Kandoo Kan’t Flush

This is a public service announcement for those of us who want our children to have sparkling clean bottoms.
Do your kids use Kandoo Flushable Wipes?
Do you have a ‘
low water flow’ toilet?
Do you have a septic system?

Would you prefer to hold on to several hundred dollars of your money?

If you answered yes to the above questions, than listen to me: do NOT flush Kandoo “Flushable” Wipes.

First, an experiment. Take a few pieces of toilet paper and one Kandoo wipe and put it into a sink of water. Wait 30 seconds. Lift up the toilet paper first. It will already have some tears in it from being lifted out of the water; the water will have already dissolved it so much that you can imagine that as it shoots down the pipes, it disintegrates into tinier and tinier pieces. Look at the Kandoo. It is soaked but still in one piece.
Pull it—–it does not tear. Put it back in the water for another full minute and then try to S-T-R-E-T-C-H it—-see how far is stretches without a single tear?
We have friends who had their septic tank cleaned and, when the lid on their tank was opened, all along the top of it were little Kandoo sheets floating on the surface, oblivious of the fact that they were supposed to be breaking down in that cesspool.

In our home, one of these sheets worked its way down our pipes and got stuck to the side of a pipe WAY down into the belly of the house. Another sheet stuck to that one and pretty soon they were collecting and building their own little dam.

The cost of removing this little dam? I don’t even want to get into that.

Let’s just say that we could’ve just gone ahead and bought a bidet instead.

Philanthropy Thursday: Found Treasure

Do you remember that scene in Mommie Dearest when Joan Crawford is seen screaming “NO MORE WIRE HANGERS!” at her terrified daughter? Well, that was me, minus the wire, the screaming and the pasty skin.


I was organizing the girls’ closet and decided to get rid of all the plastic hangers that came with the clothes—you know, the ones with “3T” on a tab at the top. Somehow, I thought that by using uniform hangers throughout, I would achieve some sort of closet-organization zen.

But, then I looked down and saw dozens of unworthy plastic hangers. What to do with them?

On the off chance that someone may want/need them, I decided to post an “Offer” on Freecycle (a site I have already written of lovingly here). I then started to receive emails from people who knew something I did not know. There was a local non-profit that wanted and needed my plastic hangers; these kind souls would even pick them up and deliver them for me!

The group is called Keeping Pace with Multiple Miracles, and they offer services to Massachusetts parents of multiples such as support groups, a monthly newsletter and a re-sale children’s boutique. My hangers would go to the boutique instead of a landfill.

My point in writing about this is that, with a little searching, you may be surprised to find an organization who wants your extras, who needs your extras. An extra package of diapers? Party plates and decor from your son’s first birthday? The Winnie the Pooh room decorations your daughter has outgrown? Unopened baby food? Used sporting equipment? Board books?

It may seem like a lot of work to find homes for these items, but often it takes no more than a Google search and a car ride to turn your piles of stuff into found treasure.

All Hail the Perfect Mother

The other day, I heard someone say this:

ā€œI have never, ever raised my voice to my children. I have never, ever looked at them with anything but a smile and love in my eyes. . . I let them know every day how much I treasure them. I adore them. They are my reason for being on this earth. I would never raise my voice to them. I would never tell them anything but that they are the precious young men that I’ve had the privilege of being their mother.ā€

Is she friggin‘ kidding? Two boys and you’ve never raised your voice in anger? Never given them the evil eye when they start telling fart jokes in front of company? Never had a bad day and said something you regret?

Attention please! I would like to nominate Dr. Phil’s wife for sainthood in mothering! Or, are there more of you out there? I must know how you’ve found your zen.

When people hear I homeschool my kids, the first thing out of their mouths is often, “Oh, you must be so patient”. And, I have to stifle a laugh, because of all the qualities I have, patience is one that I could use in spades.

Lately, my mothering has been less-than-stellar. I’m not sure if it is the ‘post holiday’ doldrums, but I can’t shake that desire to crawl back into bed and pull the covers over my head. I raise my voice too often (although more in a ‘military officer‘ tone versus the ‘crazy-lady screech’ heard on the show that prompted Robin—aka Mrs. Dr. Phil—to make the above statement). I say things like, “Hurray Up!”, “Stop Playing with Water!”, “Give me that!” and “Will you just Listen!”.

Ugh.

I know I’m a work in progress. I know I should count to ten a little more often, should lighten up, should go with the flow of mothering.

I also know that one person I would not want to be is the pregnant daughter-in-law to Mother Robin. I couldn’t handle trying to live up to that.