Tag: Multi-gen

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How to deal with uncertainty

The title is really a misnomer. I mean, if there was a quick and easy way to deal with uncertainty, everyone would be doing it already. But, because life is uncertain, I do think there are things we can do and control to help deal with the unknown.

The challenge

Life maze. Uncertainty.

In January, I had to resign my full time job that I was on leave for my hip replacement surgery. I really enjoyed the job I was in, and it was giving me great experience to, I had hoped, gain a teaching position.

Z started having some problems around the time I had surgery. We’re still trying to figure out exactly what is going on and it’s causing multiple appointments a week for her.

And my recovery is having a hard time. I still have significant amount of pain that makes it impossible to go back to that job and need to use my cane regularly (something I’ve been looking forward to getting rid of for, well, years now).

So, I am now a full time stay at home mom. And we also recently decided to homeschool H. I had already been planning on homeschooling Z because of all the medical appointments and decided to include H in the plan as well.

I love being home with both of them, it’s something I’ve always wanted – to be home with my girls. But going from a two-income family to one, has been financially challenging, let’s say.

Multi-gen support

The beauty of living in a multi-gen home is we can all help each other out when we need it. Recently, my mom had asked if we still wanted to have us all live together, and I was honestly surprised she had to ask. Of course. Just because I’m home now, doesn’t mean I don’t want us to all live together anymore.

While I may be home, I still have plenty of appointments that being by myself, would make it difficult. Yes, I can drag the kids with me to physical therapy sessions that last on average an hour and a half. But frankly, I’d rather not. And I’m sure they’d rather not too!

And us being together allows me to help care after my grandmother so my parents can take a well-deserved vacation. Hello Las Vegas!

Las Vegas sign

But with all this, comes uncertainty of how financially we’re going to survive without my income. Which brings me back to the post title, how do you deal with uncertainty?

The list

Here’s my list of ways to deal with uncertainty in any situation. Maybe there will be something on the list to help you deal with whatever is uncertain in your life.

  • Make a plan. I usually have about 5 different plans going on at one time. Planning helps to deal with uncertainty because it gives you back some control. You can’t control everything, but when you make a plan (or multiple plans), you feel more prepared. Feeling more prepared allows you to be in control, which eases that feeling of uncertainty.
  • Meditate. I admit, I do not do this enough. I need to make time to do this daily. Or, at least weekly. Clearing your mind of extraneous thoughts helps you to feel more centered, which again, helps deal with the anxious feelings of uncertainties.
  • Journal. Or draw, paint, sculpt. Use another medium to help your worries of the uncertainty out.
  • Take a walk outside. Walking outside helps to put things in perspective. Maybe that uncertainty isn’t really that big of a deal. Or maybe the thing you were worrying about isn’t what the true worry is.
  • Enjoy some laughs. Laughing helps to ease stress, you can read more about it here. So watch that funny movie, or listen to that funny podcast. Or tickle your kids and let their giggles infect you.
  • Don’t give in to isolation. I think this one is easy for a lot of people to do. But isolating yourself from your family or friends, or support won’t help. Allow yourself to be with them even when facing an uncertainty.
Painting with you and me together, we can do anything.
A painting I’m working on.

I hope this list helps in whatever uncertainty you are facing.

What are some ways you deal with uncertainty?

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Living with diabetes for over 3 decades

Last Friday, February 22, I celebrated my anniversary of being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Ok, so maybe celebrated is an odd term, but it’s what we do. It doesn’t hurt that my diaversary (that’s what we call a diabetic anniversary) is also on National Margarita Day.

This year marks 37 years that I’ve lived with diabetes. I was 14 months old when diagnosed, so I know no other life. This disease takes a toll physically and mentally on a person. People with type 1 diabetes are more likely to develop depression because of their disease, eating disorders (there is a specific disorder linked to diabetes, called diabulemia), anxiety, and more.

My “medic alert” tattoo I got in October

At 37 years I feel like I have a good handle on things. Some days I do really well. Others, not so much. But I have learned to not beat myself up when I have a rough day. I’m only human, our bodies constantly change which affects how my blood sugars are. I can only do my best and keep trying.

