If you want to travel with only carry on bags, it means packing light.  And that means getting packing things that will give you double duty, cutting out the heavy stuff, and packing things that can be used and reused.  Packing light, especially if it’s for a lengthy trip, will mean being prepared to do a little laundry on the road.
Although packing liquids is out (3-1-1 rule), you aren’t stuck with using shampoo or bar soap from a hotel. 
Just toss in a pack of A Fresh Pair from Ebrace, and you’ll have a gentle leaf of soap that’s …read more

I have a confession to make. Remember when I bragged that my son’s bedwetting issues were over? Yeah, well, call it the parent-of-one-child intoxication, but after a week of dry sheets, I am now swimming knee high in smelly, wet bedding on a daily basis. I’ve gone through one of those large jugs of Tide-with-Bleach in one week. What’s that, like 42 loads? Insane.
I mentioned this problem at my book club and one woman – the mother of two grown boys – said the bedwetting at her house got so bad when her kids were young that she would literally …read more

My son and I are at an impasse. He doesn’t want to wear pull-ups to bed and I don’t want to get up at 3 a.m. to change his sheets. He just turned 5 and my inner parent is telling me that he should be diaper free by now. My doctor (yes, I consulted him) says he is normal. That he will soon learn to mind his bladder at night and besides, he says, no 18-year-olds are heading off to college in pull-ups anyway.
Still, try to tell that to a 5-year-old “big boy” who is sobbing at his bedside because …read more

I hate my washing machine. I don’t like to do laundry–wait, I don’t mind doing laundry, and I like having clean clothes. I hate folding clothes. I’m a great go out for a walk and have an adventure mom. I’m not so hot on the domesticity.
Some hints, then, on better wash:

always check ALL pockets for stuff: I just washed a good sized stick I’d neglected to find in my son’s pockets, and am forever pulling out crayons, rocks, weird sticky toys, etc, not to mention the inevitable tissue…
Vinegar in the rinse cycle is a fine clothes softener
hot water sets stains, …read more