High Maintenance Mom

I like order! I don't pretend I don't and I don't apologize for it. Well before my kids were born I had a picture of how I wanted my home to be run and it is true to form to this day. So, when I knew my daughter would be going to school each morning and that my husband wanted to be the one to drop her off on his way to work, I knew I had to have a "morning rush" plan. It didn't happen overnight but it did help to visualize how I wanted things to run and make adjustments here and there. When my son was born it had to be adjusted more. My point is, you have to have a plan and stick to it (within reason). Here are my tips for successfully getting the kids ready for school.....

My husband and I recently decided to enroll in his companies Flexible Spending Account (FSA) program. I knew about it from my days working for Blue Cross Blue Shield. After reviewing how the program works I started using the debit card they sent us at doctor's offices, pharmacies and drug stores. It all seems very logical....you allocate a certain amount of pre tax dollars towards the account and you use your debit card for eligible purchases.

Check out the fun and helpful organizers from Knock Knock. Keeping useful information in one place, such as takeout menus and greeting cards, is a great way to reduce stress over the holidays. Plus, they make you look organized. The Takeout Menu Organizer is the perfect adult Trapper-keeper. It provides a neat home for all those takeout menus along with a frequently called numbers list, tipping guide, notepad, pen, and helpful ordering advice...

I was recently introduced to a wonderful new online stationary store just in time for my 2nd baby's birth announcements to be created. Link to the site via the Scoop & Skinny logo we posted on the left side of our home page for a special offer for highmaintenancemom.com readers. Scoop & Skinny is a greeting card and stationery company specializing in everyday and special occasion greeting cards, premium stationery and exclusive invitations and announcements.

One of the exciting, or possibly not so exciting, parts of preparing for the holidays is cleaning the house. For Passover, you are supposed to clean the entire house and remove all of the leavened products. I look forward to my spring cleaning as a time to take out all of our food and figure out what we are going to eat and what should be donated. There's something liberating about the cleaning process. This year I took a bunch of food, clothes, and other household items to a local shelter...

It's taken almost a month to clean up after our trip to Utah. I've been working on picking up the house and doing laundry for an hour every night and more on the weekends. I'm not sure why a messy house has begun to make me miserable, but it does. My parents would be so proud. I still make the bed every morning (see Feeling in control of something after having two kids) but the state of the rest of the house was declining. I admit to being a pack rat but I hadn't realized I was setting the wrong example...

I was recently introduced to this website http://www.flylady.net/. I was excited to find that I am already doing some of these things, but have also found a few easy new hints to stay organized, get rid of clutter etc. It's little things, babysteps that you gradually incorporate and add on.

You can sign up to check the site yourself, or to get individual emails. At first I was checking the site myself when I got a chance every day or few days, but have found the daily emails really help. There are sometimes too many emails especially in the beginning when you aren't used to their format yet, but I've gotten used to it in just a few days and can easily sort through reminders versus testimonials etc. and what I can delete versus what I want to actually read and be reminded about.

About a week ago N decided he wanted to sleep in B's room. Since I had always thought they would share a room once N was two, it seemed like a good idea to test out. Not so much. At 10pm we could hear N whispering in B's ear, "B, wake up B, wake up". They eventually feel asleep but it was several hours past N's bedtime. After that N started to have fits about wanting to sleep in B's room...

Last night was spent doing dishes. We bid on a set of plastic dinosaurs for B's 4th birthday party (either for a pinata or to hide in the sandbox) but when they arrived all I could think about was illnesses from another part of the country. Since B currently has an ear infection and his brother may also, I thought it would be a good idea to clean the dinosaurs before letting anyone play with them. After not much thought, I decided the dishwasher would be the best way to clean them. First I carefully separated out 15 of the 100 dinosaurs that looked like they might melt. Then I started the dishwasher wondering how my experiment would turn out...

Hi Everyone,
ABC's Hit Series "Wife Swap", where the two moms switch families and go on a journey of learning something from a new family and teaching something to a new family, is looking for a very High Maintenance Mom for an episode. The family is paid $20,000 if you are chosen for the show. They also pay a $1000 referral fee if you refer a family that gets chosen for the show. You must be a two parent home with children between the ages of 5 and 18 living at home with you. Are you ready for a change? Contact me at annette.ivy@rdfusa.com or 212-404-1431.