My camera cord has gone missing, so my swap bounties are going to have to wait to be shared until it turns up. Considering that the last person who had it in this house was my MIL, and she’s notorious for misplacing things, it really could be anywhere. Sigh.

But on to the reads, after two big highlights!

Firstly, there has been a stay in enforcement in some areas of the CPSIA, so that is a great victory. Even better is that Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) is filing legislation to amend CPSIA permanently. More info about his bill and calling your Senator (really, I promise, it won’t hurt!) is at Etsy.

And second, I love it when people do my job for me. Another round up of all coupons organic is posted, this time at Affluent Pauper. Turn on your printer and head over there! I’ll still be here when you’re done.

parenting

We’re starting to use the creative discipline button jar discussed at kiddio, but my problem is setting the appropriate reward. My nearly 4 year old is not quite time-aware enough to get very excited about working towards something really big in the future. Meanwhile, we go on so many adventures around town as it is, trying to keep him busy and not feel frustrated with so many babies around, that a lot of lower-level rewards (a trip to the museum, a special meal) are the kinds of things we do daily. He doesn’t want or need new toys. So what’s a good reward for kids at this age? Have any ideas for me?

The brilliant Parenthacker have another one: Google line drawings in an image search to create your own coloring books at home. Too much fun!

crafting

Little House in the Suburbs has a free printable Handmade Gift Calendar. It’s fantastic in it’s simplicity and would work equally as well for planning some kid projects ahead of holidays or birthdays so you know that your in-laws will be well stocked with Valentines or handprint turkeys or whatever. Even if they lost your only USB cable

Meanwhile, I have a pretty cubby system of old formula cans going in my home craft/office. (We need a name for this space, I don’t have a good one.) I’m definitely going to use this calendar to help me keep a catalog of what’s going on in that space, since each can is ostensibly a project’s raw materials, as well as those that don’t fit in a metal can, like Craft:’s fantastic kids smock from a dress shirt I have brewing right now, or the vintage sheets earmarked for a small quilt. Meanwhile, re-nest’s drawers-into-modular storage has me thinking about the last stretch of open space in that room (which has cinder block walls) and what I can finally do with it.

Makes me think, I suppose I have a repository of my projects in process already, and her name is sage.

resources

Say it isn’t so, Disney! It looks like they are folding Wondertime. I just started getting a free subscription a few months ago. If I’d known, I would have paid!

Eco Child’s Play covers the Save Money while Buying Organic angle while managing to bring up a few things I hadn’t thought of. I already shop frequently on Tuesdays so I can get a Rotisserie chicken when it is on sale for $5.99 (and then use it for 2 meals and make preseasoned chicken broth to last us a week or more), but I never thought about what days they might mark down other sorts of products. I love food for thought.