Mop/Vacs

For the last several years, I’ve really loved our Tineco iFloor 3. Maybe we were too rough with it, but it started acting up. Then, a month ago, it just stopped turning on altogether.

I realized how invaluable that thing is once we didn’t have it anymore!

When Cam was at the store getting groceries, I asked him to check out the mop/vacuums they had in store (we’re shopping local, if you remember!, so I didn’t want to buy one online). They didn’t have the Tineco ones - the Tineco brand was sold there but not any of their mop/vacs.

Cameron ended up getting the Bissell Crosswave HF3.

Now that we’ve had it several weeks now, I feel qualified to compare the two! I loved the Tineco, but I honestly love this Bissell even more. NOTE: I can only compare the two models I have, soooo this isn’t a thorough comparison of the two brands!

Here are a few notes:

• The Tineco clean water tank holds more water, so you don’t have to refill it much. I usually refilled it 2 times while mopping the entire house. The Bissell, I have to refill 3 times.

• The Bissell is much quieter while it runs.

• The Bissell cleans right up to the edges of the walls, whereas the Tineco can only reach to about 1 inch away.

• They both seem to have similar charging lives. I’ve never had either one die on me in the middle of mopping.

• The self-clean cycle on the Bissell is quieter and faster.

• For both of them, you have to remove several things to wash before re-assembling. The difference is that the Bissell keeps the yucky stuff more separated - when you lift up the roller cover, just about all of the hair and other debris is in one place, making it easy to grab and toss. In the Tineco, you can find hair and debris in several places as you take it apart. So for my easily-grossed-out folks, that’s a big pro for the Bissell!

• Finally, the price difference: the Bissell is $150, and the Tineco was $280 at the time!!

One other thing, I do have an actual mop too. But the mop/vac is super useful for more frequent use!

Breakfasts!

My go-to breakfast for MONTHS has been a breakfast sandwich: toasted English muffin, 2 fried eggs, bacon (sometimes sliced ham instead), and a tiny bit of shredded cheese (usually sharp cheddar, sometimes white cheddar).

Cam’s the early riser in the house, so he’s usually on breakfast duty these days. He started getting tired of coming up with breakfast ideas each day. The kids were getting tired of the same few things on repeat.

So what we’ve been doing lately is this:

• I added a bunch of breakfast ideas to our Skylight Calendar’s recipe box (no Skylight? Just write down a bunch of ideas on index cards or just on a big list somewhere!).

• Then the kids go back and forth (just A and AB; Charlie just goes with the flow) picking breakfast for the week. Alexander picks Monday’s breakfast, Annabelle picks Tuesday, and so on.

Now, they get a good variety of breakfasts, and Cam doesn’t have to think about what to do each day. It’s really win-win!

If you use index cards, you can just let your kid(s) pick the ones they want that week. Then tape them up somewhere visible.

On a related note, we also went ahead and planned our “school lunch calendar” for August! Just another thing I don’t have to think about each day. 🙂 

Favs!

A while back, I asked on IG what “favorite” thing they want to know. Here are some of the responses!

• Dance - I love to just move quickly and freely! Does jumping count as dancing? If so, that’s my favorite. 🤩 Otherwise, I really love those dances that happen at wedding sometimes or in big groups, where it seems like everyone knows all the steps and you just jump in and join them.

  

  Wavelength!

• Board Game - Blokus! I honestly don’t do lots of board games except for kid ones. There’s another one I’ve seen on TikTok that I haven’t ever played myself, but it looks really fun. It’s called Wavelength! I just typed up then deleted an example of how Wavelength is played because it is SO confusing at first. Once you see it played out, on video, many times, it does start to make sense! (Here’s an example of someone playing a few rounds, on TikTok and on Instagram.)

• Kitchen Utensils - Lodge for all my cast iron. That’s not a utensil, I know I know. My favorite spatula is from the brand Rada. I love my set of whisks (small, medium, large). And I love my set of glass nesting bowls. An old-school can opener, a sharp pair of kitchen shears, and TWO sets of measuring cups/spoons are also important for me! I love my 8 inch chef’s knife (mine is from the brand Wusthof). I LOVE my kitchen tweezers! They’re like tongs but look like giant tweezers. There are a bunch of brands for all these things, and I’m not super brand loyal outside of Lodge and Rada.

  

• Shows to Watch with Older Kids - If something’s on before about 8pm, we pretty much all watch it. We like Mr Bean, Ninja Warrior, Magic for Humans*, Supermarket Sweep (Peacock), AGT… and others! *I THINK that’s the one that’s fine with kids! Justin Willman has a couple magic shows on Netflix, and they’re not all kid-friendly.

