[Sarvi]

I love my front loaders, they’re gorgeous and up on pedestals, so super easy on my back.

I had a brief peek at google and turned up: http://pub.ucsf.edu/magazine/200412/autism2.html which should hopefully alleviate any fears about using noise CDs to help your kids sleep. It seemed a bit odd that rats, being rodents (no offense to all the smart and affectionate pet rats out there!) who you’d think didn’t really have the neural underpinnings, would have autism. It sounds like what you get are rats that exhibit some behaviors analogous to autism in humans, and you can buy rats that are genetically set up for those behaviors for your lab and then try to tease out different things, like treatments, factors that might make a particular group of kids vulnerable, etc. If you expose those genetically vulnerable rats to “continuous, nonpulsating sound” you can get them to mimic some aspects of autism. Seems like it’s this chap Merzenich who’s the main guy on the topic. I was hoping for an abstract or more recent journal article but without getting too deep into it that’s all I turned up. Merzenich seems to say that a variety of sounds, talking and singing to your kid, lullabies and so forth are all great for kids, just don’t park your tot in front of the noise pollution around the clock.

[Sarvi]

Oh, and seems like another reason to be happy about homemade PJs – – probably not made with flame-retardant fabric which can have some nasty bits, not so great for wee developing kiddos who could be genetically vulnerable.

[Masha Richart]

LOL Sarvi, I love that you looked up the white noise thing. That made me feel better, too, so thanks!

The flame-retardant pjs are a particular pet peeve of mine. This spring I sewed nightgowns for the girls and so maybe we are going down the homemade sleepwear road – but it seems that every time I go pajama-shopping it is harder and harder to find plain old cotton ones amidst the racks and racks and racks of icky polyester character-themed ones.

[Tamara]

We tried out a front loader and then kicked it outside to use for work clothes! I like my top loader simply because you can stick last minute things in there whereas the front loader you cant. We sort of have water restrictions here, being on rain water but we have supplemented the household water supply with bore to save on the rain water so it can be used for washing clothing and drinking of course. We have it though bore is through the hot tap and even though we have more than one tank and are constantly pumping to top up the tank, we have never run out – thankfully!

Someone was lecturing me yesterday on the cost of clothing construction. It was only after I made the suggestion that she being the drapery owner purchase a bolt of the new school check so that we can make some school dresses. She was under the impression that I was marketing my services to make the new school dresses for those families having a tough financial time in town. I quickly corrected her! We have been waiting for the school dresses to come from the manufacturer for six months now and they were on their way but the truck carrying them caught fire! I made the suggestion in order for those who could sew (not just me) could make the dresses for their girls instead of having to wait until summer for the new lot to get here. Need I say, the suggestion wasn’t met with a positive response. Oh well!

[lattemama]

Sarvi – we are redoing our laundry soon and I would love to put my machines on pedestals! It would be so easy to load and unload – yes I have front loaders too, being European and all. 😉

My big girl graduated from 2nd grade today. She wore a red gingham Roller Skate and she was incredibly easy to spot in the crowd. I did worry she would look like a picnic table cloth but I think we just managed to avoid that.

[Justine J]

Love my front loader – so much more efficient and much gentler on clothes than my old top loader.

All my babies listened to a cd (Music for Dreaming) for all their day sleeps (I would put it on repeat), and at night it would be played through once. And I used to vacuum (even in their room) while they were sleeping when they were teeny tiny….whatever works for you, I say!

[Brittney]

We lived at my husband’s grandparents home for a couple months while we were waiting for our current home to become available (they live here part time, England for the rest and they happened to be in England at the time) and they had front loaders on pedestals, being Euro and all. I absolutely loved them! Some day I would love to get a set.

When the twins nap I have always used a portable heater that makes a lot of noise, on the heat setting in winter and just the fan in the summer. It is a life saver with older siblings who like to make lots of noise:) I used a cd for my son, the only problem was breaking him of the habit!

[Sarvi]

Lotta, I can just picture your big girl with that gorgeous peaches and cream complexion in red gingham. I’m sure she looked so fresh and pretty in it — gingham style, like the video Liesl posted, haha.

[Masha Richart]

I’m laughing at the sentence ” I did worry she would look like a picnic table cloth.”

What is “bore?”

[meleliza]

The front loaders are so powerful, the vibrations they create are fierce. Our old one used to shake the entire flipping house! Our house is circa 1860 and is predicably sloping, and the delicate electronics in the machine were damaged by the extreme vibrations. The mother board on the washing machine failed and the cost to repair was more than the expense of a new (albeit lower end) machine. I wasn’t happy with the front loader anyway because it was so hard on my clothes, (just like the ones I knew in Europe hence the Euro trash reference), I couldnt throw in last minute things and I always feared would shake the house down! Anyway, that was like 4 years ago and I just mentioned it to the repair guy and when he explained, it made a lot of sense. Front loaders belong in the basement where the foundation is level and supportive enough. We’ve used this repair service for a few years and what the man said made perfect sense. Anyway, Sales people in stores are just that. They want to sell you something. But the repairman actually has training and goes out to fix stuff every day. He knows what it costs to repair and he knows which ones need repairing more often. I’m not buying an appliance again without asking the repair people.

Anyway, why should Washing machines have a mother board? The more parts, the more things that can go wrong and the more expensive they are to fix. It’s stupid.

[lattemama]

Ok then.

In other news I am only working 2 more days before my 5 week vacation. And by tomorrow next week I will be stuffing my face with Greek salads on a beach in Crete.

I am tres excited!

[Justine J]

I shall be living vicariously through you Lotta 🙂 (we would have dearly loved to have gone to Greece this year – most of John’s extended family have gone – but alas, there’s the money issue….)

[lattemama]

Isn’t always Justine? (A money issue)

We haven’t been anywhere in Greece for 8 years. It was definitely time. I wish for you to get there some day too. I’ll post pictures if there is wifi at the hotel. We’ll be going to Knossos for some history lessons and to Elafonissi for the magnificent sandy beaches. Can hardly wait!

[meleliza]

5 weeks? Wow, that’s wonderful! My husband hasn’t had that much vacation time in the last 8 years total. Hope it’s a lovely time. Wonder if there’s good fabric shopping in Greece…..:)

[lattemama]

Yes, 5 weeks. It’s the standard amount of vacation days in Sweden.

I had so many days saved I could technically have taken more but I wanted to save some for Autumn and Christmas.

Not sure about fabric shopping though – it’s a pretty touristy place so I expect to find table cloths and the like but yardage, not so much. I will look for it though. As one does.