Homemade All Purpose Cleaner

My sanity tip of the week is a recipe for making Homemade All Purpose Cleaner.

The recipe has three simple ingredients, is non-toxic and cleans amazingly! It is adadpted from a site called Healthy Living On A Lean Budget.

1/2 tsp washing soda
2 cups hot water
1 squirt of washing-up liquid
Spray bottle
(Optional: Several drops of eucalyptus oil or tea tree oil)

I put all the ingredients into the bottle, swoosh it around to dissolve the washing soda and use.

This Homemade All Purpose Cleaner cuts through stove top grease like nobody's business! I use it to clean my oven (but it won't do the job if you haven't cleaned your oven for over 6 months, I know this from experience!). Sometimes I will need to use the scourer for baked on tough spots but most of the time I simply swipe with a paper towel.

I have yet to come across a use-by date for Homemade All Purpose Cleaner. It lasts for months and months in my cupboard, until I run out.

I make two spray bottles up. One for the kitchen and one for the bathroom/ laundry. I put a couple of drops of tea tree oil in the bathroom one for its antiseptic/ disinfectant properties.

Unfortunately when I tried to clean windows and mirrors with this Homemade All Purpose Cleaner it left streaks on the windows and mirrors, but vinegar and water will get that job done :)

Kids Co-op #18 & Showcase

Welcome to the Kids Co-op!

Thanks to everyone who linked up last week. There was an amazing amount of bloggers who shared their awesome activities and ideas. I love seeing what everyone's been up to during the week. It is so inspiring. What a wonderful resource you all are for everyone with kids, teaching kids or caring for kids!

Check out my favourites from last week's linky party!

Create pictures by printing with household sponges. At Home With Ali has posted an awesome idea and with a little help from Mum I think Chook could do this!

Making Boys Men created a water wall. My guys love water so this will be a winner around here!

Playdough to Plato had B-Inspired Mama guest post about putting messages in a bottle THAT THEY POSTED! How cool is that!

Were you featured this week? Please take a 'Featured at Triple T Mum' badge.

Without further ado here are this week's wonderful link-up's to this weeks Kids Co-op. Make yourself comfortable have a look around and if you have blogged about some unique family orientated fun or educational activity we'd love to see it! Link up and maybe get featured in next weeks showcase!

Other ways to keep abreast of happenings at the Kids Co-op:

Check out the Kids Co-op Facebook Page!

Into Pinning...Check out the Kids Co-op Pinterest Board.

Weekly Menu Plan

Wednesday is my day to organise the meals for the week. During nap time I sit at the computer and using the Menu Planner attached I decide what meals we will be having. I also go through the fridge and pantry and create a shopping list. We shop weekly either Wednesday afternoon or Thursday night.


Although the Menu Planner starts on Monday, I actually start on the Wednesday and go right through the weekend to Tuesday. For some reason this works for me. I could adjust the Menu Planner to suit my weirdness, but I want you to find it useful too! Feel free to adapt to suit your family.

Here is the post on Snack Boxes and what is contained in them.

Find the recipe for Roast Pumpkin Pizza here! ("Coming Soon")

Weekly Menu Plan

2012 Family Weekly Menu Plan 4 - June

Want more! For extra content or just to keep up with the mayhem, like Triple T Mum's Facebook Page!

Raising Teenagers: Part 2

 

Principles of Love and Logic 

• Develop a healthy self-concept in your teen.
• Encourage responsibility.
• Provide guidance to find a solution to their problem.
• Neutralise all arguing.
• Give control through choices.
• What you say must be enforceable and followed through on.
• Show empathy.
• Lessons are learnt through consequences.
• Consequences don't have to be immediate.
• Building a life long relationship with your teen.

The Consultant Parenting Style

The Consultant Parent asks questions, offers choices and places the decision making on the teen.

Consultant Parents use "I" messages.

Consultant Parents ask questions that force the teen to do the thinking.

The biggest challenge of implementing Love and Logic is getting the language right. For Love and Logic to work it hinges on getting words to work for you.