So what is type 1 diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder that affects the pancreas. This is the organ that produces the insulin making cells (called Beta cells) that you need to survive. When type 1 develops, the immune system attacks these beta cells, killing them. This results in no insulin (or very little) being produced by the body. Our bodies need insulin to get the glucose broken down by the food we eat, into the cells for energy. Without it, the glucose builds up in the blood stream.

When the body can’t get the glucose, it starts breaking down muscle and fat in an effort to keep the body going. This results in ketones. A small amount of ketones aren’t usually worrisome. But what can happen is they also build up in the body and actually make the body become acidic. And your brain can’t use ketones – it needs glucose to function. When your brain doesn’t have glucose, and your body starts becoming acidic, you go into diabetic ketoacidosis (also known as DKA) which is life threatening. This can lead to a coma and/or death.

I went into DKA when I was diagnosed. And then I went into a coma. My mom knew something wasn’t right with me and had gotten me to the children’s hospital. But it took them several days to figure out what was wrong, and while they were trying to diagnose me, I slipped into the coma. For 4 days, I was in a coma at 14 months old. The doctors didn’t know if I would survive or not.

But survive I did.

Diabetes at 3yrs old.
This was me about a year after diagnosis.

My story has a happy ending. I came out of the coma, survived and thrived. I am married now, have 2 children, and no complications from diabetes. But others aren’t so lucky.

People not aware of the warning signs, and that they can happen at any age, are missed being diagnosed.

Cost of life saving medicine

Insulin, the hormone we need to survive, has become extraordinarily expensive in recent years. The formula is the same as it’s been for a long time, but cost has gone up. One bottle of fast acting insulin like Humalog or Novolog, costs about $318 without insurance. I only use fast acting insulin because I use an insulin pump to give me better control. It does not exactly replicate how the insulin made in your own body works, but it’s the best we have right now. It also is causing people to ration how much they use because they can’t afford their life saving medication. People are dying from rationing their insulin.

I am passionate about our healthcare in the United States – I have to be. At a young age, I had to learn to be my own advocate. I still hope for a cure. Maybe someday we’ll get there. Until then, I’ll keep plugging along, trying to stay healthy for my family.

Do you have a chronic illness you live with?

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How we celebrate Valentine’s Day

Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope everyone had a lovely day yesterday. I meant to get this published yesterday but the day got away from me.

Mantel Valentine's day decorations

In our household we like to decorate for all the holidays. It’s part of the fun living all together. We have our mantel decorated, our dining room, and our entryway. It’s something the girls, especially Z, like seeing.

Eric and I don’t really celebrate Valentine’s Day for ourselves. It’s never been one of those holidays I feel particularly attached to. Maybe it’s because our anniversary is in a month and I’d much rather spend money on that than this holiday.

But, I enjoy doing things for the girls. My parents always tried to make things special for my siblings and I growing up and I like to try and have those traditions with the girls.

New traditions this year

For this year, I made the girls (and myself) matching Valentine’s Day shirts. They liked them and H even wore hers to school.

Love at first narwhal t-shirt

I also like to get them a few presents. Nothing really big, but just a few things to brighten their mornings up. I found cute cookie pops, heart lollipops, and candy they each like to give them with their shirts in the morning.

I love breakfast food (as I mentioned in my last post) so I took the time I had yesterday and made the girls heart shaped pancakes. My first attempt at them, I filled the cookie cutter with the batter, but forgot to spray it with cooking spray, so the pancake stuck. Afterwards, my mom suggested to just cut them out of the pancakes. Which makes much more sense.

The rest of the day, H had school, so Z and I went to the park to play. Earlier in the week, we had made some heart sugar cookies. I’ll be sure to post the recipe – they’re not too sweet and easy to make.

Eric surprised us all with flowers when he got home from work. The girls were so excited to get the flowers. Z wanted to put them in her room so she could look at them when she was in there.

Valentine's Day

In the evening, we went out to dinner at our favorite pizza place, Your Pie. All in all, it was a nice day yesterday. It is great being able to continue traditions that I had growing up and my parents getting to join in with my kids,

What’s your favorite tradition for Valentine’s Day?

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Top appliances you need in your kitchen

Processed with VSCO with m5 preset

Cooking for a lot of people can get crazy in the kitchen. My mom and I both enjoy cooking and trying out new recipes. And we love our different appliances to make the job easier. So I’ve curated a list of the top appliances you need in your kitchen. These are ones we use all the time or feel they make certain jobs easier. Depending on what you like to cook you may not want to have all of these.

