Guilty As Charged:

1. If we don’t have to go anywhere, we’re usually in our pajamas, most or all of the day.

2. When I’m trying to get something done that requires intense concentration for my writing business, I use the TV and/or computer as a baby-sitter.

3. I throw away toys that keep getting left out, especially if there are teeny pieces involved, even more especially if I keep stepping on said teeny pieces. Annoying toys often mysteriously “go missing.”

4. My attic harbors bags and bags of my girls’ old clothes, some of which have been ruined by a leaky roof, and all of which need to be pitched.

5. Sometimes I hide in my closet so I can talk on the phone without interruption.

6. I almost never make my bed and neither do my kids. Unless we’re changing the sheets or company is coming.

7. I often eat the kids’ holiday candy, and I feel absolutely no guilt or shame.

8. I hide food that I don’t want to share with my kids and eat it when they’re in bed.

9. When I don’t feel like making supper, I institute “Fend For Yourself” night, which means the kids can eat whatever they want.

10. I put the kids to bed way earlier than normal sometimes, just so I can have a breather.

11. I let Logan mix the Play-Doh together until it becomes an unsightly shade of gray.

12. If the girls’ clothes go through the laundry inside-out, I don’t fix them, I fold them up and leave them that way.

13. I never, ever iron.

14. I say, “Hang on, I’ll be right there,” when I’m in the middle of something, hoping that the kid who called me will forget what he/she wanted.

15. The best way to deal with leftovers that have piled up is to have “Refrigerator Regurgitation” night.

Your turn to share! What are your “dirty little secrets” for coping with the kids?

I shudder at the number of batteries we go through in this house. Everything seems to need them and they die so ridiculously fast, I feel like I change batteries almost daily.

Word to toy companies: In an effort to become economically frugal, not to mention ecologically aware, you should be making toys that come standard with rechargeable batteries. The amount of waste all these batteries make is scary and irresponsible.

That said, I have found a solution of sorts, since most toys don’t seem to be equipped with rechargeables: Sanyo eneloop rechargeable batteries. They’re a bit spendy (around $12 for 4 AAs, for instance), but in the long run they save a bundle. Their beauty is that they retain a charge of up to 85% after a year of storage and they’re ready to use straight out of the package. They can also be charged 1,000 times or more. They’re great for digital cameras and other battery-sucking electronics because they stay at a high voltage level until just before they empty.

My favorite part about the eneloop is that I can switch batteries, immediately charge the eneloops, and then store them without worrying that they might be dead the next time I need batteries. They are a fantastic invention. They’re much easier on the environment and they have a long-term low cost. For more information, visit www.eneloop.info/home.html.

One caveat I’ve found, and this may be just because of where I live, is that I haven’t been able to find them in stores. I order mine from Amazon.com, which generally offers them at a reasonable price.

Do you go through a lot of batteries in your house? Have you made any changes in this area?

Keeping in the same vein as my last post, this is one of my recent discoveries to help keep clutter at bay. I just wish I would have thought of it sooner!

For Logan’s fourth birthday in March, I asked the family to give him disposable items, such as helium balloons, party hats or bubbles. It was perfect for everyone — no one had to spend much money, Logan was thrilled with his gifts and I was relieved that I didn’t have to add anything to the overstuffed toy box. I hadn’t ever done this before, but it turned out so well, I think I’ll make it routine. Just disposable/throw-away gifts or books from now on. My kids have shelves of books, but those, I won’t give away.

A big gift that a child really wants, given by parents and/or grandparents, along with the aforementioned disposable gifts, seems to be the best way to inspire gratitude and keep overspending and overspoiling at a minimum. I’m tired of feeling guilty about the number of toys we have accumulated. It seems so wasteful when there are millions of people in the world without food, clean water or decent health care.

The girls’ tenth birthday is coming up in June. We’ll probably get them new bikes, since they’ve outgrown their old ones, and other relatives can give them gum, bubbles, books and maybe games for their Game Boys or batteries for their digital camera.

I want to do a better job of passing on a sense of frugality and simplicity to my kids. They have so much more than I did as a child, mostly because many things are a lot more inexpensive now than they were back in my day. Yet since they don’t know any differently, they take all their ”stuff” for granted. I want them to learn to be grateful for everything they get, rather than expecting it.

What are some ways you’ve found to help fight the war on collecting too much stuff? How about to help your kids be thankful for what they’re given?

I normally try to pare down the toy box when the kids are gone. Today though, I sort of just got on a roll in Logan’s room and couldn’t stop myself. I wasn’t even halfway through with my sorting when Cody and Logan came clambering up the stairs. They both stopped short at the sight of their toys in a variety of piles.

“This is mine!” Cody sounded deeply offended as he picked up one of the many stuffed animals I had put in a pile to go to the attic. “This is mine too!” he added, grabbing a few other toys.

“OK. You guys go play in Cody’s room while I finish this up,” I said. Obviously I wasn’t going to make any progress with them hovering over me and insisting that they loved each and every object I was forcing them to give up. Thankfully, they stayed busy while I siphoned out the majority of their toys.

Kids today have too many toys. They have so many, they become overwhelmed by all the choices, can’t decide on anything, and whine that there’s nothing to do. I know I don’t help the situation any when I can’t bear to get rid of particular items that have sat unused in the toy box for months.

For instance, Mr. Potatohead. I have never seen any of my kids play with him, yet not only do we have him, as well as Mrs. Potatohead, we’ve had them since the girls were 2, and I still can’t seem to let them go. It’s very doubtful that the boys would even have noticed their disappearance, so I have to chalk my reluctance to send them packing up to the fact that I, personally, adored Mr. Potatohead as a child.

Not good enough, I told myself today, as I made the decision to ditch most of their stuff. So what if I have some sort of weird attachment to Mr. Potatohead and the Glo-Worm? That doesn’t mean my kids do or that it gives me a license to keep toys around that aren’t even used (even though I try to justify it by telling myself I’m saving them for my grandchildren).

Now that the work is done, I just have to hide my bags full of sorted goods — one for my sister, one for the Salvation Army and one to haul up to the attic to store for awhile — before the boys find them and start sneaking the rejects back into their collection.

What are your tips and tricks for slowing down the inevitable toy overload?