Shelby

Hello,

Myhusband and I have decided to start making our own soaps as a shared hobby. We have maden two batches of soap so far. They are both curing in the basement (one is two weeks into the six week process while we just made the other batch yesterday) My question is this: When should we be able to smell the scent of the soap? I figure that the frangrances/oils are already mixed in and should let off some smelll? As of two weeks in, I just smell mostly the olive oil. Just curious as to what time frame I should use to tell if I like how the recipe smells, or if I need to wait the full 6 week period?

Thank you....

How much is too much outgoing mail for my mail carrier to take? I've limited myself to putting no more than three pieces of mail in the box for her to bring back to the post office (and that's far and in between), but I'm wondering if anyone knows what amount is considered over the top. I have two small children, so putting outgoing mail in our box is a huge convenience. My husband believes that you should be able to put as much as you want, but I am sure that mail carriers have a different opinion. Would I find it extremely convenient to put all 75 holiday photo cards in the box for her to take so that I don't have to go to the post office? YES! But would I actually do it... no way....

So how much is too much? Would she think anything if I DID put 75 photo cards in there?

I'm just curious and wondering what others think....

(And I LOVE our mail carrier. She's like a neighborhood friend. We live in a small town and have had her for years now. She is wonderful to my kids and she's a joy to see if our timing is right. I bake cookies and give her a $20 tip for the holidays....so I don't want to ever take advantage of our relationship by overdoing it with my outgoing mail!)

Thanks!

If your first child was over 9lbs (my son was 9 lbs 11 ounces), I am curious about the weight of your second child. Also, did you find after delivering such a large baby the first time that the second time was much easier or more difficult?

My son will be just over 2 years old when we go on vaction for 10 days. He currently (22 months) sleeps in the pack-n-play when he sleeps at our parents houses for sleepovers. However, he seems to be gettting too big for this little space. I am certain that he'll be sharing a room with us on vacation, and I plan to bring the pack-n-play for him, but I was wondering if anyone had some good suggestions. He's not in a toddler bed yet (loves his crib!), so I'm a bit reluctant to try to put him in an adult bed on vacation. I don't think that's the best time to transition him.

My son is 16 months old and has begun to hit when he does not like something or get his way. My husband and I react with "no hitting" in a firm voice and immediately put him down if it happens when we are holding him. We try to be very serious and consistent with our reaction so that he knows this is not acceptable.

Do you have a technique for teaching your child not to hit that worked well and stopped this behavior? I'm told it's a stage, but I want to make sure that we're doing the best to make him understand that this is not acceptable.

Also, at what age did you begin "time-out"? I haven't thought about using time out on him and I wonder at what age this is worked into the equation when your child is behaving inappropriately?

Thanks in advance!

I've never been much of a reader...but I've been hooked on Jodi Picoult's books! I'm almost through them all and I'm wondering what books or authors people would recommend that I read next? I have always been overwhelmed with choosing a good book, so I figure if I stick with something similar to her style, I can't go wrong! Thanks!

I know, it sounds silly. But I'm a super clean freak... but I find that I only wash my kitchen floor about once a month. I vaccum it every other day, but I was curious.... how often do you wash your kitchen/bathroom floors? Part of me thinks that some people might do it every week...but then I wonder how many people actually have time to do it every week! So... how about you... every month? Every week? Twice a year? I'm just plain ol' curious!!!

Not rice cereal. Actual rice. We eat it all of the time, but I feel as if I was told not to give a baby (our son is 11 months old) cooked rice because the small grains can get caught in his throat. I'm looking online, but responses about rice cereal come up, and we are obviously beyond that and onto solid foods at his age. It seems like a silly question, but I wanted to make sure before giving it to him...! Thanks!

I'm wondering what the proper etiquette is for introdcing people. For example, if I took my husband to a work party/function. Normally, I'd say "Mike (my husband), this is Nancy. Nancy, this is Mike"

But, the more I think of this "general" way to introduce people, the more i realize how redundant it is. So, I'd like to know what the proper way is to introduce people. Is one person more important to mention first?

I tried to look online for this, but I didn't have much luck...

Thanks in advance!