So here you go, our list of appliances you need in your kitchen

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Cooking

Instapot. I enjoy the versatility of this appliance. Eric loves to cook quick meals in it when everyone else has already eaten. We like making a lot of soups, which this is fantastic for – as well as making your own broths. We also use this to make the easiest hard boiled eggs. This gets used regularly in our house.

Crock Pot. You might be wondering why I have this one here when we have the Instapot, which can take the place of a slow cooker. I love the Instapot, but I admit have not used it yet for the slow cooker function. But we found the issue is the round shape of the Instapot sometimes doesn’t translate as well to slow cooker recipes. And sometimes we have both going at the same time. I love using the crock pot to make lasagnas in them. The oval shape works better than the round of the Instapot.

Rice Cooker. Yes, I know the Instapot can cook rice too. But we often don’t need huge amounts of rice, so I like the size of the rice cooker, and it’s easy to use. Just measure out the rice and water and plug it in. Most rice cookers automatically turn to Keep Warm once it’s done cooking so the rice won’t overcook.

Snacks/Quick cooking

Air Fryer. I love the Air Fryer. It has become one of my most favorite appliances in the kitchen, that I use pretty much daily. Will it exactly replicate fav fried foods? No, but it does a pretty good job. And it works great to crisp up frozen french fries, onion rings, chicken nuggets, basically all your favorites. We love using it to reheat foods that we would normally put in the oven (think pizza, french fries from restaurants, etc). I also love using this to cook a whole chicken (yes, a whole chicken), fish, hamburgers, even steak. And for roasting veggies, this is quick and you don’t have to wait for it to heat up like the oven.

Microwave popcorn popper. We love making air popped popcorn. Z’s favorite is with olive oil, seasoned salt, and nutritional yeast. Which, you should really try nutritional yeast – it gives a cheesy flavor and is loaded with vitamins, minerals, and protein. Air popping is so much healthier because you can control what goes on it. We pop popcorn pretty much every day, and sometimes twice a day.

Breakfast appliances

Coffee Maker. The link is to our favorite one. We’ve had Keurig brand before, but I really prefer the Cuisinart brand. A lot of coffee is drunk in our household so being able to brew a pot of coffee or cups individually works the best for us. We love the pods, but they can get expensive if you have someone that drinks multiple cups a day. So, having a pot you can brew can be more economical for those that drink many cups and those that only have 1 cup a day, the pods are perfect.

4 slice toaster. Toasters I think are pretty common in the kitchen. For our household, we use one side for Z, who now has Celiac’s Disease, and the other side for gluten breads, to limit cross contamination.

Griddle. I love breakfast food. Making pancakes from scratch is something I enjoy and it’s so much easier to do on a griddle. While I use this for mostly pancakes, a griddle is great for grilled cheese sandwiches, patty melts, bacon. Clean up of these is easy and they don’t take up too much space in the cabinet for storage.

Waffle iron. So yeah, I love breakfast food. While most of our appliances have multi-uses, the waffle iron is mostly used for waffles. I make vegan Belgian waffles in it and they are so much better than the frozen ones. Another tip – you can make hash browns in your waffle iron. Take tator tots and put them in there and close the lid and voila – hash browns! Oh and a stuffing waffle. Take leftover stuffing and put it in the waffle iron. You need to try it. You will want stuffing year-round.

Baking/Food prep

Kitchen Aid Mixer. I know there are other stand mixers, but really, Kitchen Aid is the best one of them, in my opinion. This model is the 4.5 qt, which for most people is a good size (I want the largest size because we like to bake bread). It comes with the paddle, dough hook, and whisk attachments. I will use the mixer for even small things that most people might use a hand mixer for. I’ve had mine for over 12 years now and it’s still going strong. You can also buy other attachments if you want to grind your own meat or make your own pasta. Lots of options available. And they come in all different colors to match your decor.

Immersion blender. We make a lot of soups and sauces in our house and if you do too, an immersion blend is a necessity. You don’t have to worry about trying to pour hot liquids into a blender because you use this right in the pot on the stove. They are super easy to clean and don’t take up a lot of space. If you like to make creamy soups, this will be your best friend.

