8 Tips For Surviving Your School's Fair

This evening, I'm sitting in a lawn chair parked in front of my daughter's elementary school. After seven hours of being cooped up learning on this lovely Summer day, she sprinted back to school for this, the event of all events, The Spring Fair. This annual gathering promises an evening of delight complete with inflatables (water and dry), a tiny train, carnival games, crafts, and the opportunity to cavort with her friends.

I'm less enthusiastic. Because she is my second child, it's my 10^th year at this fair and they haven't changed the line-up in all of those years. So as I sit in my chair, let me share

8 Tips For Surviving Your School's Spring Fair

1.  Review With Your Child That They Are ONLY To Go Home With You (or whomever you designate). Our community is pretty safe, but I don't want Diva thinking that if she can't find me she can leave with someone else. Stress this before you even GET to the venue. 

2.  Prepay if you can. I ordered armbands the day they were announced. Kids are so excited by the prospect of fun, fun, fun that all they want to do is run off. Save yourself trying to find exact change with a hyper child by your side, grab a pre-paid armband, and set your kid free. 

3.  Set Up A Base Camp So They Can Find You.  If your child is old enough that you don't have to follow them, set up a base camp, preferably near some sort of reference point like a big rock, tree, bush, window, etc. Tell the kid where you're going to be and stress that they MUST check in periodically. They'll have to anyway if they want to buy food.

4.  Bring Cash.  Don't kid yourself that you're going to get away without buying anything at this event. Sure, you can bring all the organic, GMO-free stuff you want, but all that will happen is that your child will either A) wind up staring at his friends who are eating pizza or B) begging their friends or you for the crap they're serving. Bring water and maybe a snack or two, but resign yourself to the fact that you WILL be buying something. 

6.  Sit AWAY From The Loudspeakers.  For some reason, PTA people and school personnel don't like telling disc jockeys and entertainers that they're TOO FUCKING LOUD and that the noise level is GOING TO MAKE OUR KIDS HARD OF HEARING. Make your base camp away from the speakers and you can mitigate hearing loss for the both of you. You might even have a prayer of talking and listening to other parents.

7.  Be Prepared For A Tantrum When You Leave.  Understand that if you try to drag your kid away from the event before it officially ends, you're pitting yourself against a tired, wired-up kid who IS going to have a tantrum. Fortunately, it will probably be so loud there that no one will hear you arguing.

8.  Enjoy! The time is coming when you'll be dropping your kid off at an event and you won't get to see them having fun with their friends. Take some photos when they're not looking and remember how they look now. They'll only be this little once. 

We're home, and the Fair is now a memory. After being covered in foam and having her hair sprayed red and white, she's upstairs recuperating. Watching her have a blast was wonderful for me; I wouldn't have traded it for anything. Use these eight tips and you'll get through the Fair with a minimum of problems and, hopefully, a good amount of pleasure!

THANK YOU FOR READING! 

Yeah.  That's me...right....

How To Choose The Right Rake For Raking Leaves

My ears were assaulted this morning by the cacophony of half a dozen leaf blowers on my block. At about 75 decibels each, that was a lot of noise. Add to that the sounds of construction from the two McMansions they're building on my block and I've got a massive headache. I understand why landscapers use leaf blowers (to get the job done fast), but I won't be using one today, at least on my front yard.

Choose the right rake for capturing these beauties!

I prefer the elegance, the Zen of raking my leaves. But if you're new to the job, how do you choose the right rake?

Go to Home Depot or Lowes and you'll have your choice from a few types of rakes with the primary difference being that the tines are made of either metal, plastic, or bamboo. Rakes also come in varying widths, but don't think that a wider rake will get the job done faster. Experts say that because the tool produces more friction, it will just tire you out faster. A 24” rake is a good, all-around size for most adults.

The rake you probably need - a 24" plastic model, but read on...

The real difference is in the tines. Bamboo tines are the most light-weight and gentle on plants, especially if you're raking over groundcover or flower beds. Bamboo is also the most fragile, so expect those lovely tines to break easily. Metal tines are the most resilient, often come with tension bars to eliminate bending and breaking and are great on wet leaves, but not as effective if you're moving a lot of leaves. Plastic tines are sturdier than bamboo but, depending on the quality of the plastic, can break as well. These are on my family's “rakes of choice.” They're best when moving large quantities of leaves and have lasted a few seasons. They will, however, hurt plants if you yank at the leaves, so be careful when you're raking to pull and sweep, like a broom.

I think plastic tine rakes are the best overall. 

Also available are skinny shrubbery rakes with long tines which pull leaves out of shrubs without damaging the delicate plants. I've found that buying a plastic kids rake is just as good for doing this as long as you don't, again, yank the leaves.  Obviously, buying your kid a rake also encourages them to help out.  

This pretty red metal rake would be easy to see if you put it down.

One of the most impressive rakes I've seen is one that allows the user to adjust the fan width and handle height. And another has two heads that pivot and open to swallow leaves so you can dump them into your yard cart or bag without bending. Personally, I'm not spending the money for those. 

