I am not the only one with this problem!

I never really thought many people would see my blog but it has gotten a couple of Google hits with “how to keep carpet stains from coming back”. I wonder if anyone found an answer? I beg of anyone that has been successful with their search to let me in on the secret.  In the mean time, let me give some tips so I don’t feel so bad that anyone came to this deadend:

Spot Shot is the best carpet stain removal product on the market.  Here is what happens when I use it for a large area with many stains: First, I spray each spot around the room, I start at one end and go to the other just spraying the spots as I go.  Then I go back to the side of the room I started on with a clean rag to blot the spot..and here is the kicker..nearly every spot is already gone!  I cannot find the spots that I sprayed because they have disappeared!  I have to step around with my bare feet to find the wet spots so I can blot. Why blot if the spot is gone? Mostly to remove the wetness.

Now, I heard that the spot will come back because dirt will stick to the cleanser you use, even if it is dry. At least thats they way I understand how it works if the “professional” cleaners that come to my house are being honest with me. With that in mind,  if I am using Spot Shot on a large amount of stains, or on very large stains, I bring out my Hoover SteamVac. I pretreat stain then run the steam cleaner with just hot water and no other cleanser. I run the steam cleaner so often that I don’t use the carpet cleanser in it every time.   

For the experiement I did this week I actually used a different spot treater…OxyClean.  I have a friend that swears by it. She was so insistant that I decided to try it instead of my beloved Spot Shot (plus OxyClean is so much cheaper! For the best buy in Spot Shot, buy the four-pack at Costco).  I poured it on to the stains and let it sit for a good 5 minutes before I began sucking it up with the steam cleaner (which also has rotating bushes so it is more than pouring on spot treater and sucking it up).  I want to add that I have a good waterproof pad under my carpet so the pad does not soak up cleansers. 

It took 2 days for the carpet to feel completely dry in all areas, probably because I covered it with towels during the day so no one would walk on the damp carpet. I also thought the towels would help aid in soaking up the dirt when we did have to walk over those area. I took the towels off at night.  I am sure by now you are sitting at the end of your seat with wonder, did it work?

Well, the spots are much lighter, but they are still there.  The experiement is not over though. I also want to see if they come back as big and as noticeable as they were before I cleaned them.   The experiement will be officially over the next time I feel the need to run the steam cleaner.

All By Myself

Great title, no?  Now I have that song stuck in my head, here are the lyrics (by Eric Carmen) so you can sing it with me: 

When I was young
I never needed anyone
And makin love was just for fun
Those days are gone

Livin alone
I think of all the friends Ive known
But when I dial the telephone
Nobodys home

All by myself
Dont wanna be
All by myself anymore
All by myself
Dont wanna live
All by myself anymore

Hard to be sure
Some times I feel so insecure
And love so distant and obscure
Remains the cure

All by myself
Dont wanna be
All by myself anymore
All by myself
Dont wanna live
All by myself anymore

If you made it this far…thank you for sticking it out with me. You see, I am actually all by myself!  In my house!  I know, that sounds like a weird thing to get excited about but for us moms this is a strange and rare occurrence.  I have been a mom for 22 years, more than half my life, and I am not used to this at all!

So far, I watched grown-up TV shows during primetime. I had rootbeer and Doritos for dinner (without having to share!).  I picked up all the toys around the house and nothing took its place.

I tried to take a nice long bubblebath but the animals keep sticking their paws under the door…so I let them in and the cats sat on the toilet staring at me and the dog kept peeking over the tub’s rim to check on me.  That was a bust.

I hate to say this out loud but…I am kinda bored.  

Water fell from the sky today!

It rained!  Not just a little sprinkle but big huge drops that lasted for at least 20 minutes! I let the kids run out and play with their umbrellas (there was no lightening or thunder) They had such a blast and were so happy splashing and jumping in the puddles.  I love watching them play like that, it reminds me of the fun carefree playing I used to do. 

