Bar Keepers Friend

As I was growing up, my mother was somewhat ineffective in imparting many of her household cleaning lessons to me but one thing that really stuck was the necessity of scrubbing and wiping down the kitchen sink every time you leave it. I am straining toward that goal with my own children (with moderate success) but had been fighting a losing battle.

Our kitchen sink is a builder's grade (junk), formerly white, ceramic-ish sink, and metal pans create hideous black scratches across it which no amount of grumpy, sweaty scrubbing can remove. I've tried spraying it with bleach and leaving it overnight, vinegar in varying strengths, all your classic powdered scrubs, and TONS of the ever enjoyable elbow grease. Nothing worked! I looked into painting our sink - not recommended. I looked into replacing it - we'd have to replace the countertop too and at this point in time I'd MUCH rather go to Hawaii.

Gross right?!

I semi-resigned myself to never having a totally clean-looking kitchen until I saw Bar Keepers Friend in Bed, Bath & Beyond and it sparked a faint memory of someone extolling its virtues. I casually purchased it, completely oblivious to the change my life was taking from that simple impulse buy.

Back at home, I sprinkled some Bar Keepers Friend on my damp kitchen sink, lightly scrubbed, and the black marks magically disappeared - instantly! I was so excited that I decided to try it out on a pan I'd consigned to lost after a quesadilla incident involving an 11 year old. In 3 minutes flat the pan looked brand new, absolutely no vestiges of its fiery ordeal. I took my magic cannister throughout the house, erasing rust rings in the bathroom, coffee stains in white grout, calcium buildup on 6 stainless faucets - all with the slack wristed effort of an indolent teenager.

The places where it's chipped are still there but you can't have it all!

Bar Keepers Friend has become my go-to cleaner for the entire house, I simply cannot use enough magniloquence to extol its virtues - you gotta' try it for yourself!!

Graduation and the Home School Mom

Today is a bittersweet day for this home educatin’ mama – today my eldest son concluded his high school studies.  I have been feeling the weight of the emotion of his graduation for several weeks now but today it slammed me in the gut that this now concludes my portion of his formal education!

Unless you are a homeschooling parent who has accompanied your child on this journey since day one (in this case since he was 4 years old) you won't be able to fully grasp the tremendously heart wrenching joy with which I find myself facing this day, June 11, 2013.  I have had the privilege, for the vast majority of his life, of being the sole person responsible for providing an education that ensures he faces adulthood as a godly, intelligent, articulate, thoughtful, knowledgeable, wise, mature man and now my role has concluded. 

Oh, I know I will still advise him, spiritually guide him, and perhaps even help him a bit with his college studies but after 13 years, I am no longer his teacher and that is such a hard thing to come to terms with. I have spent countless hours researching curriculum, developing our daily schedule, laughing with him, learning with him, arguing with him, being frustrated with him, and experiencing the joy of watching his eyes light up as he grasps a concept. 

I am immensely proud of the young man he has become and I know God has huge things planned for Him that he will accomplish. We educate our children at home, primarily so that they will become God fearing people of character who will make an impact in this world for good. As I look at my graduate, I see that he is a leader, he is strong in his faith, he is massively intelligent, he is polite, he is respectful, he looks out for the underdog, he is kind, and he is loving.

So, as my role as his teacher comes to an end, I can look back on this chapter of our lives with great joy and pride… even as I mourn (oh, and there's still the matter of my two remaining students).