Blender with different attachments.

Food processor. I like the size of this food processor. It’s perfect for blending small quantities and is easy to clean. We use this for blending sauces together, making pesto, and even chopping veggies prior to going into a dish.

A high-quality blender (like Vitamix or Ninja). We have a Ninja in our kitchen and I really like it. It blends everything really well because the blades aren’t just at the bottom. I’ve heard great things about a Vitamix, but we were on a budget, so the Ninja works for us. Blenders aren’t something we use daily, but I would say it comes out weekly or every other week. We also have the Nutri Ninja which H likes to use to make smoothies.

I hope you enjoy our list of appliances you need to have in your multi-gen home kitchen.

What’s your favorite appliance to use?

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How to Make Roles and Responsibilities Work

How do you decide when living all together, what the roles and responsibilities are? Who does the cleaning, cooking, children, house maintenance, yard work, etc? How do you make it work?

Roles and Responsibilities

Having clearly defined roles and responsibilities in the household makes living together much easier. But it takes a little time and work to get it all sorted out. Read on below for what we do in our family.

Cleaning

We decided as a family early on that we would prefer to hire a cleaning service. Every 2 weeks a cleaning service comes and we share the cost.

We decided on a cleaning service because of us working full time and my parents watching the girls. Neither of us wanted to have to do it all the time. Since they only come every 2 weeks, we still have daily cleaning and upkeep to do. But having the major things done by someone else takes a big burden off our family.

Cleaning supplies

But if getting the house cleaned by professionals isn’t in the cards for you, then I recommend listing out everything that needs to be done in the house and how often it should be done. Then the family decides how to divide up the chores, so the cleaning is not falling on one person only.

Whatever is decided, making sure everyone agrees is key to keeping the peace in the household.

Yard work

Lawnmower

Similar to the house cleaning, we have someone help with the yard work. I physically have a hard time now with my hip issues, even though I actually don’t mind working in the yard. So having someone to come keep the yard neat is something we build into our budget.

If you decide to have someone come, shop around to make sure you are getting everything you want for the price. Most places (at least here) are reasonable and you can get everything done for around $20-$30 a week.

But if someone in the house loves to do yard work, then great! To keep things fair, then I would suggest not giving them as many indoor chores to keep up with (at least during the busy seasons).

Cooking

I wrote a post not too long ago about how to handle too many cooks in the kitchen. Check it out here.

Cooking pasta

We do a mix in our house, some meals we cook together, others we cook separately. When we can, we choose recipes that can easily be adjusted for everyone’s tastes. Then we just tweak some ingredients for whoever needs it. And then other days, I end up cooking after others have had their meal.

The big thing with cooking is again deciding who will be doing it. Maybe you have someone that loves to cook in the house. Or maybe everyone hates it and ordering out works better for you. Having the discussion as to what you want it to look like is integral to a happy household.

Children

I saved this one for last, because it can be the most complicated. I think sometimes there is worry when combining households about how involved everyone will be in raising children in the house.

But they do say it takes a village to raise kids.

We wanted my parents involvement with the girls – that’s part of the whole reason of living together! I make sure my girls understand that when Eric and I are at work, they have to obey and listen to their grandparents, including any discipline that is needed.

Siblings

Sometimes issues come up that my mom and I discuss when they occur to have a united front. Just like parents hopefully do when there are different opinions. My parents respect how we are raising our children and know that it may be a little different than how they raised me, but key things remain the same.

They know I expect our girls to be polite, use their manners, and be kind. When I was working full time, I left any day-to-day chores to the discretion of my mom. She and I have an understanding of what each other expects, so this works for us.

But I still recommend you sit down and talk about what each side expects. And come to an agreement of what raising the kids will look like. For us, part of the agreement is that evenings and weekends, they are off duty. This means, should Eric and I want to go out without the kids one night or weekend, I try not to ask my parents to watch the girls. Sometimes things happen, but usually I try and find a sitter instead.

Other topics

These were the main ones we were concerned with when moving in. But if you have additional topics, you can take the ideas from above and adjust them to what you need.

Whether it’s caring for other elderly people in the house, pets, house maintenance, or car maintenance, the main idea is to have the discussion. Everyone needs to talk about what the expectations are and come to an agreement.