Effective questioning tips:

• Don't tell teens what you expect. Get your teen to tell you what the expectations are.
• When your teen is amped up or angry, give them space and come back to the discussion later.
• If your teen has gone mute and won't engage in the discussion simply say, "You have a think about it and we'll talk about it later."

I like the first tip. By doing this you will discover whether your teen actually knows what is expected! The difficulty is getting the wording right. 

Here's a couple of "problems" I am having at the moment. 
Problem: Unable to find school clothes/Not putting clothes away.
Expectations: Clothes are put away after being washed and folded.
Discussion: Remember when you couldn't find your school clothes and it got pretty stressful for you? What do you think you should do with this pile of clean clothes?

Problem: Putting down others.
Expectations: We speak to each other with respect.
Discussion: I've noticed that when you get angry at Chook you call him 'Stupid'. What's your thoughts on that?
(Errggghh! I so want to say, "Stop calling him "Stupid". It's a horrible word and makes him feel bad." Then I want to ban him from gaming for a day if he does it again, but I've done this before and it's not working so I'll give Love and Logic a try).

Problem: Coming home late.
Expectations: You are home when you say you'll be home or you phone if you're going to be late.
Discussion: I get really concerned for you when you don't come home on time. I worry that something might have happened to you. Leave me _______ number. If you're not home by ____ I will phone your mobile, your friends and finally the police.

It took me twenty minutes to come up with the discussion questions! This is not an easy parenting method. But neither is the journey through adolescence. To use this tool I am going to have to practise using effective questioning.

Join me this week in developing our effective questioning so our teens are doing the decision making towards good choices.

Want more! For extra content or to just keep up with the mayhem, like Triple T Mum's Facebook Page!

Ten Essential Items In Our Everyday Bag

Welcome to another Triple T Mum sanity tip! This week it is about organising an everyday bag and ten essential items to have in it when out and about with three under three!



I use a back pack as my everyday/nappy bag and totally love it! I started using it as soon as the twins were born. It works because I am hands free to deal with any situation when out and about. It also works because of all the handy little extra pockets you get with a backpack and the mesh pockets work great for keeping water bottles in.

Apart from the essential items of nappies, wipes, change mat and change of clothes which are already in the bag, I also consider the following ten items absolutely essential to have on hand at all times.

Ten Essential Items In Our Everyday Bag

1.Sunscreen. I have been caught out to many times that I now have sunscreen in my car, in my bag and in our going out bag. You just can't take chances with kids skin here, even in winter!

2. Insect repellent. Sometimes we're out and about at dusk and this stuff is a god-send to have on hand.

3. Mini Etch-a-Sketch pad. Entertainment when stuck waiting somewhere or when catching up with a friend at a cafe.

4. Tissues. So many uses!

5. I-Spy bag. I have a list of what's in the bag and Chook has to find the object. The babies just like to fiddle and look.

6. Finger puppets. Iggle Piggle (not pictured) and a Tombliboo finger puppet 'sing' and 'chat'. Great distraction objects! 

7. Toy mobile phone. When you can't use Mummy's.

8. Hair clips. Strawberry's hair is starting to come over into her eyes, so hair clips are great for sweeping it back. You can never have too many hair clips!

9. Hand sanitiser. There are so many bugs around, especially in winter. I mainly use it but if one of the kids has touched something icky I'll use a little bit on their hands.

10. Plastic bags. Wet clothes. Dirty cloth nappies. Carry bag. Shopping bag. Gotta have them!

What's in your everyday bag?

Want more! For extra content or to just keep up with the mayhem, like Triple T Mum's Facebook page!

Kids Co-op #17 & Showcase

Welcome to the Kids Co-op!

Thanks to everyone who linked up last week. There was an amazing amount of bloggers who shared their awesome activities and ideas. I love seeing what everyone's been up to during the week. It is so inspiring. What a wonderful resource you all are for everyone with kids, teaching kids or caring for kids!

Check out my favourites from last week's linky party!

Weekly Menu Plan

Wednesday is my day to organise the meals for the week. During nap time I sit at the computer and using the Menu Planner attached I decide what meals we will be having. I also go through the fridge and pantry and create a shopping list. We shop weekly either Wednesday afternoon or Thursday night.


