Doesn’t it seem that in a blink of an eye it now time to buy your children’s clothes again? I often ask myself (Didn’t I just buy that?) Well odds are that I just did. My son once grew 3 1/2 inches over summer! Needless to say that those clothes I purchased at the start of our summer vacation will no longer work for school. So where do you go for reasonable priced clothing that your kids will actually want to wear? I have two go to spots to make my dollars stretch more and those are 1. Old Navy for my younger ones. You can often find great sales for the younger ones and you can combine them with their cash back rewards to save even more. My favorite spot to buy clothes for the whole family is on the Mercari app. I have found amazing deals for not only my children but also for myself. Mercari is a buy and sale app that is very simple to use. I have found it very easy for new users to create and begin to sale and shop. I have personally sold tons of clothing from the family and have used the money that I receive from sales to purchase new items for us. One tip I would give when shopping from Mercari is be a loyal customer and leave positive reviews if you have a positive experience. I have a couple people that I buy from on a regular basis and because of that they have offered me discounts on bundles. And I do the same for those who have bought from me on more then two occasions. Remember dressing trendy doesn’t mean having to break the bank.
Mama Needs A Break
No surprise being a mom of six it can get overwhelming especially with the pandemic going on. I found myself getting overwhelmed and much more irritable being at home with the children and not having a break. If only I had job out of my house that I could just escape even for just a few hours. I found myself not liking who I was becoming and I knew I needed to change that but I wasn’t sure how. That’s when it hit me; I had not done a single thing to just take care of me. My life revolves around my children and rightfully so, but I learned that if I do not take care of myself both physically and mentally then I am not able to take care of them the way the deserved. That is when I decided enough was enough every Sunday morning was now going to be my time. I told my husband the kids were all his for a few hours because I needed a break. I really enjoy the outdoors I find that there is just something about being outside that just relaxes you and helps you reset. I spoke to my aunt who was also just trying to better herself and we agreed that Sunday mornings will be hiking mornings. We Looked up the best trails in Southern California and we just started checking them off. Remembering to take some time for yourself is not just nice but it is needed. So many moms fall into the mom guilt and feel bad for wanting to do something for themselves but you have to remember no matter if it’s just drinking a cup of coffee alone while watching the sunrise, having lunch with a friend, or taking a hike without any little ones it is ok. Not only will you feel better but your children will also sense the lighter more relaxed mom in you. Attached are some awesome hiking trails that we have explored.
When COVID strikes your home
December 7, 2020 my world was flipped upside down. That was the day I got what would be the first of 4 positive COVID tests results for my household. 3 of my children had caught it as well as my husband. Some how I managed not to get it. It was now my job to take care of everyone and prevent myself as well as my other three children from getting it as well. My youngest had just turned 2 three weeks prior to his diagnoses and was not capable of wearing a mask the entire time or isolate himself from the rest of us. Some asked why couldn’t he just isolate with my husband since he was also positive. The answer to that is because although they were both positive my 3 children showed absolutely no symptoms unlike my husband who had all of them and took over 3 weeks to recover. After speaking with the Dr I knew it was time to buckle down. Everyone who was positive stayed in their own designated room. Because we are such a big family our children are paired up so my 2 girls who were covid free moved out to the family room. While my son and I stayed in the living room. Because my toddler was out in common areas my daughters and I had to wear a mask 24/7. My daughters would take them of briefly to sleep but because my son is attached to my hip I slept in mine. Important things to remember when someone tests positive are 1. Isolate for the entire time. Leave their food on a tray by the door and have them pick it up once you walk away. 2. Disposable every thing plates, cups, and utensils. Even for those who aren’t positive. 3.Everything that gets touched needs to get disinfected. 4. Vitamins are a huge help in supporting your immune system. I was advised to take vitamin C, Vitamin D and zinc by several doctors. ( that is actually what they sent my husband home with after his trip to the E.R for breathing complications.) Wal-mart has gummies for kids with all three vitamins that I still have my children take till this day. Doing these few steps consistently is what I believe prevented the rest of us from catching it. If anyone is interest in the kids gummies I will attach the link my little ones love them.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/L-il-Critters-Kids-Immune-C-Plus-Zinc-and-Vitamin-D-190-Count/14711223
