Is it just me or is March going by in a blur? I realized this weekend that next week is spring break for my girl. That teensy tiny realization has me scrambling for ideas.

As I’ve mentioned once or twice (or possibly a million times), my big little lady gets bored easily. While the little one can get lost playing with her little people for hours, Sam needs more.

I’ve found that the best way to deal with her boredom is by being totally prepared. More often than not I am not prepared. But now that I’m an old thirty-year-old lady, I thought I should get myself together. 😉

Now, the problem with spring break in the northeast is that you really can’t predict the weather. We could have awesome, playground-worthy weather or the snow could just keep coming.

In case of less than stellar weather, I went hunting for kids crafts and a couple of experiments (she loves experiments!) and this is what I came up with:

The other day I was making bacon (turkey bacon because it’s less greasy and I’m trying to regain my girlish figure. My BFF and I swear we’re going to have Obama arms by summer) and I almost set the plastic bag it was in on fire. It made me take a step back and think for a second.

How the hell am I in charge here?! Me. The one who chases her husband around the house with a toy broom trying to swat him in the butt. The one who sings Taylor Swift songs too loudly (even though I’m mad at her for her Amy and Tina criticism) and dances (poorly) to the theme songs of any Disney show until my six year old scolds me.

How on earth am I in charge of two little humans?

Nothing to see here. Just your standard morning dance party.

When you find out you’re preggers for the first time, the whole registering for baby essentials thing can be a little intimidating. OK, it can be paralyzingly intimidating.

When I (unexpectedly) got pregnant with Samantha, I launched into full-on control freak mode. It was slightly alarming at the time because I don’t think that had ever really been part of my personality (but it is now, friends! It’s here to stay!).

I started picking up books and magazines on baby products and I would highlight and take notes and make extensive lists about safety ratings and price comparisons. I was straight up obsessed.

But what the books and magazines never told me is that you’re way better off with one magical product that does a few things than a million different highly coveted items–especially when you have more than one kid and are like a traveling circus whenever you leave the house anyway.

I thought I’d put a list together of a few of my favorite multi-purpose momma products. This list is by no means extensive. It’s tiny, but it’s a start…

If you give a toddler some raisins, chances are she’s going to want the box that goes with them. When you give her the box, she’ll probably do a little happy dance in the kitchen and yell “Yaaaay! Nack!” (which is Toddlereese for snack, for those of you not in the know).

When she’s finished with her dance, she’ll run into the living room to show her awesome score to her sister. Then she’ll want to watch a little Fresh Beat Band. When she watches it, her eyes might glaze over a bit and she might forget she has the little box in her tiny fist.

A funny part will come on and she’ll laugh and yell “Look! Look!” until you and her big sister acknowledge the ridiculousness of the episode’s plot line and laugh along with her. When the scene is over, she’ll probably get quiet and all glassy-eyed again. She’ll sit down in her rocking chair and absentmindedly rock a little, picking out a raisin without really thinking and saying “Ohhhh, nom” when she tastes it. She’ll probably reach in for more.

It’s New Year’s Day. I’m hopped up on (decaf) peppermint mocha, a full night’s rest (thanks to the hubs who got up early with the girls), and the endless possibilities that come with a clean slate of sorts. New year, new me, right?

The hubs has already started tackling the kitchen cabinets: purging foods that have been sitting there since the summer, scooping out crumbs, and making things all neat and orderly. It makes it easier for me to dive head first into my mission for the first month of this new year: organizing my life.

While he finishes what he started in the kitchen, I start in on the dining room and the (hideous, overfilled) hutch. At some point during my wild getting-rid-of spree, hubs is done with the food cabinet and moves to the couch in the living room, where the girls are playing. I soldier on, finishing the dining room and tackling more kitchen cabinets before deciding the time has come to ditch the Christmas stuff.

I announce my intentions to my husband, who is lost in a game on his iPhone and grunts in return. Slightly irritated, I head downstairs, wrestle the bins I need up from the basement, and start loading all of the Christmas stuff inside. The hubs is still lost in his game.