wish the McLeod family the best of luck in thier struggle to get this man the help he needs.
Liberal Leader Jon Gerrard, who has taken up the family's cause, called the situation "appalling."
"The system should be operating so that there are places for people like Joe McLeod," Gerrard said. "He should never have ended up in jail in the first place, (but now) as fast as humanly possible he should be placed in an appropriate care home."
Would be nice if this were not anything but lip service......
The most shameful part of this story is the lack of appropriate services for a man such as this. It makes me wonder how many people are aware in the province of Manitoba that nursing homes and other care centres outside of hospitals are under no obligation whatsoever to take in a patient. From personal experince I know that nursing homes in this province get the opportunity to pick and choose who they will take and under what conditions. Due to the violence this man enflicted on his wife, his chances of being given housing in a personal care centre within this province are slim to none. If he doesn't die in jail, this mans family will be forced to endure watching him live out his final days in one of the city's hospitals. The amount of senours in this city who pass away in hospital waiting for a nursing home to accept them is astonishing. Until the province of Manitoba passes a law requiring nursing homes to take the patients that have been paneled for care, this will continue to happen. Its time for families such as this man's family to stand up and demand equality in nursing home placements. If a person has a right to adequate care as they age then the right of nursing homes to turn down patients that aren't within thier preferences needs to be abolished.
Shame on the Provincial Government of Manitoba for allowing such practices and shame on the Winnipeg Police service for arresting this man in the first place.
I wish the McLeod family the best of luck in thier struggle to get this man the help he needs.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Homemade fabric softener
Running out of fabric softener many times and consulting a number of do it yourself guides has lead to me developing an extremely cheap and effective fabric softener.
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup baking soda
1 liter hot water.
Using a washed out pop bottle works good with this recipe, as does using an empty fabric softner bottle that holds at least a liter and a half (the nice side effect here is that your new homemade softner contains some of the smell of the old), pour the 1 liter of hot water into the bottle. Add the vinegar. For the next step use a kitchen funnel and put the bottle in the sink. Pouring VERY SLOWLY to avoid massive spill over when adding the baking soda - due to the vinegar, add the baking soda to the mix. After the soda is in the bottle and the fizzing has died down, put the lid on the bottle and gently shake it until all the contents are well mixed. Note that adding the water first can help make the fizzing a little less extreme, but the actual order of ingredients is not really important. When using this fabric softner, give the bottle a good shake to stir everything up as the soda will settle and use a cup per load the same as you would regular fabric softner. Yes I have used this in a Downey Ball successfuly!
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup baking soda
1 liter hot water.
Using a washed out pop bottle works good with this recipe, as does using an empty fabric softner bottle that holds at least a liter and a half (the nice side effect here is that your new homemade softner contains some of the smell of the old), pour the 1 liter of hot water into the bottle. Add the vinegar. For the next step use a kitchen funnel and put the bottle in the sink. Pouring VERY SLOWLY to avoid massive spill over when adding the baking soda - due to the vinegar, add the baking soda to the mix. After the soda is in the bottle and the fizzing has died down, put the lid on the bottle and gently shake it until all the contents are well mixed. Note that adding the water first can help make the fizzing a little less extreme, but the actual order of ingredients is not really important. When using this fabric softner, give the bottle a good shake to stir everything up as the soda will settle and use a cup per load the same as you would regular fabric softner. Yes I have used this in a Downey Ball successfuly!
Thank Goodness for full time Kindergarden
So October is here and I am finally settling into this idea of having all my kids in school full time. Wow what a novelty having some time to myself. The only issue now is what do I do with my time? Funny thing, this being a single mom thing. We spend so much of our time working so hard trying to keep ahead of the game and maintain order in our crazy busy lives, that when it finally comes down to that wonderful time when we actually have that illusive hour or two free, it seems hard to figure out what to do. There is of course the obvious, laundry, cleaning, dishes, etc. etc. but is that really necessary? With having a history of so little time to ourselves, us single moms need to rediscover what it means to just sit back and relax. So to all the moms out there finally finding an hour of peace and quiet, the laundry will wait, grab a coffee, sit back, put your feet up and relish the quiet!
Monday, October 4, 2010
To my readers
My sincerest appologies in regards to the formating of the text in my next couple of blogs - my computer has crashed and my Blackberry does not support this site well - but still I will write on!