• Shoes - I actually do have a favorite brand of shoes! Michael by Michael Shannon! I have 7-8 pairs (I’d have to go count). I’ve got boots, sandals, and flats from the brand, and they’re very comfy. Big fan! I’ve always gotten them at Rack Room Shoes because they have good sales. They run true to size, in my experience!

• Cleaning Products - A few folks asked this one! The Pink Stuff is amazing. Bar Keepers Friend is great too, and you can make it into a paste, which works just about as good as The Pink Stuff. Those are used in the bathrooms and kitchen. I’ve got Dawn Power Wash but only use it rarely. It does work really well on stuck-on grease! For around-the-house jobs, I make a cleaner with white vinegar, dish soap, and a drop or two of essential oil (just to mask the vinegar smell) mixed into water and poured into a spray bottle. We also have something different for the toilet, the thing with the curved neck? Not sure, Cam does toilets because I can’t handle it. 😄 

A Few More Things

Some recent outfits! This is a new style for me, and I’m not sure what it’s called, but I really like it. It’s an easy formula!

Parenting can be a controversial topic, but I’m not going to say anything controversial here, at least I don’t think so!

I was one of those first time moms, when Alexander was little, who had a lot of opinions and advice and really thought I knew my stuff. Now, listen, I was doing the best I could but I should have kept some of my thoughts to myself. (This is going to be so embarrassing to admit… I told a third-time mom friend that I’d discovered this great hack: “You can use onesies as shirts, just put pants over them!” Like BETHANY WHAT. That’s literally how people use them. This friend of mine graciously just nodded and smiled.)

Anyway, now I’ve been a parent for just over 12 years, so I have gained a little bit of wisdom (though not enough to broadly and confidently give advice for all ages). In addition to that, though, I’ve read a bunch of parenting books! Here are a couple things I do and try to do with my kids!

Get on their level. Whichever kid it is, I do my best to get to their eye level. For Bea, that usually means getting on the floor with her or holding her. It also means when I’m speaking to them, I use an appropriate amount of words (which sometimes goes against my instinct to over-explain everything). If they have a question, I just try to answer it to their level and understanding.

Point out the good! It’s so easy to spot the bad. Messy room. Pile of laundry. Being mean or rude or sassy or whatever. We tend to point out those things. But it’s even more impactful, I think, to point out the good. Tell your kids what they did RIGHT whenever you notice it (this works on other grownups too!). “Oh wow, your room looks tidy!” “You put your laundry away without being asked!” “You helped your sister, that was so nice!”

Parenting is so individual. Your personality and gifts, your kids’ personalities, your schedules, the resources available to you, your culture. There are so many things that influence the way we raise up our kids. I could write a whole series of emails on it (I won’t), but if you ever want to chat about things, I’m here!

Your suggestions!!

I have gotten about a million suggestions over the years, through these emails and also social media. I’m obviously not going to share them all, but here are some I’ve gotten recently. Thanks!!

1. FLOSSING: Several folks suggested water flossers, and someone suggested the Grin double floss picks as well!

2. HANDBAGS: I asked on IG about having multiple purses. One person suggested a Marie Kondo setup: she stores the handbags empty in her closet, and right next to them, she’s got a basket with her small purse items (wallet, chapstick, etc). Then each day, she grabs the bag she wants and fills it with the few things she needs! I really like this idea: my small purse still somehow gets full of trash and random things, so this would help so much with that!

   

3. GAMES: Gravitrax! Someone suggested this as a game my kids would love (I agree!). It’s on their Christmas wish list now 🙂 Another game someone suggested is called Know Me If You Can (link!). It’s a game to help you connect with the people you’re playing with, young and old.

4. GAME APP: This is on a website, not in an app, but someone suggested the word game Squares, and we’ve been playing it every day or two lately. It’s a fun challenge!

   

5. BANANA BREAD COOKIES: I’d forgotten I want to try these!! Here’s the recipe link. She said she used a 2Tbsp scoop and baked them 12 minutes. (UPDATE I made them. Delicious. I’d add more banana than it calls for, though I don’t know how that will affect the recipe since I haven’t tried it yet!)

6. WEIGHTLIFTING SHOES: I got a bunch of recs!

   1. Whitin (flat and wide)

   2. NoBull

   3. Romaleos

   4. Tyr

   5. Flux

   6. Reebok Nanos

   7. Nike Metcons

   8. Just go barefoot!

This is just a sampling from the last month. When I say I’ve learned and grown so much just from your advice and ideas, I’m not exaggerating. I’m so appreciative to all of you who’ve ever suggested anything to me. ❤️ 

ily

I don’t mention this often anymore, but you can “give me a tip” in a virtual tip jar if you want! It’s called Buy Me A Coffee, and there’s my link!

Other than that, thank you so much for being here, for reading, for responding. You’re the best, and I hope you have a great weekend and week!

❤️ Bethany