Although the Menu Planner starts on Monday, I actually start on the Wednesday and go right through the weekend to Tuesday. For some reason this works for me. I could adjust the Menu Planner to suit my weirdness, but I want you to find it useful too! Feel free to adapt to suit your family.

Here is the post on Snack Boxes and what is contained in them.

Find the recipe for Steve's Delicious Thermie Tuna Pasta here! ("Coming Soon")

Weekly Menu Plan

2012 Family Weekly Menu Plan 3 - June

Want more! For extra content or to just keep up with the mayhem, like Triple T Mum's Facebook Page!

Raising Teenagers: Part 1

When raising teenagers we parents need a little guidance ourselves! What a challenge we have before us! But it is a wonderful challenge because if we guide them in the best way we can, we will watch all that potential become a wonderful adult! I have recently borrowed a copy of Parenting Teens with Love and Logic to help in raising my teenager. This book presents the idea of loving your teen enough to enable them to make their own decisions and allow them to live with the natural consequences of their mistakes, which really appeals to me. 

Part 1: Chapter 1 introduces the reader to some pretty hardcore teenagers. I kind of read the stories and thought "Glad I don't have those teenagers!" But it does kind of scare you into thinking "But what if I stuff this up (parenting). I could have these issues on my hands. What would I do?"

Now I am just itching to get at the strategies! Foster Cline and Jim Fay go on to identify the challenges facing parents of teens and of course the challenges teens themselves face.

Geez! The real world ain't such a warm and fuzzy place as my teen would like to think! So the teen years for us have only just started and there's a few warning bells going off. Nothing like what the book has put forward. Just stuff like not doing his chores, huffing and puffing about the place and not coming home on time. What I would call pushing the boundaries a little. 

"We're going to teach you how to apply them [principles] in the task of helping your teens become responsible adults". Isn't that what we all want for our children? Okay give me the good stuff! Love and logic parents don't resort to anger (guilty), lectures (guilty), threats (guilty) and repeated warnings (guilty). Okay that's four counts of guilty and still nothing to come away with. But I am hooked! I want to be a Love and Logic parent...where do I sign up?

So that's Chapter 1 and I guess in reflection it is about our parenting journey when raising teenagers. We know our destination, raising a responsible adult and we know that this journey is fraught with danger and challenges. We know that some of these dangers and challenges are not even ours to have.

Travelling through outback Australia is often along tracks that are almost indistinguishable from the rest of the landscape. Having an excellent, detailed map of the area you are driving through is essential as well as information from local authorities. During the drive we come across bends, corrugated tracks, huge potholes, deep sand drifts and wildlife that are not on the map. To navigate through these obstacles the driver sometimes leaves the track and rejoins it further ahead. The entire drive is spent slightly deviating from the track but we still arrive at our destination. Along the journey the driver is assisted by markers, GPS, two way and their own observations of the landscape. Our parenting journey is the same. Sometimes we get off track, so we need the map and some tools to get us back on track again, but our destination remains the same.

Join me in thinking about our parenting journey this week. It might be useful to think about how we know when we're off track. How do you get back on track?

I Am Proud of My Teen

There's a distinct lack of Gamer in my posts. This gap has been gnawing away at me for weeks. Many times I have thought, "Gee, I really should put something in here about Gamer and raising a teen" but I haven't. And I think I know why...

It is very difficult to get a nice photo of a teen. Has anyone with teens ever noticed how difficult it is to get a nice photo of their teen? You know one where they're not doing something obnoxious to themselves or with someone else! Or sometimes for them to even ALLOW you to take a photo of them!

Seriously though, the main reason is respect. Respect for him and his personal space. This is the Internet. What I write and publish enters the blogosphere and then it is 'out there'. Anyone could read what I write about my teenager. If my post was of a personal nature it could be used to ridicule or bully him in real life. So I have held back.

But today I want you to know how proud I am of him. The last three years have been life changing for him. At the same time as becoming a teenager three younger siblings were added to the family, removing his only child status and cramping his style and home!

I am proud of him for understanding the importance of family. I am proud of him for going along with his mum's crazy ideas and actually coming out a better person. I am proud of him when he is out in the community that he represents his family beautifully. He is well mannered, respectful and interested in other people.