Enough with the false sympathy already
As a single mom the two most common phrases that I hear are
1) Don't worry things will get better and 2)how do you do it?
Both of these phrases are esentially benign and are meant to
portray, at least I am sure on the part of the person saying
them, a sense of caring and concern for my welfare. As much as
this may be the case they are two phrases I am very tired of hearing.
Don't worry, things will get better.
Really? This one is problematic for the main reason that most people
that I know have absolutely no idea whatsoever what being a single
widowed mother of 3 children is really like. These people tend to
generalize and make an attempt to compare my life to their own and can't
possibly fathom that there are people who have struggled more than they
can ever imagine. I never ask but I usually want to ask "ok then , tell me
when?" I know however that questions such as these are pointless
and nothing but lessons in futility. Further to this question of
mine I want to add that as a single widowed mother of 3, I average
20 loads of laundry, 21 meals, 14 snacks, 28 beds, umpteen thousands of toys
to pick up and uncountable amount of dishes to do, hundreds of kilometers
to drive and a countless and thankless number of other motherly duties to
do in a week. Each and every week I might add because these things do not do
themselves. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, but this is not
where it ends. After, or sometime in the midst of all this I go to work.
My job is a decent one with great co-workers and for that I am lucky
but it is backbreaking, and already causing me chronic pain. My job is not
one in which people leave the industry because they have retired but rather
they leave quite young because of work related dissability it is
crippiling backbreaking work that I do. I do it because I have little other
choice. The pay is better per hour than most jobs I could do, and 3 kids
are expensive to feed.If I had the option to upgrade to something better,
believe me I would but as a single income earner with 3 kids to Support,
that option is just not there. So I restate, when exactly will things get
better? When I am crippled and can no longer work, when my washing
machine breaks and I have to once again wash thoses 20 loads in the tub?
Please I beg you all, stop spewing such drivel it is oh so not helpfull.
How do you do it?
Simple answer here - I have no choice - no one going to do it for me!
Really though I am not always melodramatic and cynical, I am just a
mom who is tired of false sympathy and a pretext of showing that
people care. If you really want to offer me some kind of assistance,
buy me groceries!
1) Don't worry things will get better and 2)how do you do it?
Both of these phrases are esentially benign and are meant to
portray, at least I am sure on the part of the person saying
them, a sense of caring and concern for my welfare. As much as
this may be the case they are two phrases I am very tired of hearing.
Don't worry, things will get better.
Really? This one is problematic for the main reason that most people
that I know have absolutely no idea whatsoever what being a single
widowed mother of 3 children is really like. These people tend to
generalize and make an attempt to compare my life to their own and can't
possibly fathom that there are people who have struggled more than they
can ever imagine. I never ask but I usually want to ask "ok then , tell me
when?" I know however that questions such as these are pointless
and nothing but lessons in futility. Further to this question of
mine I want to add that as a single widowed mother of 3, I average
20 loads of laundry, 21 meals, 14 snacks, 28 beds, umpteen thousands of toys
to pick up and uncountable amount of dishes to do, hundreds of kilometers
to drive and a countless and thankless number of other motherly duties to
do in a week. Each and every week I might add because these things do not do
themselves. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, but this is not
where it ends. After, or sometime in the midst of all this I go to work.
My job is a decent one with great co-workers and for that I am lucky
but it is backbreaking, and already causing me chronic pain. My job is not
one in which people leave the industry because they have retired but rather
they leave quite young because of work related dissability it is
crippiling backbreaking work that I do. I do it because I have little other
choice. The pay is better per hour than most jobs I could do, and 3 kids
are expensive to feed.If I had the option to upgrade to something better,
believe me I would but as a single income earner with 3 kids to Support,
that option is just not there. So I restate, when exactly will things get
better? When I am crippled and can no longer work, when my washing
machine breaks and I have to once again wash thoses 20 loads in the tub?
Please I beg you all, stop spewing such drivel it is oh so not helpfull.
How do you do it?
Simple answer here - I have no choice - no one going to do it for me!
Really though I am not always melodramatic and cynical, I am just a
mom who is tired of false sympathy and a pretext of showing that
people care. If you really want to offer me some kind of assistance,
buy me groceries!
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