Read. Write. Mom!

Affresh Dishwasher/Disposal Cleaner

Posted on June 25, 2011 by Mandy

I love having a garbage disposal in our kitchen sink, but I often don’t use it for the simple fact that it’s hard to keep it smelling fresh. I can remember years ago doing an internet search for a product to clean the disposal and finding absolutely nothing but homemade remedies that never worked. Since moving in our new place, I’ve avoided using the garbage disposal altogether because I just didn’t want to have to deal with this issue. Luckily, there is now a product to keep the disposal AND the dishwasher smelling fresh and running smoothly.

Affresh Dishwasher/Disposal Cleaner works hard to eliminate odors that can build up in your dishwasher and garbage disposal and keep these hard working appliances performing the way they should. Affresh Dishwasher/Disposal Cleaner is safe for septic tanks, dishwashers, disposals, and plumbing and is the #1 recommended cleaner by KitchenAid, Amana, Whirlpool, and Maytag brands.

I’m definitely guilty of loading our dishwasher and letting dirty dishes sit in there a couple of days until I have it filled up and ready to run, but I decided to try out Affresh in our garbage disposal first since it hasn’t been used by us yet.

Using the Affresh tablet couldn’t have been easier. For garbage disposals, you simply place the Affresh tablet into the disposal and run hot water down the drain while you turn the disposal on for 15 seconds. After turning off the water, let the tablet sit in the disposal for 30 minutes and then flush with hot water.

I’m pleased to report that after following the instructions, the Affresh has our sink area smelling great! Everytime I walk by the sink I catch a faint scent of the Affresh and I love that. It also lasts up to one month, so I’m excited about how long it works at keeping odors at bay. Whirlpool recommends using the Affresh tablets once a month or as needed to keep your dishwasher and garbage disposal smelling fresh. I can’t wait to try it in our dishwasher.

Affresh Dishwasher/Disposal Cleaner retails for $5.99 for a package of 6 tablets and can be purchased at Sears, Best Buy, Kroger’s, Food Lion, and www.affresh.com.

I’ll be trying our Affresh in our dishwasher next and will report back with my results.

I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Affresh and received product samples and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

For My Son

Posted on June 25, 2011June 25, 2011 by Mandy

10 Annoyingly Cute Things You Do That Drive Me Crazy But I Love You Anyway:

1. You steal my sunglasses in the car so you can look “cool”. Nevermind that the 8:00 AM sun is blinding your mother’s eyes on the way to work. Image is everything.

2. When I don’t give you your way, you say, “You’re FIRED!!”. At current count, you have fired me 42 times so far this summer and it’s only June. Donald Trump would be so proud.

3. When we drive into Sonic for our 8:00 PM ice-cream runs, you unbuckle yourself out of your booster seat once the car is parked while we wait on our order and sit up front with me so you can “be my date”. I treasure our “dates”. Someday you won’t think riding in the car with your mom is any kind of cool. But to my credit, I do park on the “cool side” at Sonic.

4. When we do order fast food, you tell me exactly what you want, down to the number of napkins, plastic cutlery, and “don’t forget the straw”. Nobody can ever accuse you of not knowing exactly what you want in life.

5, You tattle on our cats. This is usually done at night and it’s at this point I know that you are tired (because, really…tattling on the cats? You must be tired. Or bored.).

6. You have learned how to open our front door with the key and insist on opening it every time we come home. It takes you a while to get the key in right and actually get the lock to turn, but that’s ok. I’m just proud you are taking initiative and being helpful. While I’m holding 50 pounds of groceries in my hands. And it’s 102 degrees outside. And mosquitoes are attacking.

7. You insist that we listen to your favorite song (Sadness, Part 1 by Enigma) over and over in the car. And over. And over. I’m pleased you have such interesting taste in music. However, we have been stuck in a 1990’s time warp since probably last November….I’m just guessing. At this point, I feel like Will Smith, Bel Biv Devoe, and P.M. Dawn are close personal friends and we should invite them over for a barbecue or something.

8. You leave your dirty clothes right beside the clothes hamper. Not in the hamper. Beside the hamper. I’m sure it’s only because those clothes just jump right out as soon as your back is turned. It happens to your dad alot, too. But I still love y’all.

9. You monopolize every TV in the house. Nevermind that you are in your room playing a video game. If you can’t hear your cartoons on the TV in the living room or happen to walk into my room and I’m watching Army Wives, you want the TV on cartoons. Every TV. At the same time. Just because.

10. You ask me, down to hours, minutes, and seconds when things will happen. How many days until you go back to school….how many days until Christmas, and how many days until you’re a grown man. I usually rattle off a random number and you’re totally satisfied. That last one? I’m totally not dwelling on because I don’t want to even think how quiet it will be around here when you are a grown man and on your own.

How I Learned To Read

Posted on June 21, 2011January 11, 2016 by Mandy

Can you remember the first book you ever read, besides the Dick/Jane/Tag books from first grade? I can, and loved them so much I saved them. I firmly believe that if you can find a book that actually interests a child, something they are passionate about, they will learn to love (or at least tolerate) reading. In my case, humor was what spoke to me as a 6 year old. My dad was a big reader and I saw him read daily. He also loved (and still does!) to peruse the book section anytime we went to one of the “big” (at least back then) stores in our town. One day while out shopping with him, I spotted the series of books that would forever hook me on reading.

Yes, on one of those fateful shopping trips, the Family Circus series by Bil Keane caught my eye and would hold my attention for many years to come. These books were about your average family with 4 children and consisted of simply a drawing with a humorous one-liner on each page that was family friendly and amusing enough to have me chuckling page after page. There were no vibrant colors in the book, just black and white cartoons with words. It didn’t matter. I loved these books and couldn’t wait for Friday afternoons at school when we would have “Silent Reading” time so I could bring one of these from home and enjoy it.

There were many, many books in the Family Circus series, and I’m pretty sure I have each one. If not, then I have almost all of them. I’m anticipating that by next summer, E.B. will be just learning to read. I can’t wait to break out my collection of these books and share them with him. I hope he will love them just as much as I did.