Make sure, before you start raking, that you warm up. There's a lot of hip, shoulder, and back movement in this chore and if you don't warm up, you'll feel about 90 years old tomorrow. If you're raking to bag leaves, you're best off sticking a tarp or cut-open garbage bag on the ground and raking the leaves onto that before you place them in bags. Our tried-and-true technique for bagging is to use one rake as a dustpan and another as a broom – just sweep the leaves with one onto the other. Don't forget to carry lawn gloves for when you need to clean fallen debris and place it into the bag.

Now that I've written about raking, it's time to go do it. It's a good calorie-burner, a great way to enjoy the diminishing sunlight, and one of the few chores I really enjoy. It's instant gratification – you rake, you see the results immediately. And I like the Zen state it puts me in. There's something peaceful about just raking leaves. Unlike the leaf blower, it doesn't assault the senses and with my landscaper charging $40 extra a week to do it, raking is a money-saver for the family.

Choose the right rake and get out and enjoy your lawn! See you outside!

Get your kids out and raking, too!

 

 

 

As always, thanks for reading! 

Getting Your Child To Help Out Around The House With The Proper Tools

Before I had kids, I used to see child-size tools in stores and think, “What a waste of money!” I learned my lesson quickly, however, when Junior was about 4 and we decided he should start helping with the raking of leaves every Fall. I mean, we had mounds of leaves that needed to be raked and bagged.  It was about time he got involved and, honestly, my child wanted help out around the house!  The adult-sized rakes were far too cumbersome and frustrated the boy, so it was worth the $18 to buy our boy the proper tool for him.

Children often want to help out around the house, but they need the proper tools to do so.

Now, we have a full collection of kid-sized tools that enable even my little one to assist around the house. I'm not talking craftsperson tools (although if you want a list of 11 Tools To Get Your Kids, visit this article from Popular Mechanics); I'm talking about simple purchases that those of us in Suburbia can get to help instill a work ethic in our children while allowing them to add elbow-grease value to family life. Here's what we have:

1. 

   A child-sized rake is one useful multi-purpose tool!

   The aforementioned rake with a 42” handle (available here). It allows a kid to rake without smacking themselves in the face with the handle. Get one with a lacquered wood handle so it won't splinter. This rake is also useful for adults when you have to scoop lawn debris or leaves from a tight spot.
   
   
    
2. A whisk broom and dust pan. I've bought several of these over the years at Walmart and Dollar General. They come in very handy to clean up glitter, sticker, beads, etc. My kids know that Mom doesn't get as mad about a mess when I see them cleaning it up themselves.
   
   
   
   
3. A kid-sized snow shovel. We had record-breaking snow in the Northeast last year and they're predicting a “Snowpocalypse” this year. Even our plastic shovel was too heavy for my daughter, so I'm glad we had this 11” shovel on hand (available here ). Tip:  buy a couple of these and keep one in your car's trunk.  It's good for shoveling yourself out when the snow plow plows you in on the street or you get stuck in the snow.  This tool comes in handy, as well, when you bag leaves.  Just rake the leaves onto the shovel and place them in a bag - it will save your back!
   
   

   

   This is a really handy tool whether you've got kids or not!

   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Leather gloves for kids. Hear me out: when you kid needs to scoop lawn debris or leaves, you don't know what's in there! Latex gloves tear, these do not. It's worth it to protect your child from thorns, poison ivy, and God knows what else!

   

   Don't be dissing these tools! They'll protect your child's hands!

   
   
    
   
   
5. Safety goggles and ear protectors. Instill the concept of safety early. These  goggles will protect little eyes. I couldn't find kid-sized ear protectors, but I still think kids should wear them, even if they are adult-size. Leaf blowers, lawn mowers, and snow blowers are LOUD! It's worth your child's discomfort if it protects their hearing.
    
   
   

6. 

   These tools also allow THEM to replace the batteries on their devices.

   Screwdrivers. Helping mom or dad screw something into a piece of wood is an easy way to get kids to help. They'll do it safely with these screwdrivers.
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. Dusting materials. My daughter loves to dust, so I take a dry Swiffer sheet and cut it in half. This website also provides instructions on how to make a dusting mitt for your child. Or they could just use an old sock over their little hands.
   
   
   
   
   
   
8. A light clothes hamper. And now a word about the Teen. He was complaining (the real word rhymes with 'witchin') about how the hampers we had “hurt his hands” and were “too heavy” (add whining and you'll get an idea of the drama). So it was completely worth the $12 I paid for this hamper that I bought at Target. No more excuses, Junior; get to work! Even his little sister can carry this unit, full of clothes, up the stairs.
   
   

   

   A tool that erases any excuse from the Teen - totally worth the money!

   
   
   
   

Again, those are the tools I have. My daughter actually has a kid-sized corn broom but, honestly, outside of a few jokes about witches at Halloween, we never used it for anything; that's why I didn't mention it above. And I've seen the kid-sized vacuum cleaners, but honestly, I've always thought those really were a waste of money.  Any parent I know who had one said their kid used it maybe twice and then never vacuumed again.  In doing research for this post, however, I found a great website called For Small Hands ) that has dozens of child-size tools that I never even thought of (mops, a bucket with wringer, etc.) for those who REALLY want their kids to help.

Letting kids help around the house gives them confidence, shows them that they're important members of the family, and helps you out in the process. Get them the right tools and they'll be more inclined to help. It worked for me!

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Thanks for reading!  Please come back again!