 

My parents were really easy going and let us kids run around the neighborhood without much worry. We just had to be in when the street lights came on.  Hubby’s parents were the complete opposite, he had to play inside a small fenced yard.  I would like to allow my kids a little more freedom than they have but it is not easy with all the media hype as to the dangers our kids face nowadays.  Hubby says he thinks his parents were too restrictive for him, but when it comes to his own kids he doesn’t like them out of his site.  It is hard to let the kids be explorers while keeping them on a short leash.  Hubby tells me, “when they are older they can go out on their own”, but they are getting into lazy habits that will be hard to break. 

We are lucky that we live in a neighborhood that has large acre lots so there is a lot they can do in our own yard. Many of the neighbors have horses and pools so we all have fenced lots, but we also have gates into each other backyards so the kids can go through the yards instead of going around the block.  Sounds really great but it is not so good when the kids want to go bike riding and skateboarding…in opposite directions!

We have a loose tooth!

At 5 years, 2 months years of age, this is Kenny’s first “real” loose tooth. I am extra excited because this is a legitimate, honest-to-goodness loose-on-its-own baby tooth!  Twice he has knocked his teeth loose, and one of them has turned gray so I am very happy that there is no trama involved in this latest case  .   I first noticed it the other night when I was helping him brush his teeth, and today he complained that it hurt to eat his corn on the cob. It looks like the tooth will be out just in time for kindergarten pictures…I think that will be so cute!

remember the carpet?

It took me a long while to jump on the bagless vacuum bandwagon, but when I did I went all out and got a top of the line Hoover Turbo-Powered Self-Propelled Windtunnel with a “dirt sensor”.  The dirt sensor is an awesome invention…there is a red light on the vacuum that turns green once the carpet is completely clean.  I know it is strange to talk about my vacuum and I really am not as obsessed with my carpet as it may seem, but I am very excited because I have been wanting to try an experiement.  The kids are gone for the afternoon with their Bigama (what they call one of their grandmas) so I got the chance to run the steam cleaner over the carpet again. 

Here is my plan, I am not cleaning all the carpet, just one room. I will take special care to keep off the carpet until it is very dry.  I am going to reroute the flow of traffic so no one walks over these spots for the next few days. I want to see how long it takes for the stains to come back, to see if they will just reappear on their own or if they need the dirt of the foot traffic to pop up.  

Does anyone have a hypothesis?  Mine is: it doesn’t matter what I do, my carpet is ruined. I need to rip it out and replace it with another type of flooring. I like hardwood, but I am seriously considering stained concrete. I am so avant garde 

Single parent

I am a single mom for the week.     (why is that sad smilie not working?) Hubby is on a business trip to the Philippines and Malaysia.  I don’t mind the business trips but I hate it when he leaves the country. This trip is only 6 days which is pretty short for going such a long way. 

Since Sunday is “Family Day” for us I took the kids out for lunch. We went to a Mexican food restaurant. A real sit-down place. Not a pizza place with tons of video games. Not a fast-food joint with toys and a play place. An actual eatery with a waitstaff and menus. I don’t always like being out-numbered but I am proud to say KK and Kenny behaved really well.  For the most part they are good on outings, but sometimes they get on a roll and they cannot stop.  I don’t know what gets into these kids but every once and a while they get so disruptive that I don’t want to be seen with them.  When that happens we leave. I have dragged my screaming kids out of stores, movies and restaurants.  Some people will give me a stare that makes me think they are wondering how I can abuse my kid that way.  I am sure they would think I am a bad parent for letting my kid run around too. Either way, their opinion doesn’t matter. All I care about is my child.

I really don’t like unruly kids and I think it is a sort of child abuse for a parent not to teach kids right from wrong. Limits have to be set.  Children do not naturally know how to behave, it is one of life’s lessons and it needs repeated everyday.  I understand that children, babies and toddlers are unpredictable and you sometimes you don’t know how to deal with the situation, but that is no reason to ruin everyone else’s meal.  Box up you food and take it home. Pick up your screaming child and take her out the door.  Trust me, it is not that hard to do, people will love you for it, and your kid will learn a valuable lesson!

