Monthly Archives: June 2010

How to Deal with Crunchy Towels and Jeans After Line Drying Laundry

Line drying your laundry saves a lot of energy and money. It’s even pretty good exercise as you hang out your clothes, not to mention carrying damp laundry from the washing machine to the backyard.

There’s just one problem. Not everything dries nice, soft and comfortable to use.

Jeans and towels are notorious for this. They usually feel stiff and crunchy when you pull them off the line.

How can you get rid of the crunchies?

Take Them Down Damp

The simplest solution is to let them dry most of the way on the line, but take them down while they’re still a little bit damp and throw them into the dryer. It won’t take long to dry them and you’re still saving energy.

The towels and jeans will feel as though they’d spent the entire time in the dryer. No more nasty crunchy feeling.

Air Fluff

If they’re dry, you can still throw crunchy items into the dryer and just give them a few minute on the No Heat or Air cycle of your dryer. The motion will break up much of the crunchiness.

Add Baking Soda to the Washing Machine

Baking soda works as a water softener, and can help your towels and jeans to dry softer as well if it has been used in the water. They won’t get completely soft this way, but it may decrease the crunchy sensation enough.

You can also add vinegar to the rinse, which should help to soften everything.

Don’t use fabric softener on towels; it’s bad for their ability to absorb water, which is kind of contrary to the whole point of using a towel to dry yourself.

Double Them Up

Many people say that if you fold the towels in half to line dry them or hang two together, they will not be as stiff when they dry. The reason is that they tend to be less stiff if they dry more slowly.

Give Them a Snap

Some swear by this method. Give the towels and jeans a snap before hanging them on the line, maybe another when they’re about halfway dry, if you remember. This helps to limit how crunchy they get.

Get Used to It

Some people actually like their towels a little crunchy. It’s a feeling you can get used to.

Same for jeans. The crunchy feeling decreases as the jeans get older as well, so the problem may not be serious for long.

Give a few solutions a try and see what works for you. Your results may vary due to the weather you’re having, the age of your towels and jeans, and the hardness of your local water.

Making Summer Plans

Now that school’s out for my kids, it’s time to figure out what we’re doing this year. The homeschooling part I already know, and with the unused parts of the textbooks sent home with my daughter, I won’t even need a lot of supplies. It’s going to be great practice.

Obviously, there’s more to summer break than just homeschooling a little.

My husband wants to do some camping, at least with the two older kids, maybe the whole family. Depends on how much sleep deprivation he can talk me into, what with our youngest not being terribly cooperative about sleeping in unfamiliar conditions. She will insist on cosleeping if I take her camping, I have no doubt of that.

I don’t mind too much, except the last time I tried that on an air mattress I hardly got any sleep at all. Just not firm enough to relax with a baby.

No doubt the kids will be playing outside a lot. That means lots of sunscreen use. I suspect playtimes will move to mornings and evenings rather than afternoons as the season heats up.

We have plans to go visit old friends during the break too. They’re near where family lives, so the driving for visiting combines nicely, really limiting how much I spend on gas for the car.

A big focus is on teaching everyone to keep comfortable without cooling the house too much. I don’t say keep cool, because that’s not the precise goal, and tends to lead to too much air conditioner use.

I’m thinking a solar oven may be a good science project this summer. If we do a good job, it might get into some pretty regular rotation for cooking. I hate heating the house up by cooking at this time of year.

Most important, we just want to have fun!

THIS is Why I Want to Homeschool My Daughter

It’s the last day of school for my daughter today. Yesterday she brought home a stack of papers and her science workbook/text.

The book was scarcely touched. Apparently they only used it for their dinosaur assignment, not at all through the rest of the year. What good is it for the school to buy books they aren’t going to use?

I assume science is supposed to be in the curriculum. The school bought the books, after all, and it’s not like they have money to waste. California public schools are very poorly funded these days.

I haven’t seen whatever text they used for social studies this year. I gather that was barely used as well.

I know her school has low-ish test scores on state testing, and so they want to focus on improving their scores. I resent, however, that they do this by neglecting the overall education of their students.

I suppose the one positive is that now I don’t need to buy a science textbook to use while we try out homeschooling this summer. The one the school didn’t bother using will do quite nicely.

Should You Believe Food Health Claims?

I read an article recently about Kellogg agreeing to drop their claim that Rice Krispies are good for children’s immune systems. They’ve had to drop claims about Frosted Mini Wheats too.

Companies love to make claims about foods, especially when children are the target. Parents want the best for their kids, and it’s not always easy to tell what’s true and what isn’t.

What to do, what to do?

My first rule is to be skeptical about the health claims of any processed food. Want your children to have good immune systems? Feed them fresh fruits and vegetables, encourage them to be active, and don’t overuse antibacterial products. Remember a little dirt is a good thing.

When it comes to cereals, take a good look at what they’re really offering in terms of nutrition. Some are much better than others. But also remember they’re still pretty heavily processed for the most part.

My kids love oatmeal. This makes me happy, as it’s a much healthier option. We’re trying to get them over to steel cut oats, but so far that’s a bit too much of a leap for them. But regular oatmeal isn’t a poor choice at all.

I know cereals are a quick and easy breakfast, which is why we don’t avoid it entirely. But there are many other quick ways to have a good breakfast. Oatmeal doesn’t take that long. Homemade fruit smoothies are great, and you can add vegetables to improve the nutritional value. I even put in some cooked oatmeal to make smoothies more filling. Not too much, as you don’t want to ruin the taste, but a little does it good.

I even freeze them into popsicles and allow the kids to have the popsicles for breakfast. They’re the same as they were before I put them into molds and froze them, after all.

Try more cooking from scratch when you can for any meal. It’s wonderful having more control over just what goes into your food, and you can focus on providing highly nutritious meals and know what went into them.

How Many Kids Should You Have Over for a Playdate?

My kids love to go play with friends or have them come over to our house. The way so many parents are protective, most often they have to go to their friends’ houses rather than invite them over, which is frustrating, but that’s the way it goes.

But why do so many parents insist on their kids just having one friend over at a time? I’d rather invite a crowd!

There’s nothing wrong with some one on one playtime, but there’s a lot to be said for having several friends over at once. Better games of tag or hide and go seek, for starters.

“Sorry, they already have a friend over.”

The kids also learn more about dealing with each other in a group. How do you keep from leaving anyone out of the fun? How can you all agree on what to do, more or less?

I can’t tell you how often my kids have asked if a friend can play, only to be told, “Sorry, they already have a friend over.”

I know having several friends over is harder on the parents. I do get that. It’s more chances for arguments and hurt feelings.

These things are a natural part of childhood. Headache they may be, but you don’t need to mediate every little disagreement. Make sure it doesn’t get out of hand, and you’re doing plenty.

If feeding the kids is an issue, talk to the other parents. If you take turns having groups of kids over, you aren’t going to be getting hit too badly by the quantity of snacks consumed overall.

Best of all, once you can trust the kids, there’s safety in numbers. You can let a group of kids play out front or go to the park together once they’re old enough and responsible enough. A group of kids is very safe so long as the neighborhood itself isn’t dangerous, and most aren’t.

Yes, you’re going to want to know enough about your child’s friends and their parents to know you can trust them. Yes, there may be some of the negative effects of peer pressure.

Kids need these challenges as they grow up. It helps them to deal with the greater challenges they’ll deal with as adults.

Besides, if you get known as the mom who lets all the friends come over, you’ll know where your own kids are more often. As they get older, it may not always be going outside to play, but that’s okay. It’s just another way to keep up with your children’s lives and to know more about their friends. Personally, I like that idea!