Virtual learning
Wow what a year it has been. Who would of thought when COVID first hit the states that it would turn our wolds upside down in such a short time. I remember when we were first told that we would be going on lock down everyone thought we were just getting an extra week off for spring break. Little did we know that was going to be the last day of a full week in class learning experience they would have in months. Here we are 10 months later and a new school year doing remote learning. I’m curious how is everyone else handling it? I have 5 children currently in school my youngest started kindergarten this year and was so excited until she found out that she was not going to actually be attending class. She once asked me what the COVID germs looked liked and asked if we could go and wash them away. As I began to prepare for my children’s first day of class I started looking into ideas on how to set up at home learning stations. First thing was having to keep them separated while still focused. Once the room situation was tweaked a few times I went to work more so for my youngest as she wasn’t prepared for the distraction of being home. I did what all moms do i logged onto Pinterest. I found plenty of fun ideas on learning boards. Best part you can find everything at your local dollar tree. My daughter was just beginning kindergarten so I stuck to the basics letters, numbers, shapes and her left and right side. One thing that I have learned plenty of with the pandemic and homeschooling besides patience is flexibility. We have luckily found a nice routine with plenty of time for learning and breaks that works for us.
Deciding to use Cloth Diapers
When I got pregnant with my sixth child I was sitting at home browsing Fb scrolling through the mama’s due in November group . And that’s when I came across the cutest newborn diaper I had ever seen. I thought to myself “what is this and how do I get started?” For the next three days I did nothing but research cloth diapers on my spare time. My mission was to convince my husband that we NEEDED to try cloth diapers this time. I brought up cost effectiveness. Did you know that on average those who choose to cloth diaper spend on average $800 – $1000 on diapers the first two years and those who choose disposables spend $2000 – $3000. Think of all the cute mommy and me outfits you could purchase with that extra money. Next big issue was tackling the wash routine. I did extensive research on this and found a wonderful group on Facebook called “Cloth Diapering Mamas – ORIGINAL” this is such a wonderful group of supportive moms who go up and beyond in helping newbies such as myself. Another group that they recommended was “Fluff Love and CD Science” they have it broken down into so many categories. If you have a preference of liquid detergent vs powder don’t worry they have the info. If you have hard water vs Soft water or don’t know which one you have they can help you. Doesn’t matter if you have a top loader, front loader, Maytag, Samsung, LG THEY HAVE YOU COVERED!!! When I brought it up to my husband he was shocked that I had even been considering this, after all this was baby number 6 and never had I mentioned it before. He stared at me for a moment and out came the numerous questions and I had an answer to every one of them. I felt so confident in myself that he must have noticed and agreed right away. Yes! Now came the fun part, shopping for diapers. I know what you may thinking “shopping for diapers fun?” Let me answer that for you, yes it is. There are several diaper styles to choose from and thousands of prints. You can even have them customized. We decided on some Velcro diapers since my husband prefers those and some snap ones as well. The tricky part are the inserts. We have tried so many and I’ll give you a little tip the ones we always go back to aren’t even real inserts they are flour sack towels from Walmart-mart. They are 100% cotton, cheap and work amazingly. ( That was one of many tips I received from the facebook group) I mentioned that my husband prefers Velcro diapers and we found and absolutely love the grovia diapers (we have both Velcro and snaps from this company) and we have tons of Mama Koala diapers . Those are sold in a 6 pack on Amazon. We have about 65 cloth diapers in total and have used them in rotation for my son since he was a newborn he is now 2 years and 2 months. Just a fun side note the picture of my son wearing his blue grovia diaper was taken on his first birthday. He wore that diaper for the very first time at 6 weeks and still wears it now at just over 2 years old.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-6-Piece-Kitchen-Towel-Set-White/37948412
Roxy and her half dozen 