Kids Say The Darndest Thing…

Does anyone remember that show?  Bill Cosby chatting it up with kids, it was cute.  My kids have me laughing all day, maybe we should have our own show. Here are a few anecdotes that stick out in my mind:

The other day my 8 year old daughter was looking at her naked self in the mirror while she was waiting for the shower water to warm up. She turned to me in all seriousness and worriedly asked, “Why is my butt turning white?”  I tried to be reassuring and not giggle too much as I explained that her butt was the same as it always has been, and that the rest of her body was tanning from being exposed to the sun.  She was very relieved!

For the summer I have the kids on a schedule that includes “quiet time” (crazy idea, I know!).  We turn off all electronics,  get a book or quiet toy and have down time in their room for an hour. A few weeks ago Daddy was home during the week, which really was fun but the kids were staying up extra late, getting up early and with all the excitement we all really needed this rest time more than ever.  If only the kids saw it that way!  After one especially crazy morning the kids were both going strong with their whining and resisting all efforts to rest. Finally Daddy had enough and ordered them to their rooms. Without missing a beat, our precious princess puts her hands on her hips looks him straight in the eyes and pronounces, “We hate quiet time! If we had more brothers and sisters, we would be an angry mob!”   I really don’t know where she heard that phrase, but I think I will blame Sponge Bob.

Lab Rat

I spent a long month working with a neurologist doing a drug study to help people, like me, who suffer with fibromyalgia.  I had a complete physical, including the dreaded pressure-point test (that brought me to tears, ouch!), and an EKG. I even gave up some bodily fluids and had a drug test and alcohol screening.  The icing on the cake was I had to completely stop all current medications and keep an electronic journal of my pain and fatigue. After numerous visits today is the day I would receive either the drug, or the placebo..or as it turns out, nothing!

Why? Because I am not in enough pain to continue with the study!

I am very sad about this.  I think pain is very arbitrary. I am always in pain, I am used to it. What I consider a 5, someone else might consider an 8, or vice versa.  The doctor explained that some people are in considered to be in too much pain to continue the study as well. The first thing I did when I came home was pop a Tramadol pill. Normally I reserve the pain pill for bedtime, but after a week with no pain relief I wasn’t about to wait another 10 hours.

That is the bad news, the good news is I finally have found a doctor that is a fibro expert! A skilled professional who can really help me!  He accepts the health insurance I have and wants me to continue with him as a patient. He already has ideas on what to do that will really help me. He really believes in the drug he is testing because of the positive results he has seen with it, but until it is approved for this use the insurance companies won’t cover it.  Out-of-pocket it would cost $800 a month.  Yes, I said eight hundred American dollars.  So, this doctor has other ideas to try first and he says, if push comes to shove he has been able to get some ins. cos. to pay for it in special cases where nothing else will work. 

I have hope…hope!!!!   I am going to be feeling better soon, I just know it!

I hate carpet

Stains, to be more exact.  It takes approximately 3 days for the exact same stain to reappear.  It doesn’t matter what method I use to remove it, the stain comes back.  I have used every carpet stain removal method known to mankind. I am a housewife, I take my job seriously, I like to take pride in my homemaking skills and I feel it is my job to know how to remove carpet stains.  What I don’t know is how to keep the stain from reappearing.

I think I can safely compare this dilemma to dieting.  There are many ways to lose weight, there are many diet methods and workout regimens that work really well, but for some people the weight will keep coming back.  Not only will they gain the weight back, but they will be larger than they were before they began the diet. Just like my carpet stains.  

It started out as one, then two and then a few more. The source is varied, some from the animals, some from the kids, some from the mischievous stain elves that come out during the night.  I try to keep up with them but they grew. I hired a “professional”, and while it took less time for the guy to clean the carpet, and while it “seemed” (maybe it was hopeful thinking?) to stay clean for a longer period of time, the stains returned. In the exact same spots. Only bigger.