I’m going to be honest, here. I hate cleaning. It’s not that I don’t do it, I just don’t enjoy it. I’m constantly looking for shortcuts and “hacks” (I really hate that word…) to make cleaning easier so I can go on to more fun things like playing outside with my boy.
One of my least favorite chores is cleaning the shower. I don’t know why, but I’d rather have someone dump a bucket of fire ants** over my head than stand in the shower and scrub that stupid thing. I don’t even know how it gets so dirty…
Ok, that’s not true.
The BF works outside and occasionally comes home covered in mystery stuff that I guess has to go somewhere… like, all over the walls and floor of the shower. And I shouldn’t act like he’s the only one to blame… I don’t generally get super dirty (just sweaty), but my favorite soap stains the shower walls.
In case you wondered, it’s Shea Moisture African Black Soap. I love it, and it’s been great for my skin, but somehow I manage to get it everywhere.
Needless to say, our shower needs frequent attention if it’s not going to look gross. I tried a handful of cleaning solutions I found on Pinterest, including the Dawn dish soap and vinegar one, and I wasn’t impressed at all. The store-bought cleaning solutions worked (sometimes) but they gave me an awful headache from the smell and I was always worried that O would come up behind me and grab the bottle when I wasn’t looking. Sure, I could wait until nap time, but I’ve already got a hundred and one other things crammed into that ever-shortening time slot.
When I found e-cloth, I was seriously skeptical. I was supposed to believe that this cloth was going to clean my shower (like, really clean it) with nothing but water? Uh, yeah. Next you’re going to tell me that a tomato is a fruit.***
What exactly is e-cloth? How about I let them tell you:
e-cloth’s superior microscopic texturing easily penetrates hard to remove soap scum, built up grime and water marks. Remarkably, the only cleaning companions are water, and you, so there are neither harmful chemical fumes nor any chemical residue left behind. The Shower Cloth is for thick grease and dirt. It comes with a handy grommet and power suction hook for hanging on any hard surface. The Glass & Polishing Cloth is for light cleaning and final polishing. (Not for use on electronic screens and delicate lenses.) e-cloths really are different and give a fantastic chemical free clean with just water. If you take care of them they will last for years. e-cloths work so well that you will get a lint-free, smear-free clean with just water.
e-cloth microfiber cloths are made of millions of tiny fibers that pick up dirt which normal cloths just leave behind. When we say tiny, we mean each fiber is about 1/200th the width of a human hair. These tiny fibers attract moisture and oil, lifts and traps dirt, grease, grime and bacteria. Leaving your surface clean and polished with no chemical residue left behind. This process is healthier with no chemicals used. There is no chance for potentially harmful fumes and residue. This is important to children, as well as allergy and asthma sufferers.
Save money by reducing the use of paper towels and chemicals. E-cloths come with a 300 machine wash guarantee giving you years of cleaning performance and savings
The super nice folks at e-cloth sent me a shower pack to try… And even though I was still pretty skeptical, I was excited to try it out. Included in the shower pack is a shower cleaning microfiber cloth, a suction cup hook, and a glass and polishing cloth.
I barely got the stuff out of the package before I dashed into the bathroom to try the glass cloth. Since our shower doesn’t have a glass door, I tried it on the medicine cabinet mirror…Which was covered in toothpaste splatters and toddler fingerprints. Without even getting it wet, I had the mirror completely clean and streak free in less than a minute. Say what?
The next morning, I tried the shower cloth out after my shower. Before I turned the water off, I soaked the cloth and wrung it out a bit. I then turned the water off and used the cloth to wipe down the shower walls. When I stepped out of the shower, I was pretty happy with how nice the walls looked after very little effort on my part.
I’ve been using the e-cloth for almost a month now, wiping everything down after I shower, and I’m super impressed with how great it looks. The best part? I no longer have that, “Ugh, I have to clean the shower today…” feeling.
Now if they would only come out with a set of cloths for every room of my house.
Silly me, they totally have that already! I’ve already got a wish list a mile long now that basically includes everything on their site. I mean, they even have a line of stuff to clean your body.
Because they’re so awesome, e-cloth has offered to send one lucky reader a shower pack of their very own! Entry is pretty easy…
1. Like Willfully Disobedient on Facebook
3. Come back here and leave me a comment about your least favorite chore.
Contest will close at 12:00am EST on June 22nd. Winner will be chosen at random and be notified by email.
