Have you tried Oxyclean? With shirts that have yellowed, I put a scoop of oxyclean into the washer and set it on hot water wash. Once the water stops running, I stop the washer and put in the shirts and let them soak overnight. Then I drain and spin in the morning and wash as usual. So far it has worked wonders. Good luck!

Oh yeah, we know about those in our house!!

Here’s what I’ve tried:
Soak them in a pot of near-boiling water w/Dawn detergent (oil/grease cutting properties)
Soak in hydrogen peroxide, then scrub w/baking soda and plastic scrub brush
Wash on super hot cycle w/vinegar, give an extra rinse
Spray down & soak w/ Shout
Air dry in the sunshine (dryer heat can “reactivate” the grease)

I’ve tried each idea separately, everything all at once…you just have to keep at it.
Changing the cases more often helps; in the summer I will sometimes do it mid-week.

I’ve also considered buying some poly/cotton blend cases, as it seems they might be more resistant to absorbing the grease than the all-cotton ones.

Claire,
I’ve had to take a baby/toddler into the confessional with me before by necessity & the priests have been understanding.  The important thing is that you are making an effort to receive this wonderful, healing sacrament.  It helps to have a list so that you do not get distracted by your little one while in there.  I simply enter the confession with the child, tell Father that I’m sorry that I had to bring the little one in with me, & we go from there.  Sometimes, depending on the age, mood & squirmy-ness factor of the child…it goes more smoothly than others.  God bless—

Oops, that should have read “enter the confessional”...(right now I am preoccupied by a rambunctious soon-to-be-3-year old son!)  ;o)

Confession with a 3 year old is fine, and do-able, but going in with a list and a “say it, get absolved” attitude will help.  It won’t be the best time for more in-depth spiritual direction, let’s say.

You can also pray that you will run into someone you know from your parish who might be able to walk him around the church a few times for you!

Thanks ladies!  If he wakes up from his nap in time, I will give it a try.  It will be short and sweet, and I don’t have anything to confess that would be inappropriate for a child to hear (even if I did, he probably wouldn’t understand anyway…), so hopefully it will go well.

Claire,
I have taken toddlers/infants to confession and it seems there is always someone generous who will watch over them for the time I am in the confessional. I have even had a couple insist I go in front of them. (Maybe I looked like I really needed it!) Once, however, I prayed for Mary’s help because my daughter was extremely fussy and I knew it would prevent me from going. The moment we got inside the church, she fell asleep and stayed asleep until after I confessed. I felt so loved that the Blessed Mother would help me to meet my needs. Ask for Mary’s intercession, she will help you receive the grace.

Well, it’s 4:30 now, and he’s still napping, so I guess I won’t be making it to Confession today after all (he had two days in a row without a nap, so I had a feeling this would be a long one).  Oh well, hopefully I can make it first thing on Tuesday.  Thanks for all the info!  I’m sure it will come in handy in the future, since my husband will be working long days on Saturdays for the time being.

I take my now-4YO with me to confession.  The first time we went, it was before Mass and I hadn’t planned on going but Fr. was available - all this to say I didn’t explain it to her beforehand.  She had a lot of questions afterwards.    I just said that when we’re naughty, we go to confession and tell Fr. about it and we tell Jesus that we’re sorry.  (If anybody has a better explanation, I’m all ears!)

Lenetta - i think thats the *perfect* explanation!!  in fact, i’m stealing it

PS: we live near Lancaster PA so anything within driving distance of Philadelphia, Baltimore, DC, Delaware, Vermont, New Jersey, New York…..you get the idea! I am really looking forward to your recommendations, as many of “my” best ideas come from my friends here at F&F!!

Jeanne, you might find this site helpful: http://www.vrbo.com/ Good luck!

Great recommendation, Danielle!  (Haha, see below - we posted at the same time the same response)

A bunch of cold pizza strips? (Either make or order an extra one for slicing down & putting in the fridge when you have pizza for dinnner)
Smoothies? (I peel & freeze extra bananas in sandwich bags; they’re always ready to pop in the blender w/ whatever else we want.)
Bean dips or hummus?  You can make a big vat-o’hummus and keep it in the fridge, then keep veggies or chips or pretzels handy.
Dried fruits?

Anything with protein and fiber at the same time.  They will stay fuller longer.  Cheese and crackers, pepperoni and crackers, fruit and cheese, etc.  I noticed that if set a set time for snack time they tended to not graze all afternoon.  That being said, my kids are all on the lean side….if they are hungry between meals and snacks they are all welcome to find something.

I just bookmarked this post that my friend Laura at Heavenly Homemakers wrote with lots of good snack ideas.  I am also a HUGE fan of the larabar knock-offs in the Healthy Snacks to Go ebook from http://www.kitchenstewardship.com.  (since you have to buy it, it feels kinda weird to give a direct link, but you can find it easily by clicking on ebooks at the top of the page.)  Oh, and personally, I’ve been eating the heck out of apple slices dipped in peanut butter.  YUM.

Turning the exhaust fan on high should help, if you can stand the noise of it.

