Several months ago I wrote about how my toddler son suddenly had a hard time (that’s putting it nicely) sleeping in his crib. He had been the poster child of the perfect sleeper: never woke up in the middle of the night, never cried when we put him to bed, always went to bed with ease. Until we went away for a long weekend.

We remedied the problem through a series of experiments over 23 days, one of which I’ll tell you about today: It’s called the crib tent. While this is not a product blog, I feel I must write about this thing that brought order (and sleep!) back into my life.

I know a few moms who have resorted to the tent, so that made the transition easier for me. It’s not easy to put your toddler in his crib and zip him in. I felt like a bad mom; our bedtime routine has become: brush teeth, read book, hugs and kisses, put in crib, say “Nite, nite,” then ZIIIIIP! and lights off.

The first night I felt pretty bad zipping that tent up, but he didn’t seem to mind. It got easier after time, especially the peace of mind it gives me knowing that he’s not going to climb out of his crib in the middle of the night and start playing with something dangerous. It’s been a little over two months now and we still use it — otherwise he’d be climbing out every night. I think that we’ll transition to a toddler bed sooner than I have planned, but for now, the tent is working.

Related links:

• How to get your child to sleep resources
• Crib tent details
  

Yesterday I watched part one of “Oprah’s” two-day episode on hoarding. The show features a woman who lives in a 3,000 square-foot house, filled to the brim with stuff. It’s not filth, but stuff. Everywhere. In every corner, everywhere you turn around. One of her grown sons hasn’t been inside the home, where he grew up, in five years. He’s mortified. You really have to see the episode to understand the severity of this woman’s problem. It’s tragic.

It takes a team of 100 people, 8 weeks to clean through the house — it’s no longer a home. The importance of a show like this isn’t for to be a voyeur, but to see how clutter can take over anyone’s life. Yours. Mine.

I’ve been a fan of Peter Walsh, organizing expert, since I first saw him on TLC’s “Clean Sweep.” He understands that’s it’s an emotional journey to get rid of stuff. We all have that junk drawer, or the out of control closet. For some of us it’s a garage, but for many it’s worse. I’ve seen episodes of “Clean Sweep” where families can’t get to the dinner table because it has so much junk on it. Or entire rooms with so much stuff in them that the room is unusable, it’s a storage unit.

My favorite part of Peter’s advice is that if you really love an item, especially those that contain sentimental value, then you must give it a respectful place in your home. He finds objects that people claim they can’t give away, but he uncovered it from layers of dust. Not respectful. It really makes you think. If it’s that important, it needs to be taken care of.

We purge items from our home about every 6 months. It’s an emotionally draining exercise, but gets easier the more we do it. I have to admit that we do it from necessity, not because I’m anxious to get rid of stuff. My house just isn’t big enough to keep everything that comes though the front door. I keep Peter’s advice in the back of my head so that I don’t loose sight of what’s important: I want a home, not a house full of stuff.

*UPDATE*
After watching part two, last night, I was wrong about the house not being filthy. It’s not that the woman was unkempt, but there was no way that house was livable as a clean space. In the end, they had to remove all the flooring, furniture and even the drywall because it was a health hazard. Mold had taken over and the house was a mess. I’m still amazed that two people lived in this house. It makes me really want to evaluate my “things” even more.

It’s nearly 9:00 a.m. and I just took my first bite of food and sip of coffee since 8:00 p.m. last night. As I read that sentence, it doesn’t seem like that much of a hardship, but it’s not as easy as you think. I had to fast in preparation for my yearly glucose screening test.

When I was pregnant I developed gestational diabetes (which went away after I had my son), but now I am at a higher risk to get regular adult diabetes so I have to get tested yearly. This means:

not eating for an evening,
driving to the lab where people pee in cups,
drinking a sugary, lime green liquid that tastes disgusting,
waiting,
waiting,
waiting,
then, finally, having my blood drawn while trying not to pass out.

So, I’m prepared for my test today. I didn’t eat or drink anything last night after dinner. I get up and brew a pot of coffee for my husband (nice wife that I am), fry up an egg and dice some cantelope for my son. While I sit by and watch them eat and drink, the hazelnut from the coffee tempts me by wafts in the air. But I don’t cave, my appointment is just after 8:00 a.m., so I don’t have to suffer too long. It’s time to go so I drive to the testing lab and have a seat.

The lab specialist calls me up and tells me that my insurance doesn’t cover this particular lab: “it’s out of network,” is what she says. I go home. Now, I have to do it all over again.  

I’ll write more about diabetes in the future. For now, I’m going to finish my breakfast.

So, I might be crazy. I’m going to IKEA grand opening today. Although, I’m not as crazy as some people I’ve been reading about this week. I’m talking about the people who’ve camped out in front of the store, in tents, since Monday. I’ve seen the pictures. It’s all over the news here.

But it is a big day for Central Florida. IKEA is a huge retailer that offers people furniture and home accessories at affordable prices. I’m not convinced of the quality of all IKEA furniture, but I’m also to the point that I don’t need my furniture to last more than 10 years. It goes out of style. Or I get bored and want to redecorate.

For years, we had the “early matrimonial” decorating style — i.e. hand-me-downs. The problems with things you get from others are that 1) you don’t get to define any type of style (you get what you get and use what you have) and 2) it’s hard to get rid of because now you don’t “need” anything. IKEA items are reasonably priced so that average Joes can afford to buy new things for their homes. It’s what makes IKEA such a pop-culture icon today. We love IKEA.

So, call me crazy for wanting some new things. Just don’t call me today — I’ll be in line at IKEA!

What is happening to the month of November? Thanksgiving is next week. NEXT WEEK! It’s early this year, which means the Christmas season starts a week early too. Already, a house on my street is decorated for the holidays: green garland is up on the porch railings and the lights are strung around the roof of the house. Wasn’t it just Halloween? Don’t people take the time to celebrate Thanksgiving?

I’ll be making my Grandma Ople’s apple pie this Thanksgiving, even though I have no idea who Grandma Ople is! Several years ago I found the recipe on my favorite recipe Web site: Allrecipes.com. I made the pie and it’s amazing. It drips with caramel sauce so silky that your mouth waters just looking at the finished pie. So, this year, for the first time, I’m going to make it for my entire family. Here’s a link to the recipe so you can try it too.

If you are like me, you don’t know a lot about making a turkey; Butterball turkey company started a hotline for people like us. Every year on Thanksgiving (and Christmas) Butterball opens a “Turkey Talk-Line” for newbie turkey cookers to call when in a turkey crisis. You can imagine the types of questions they get; Associated Content decodes three of the most unusual calls the company has had.

Related content:

• Allrecipes.com
• Food TV’s Thanksgiving recipes
• What did the Pilgrims eat for the first Thanksgiving?