[Due to some major technical difficulties, I’m extending the entry period until Tuesday, June 30th]
The entry period for this giveaway has closed. Check back tomorrow to find out who won. Thanks to all that entered!
Also check them out on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube for more info.
This contest is open to residents of the USA only. I received my e-cloth free of charge in exchange for my honest review. Post contains affiliate links.
**Please don’t really do this.
***Tomatoes totally are a fruit. Just making sure you’re awake.
We got up early on Saturday morning and made the journey to the Big City for PBS Kids in the Park. My boy LOVES PBS shows like SuperWhy, Dinosaur Train, Daniel Tiger, and Curious George. He was beyond excited to meet the characters he watches, and he even got to have a snack and do a fun craft with Curious George. As we walked around Military Park, he would point at the different characters and yell, “HI ALPHA PIG!” and “I LOVE WORD GIRL!”
He was slightly disappointed that Word Girl didn’t bring Captain Huggy Face, though.
After we’d seen all there was to see at the PBS Kids event, we took a stroll down the canal. Indy is really a beautiful city, and in the summer I highly recommend taking a day to just walk around aimlessly.
O even got to feed some ducks after a nice boy gave him some cereal.
Our walk took us closer to the circle, and we remembered that Pride was also going on that day…So we decided to check it out. O was asleep in his stroller, so we took our time checking everything out. We even bought a bumper sticker!
Because it was so hot, and also because some big dummy (ahem, me) forgot to put sunscreen on, we headed to Circle Center mall because, air conditioning. O was still sound asleep, so we took advantage of the massage chairs that were sitting in the lobby. Two minutes for a dollar sounds like a hell of a bargain when you’ve been walking all day.
I also ended up with some cool new shoes.
Once O was awake, we grabbed dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery and stopped for ice cream in a shop on Monument Circle. By the time we started making our way back to the van, it was close to 8:00.
This also happened, and now I wish I had been holding my phone the entire time. I’m guessing we actually walked close to ten miles altogether.
On Sunday, we ventured over to our town’s Strawberry Festival for lunch. Our first stop was to visit The BF’s grandparents, who always display their pedal tractors. While O was playing with the tractors, I decided to rest my weary legs by having a seat in his stroller. I was unable to talk The BF into pushing me around. For lunch, I had a bison burger and cheese fries topped with bison chili. Delicious! The BF had some ribs, and we both shared with O. Even though I didn’t really want to.
After lunch, we stopped at our friend’s photo booth before heading home. O thought it was great fun to wear the helmet and watch himself on the screen.
I capped off the weekend by finishing a book and having a glass of wine… Well, I tried to drink a glass of wine, but I managed to nod off before I even drank half of it.
Hashtag, old people problems.
Ok friends…Let’s consider this an intervention of sorts. I see y’all (mostly ladies, but some dudes) posting these ridiculous sayings and usually incorrectly attributed quotes that are typed over pretty pictures in equally pretty fonts…And I just don’t get it.
Some of them are pretty funny… But a lot of them just make the sharer look a bit like an asshole. Here, have some examples:
First things first… Sorry to burst your bubble but it’s highly likely that she didn’t even say this. Okay?
Now. I’m guessing you’re probably expecting a bunch of, “Amen!” and, “Hell yeah, sista friend!” comments…and you’ll probably get them… From all of the other spoiled, whiny, entitled people you know. Pro tip: tantrums stop being excusable around the age of…four, maybe?
…or maybe he’s just sick of your shit. If you’re posting this, I’m going to assume that you’ve probably got a handful of failed relationships under your belt. Take a second to consider the common denominator… There’s a huge difference between being strong and being an unbearable bitch.
Nope, sorry. A truly successful woman is too busy being…you know…successful to worry about what people say or think about her. And if a lot of people are “throwing bricks” at you, maybe it’s time to re-evaluate your behavior.
This one is spot on. All of what I’ve said is my opinion (except the bit about the Marilyn quote being wrong)… So feel free to go on merrily hitting the share button and yelling, “UH HUH, THAT’S RIGHT!” whenever you see some pretty font on a nice background. Just know that you might not be sending the message you intend to.
Oh, come on…this one is just funny.
Well guys, I guess it’s time to admit that I am once again out of the running for Mother of the Year. Yes, I know it’s a huge surprise, but I’ve just made too many mistakes to think anyone would nominate me.
