Leaky Diaper Fix

I am a nut for household hints. I have read nearly every book by Heloise from cover to cover, just for fun. (This has come in handy at times. A friend who knew of my obsession called me when her daughter got Flarp stuck in her hair. I told her to rinse her hair in vinegar and it worked like a charm!)

Works for Me Wednesday, hosted by Rocks in my Dryer, is a weekly list of links to hints posted by other bloggers. I am hooked! Here is my contribution for this week:

Leaky Diaper Fix
My son still needs to wear a pull-up at night. I used to be so frustrated with having to change the sheets, mattress pad and sometimes even all the blankets and comforter every day due to the pull-up overflowing and leaking. I tried limiting his fluids after 6pm, but it didn't help and only made him feel deprived.

I solved the problem by buying Depend Boost Inserts (found in the incontinence/adult diaper section of the store). They are basically like thick, absorbent maxi pads without the plastic lining. I place one high in the front of his pull-up with the end of the pad flush with the waistband of the pull-up; the adhesive strip holds it firmly in place. (If I were using it for a girl I would place it exactly in the middle of the crotch.) It works beautifully! I buy them at Wal-Mart ($4.38 for a package of 20).

Just this week I heard of a product called Diaper Doublers which accomplishes the same thing, although I don't think they have an adhesive strip and therefore can shift around. I have never seen them at Wal-Mart, but I understand that many drugstores carry them.

Valentine Fun

We have had a ball this month with Valentine parties! It's funny; people assume that homeschoolers miss out on activities like this and actually pity them for being deprived of social opportunities. On the contrary, we have way more (and better) opportunities to party!

I remember the obligatory Valentine parties we had in elementary school. We did the shoebox thing with Valentines, ate a ton of junk food, and if we were lucky, we got to do a word search or have a contest to see who could make the most words using the letters in "Happy Valentine's Day." Yippee.

Drama Queen and Pete each went through 3 boxes of Valentine cards to have enough for all their friends and parties this year. First we went to a Valentine's party for homeschoolers at the local skating rink. They participated in a Valentine box contest, and Pete won first place for his age group! I thought Drama Queen would have a great chance, but she didn't even place. I think it's good for her, though, because I feel it's important to learn how to handle not being the winner. It also was so good for Pete to be successful at something because while Drama Queen was skating and laughing with her friends, he was really struggling, falling down over and over while his friends and his two-year-old sister whizzed past him. (More on that in a minute.)

Here's Pete's winning treasure chest Valentine box:


Here is Drama Queen's refrigerator Valentine box:


Pete spent most of the morning in this position, but seemed to take it in stride.


Drama Queen is a party girl!


Here's Screech, our future roller derby star!


Soon after we got started, I wished I had left Screech with a sitter. I strapped on the smallest skates they had, which were several sizes too big. The attendant was unable to lock the wheels. I tried to hold her between my legs and glide with her, and she screamed the entire time. My back was aching and my feet cramping from being in this position, so I was relieved to have to let go for a moment to help Pete. Immediately, the screaming stopped and Screech took off! It was kind of a half-roll, half-walk, but she was skating by herself! What was amazing to me is that I could count on one hand the number of times she fell. She could even step down onto the rink from the carpeted ledge without falling! It was really cute the way she tried to skate backwards and do spins like the other kids.

We also had a Valentine party with the homeschool group in our county. That was a blast! We played, "Honey, Do You Love Me?" (a FUN, hilarious game!), Cupid, Heart Transplant, Hopping Heart Race, and many other fun games. We had a potluck meal with a lot of yummy treats, including these cupcakes that the kids had fun decorating:


I also created a recipe for a snack mix that turned out really tasty as well as festive. Here's the recipe:

Valentine Snack Mix
1 box Kashi Heart to Heart cereal
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
6 oz. white chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups M&M's candies (Valentine colors, if available)
1 1/2 cups peanuts or almonds (optional)

Mix together. Store in an airtight container.