So Simple, So Helpful

Posted by Arwen Mosher in Homemaking on Wednesday, October 12, 2011

My mom came and helped for a couple weeks after the twins were born. She was great (as always) but one of the best things she did was give me an idea on her way out.

While here, Mom took over one of my smaller-but-no-less-annoying-for-being-small daily tasks: pouring cups of milk, juice, and water for my children. Camilla and Blaise are thirsty kiddos. I was not looking forward to taking this task... READ MORE 

Buried by Toys

Posted by Arwen Mosher in Homemaking on Monday, September 19, 2011

Lately, I’ve been pondering the Toy Problem.

I try to begin by rolling my eyes at myself. We’re so fortunate that our problem is an excess of stuff, when we could be having to worry about feeding or clothing or housing our family. The Too Many Toys problem is not a Problem in the real sense.

But still, we have MANY toys. The playroom is full enough that the kids rarely play in there. Most of our once... READ MORE 

When You Can't Afford Diapers

Posted by Arwen Mosher in Health on Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Wouldn’t it be awful if you couldn’t afford to change your baby’s diaper every time he needed it?

There are a lot of people who can’t. I imagine this article, from a New York news channel, gives only a tiny glimpse of the bigger problem.

Providing diapers to low-income families is an important mission, and this charity, The Diaper Bank, is tackling it. You can read more about them at their website.... READ MORE 

Yours, Mine, Our (Bedroom)

Posted by Arwen Mosher in Family on Thursday, February 10, 2011

My whole life, except for a few months during babyhood, I have never had my own bedroom.

It’s true! I shared a room through my whole childhood, then I moved into dorms at college where I had roommates, then I got married. I’ve always had someone else’s breathing to listen to at night.

There were a few grumpy moments during my adolescence when I would have preferred a room of my own, but for the most... READ MORE 

Bus Stop To Nowhere

Posted by Rebecca Teti in News on Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Here’s a bittersweet and amusing story out of Berlin.

A home for Alzheimer’s patients had trouble with clients wandering off.

The law doesn’t allow them to detain people against their will, so staff were forever running after people or worse, having to call the police to help locate them.

Creative and humane solution? A fake bus stop.

Benrath home teamed up with local care association called the ‘Old Lions’. They went to the Rheinbahn transport network which was happy to provide the bus stop to nowhere.
“It sounds funny,” said Old Lions Chairman Franz-Josef Goebel, “but it helps. Our members are 84 years-old on average. Their short-term memory hardly works at all, but the long-term memory is still active. They know the green and yellow bus sign and remember that waiting there means they will go home.” The result is that errant patients now wait for their trip home at the bus stop, before quickly forgetting why they were there in the first place.
“We will approach them and say that the bus is coming later today and invite them in to the home for a coffee,” said Mr Neureither. “Five minutes later they have completely forgotten they wanted to leave.”

The idea has been so successful it’s been adopted by homes across Germany.

With a polite nod to ninme.

Getting It Done

Posted by Arwen Mosher in Homemaking on Monday, March 29, 2010

I don’t want to wear out the topic of housecleaning, but Danielle’s post about her Holy Week cleaning schedule (along with the fact that my husband is currently sweeping our kitchen floor) has me thinking about division of labor in your household.

Danielle’s list looks dauntingly ambitious to me, but she’s got an advantage: all those helpers. I have a one-year-old, who makes me feel lucky if he doesn’t... READ MORE 

Welcome, Sister!

Posted by Arwen Mosher in Family on Friday, September 04, 2009

My youngest sister has spent the summer in Italy working as a nanny.

Today she comes home, and will be attending the community college near our house.  She’s going to be living with us.

I’m really excited.  Tirienne (for all you name geeks out there: her name is my parents’ feminization of King Tirian’s in C. S. Lewis’s The Last Battle) is eight years younger than me.  I left home when she was not... READ MORE 

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