Fiona, Kaisa & Nathan Judd

Kaisa is nearly 8 months old and I’ve given her medicine only about half a dozen times or so. I’m sure Fiona will have some witty comment in response to this post, and I know this won’t work for everyone, but here are my thoughts about getting kids to take medicine.

Tangent story: I had a great dentist growing up. It wasn’t the sort of thing that I exactly looked forward to, but it was a tolerable experience. One time the dental hygienist made the mistake of asking me if I wanted to get an x-ray of my teeth and that it “may hurt, just a bit”. Why would I want to do that? What’s this lady thinking? Since she gave me the option I said no. The next time they I went in the hygienist just did it, made no fuss, and it was nothing. Seriously…why would that even hurt? As adults we can blow these little things our of proportion.

Here are a few tips:

• Make it simple and natural
• Create a pleasant situation
• Create Curiosity

It seems to me that many times medicine is one of those things that we make a bigger deal than it really is. It’s not a big production, it’s just medicine. Fortunately, Kaisa’s at an age where she’s not defiant if she’s playing around and just being curious. If I can make her curious about the medicine then she’s going to have an easier time taking it and not freaking out when I give it to her. She doesn’t like to be forced to lie down, why would she be happy to take medicine when we’re creating a situation she doesn’t want to be in in the first place? The medicine people have tried their darnedest to make it appealing, I mean…c’mon, it’s purple, smells like bubble gum and tastes like grape, how is that not appealing? Medicine makes them better, it’s just like drinking anything else, and we’re really not trying to trick them — we’ll leave that to that “nice nurse” with the needle in her hand. Ouch!

Cold Stone + KitchenAid = Mmmm!
There’s not a better way to finish off a date than with some nice ColdStone ‘Cream. Unless you could get that same great taste in the comfort of your own home! “How?” You Say? Your wonderfulKitchenAid!

At ColdStone Ice Cream they swirl and mix your favorite toppings with ice cream scoops on a cold stone, hence the name (I see some light bulbs going off). Similar swirling happens when you use your KitchenAid’s K-beater –it looks like a ‘k’. Simply add your mix-ins and start creating, pull out the homemade ColdStone cream on a spatula and you’re good to go! We like fresh/frozen fruit and/or candy bars — Find your own favorite “KitchenAid ColdStone” and make ColdStone at home today.

Credit for introducing us to KitchenAid ColdStone goes to our friends, Reed and Jyll.

This magnetic spice rack is a simple, effective, and (most important) cheap way to clear up counter space. Fiona knows how much I value things organized well. Our kitchen is quite small. In fact, when we moved from renting our first home to our condo the kitchen is the only room that got smaller! Small kitchens, condos, dorms, and other smaller spaces make it necessary to have a well laid out space that you can easily live and work. We had a rotating bamboo spice rack, while nice, took up valuable counter real estate. This is how we cleared that up.

Tools & Materials:

• Drill
• Phillips head driver bit
• 1/8″ drill bit
• Grundtal magnetic bar from IKEA
• Button Magnets
• Glue
• 2 1/2″ course thread all-purpose screws(or 2″+ screws with anchors for your walls)

This project has two parts; First the magnets on the spices:

1. Take the magnets out of the package and put them together in a long row. The button magnets should do this very easily if not automatically after you take them out and set them next to each other.
2. Because magnets have a North and a South pole label them as such. Hold your magnet column and label the top of the top magnet with an “N”. Take the labeled magnet off and subsequently label the new top magnet with an “N”. You’ll use those labels when gluing.
3. Many, if not most, spices will have an indentation on the bottom of the small jar. Squeeze a dollop of glue there and place the “N” of the magnet face up or down. It doesn’t matter which, just be consistent. Let the spice jar with a magnet on bottom sit for 24 hours or as directed on your glue. Note: I first used a hot glue gun which did not work. The hot glue bubbled the plastic container and did not have the staying power of my super adhesive.
4. Make sure when adding additional spices/magnets that the North South is tested on the magnetic bar before glueing or else you’ll have unneccesary gaps.

Place the magnetic bars on the wall, it’s pretty self explanatory but if you must…

1. Place Grundtal magnetic bar in position, drive pilot holes with drill bit through holes on bar.
2. Twist in your screw to hold the magnetic bar, don’t forget the spacers on the back that come with the Grundtal. Continue to screw in the screws with the drill. C’mon people, it’s not that bad.

IKEA also has a cheaper version on the Grundtal. I think it’s their own brand (as opposed to the one with the designer). Those bars were lighter and I didn’t think they would have the magnetic hold for some of the spices. That celery salt is pretty heavy for such a little jar! Voila! You have more counter/cupboard space, you can easily see and find your spices, yet they are out of the way so you’re not constantly moving them trying to get at the Kitchen Aid or Worcestershire Sauce. This was a fun little project and the magnetic spice rack fulfills a need in the niche of kitchen storage in a small galley kitchen.