Doing that, will make the roles and responsibilities work.

What’s your concern with dividing up the roles and responsibilities?

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Organizing your home the Kon-Mari Method

Have you watched Tidying Up yet on Netflix? If not, you are missing out. I love watching her series. It has such a calming effect.

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If you’re not familiar, Marie Kondo is the woman behind the idea of only keeping items that spark joy. And she has a new series on Netflix.

The series has 8 episodes, and I watched almost all of them in one day. I actually had the show on while I was organizing my closet. Watching her makes me happy and makes me not mind looking at my pile of clothes that I have on the bed.

She came out with a book a few years ago explaining how her process works. I just ordered her book today (I got the Kindle edition, but it also comes in hardcover and paperback). She also has a follow up to the original that is on my list to read, named Spark Joy.

Tackling my closet, Kon-Mari Method

I clean out my closet usually on a regular basis – generally 2-3 times a year. But approaching it in her way made a huge difference. The idea is when you organize, you have 5 categories: Clothes, Books, Paper, Komono (this includes office, kitchen, and miscellaneous), and Sentimental items. But you organize in order of these 5 categories, committing yourself to do it, discarding items, thanking each one, and only keep what sparks joy.

The impact of putting everything in one pile in one category though is huge. See my bed with my pile of clothes on it as an example:

Z thought it was so much fun rolling around in my pile of clothes

Looking intentionally at each item and deciding whether it sparks joy and I really want to keep it, led me to end with a closet like this:

I will let you know, when she says to commit to this method, you really have to commit to it. It took me about 8 hours to completely go through every piece of clothing I had, pack up what I didn’t want to keep, and fold (in her way) what I kept.

You may find you need some containers after you’re done to hold all your newly folded items. Marie Kondo loves to use boxes to help organize items and keep them stored vertically. Which I have to say, makes it so much easier to see what you have quickly.

I also personally like to keep my clothes on wooden hangers, like these. They make your closet look nicer than the plastic hangers do. Getting drawer organizers helps keep the clothes organized and neat.

Using the Kon-Mari Method in a multi-gen home

My family was so impressed with how neat and organized it turned out (and has stayed!), that they are starting with their own clothes. And we have intentions of using this method with the rest of the house.

Living in a multi-gen home, it is easy to accumulate even more stuff than the average family. More people generally means more stuff. This way of organizing is so helpful because you only keep what you truly want. But it only works if you commit to the idea of it. You really have to want to only keep items that spark joy.

But the end result is so worth it.

I love looking at my closet and seeing clothes that I like to wear and want to keep. Instead of just having clothes just to have them.

Next up I’ll tackle paper, which seems like a big obstacle, because I have a lot of paper, but I feel confident I can get through it now.

Have you tried the Kon-Mari method? What’s your biggest problem with organization?

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How to Help a Loved One After Surgery

Back in November, I had a total hip replacement. This was certainly not my first surgery, but it has been one of my more difficult ones.

This is me right after getting to my room after my total hip replacement

I’m used to being independent. Being able to do everything for myself and go where I want, when I want.

This surgery has left me going on week 7 of not being able to drive yet. I’m still walking with a cane. I still have to lift my leg to get it in the bed, or in the car. I’ve lost a lot of my independence.

But it’s also times like these, that make me grateful to live in our multi-gen home.

I would be so much more alone if I didn’t have my parents living with us. My husband wasn’t able to take time off for my recovery, other than the day that I had the surgery.

If they weren’t here, how would I get to the grocery store? How would I get to my doctor’s appointments, physical therapy sessions? How would I take my kids to the doctor, if they needed it?

So, how do you help a loved one after surgery?

If you find yourself in a situation like mine, or the family or friend of someone like me, you may be wondering how you can help. Below I have 5 tips for how to help:

  1. Pay them a visit. Just because they live in a multi-gen home (or even if they don’t), don’t think they don’t need you to stop by and see how they are doing. Having visitors can help lift spirits, which aids in recovering from surgery.
  2. Bring over food. I had a few friends offer to bring food over. I appreciated the offers very much, but truth is, I hated to ask for help. If you couldn’t tell from my, I like to be independent, paragraph above. And sometimes, the decision of what to eat, is overwhelming. If you want to bring over food, bring it – trust me, they won’t turn it down. And if you’re not sure what to bring – give them a gift card to their favorite restaurant. It will be appreciated.
  3. Hire a cleaner. We already have cleaners come and help every couple of weeks, so this one isn’t a big deal for us. But for other people, this would be a huge help while they are recovering. Some surgeries you can’t bend over, or lift anything heavier than 10lbs, so having someone come and take care of cleaning is a huge burden lifted.
  4. Call. I love texting, I really do. In fact, I prefer it over talking on the phone. However, if someone has just had surgery, calling them to check on them will mean a lot. Hearing someone’s voice on the phone can really help with any depression that may happen after surgery, especially if it was a major operation. But if you can’t make the phone call, at the very least, text them regularly to let them know you’re thinking of them.
  5. Offer to take them out. A lot of surgeries you aren’t allowed to drive for a period of time. In some cases, it may be only a few days. In others, it may be weeks, or even months. It is very hard to be dependent on other people to take you to places you want to go. So give them an opportunity to get out of the house they may otherwise not get.

Living all together helps tremendously when you have surgery.

Having family living together relieves some burdens during recovery. It was I think, close to 2 weeks before I had enough strength and stamina to make myself simple things to eat. I had to rely on my family to help feed me during the early stages of recovery. Especially since I didn’t ask friends to bring over food.

I had to rely on my husband (and my mom) to help me shower for the first few weeks. Simple things, like preparing a meal or showering can be very difficult. It can be hard to lose the independence you had prior to surgery. Even when you know it’s temporary. But having help makes it easier.

How do you help loved ones when they’ve had surgery or an illness?

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Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen?

When you cook in a multi-gen home, sometimes the kitchen gets crowded. What do you do if there are too many cooks in the kitchen? How do you figure out how to make cooking together work?

We have 5 adults in our house. Not all 5 cook, but there are times when there are 4 of us trying to cook dinner around the same time. We don’t have the biggest kitchen. And as we’ve learned living here, it’s not the best setup for a large family.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great kitchen. As long as there’s only 1 or 2 people trying to work in there at one time!

Making the kitchen work

So, how do you handle when there are too many cooks in the kitchen?

Over the last few years, we’ve learned some ways to make cooking in a multi-gen home work:

  • Decide if everyone will be eating the same meal. Now, this will change and not be the same all the time. But, if you have a general idea if everyone will be eating the same meal, then cooking dinner becomes easier.
  • Create workstations in your kitchen. This is one of the easiest ways to make working in the kitchen more comfortable. By having separated workstations, everyone won’t step on each other while cooking.
  • Meal plan. Planning out the meals for the week (or longer) takes the stress out of cooking dinner. You already know what you’re having, so there’s less running around in the kitchen.
  • Meal prep. Meal prep can take some time and work, but it truly makes getting dinner ready easier. Especially during the workweek! Meal prep work done on another day saves time during the weeknight. This also helps cut down on so many people in the kitchen.
  • Make a schedule. Create a schedule of who will cook when. This is especially important in a small kitchen. Having a schedule organizes the meals. So you finish cooking at a reasonable time.

These are just some ideas to make cooking in the kitchen easier.

What we do

In our house, sometimes we all have the same meal, which makes making it easier. And other times, we make 2-3 different dinners. If we’re having one of those nights, then my parents prep in the morning or early afternoon. This means most of the cooking is finished by the evening. Then, when I’m home, I cook without having to fight for space in the kitchen.

I also like to meal plan and meal prep. But I’ll be honest, some weeks I’m better than others! We find it works best if I meal plan alongside my mom. Some meals we can all have the same thing. Other times, we can have the same sides while the entree is different. But planning together makes it easier.

Having a lot of cooks in the kitchen is hard. But using these tips will make cooking together enjoyable again. How do you do dinners in your house?

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8 Things to Look for in Your Multi-Gen Home

Buying a new home can be really stressful. There are lots of things to consider, what neighborhood or city do you want to be in? How many stories should the home be? What about bedrooms, bathrooms, or garages?

