What I've Learned This Week

The most important thing I've learned this week is that I hate doing a garage sale. I put way too many hours into sorting clothes (even washing and drying some of them), creating an Excel spreadsheet and setting up tables and clothing racks in an attractive fashion. I then sat out in my driveway for five hours (morning started out at 41 degrees, brr.) and only garnered $75 for my efforts. So, not worth it. However, I put two items up on EBay and within a couple of hours they were sold. In addition, one was sold at the price I was asking for at the garage sale (that people were complaining about) and the other was sold for even more than I offered it for at the sale. Guess where my time and energy is going from now on! Yep, I plan on becoming an EBay mogul.

I also learned that my son shouldn't have excessive amounts of sugar. Please note that the actual amount of sugar he has is still probably significantly below the average American child's intake. However, I have noticed that when he does have something sugary within a half hour there's a horrible mood change. He becomes hyper, belligerent and attacks his sister. When I put him in time out or ask him to stop doing whatever is wrong he hits me. The other day this angered me so much I put him in his room so that I wouldn't be tempted to smack him back. And boy was I tempted! All this bad behavior occurred because he tried a lollipop for the first time and had two homemade cookies (recipe for 24 cookies calls for 1/2 cup of sugar). So, today when I bake more cookies I'm going to halve the sugar called for and see if that improves things. I don't have to worry about lollipops today because he wasn't good enough yesterday to earn one for today. He's working on earning tomorrow's. However, other than this irritating behavior I didn't see any horrible reactions to these lollipops. I am so in love with the company who makes them, Yummy Earth. The lollipops are:
Gluten Free
Egg-free
Dairy-free
Peanut-free
Tree Nut free
Wheat-free
Soy-free
NO MSG
100% Natural Colors
No chemical dyes
Real Fruit Extracts
100% Natural Flavors
Certified Organic
Kof-K Kosher Parve
Plant: no tree nuts or peanuts.

What a relief for a parent with a food allergic child.

Stay tuned for more nuggets of wisdom from me in the coming days.