Matilda's Profile

My son has morning chores he must complete (pack school bag, brush teeth, eat breakfast, put dishes in the dishwasher, vacuum mess under dining room table with dustbuster, take out the garbage) and then if there is time before we leave for school, he can use his ipad. He usually has about 10 minutes if he speeds through his chores.

In the evening, he has to complete his homework, tidy his room, take a shower and brush his teeth before any screen time. Since we don't get home until about 5:45, this leaves him about 1/2 hour max.

We also have the following global restrictions: no electronics on playdates Mon-Thurs., no electronics in the car, bed or bathroom; no electronics at our beach club (we go each weekend), no electronics while eating. So basically where and when he can use electronics is very dictated by us.

Oh, also on Saturday mornings he has to do all his chores (any weekend homework, clean his room, dust and vacuum it, put away his laundry and help his father clean out the gerbil cage) in addition to the other morning chores before he can "use."

My son is almost 9 and we used to dole out time in half hour increments, but then he complained about being timed, and I felt like I was always on top of him. With all that he has to do he rarely gets more than 45 minutes in per day, but he feels like he earns it and we don't have to constantly nag. Also, the chores actually get done now as opposed to before when I was just nagging all the time.

Is this Maxwell's apartment in the picture? It looks like the floor lamp and table lamp are right next to each other which looks weird to me. And they are both right below a window which is also a light source. Am I missing something here?

Please! Pets do not demand the same level of attention as young children. Your pet is not a kid, although you may love them very much. I would also venture to say it is easier and cheaper to find a dog walker (because that is the kind of pet we are talking about right? A pet who needs to be taken outside multiple times during the day?) when you are sick to come and walk your dog 2-3x a day than it is to find someone to take care of your kid(s) for an entire day so you can rest and recuperate. I feel like society has become too child-centric, but that doesn't mean that it isn't really hard to take care of children when you yourself are sick.

That chinchilla is TOO cute. I would get a steamer-style trunk and put his accessories (bath, food etc.) in the trunk and put his cage on top of the trunk and stick it perpendicular out of the wall. If kept tidy metal animal cages can be surprisingly elegant and there's really no way to hide a cage of this size so you might as well make it a focal point. I agree about the furniture seeming to be all lined up against the walls (one reason why I recommend you put the trunk perpendicular).

Looks good Charmaine. Wood trim and cabinets like that kind of skiv me.

Why would it be cheaper than a paper bag?

How could you, with the bathroom carpet.

I feel strongly that you should paint over the goldenrod with a neutral, almost white color. For one thing, when you use color as strong as that any flaw in the surface of the walls or any little bleed or mistake that occurred during painting jumps out. Also, the area is tiny. I would paint the walls perhaps a creamy very light buttery yellow. Ditch the bamboo shade and get a simple pull down blind and cover the inside panel of it with a bold graphic print. Do the same for the door. Sorry to say this but your kitchen looks very mish-mash and what is up with that shredded washcloth? Get some coordinating kitchen accessories and a nice dish drainer, maybe you want to go with a stainless theme for the accessories. The cord hanging down over your sink looks dangerous.

I love these posts! When we're in town, I usually make a tuna casserole for my husband to munch on all weekend (and usually have for one dinner too) and a quiche for myself. I just took the cheese and bacon out of the freezer for my quiche! I'm grooving on using up my food in my freezer and cupboard and having a clean slate for fall. Now that I work for a school, the new year always feels like it starts in September rather than January.

The easiest way to do stock is in a slow cooker. I just throw the carcass along with any uneaten shreds of dark meat into the crock pot with an onion and a couple of cloves of smashed garlic and any other veggies that might be left over from dinner. Let it cook overnight and drain in the morning and save in ziplocks. It's really easy, and I don't have room in my fridge to store old carcasses anyway.