works for me: vinegar is brill!

This weird thing happened to me when Big Girl started crawling. When her legs, feet, and hands (and sometimes tummy) were always touching and rubbing against the tiles, I became very conscious about my floors. Suddenly I was aware of –and worried about- what was on them. The bits and pieces of dirt, grass and dust always bothered me, but suddenly the unseen dirt, grime and germs also bothered me.

And what bothered me even more was the predicament I was in when it came to cleaning the floors.

Floor cleaners are pretty harsh. In case you didn’t know that smell of “clean” is really the aroma of toxic chemicals. I was supposed to clean the germs off with toxic chemicals. The side of the bottle says in all caps KEEP AWAY FROM CHILDREN, yet my child was practically rolling around in it on my “clean” floors. See my predicament? Which is worse? Having my baby crawl on germs and bacteria or exposing her delicate baby skin to dangerous chemicals?

When I talked to my mom friends about this they all shared the same concerns, but no one had a real good and affordable solution. And then, completely out of the blue but perfectly timely, my sweet friend from England sent me an email that said “Vinegar is brill!” with this link: http://www.vinegartips.com/

Among the 1001 uses for Vinegar was this, “For an economical and environmentally friendly floor cleaner, mix a solution of 3 drops dishwashing liquid to 1/3 part white distilled vinegar, 1/3 part alcohol, and 1/3 part water. Spray sparingly and mop for a fast clean-up.” Wow!

I did more research (of course) and found that according to Heinz, “a straight 5 percent solution of vinegar—the kind you can buy in the supermarket—kills 99 percent of bacteria, 82 percent of mold, and 80 percent of germs.” Perfect.

I use vinegar on my countertops, floors and bathrooms. It's a little stinky at first but we got used to it. I filled a spray bottle with the stuff and use it daily. It even got rid of the little ants that invaded our kitchen last spring. My babies crawl and play on the tiled floors and this Mama isn't worried. No harsh chemicals, no toxic anything.

Vinegar. It’s old fashioned, it’s super cheap, it gets the job done, it's nontoxic, and it works for me!

More WFMW at We are THAT Family.

can i cry?

can i cry? because i really want to.

my baby is turning one this week.

he has been nothing but a joy and a delight. he has made our family complete. he is such a blessing; he is everything we prayed for and more. he smiles from his heart, and it melts mine every time. he is such a happy little guy. growing and changing right before our eyes every day. so smart, so handsome, so sweet, and so funny!

he's goofy like his daddy, sweet like his mama, and silly like his sister, but very different in his own special way. he's perfectly Joshua. my little package of handsomeness. my little bundle of boy. unique. doing things his own way. wonderfully made by God.

nothing compares to his hugs, or the way he curls up in my lap like he wants to crawl back in, or the look on his face when he figures something out, or the way he follows and plays with his sister- he adores her! and that laugh...his deep, little boy belly-laugh is the best.

i love him to pieces. thank you God, for our little Bubba.

i'm sad that my baby is growing up. and i'm happy that my baby is growing up.

so, i'm just going to cry now.

i love you, Bubba. happy birthday. xoxo-mama