Don’t believe me? I submit the following:
I allowed O to practically inhale an entire chocolate bunny on Easter morning. Sure, it was a smallish one, but chocolate for breakfast? That’s a mommy no-no for sure.
Exhibit A.
I have also given my child donuts, birthday cake, and cookies for breakfast. Not all the time, of course, but with enough frequency to make the Mother of the Year prize out of my reach. But come on, who doesn’t eat leftover birthday cake the day after their birthday?! Or the day after anyone’s birthday, if they send some cake home with you.
Exhibit B.
No, he didn’t eat all of it…His was the chocolate piece.
And I guess, while we’re talking about food, my kid has had McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, and Arby’s. He really loves the chicken nuggets. And fries. Once again, only occasionally…But the fact that I have allowed him to consume MECHANICALLY SEPARATED CHICKEN GOO that has been deep-fried to oblivion probably booted me out of the running.
Exhibit C.
These are actually fish nuggets. Still fried, though.
I also let him play with the sweeper, mostly in hopes that he will accidentally turn it on and scare the crap out of himself. I can’t help it, that’s damned hilarious.
I’ve forgotten to tell him he can get up when he’s in trouble (I refuse to call it time out), only to remember 20 minutes later.
I’ve lied and said we were out of a snack that he asked for because I really wanted to eat the last one.
I don’t let him flush the toilet eleventy billion times.
He really needed (his words) a blueberry breakfast bar but I wouldn’t let him have one because he didn’t eat his lunch.
And then…
This morning, he came in the bathroom when I was brushing my teeth. He wanted to brush his, so I picked up his toothbrush and started to put toothpaste on it.
WRONG.
He wanted to do it himself. In an attempt to avoid a tantrum, I held the toothpaste and brush out to him…But the damage had been done. He turned and ran to the living room, threw himself on a chair, and sobbed for five minutes over the injustice of it all.
“Am I the worst mommy on Earth, buddy?”
He sniffed, rubbed his eyes, and said, “Yes Mommy. I fink so.”
Well, here I go jumping on the Matcha bandwagon. If you aren’t familiar, it’s basically green tea powder. I’ve been reading about the health benefits lately, and it sounds like it’s pretty great…If all of the claims are accurate.
So it’s supposed to be super great for you, but how does it taste?
KissMe Organics was kind enough to send me a bag of their organic Matcha green tea powder so I could try it out. I felt like a kid at Christmas when the package appeared in my mailbox (ok, I feel that way every time I get a package). Since it was a little late in the day I decided to wait to try it, but I couldn’t stand just staring at the pouch on my counter. I decided to compromise and make chia pudding.
Matcha chia pudding
3 tablespoons Organic Chia Seeds
1 teaspoon matcha green tea powder
1 cup almond milk (original or unsweetened)
1 tablespoon real maple syrup or honey (optional, to taste)
Fresh or frozen mixed berries
Almond slivers
Measure the chia seeds into a bowl with a tight-fitting lid and set aside. Add almond milk, syrup, and matcha powder to the bowl of your food processor (or your blender, if you have one) and blend until all is combined. Pour over chia seeds and give it a stir, then cover it and stick it in the fridge. After a couple of hours, give the pudding a good stir to bust up any clumps, then leave it in the fridge overnight. When you’re ready to eat, garnish with berries and almond slivers.
I don’t know what I expected it to taste like, but holy green tea, Batman. If you love green tea, you’ll really love this stuff. It had a slight earthy flavor, and it went well with the berries and almond milk. I really liked it, and I can’t wait to try a latte.
If you’re a purist and you just want to brew a cup of tea, follow these directions, courtesy of Bon Appetit. If you’re wondering where to get a fancy little bamboo whisk, I found a reasonably priced set on Amazon that should do the job quite well.
As far as all of the health claims go…I can’t really say if I think they’re all accurate since I’ve only ingested a teaspoon of the stuff. I’m going to try really hard to sneak it into my daily diet and see if it lives up to all of the hype. It shouldn’t be hard, since the daily effective dose (according to the package) is only one teaspoon, and you can make tons of things with this stuff. KissMe Organics includes a free recipe book in your purchase, and I think a batch of matcha cookies are in order.
So far, this gets a thumbs up from me…Stay tuned to hear more about my adventures with matcha!
**This post contains affiliate links**
***KissMe Organics sent me a bag of matcha at no charge to me in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.***
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Willfully Disobedient 