How My Family Has Good Mornings

My family places importance on having good mornings. This does not mean we are good at mornings. Click to read about how my family has good mornings at Alpha Mom.

(I write at Alpha Mom about parenting and family. Here are some articles I’ve written recently.)

I wanted to make Valentine cards for the students in Lane’s class without using candy, so we decided to make these matchbook-style cards with stickers. Get the free printable template: Make Matchbook Valentine Cards (Free Printable)

Encourage Kids with Positive Labels Because I’m tired of seeing girls wearing shirts that say “Diva” and little boys wearing shirts that say “Trouble.”

Making Family Friends to Build a Support Network Are you new in town, too?

Oh, and That Time I Gave Really Bad Parenting Advice

A wintery craft idea: Snowman Bookmark

Except we haven’t seen any snow here. It’s been quite mild, and I keep waiting for winter to happen.

Create a Good First Impression: Organize Your Front Entry

I have a lot of drop-in surprise visitors at my house, and I mean a lot. One time last month we had people unexpectedly stop by our house four different times in one day. It was like a sit-com.

And honestly, I love it when people stop by.

The most important rule when someone comes to your house, whether their visit is a surprise or not, is that you never apologize for your mess.

Apologizing sends the message, “I’m embarrassed, and I wish you hadn’t come.” A little bit of a mess will help people feel more comfortable when you don’t let it bother you. Besides, you don’t know how their house looks, and you wouldn’t want to make them feel bad.

My kitchen table can look messy when people stop by. We use it, so it should. I always give myself a mental high-five if the breakfast dishes are washed and the counters are clear. I cringe a little if part of my home is really trashed, but I use it as motivation to clean things up more before the next guest comes.

All this brings me to the point that most guests will not see your whole house. If anything, they will notice the front entry, so it helps me to feel more confident when the front of our house looks orderly.

My favorite way to add order and style to a front entry is to place hooks on the wall. This little detail works no matter where I live. I prefer the hooks to be about 3.5 feet up from the floor, about kid-height. You want to leave a few hooks open for guests. (Don’t hang all of your coats and bags, most should go in the closet.) Hooks always give a feeling of organization.

My recent find at a consignment antique store is this old handmade cabinet. I was excited to have a place to put the pottery I made, and the lower cabinet contains media, puzzles, and games. I put my collection of pottery mostly on the upper shelves because I want to keep the first shelf open for guests to put their stuff and handbags on it. I can count on this space staying organized so it looks nice when people drop by.

5 Tips to Improve Your Dishwasher

First, I just want to tell you that the way my plates are lined up in rainbow order is purely a coincidence. I am not that weird.

A few months ago we replaced a really old dishwasher with a new modern one, and while I was mostly satisfied with it (It’s so quiet!), it sometimes seemed to be lacking in its ability to fully clean the dishes. I’d have to rewash or rinse them by hand, defeating the whole purpose in having a dishwasher.

I was almost to the point of having to accept that they don’t make things like they used to, and I was going to be spending even more time at the kitchen sink. I don’t mind washing dishes by hand actually, but there are a lot of them.

Fortunately I found the solution to my dishwasher dilemma, and it was an easy one to fix.

 Make your dishwasher more effective with these quick tips:

1. Check the sprayer arm. When I opened the dishwasher door during a wash cycle, I learned that some of my utensils are too tall, and they blocked the sprayer arm from rotating. Problem solved! Also look at the holes on the sprayer arm to make sure they are not clogged. Use a toothpick if you need to dislodge anything.

2. Check the drain. Look inside the bottom of the dishwasher and remove any food or objects from the filter. Run the garbage disposal to clear it out before turning on the dishwasher since they share the same drain.

3. Don’t overuse detergent. It’s a mistake to assume you should always fill up the detergent cup. Check the manual and your detergent. On mine, filling it to the first line (about a third) is enough. Too much detergent can leave residue and etch your glasses.

4. Check your water temperature. If it takes a long time for the hot water to reach your kitchen sink, that means the dishwasher isn’t getting enough hot water at the beginning either, and that makes it harder to wash away the food particles and grease. If you need to, turn on the dishwasher after you’ve used hot water at the kitchen sink.

5. Clean the inside of your dishwasher. Grease, detergent residue, and calcium deposits build up inside your dishwasher. You can use vinegar to wash them away. On a regular basis (every few months or so), run a wash cycle while your dishwasher is empty. Don’t use detergent, but turn on the dishwasher and let it run for a few minutes until water starts to fill up the bottom. Then add one or two cups of white vinegar to the water and let it finish the cycle.

Sometimes using a dishwasher is an experiment in finding the right combination for hard or soft water, the detergent, and a rinse aid.

Ditch the Negative Self Talk

For a long time I’ve listened to a refrain in my head that goes:

“I’m failing. Failing. Why can’t I do better?”

Those words persist, but I would never say those words to someone else.

That’s what I’m unloading this week, and I’m willing to share about it so that someone else won’t feel so alone.