Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Cleaning vomit out of carpet

Last night, I woke up to a soft thudding noise coming from my daughter's room.  Thud..thud.......thud.  This is not all that unusual since my girls sleep in beds pushed up against the wall and tend to kick the wall during the night.  However, the noise didn't stop and so, I got up to check on them. 

As I walked into the room, I noticed an awful smell.   I looked up at the loft and saw my daughter's face looking down at me.  Then, she opened her mouth and down it came, smacking into the carpet below.  I think I stood there a little bit before I realized what was happening. 

No one tells you that you should have a ledge with some must have items up in a loft bed.  We have the shelf, but we were missing the small bowl that I now know is a must have! 

Well, my husband and I spent the next 3 hours cleaning up vomit from the carpet, sheets, walls, and toys that got hit by the spray falling from the bed.  Ugh!  What a site!  Did I mention that a small bowl is a must have in a loft bed?

Anyway, the other must have in this type of situation is baking soda and a good carpet cleaner.  Sprinkling baking soda over the mess helped neutralize the odor which is so important!  You do not want to get sick yourself.  Another trick is to spread some Vicks underneath your nose.  That Vicks odor is strong and much better than vomit smell.  As for the stain, my husband went out that night and bought a Bissell SpotBot.  It sucked up all the nasty stuff and cleaned the stain perfectly.  It even has an automatic setting that scrubs for you.  I love this thing! 

So, if you are thinking of a loft bed or bunk bed for your kids.  Remember that kids get sick and may not be able to make it down the ladder in time.  To avoid a nasty waterfall of yuck, put a small bowl up there and get a SpotBot! 





Friday, January 6, 2012

New Year's Resolutions

New Year's Aftermath

I actually look forward to New Year's Resolutions.  They give me hope for something better in the new year.  Once a resolution is chosen, it remains to be seen whether I will actually follow through.  My track record is not good, but the year always starts out with promise.

The key to picking a good new year's resolution is to find one that you look forward to completing.  This makes working out a bad new years resolution for me.  I rarely look forward to working out, but I do look forward to specific activities that involve working out.  Playing a sport, walking or running with a friend, and even taking on my daughter on "Just Dance" are work out options for me that don't feel like work.  I have a much better track record of completing "work out" resolutions when they don't involve a generic amount of type at the gym.  Those will fizzle out for me by February.

A new resolution we are making as a family this year is to have at least one family fun day a month.  I am hoping most months we are able to squeeze in more than that, but we will make sure at least one day happens!
I am really excited about this one!  I am hoping the whole family will look forward to what we will do each month.  Even though my kids are still in Elementary School, it's easy to fall into a rut doing the same things over and over again.  This resolution should help us discover new things that we like to do as a family.

Another healthy resolution that doesn't involve working out, does involve medication.  I am notorious about taking myself off prescribed medication early.  This tactic makes flare ups worse when they happen.  So, this year I am resolving to stay on prescribed medication for the period it is prescribed.  Seems easy enough, but we will see how this one goes.
What are your new year's resolutions?  I would love to hear them.  Maybe, you will inspire me to do something new this year.  Please share with a comment below, and Happy 2012 everyone!