Buying a home as a multi-gen family can be even more complicated. It’s not just what you want in your home, but what everyone wants and needs. That’s why I’m sharing 8 things to look for when buying your multi-gen home:

  • Find a realtor you trust. If you can find one that has experience in finding homes for multi-gen families that will be golden. But if not, look for a realtor that is experienced. Recommendations from people you trust are always good . You also want a realtor that listens to what you and your family need. A good realtor will show you different properties and listen to your feedback to know what they should look for in future properties.
  • Bedrooms. Know how many bedrooms you need, but be open to what constitutes a bedroom. If the home has 3 bedrooms and an office, don’t discount it because it’s not listed as a 4 bedroom home. That office may function well as a bedroom. Similarly, if you need 4 bedrooms and an office, but see a 5 bedroom home, that 5th bedroom can be your office.
  • Bathrooms. Bathrooms are just as important as bedrooms to consider. Think about how many you realistically need in your new home. How many people are comfortable sharing a bathroom? Know ahead of time what absolutely won’t work so you don’t waste time looking at properties that aren’t right for your family.
  • Kitchen. Most people want a nice kitchen, even if they don’t cook a lot. Rather than think of what countertops you want or the appliances you’re dreaming of, think about the layout of the kitchen. Do you expect that multiple people will want to cook at the same time? If so, that galley kitchen may not be the best layout for you. You’ll need something that allows for different workstations so you aren’t tripping over each other. Or maybe one person will do all the cooking. If that’s the case, let that person decide the layout that will work best for them.
  • Yard. How big of a lot do you want your house to be on? Do you want a really small or even no yard? Or do you want some room to roam? While it’s a good idea to have an idea of how big of yard you want, a lot depends on the availability of homes that are in the price range you need. You may need to be open to the yard not being exactly what you want if the inside has everything you need.
  • Parking spaces. One thing we wished our house had is a 3 car garage. We have a lot of adults in the household, which means more than the normal 2 cars. Look at the parking spaces available in the home to make sure it suits what you need. If you live in an area that you have to pay for parking, that is also something to think about.
  • One or two stories. Does your family prefer a one story house or two? Depending on the size of the home you need, it may be easier to find everything you’re looking for in a two story home. Think about possible mobility issues – are stairs going to be a problem for anyone in the house now or in the future? Maybe a one and half story home will have what you need.
  • Doorway sizes. Does anyone in the home use a wheelchair or use a walker? Older homes tend have more narrow door frames. Getting through them in a wheelchair or a walker is challenging and sometimes impossible. Newer homes tend to have wider door openings to the bedroom areas. However doors to bathrooms, especially if the toilet is in a separate room, are typically not wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs and walkers. While you can remodel to widen doorways, this can get very expensive if you have an older home.

I hope these tips help you on your search for the perfect multi-gen home. Buying a home can be stressful, but having these 8 things in mind will help make the process easier. What’s your number one item in your multi-gen home?

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How to Make Fake Snow

How to make fake snow is one of those activities that I found while browsing Pinterest. I like to get ideas of activities and crafts I can do with Z that are fun and can even be a little educational for her. Making fake snow was super simple to make, taking only a few ingredients. And even though it can be a little messy, it’s very easy to clean up.

How to Make Fake Snow

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I got this recipe from Momma’s Fun World. This blog has tons of fun activities, so definitely check it out! This fake snow is a fun activity to do for those of us that don’t get real snow. Or maybe don’t want to go out in the cold. It takes only 3 ingredients that you probably already have in your house.

All you need to make this is:

Just mix the conditioner into the baking soda and voila! Fake snow. This can get a little messy, but it is super easy to clean up afterwards. I will say that out of all the do it at home creations we’ve made, this is one of the easiest to clean up.

How to Make Fake Snow

Z played with this snow for an hour easily. And this is great sensory play for kids. Z does not like getting her hands dirty, but once she realized she could wash her hands, she really enjoyed it.

This snow feels cool to the touch and can even be molded to make little snowmen. Just don’t squeeze together too hard (like real snow) or it will crumble apart. Z enjoyed playing with it with some of her toys: Barbies, legos, and even using some cookie cutters. The toys are easily rinsed clean in water.

The snow also saves well for future play, we keep ours in a gallon freezer bag. You may need to add a bit more conditioner to revamp the snow if saving it for later.

When the kids are done playing, just wipe down surfaces with a wet cloth. Then vacuum up anything that fell onto the floor (even if playing on carpet). Easy peasy.

I hope you enjoy playing with this fake snow! Let me know how you liked it!