How To Make Vacuum Powder

This is one of my favorite housekeeping items. I learned the recipe from Gina McGarry about a decade ago, and have used it on my carpets ever since.

It is easiest to make in a food processor, but a blender can work too.


Mix equal parts arrowroot powder and baking soda. Add 1/2 part borax and about 1/2-1/4 part dried lavender or other scented herb. Today I combined lavender and catnip. Dried lemon peels would be nice too.

Run the processor until everything is well combined. For extra scent (as well as germ killing power) add 10-20 drops of a related essential oil - lavender, lemon, etc. Run again. Store in an air tight container.

Sprinkling the carpet and our toes.

When it is time to vacuum, sprinkle a light coat over the carpet - this is something Sister-Bug lives to help with. Allow the dust to settle for ten minutes or so. Vacuum the room.

The oils of the herbs will scent the room - which can minimize airborne bacteria - and the powder deodorizes the carpet, kills germs, and protects against fleas. And it makes it really easy to be sure you have vacuumed thoroughly...

Mindful Monday: Double Duty

I have two Mindful Monday Intentions this week. This was not the original plan, but I also hadn't planned to go get Daisy from The Greenhill Humane Society yesterday, either.

The short version of Daisy's arrival in our home goes like this: Through work, Papa-Bug had a Pekingese dog that needed a new home. He liked it and thought we might give it a shot. Biscuit arrived at our house a couple of weeks ago, suspicious and growling. It took him a couple of days to warm up to anyone. Everything seemed fine. Then on Saturday night, Biscuit bit Sister-Bug on the face (she's fine - just a small bruise). We won't keep a dog that bites - it's a one way ticket to the gulag. Currently Biscuit is residing in the shop outside. ((If you are in Eugene, don't have kids, and want a very sweet Pekingese, let me know!)) Papa-Bug and I talked about dogs and our family. Brother-Bug has been afraid of dogs for ages. With Biscuit, I had notieced him getting over his fear, and being way more socially interacting and physcally active than I have seen in a while. Seemed like a good thing. Additionally (to my surprise) I liked having a dog around. Papa-Bug liked having a dog around. We were bummed about Biscuit. So we changed our Sunday agenda and headed to the humane society where we got Daisy.

She's a nice doggy kind of a dog.

That brings us up to Mindful Monday Number One:

Integrating Daisy into Our Home & Rhythm 

Who: The Whole Family
What: Assessing how we fit Daisy into our home and family routines, giving jobs and responsibilities some thought. Re-framing our home as a "dog home".
Why: Well, we just got Daisy. It needs to be done.
How: Have a family meeting about Daisy and what her daily tasks are. Decide who does what, when they do it, etc. Talk about different ways we can help Daisy feel at home. Consider who cares for Daisy when we go out of town, where Daisy hangs out when we aren't home, etc. Put the immediate parts of our plan into action.

Onto Mindful Monday Number Two!!

Last week my intention was to create a Housekeeping Schedule. I did that, and started following the schedule somewhat. I really enjoyed the sense of organization that appeared in my days!

Following The New Schedule

Who: Me (and the kids where applicable)
What: Making the New Schedule into the regular routine.
Why: Because I want to have a better sense of what needs to be done, when I last did it, and how much there is to do.
How: Make an effort to follow the new schedule exactly, to find out how it works and where it needs to be tweaked to better fit with the groove of our average week. There are a few odd things on the schedule this week, but mostly it is a very average week - perfect for testing out the new organization.

That's it. It feels like a lot, but there it is!

One Of Those Moments

Because nothing is ever perfect, my re-vamping of errands failed to help Sister-Bug with a particularly challenging day. She didn't want to sit in the cart. She didn't want to sit in the basket of the cart with Brother-Bug. She didn't want to ride on my back. She wanted only to run around the stores unattended, probably pulling everything off the shelves. She wasn't allowed to do this at any of our stops. She adamantly and vocally let me know that she was being treated abysmally.

Consequently, I got snappish and impatient with both kids. Sister-Bug flailed in the Ergo on my back, wailing and begging to be released. Brother-Bug rode in the cart or trudged by my side, both of us frustrated with the toddler and just pushing through this hell of grocery shopping.

A laugh break came when Sister-Bug tried a new tactic. In the grocery store she started scolding me.


"No Mama! No! Want out! Bad Dog, MAMA! BAD DOG." 

I was at the end of my rope. and pretty much being a bitch, so she wasn't wrong. Brother and I found it very funny. Laughing at Sister's shrill chastisement of me got us through our errands.

It was one of those parenting moments.

Family Movie: Because of Winn-Dixie

Has anyone else noticed that it is a huge challenge to find a movie that is appropriate for a young child and engaging for parents? I know it is harder for me than for others, because I really try to keep the media going into Brother-Bug's sensitive brain very clean and easy to handle. So we are stuck often with the most basic of films. Papa-Bug is more of an action-adventure kind of a guy, so children's media often leaves him bored.

At the library I snagged a copy of Because of Winn-Dixie. I haven't read the book yet, but I am a huge fan of Kate DiCamillo's writing. Last night we needed a family movie and we settled on this as a thing to watch.

The kids fell asleep pretty early on - but the scene where Opal finds Winn-Dixie at the grocery store elicited lots of giggles from Brother Bug. Papa and I watched it through and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The high points (without any spoilers or plot detail):

*The characters are real and matter-of-fact people. They are the people you do walk by at the grocery store, but because of story magic you get to peep into their lives. No one is a villain, no one is a hero (Opal is a little bit, but really she is mostly kid). These are all just people doing their best.

*The negative situations, references to drinking and alcoholism, loss of a parent, etc. are just there. Part of the story fabric. Nothing is blown up to Scary and nothing is swept under the rug. This is a hard balance to achieve and it is really well done here. Sometimes things in life are hard and we need our kids to know that hard happens. It's part of the story fabric - real or fictional.

*It has Cicely Tyson in it. Enough said.

*Dave Matthews plays an excellent role. . .and he sings to bunnies.

In my little head I am giving this 4 stars overall, and 5 stars for an all-around reliable choice for anyone older than 2 or 3, and enjoyable for all ages.

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You should know that no one tells me what to review or when to review it. These are merely my own thoughts, based on my own experience. Take it for what it is.