Kaete's Profile

The best way to keep kids from fighting over the top bunk is to get creative! My mom let me put up sheets that turned the bottom bunk into an awesome private fort whenever I wanted. I thought it was the bees knees, and it was the best way to share a bedroom with a sibling ever. It's such a wonderful experience.

If they're willing to trade it, heck yeah! Go for it!

And I agree with the others that the photo is probably the reason your current sofa isn't selling. Even if you don't own any camera besides your phone, sometimes it's worth it to get help from a friend that has a real camera.

And even camera phones can often take very good photos, but there are tricks to it. The most important is to use sunlight for the lighting, because that almost ALWAYS looks so much better. If your hand is shaky, pull over a tall lamp or something to help prop the camera so it's more steady. Be aware of everything else in the shot, but also try to get the whole piece of furniture in the frame if you can - cutting it off at the corners just adds to the bad picture vibe. :)

I would be embarrassed to serve a deck of cards worth of meat at a dinner party, no matter how healthy it is. I'm not my friends' dietitian! I find it better to go a bit overboard and just make something I'm happy to freeze/store and eat later. You don't have to put on a decadent feast or anything, but I definitely believe a smart host tries to have two plates worth of extra food just in case of surprises. (someone brings an old friend, someone drops their plate, etc)

How are you at hospital/military corners? My mom can tuck sheets in so tightly they won't move an inch. As a bonus, that means you can just keep a lot of flat sheets and not worry about messing with fitted sheets.

Ack, those puppies are so cute it hurts. :)

It seems like answering the phone would be very rude to me, as you never know who might be calling. What if you pick up the phone to hear something very private, like "This is So-And-So hospital, is this Jane Doe?" Right off you know more than Jane Doe might want you to know!

The only other house where I'll answer the phone is at home for my parents or for my in-laws, and that's because they expect it.

Other folks might consider this weird but I also don't answer my husband's phone unless I know the number calling - unless that number does something like call three times, and then I'd assume it's some emergency!

I actually slowly built up a collection of suitcases that all fit inside each other, like nesting dolls. It can be a bit annoying to dig out the innermost small suitcase (actually a duffel bag that squishes flat the most) but I only have to do it a few times a year, and the rest of the time I only have to worry about finding storage space for one suitcase that is really four of them all together.

As another note - carry-on bags (even with wheels!) can be found for really cheap prices if you live near a surplus store like TJ Maxx or etc. Yes, they do have fancy luggage at crazy prices, but dig around a bit and you'll find the cheapo ones underneath the stacks for $15-$20. If you're living a life of extremely limited storage options, you can always buy one on the cheap and donate it afterwards.

In fact, you could buy second hand the first go around, but then bed bugs might be a concern.

Keep in mind that for small trips, backpacks can be superior to luggage in many ways. :)

I just *love* how dirty that tiny apron is. :) Now that's the mark of creativity!

My parents hid our Easter baskets, which was a lot more exciting. You give the first egg to the kid, which opens to reveal a clue, like a shoelace to look in the closet, or a phrase like "my best friend is a fork" to go look in the spoons for the next egg with a clue. Each egg leads you to the next until you finally get the basket, so it makes the hunt take longer than randomly running around the house and looking.

I have pretty horrible ADHD, so I have to keep my second brain (my phone) in the bedroom so I can write things down the second I think of them - otherwise they'll be lost.

I'm not wild about computers in the bedroom, but you did forget one reason why they're useful there - at least it gives adults privacy for porn/erotica/whatever.