We use one of those cheap griddles that has the drip tray (ours is Presto) and I think it keeps the smoke down because the extra grease flows into the tray.  Even so, my husband still likes to cook bacon on our deck just to keep the splatters down, but we don’t have trouble with smoke with the griddle.

I cook my bacon in the oven instead of the stovetop to avoid the smoke problem.

I wouldn’t know as my dh considers it a plus of cooking bacon that the house smells like it for awhile afterward…

Anna, so does mine!
“Mmmmm…b-a-c-o-n…”  I could exchange applying perfume for a couple of swipes of bacon grease on each wrist & save some money.

Kathleen, in all seriousness, when I really don’t want to smoke up the house I put an outward-blowing fan in the window nearest the oven & blow another fan toward the oven (& window), creating a little wind channel. (We don’t have an exhaust, and the least little bit of kitchen smoke will set off every smoke detector in the house.)

I also love to cook bacon in the oven!  I do a whole pound on two cookie sheets (foil lined) and put the extra in the fridge… since it has so many preservatives, I’ve never had it go bad before we get it used.   I also save my grease in a jar and use it to grease pans to avoid the sticky goop that nonstick spray leaves - and I’ve also thought about dabbing it on for perfume since my hubs is also a big bacon fan.

How about some baked chicken breasts? Roll them in a whisked egg and then, once the breast is slicked up a bit, roll into some spices (garlic powder, dill weed or rosemary, sea salt, etc) and parmesan cheese. Serve with steamed brocoli or asparagus, a nice fresh salad. Maybe a bean salad (although beans are high in carbs but different than your typical pasta, rice, potatoes, right??) Good luck!

We eat low carb here all the time.  Meatloaf, if he prefers beef (I have a great recipe if you need one).  Grilled chicken is good.  Tonight we had bratwurst; I boil it first and then grill to make the outside pretty and delicious.  Tossed salads are great for sides.  Or try cole slaw.  There are also recipes for mashed cauliflower that mimic mashed potatoes and are actually quite tasty.

How about some broiled salmon, chicken breasts or a boneless turkey breast,  oven roasted asparagus and a tossed salad?  I eat low carb all the time, and I just eliminate the starch, and add more veggies.  YOu can also roast broccoli, carrots, parnsnips, and even brussel sprouts!  They come out delicious!

I can ALWAYS find a pair of shoes for my 3 year old.  She kicks off her shoes in the car wherever we go, so I just leave them there when we get home.  I have 6 kids and I keep shoes and clothing to a minimum: 1 or 2 church outfits and 4 to 5 other outfits (more for the under 5 crowd due to accidents and spills and more for when the older boys go off summer camp for a week).  I do laundry 5-6 days a week.  All shoes stay in baskets in closets, although during the daytime I may permit the shoes being worn that day to be by the front door.  The less you have, the easier it is to find what you need.

We keep Mass shoes in a separate spot since they are only worn once a week - when we get back from Mass that’s where they must go.  Maybe you already do this, but I found that putting baskets and one of those 3 tier cheap wire racks near where they shoes already land….rather than tucked in our hallway closet and out of sight *sigh*...helps tremendously.  It’s also the job of my 3 and 6 year old to straighten up the shoes into pairs once a day.

This isn’t exactly a shoe organizing idea but I usually have all my kids make sure they have all their church clothes ready the night before.(including belts, tights, underwear, slips etc. That way if the shoes are missing they can look for them. Or I can run a wash if I have to. It makes Sunday morning so much easier.
The more kids you have, the fewer clothes you need since you are doing laundry all the time and it just makes for more clutter. I do try to have two church type outfits and two nice play outfits hung in the closet. I have noticed that often times you end up having two engagements in a row and you aren’t home to wash the nice outfit!

prayers coming your way

Prayers to you!
I’m in a similiar boat. I work long hours outside of the home and it seems like whenever I’m home, I’m doing laundry- sorting, folding, putting away. I’ve taught our 7 yo to put his own clothes away (the 5 yo is next) and have started monitoring how often my kids change pj since it seemed like that was getting excessive. I’ve cut down on changing sheets to every 2 weeks since every week was too much for 3 beds. The girls are wearing sandals & flip flops often so the need for socks has decreased. Are you able to get away at lunch time? That’s when I often put in a load and by the time we’re home for the day, it’s ready for the dryer.

Thank you, Sharon, for your prayers! and thank you, Shari, for your words of wisdom.  You are right, summer is here and the socks (which always mysteriously loose their mates) will be out of the washing pile until school comes again.  The older 2 of my children are capable of folding and putting away——I just need to insist they help out with this.  I know, responsibility helps build self esteem and importance in the family. —- Unfortunately, I’m not able to run home at lunch—- working in a school.  But am going to try sorting a load at night and wash on the way to bed. 1st thing in morning can throw into dryer and then fold before I sort dirties to be washed again at night.  Might get a little wrinkled in dryer during the work hours, but….oh well!  I have learned to stop and fold right in the laundry room as I take out of the dryer, becasue if I take clothes out of dryer in a large clump, they are likely to stay piled up in the chair in the living room to be picked from as we wear them!!!!!!!