Steve and I have done a good job so far! Some of our parenting strategies must have worked! It's going to get tough now and I think I need some new tools in my parenting tool box to get us through the next 5 years. Over the next few weeks I am going to be reviewing some of the resources and strategies I have on hand and sharing them with you.

Kids Co-op #16 & Showcase

Welcome to the Kids Co-op!

Thank you to my wonderful followers for your lovely comments and encouragement! After a little hiatus Kids Co-op is back at Triple T Mum!

Although I didn't provide the linky last week I couldn't keep away from checking out all the awesome activities and ideas that were linked up last week! It really is inspiring!

Check out my favourite from last week's linky party!

I love getting the kids in the kitchen to help out when I am cooking, but I've been worrying about how I am going to get this happening when Ooffa and Strawberry are ready to chip in. Mom and Kiddo have 10 tips on how to get kids involved in cooking. I reckon I could get a production line happening. What do you think?!?

Were you featured this week? Please take a 'Featured at Triple T Mum' badge.

Weekly Menu Plan

Wednesday is my day to organise the meals for the week. During nap time I sit at the computer and using the Menu Planner attached I decide what meals we will be having. I also go through the fridge and pantry and create a shopping list. We shop weekly either Wednesday afternoon or Thursday night.


Although the Menu Planner starts on Monday, I actually start on the Wednesday and go right through the weekend to Tuesday. For some reason this works for me. I could adjust the Menu Planner to suit my weirdness, but I want you to find it useful too! Feel free to adapt to suit your family.

Find the recipe for our delicious Cottage Pie here! ("Coming Soon")

Weekly Menu Plan

2012 Family Weekly Menu Plan 2 - June

Snack Box Ideas for Toddlers

I have a healthy eating philosophy. The majority of food I serve to my family has been homemade and remembers where it came from. This has meant that I am constantly scouring the recipe books and the internet for ideas on what to serve up to the kids.

During one such search I came across Learn With Play @ Home. After reading her post "Snackboxes" Healthy Food For Kids I came away completely inspired to try it out with Chook. I love how easy a snack box looked to prepare, how easily adaptable it looked to suit my family and the notion of independence for Chook. I can also see the benefits of using a snack box for the future when Chook starts attending school. Good habit forming for me and Chook!

Debs provides 3 simple steps of using snack boxes with preschoolers. Here are mine for using a snack box with toddlers!

Kids Co-op & Showcase

Hey! Triple T Mum is having a blogging crisis. I won't be co-hosting the Kids Co-op link or Showcasing this week. It takes time and energy away from my family. I am in doubt as to whether anyone actually links from Triple T Mum anyway, so I am wondering if that time and energy could be better spent else where. 

Comment below if you do link up here and/or if you wish to see Kids Co-op return to this blog!

Weekly Menu Plan

Wednesday is my day to organise the meals for the week. During nap time I sit at the computer and using the Menu Planner attached I decide what meals we will be having. I also go through the fridge and pantry and create a shopping list. We shop weekly either Wednesday afternoon or Thursday night.

Although the Menu Planner starts on Monday, I actually start on the Wednesday and go right through the weekend to Tuesday. For some reason this works for me. I could adjust the Menu Planner to suit my weirdness, but I want you to find it useful too! Feel free to adapt to suit your family.

Breakfast Muffin recipe can be found on the Weigh It Up website. Click the link to this very healthy and very yummy recipe. It's a family fav!

Weekly Menu Plan

2012 Family Weekly Menu Plan 1 - June

How far we have come...June

Three under two!

June 2011 - Ooffa and Strawberry 4 months. Chook 21 months.

At four months we had an established sleep and feeding routine. Twin breast feeding was going fantastically and my milk supply was keeping up with demand. I was actually surprised at how well feeding two babies was going compared to my struggles with breast feeding one baby. Strawberry and Ooffa slept in our room in separate cots. They almost slept through the night, going to bed at 7:30pm and waking for their first feed around 4:30am. Ooffa would sometimes wake during the night and I would bring him into my bed and let him suckle while I drifted back to sleep.