Smart Things

I don't feel like a do a lot of smart things that are also worthy of sharing. But here are a few smart things I've done that I think you ought to do too:

• I rotate Ike's toys. He doesn't have a ton of toys, but he has enough for me to fill a few diaper boxes full. About every two weeks I load up all the toys he has scattered around, and I get out another box. He is the kind of kid who really likes his toys and can spend long periods of time playing with his toys by himself. I've found that when I rotate them he maintains interest longer. It is a huge boon on my working-at-home days.
• Before we moved to New Zealand we bought rechargeable batteries and a battery charger. We didn't know that a pack of batteries in New Zealand are so unbelievably expensive; we just bought them because we knew we'd be taking a lot of pictures and burning through our batteries fairly quickly. Now that we have a child with a handful of battery-operated toys, I'm glad we have rechargeable batteries. Plus we always have an extra (charged) set in our camera bag, and we don't have to fret if our camera runs out of batteries at some important event.
• The last few weeks I've been cutting roses from my bushes and putting them in a vase in my kitchen. They smell lovely, and I do not know what took me so long to do this.
• Ebates. Get paid for shopping online. It's silly not to do it. This past week I got a check for about $35. (That is because I booked most of my work travel on my own, which meant I first went to Ebates, then I went to whatever site I was using to book my flight and rental car. Free money for me!!!!) Even if you only get 1% back on a $10 purchase, eventually things will add up, and it never hurts to get a little check in the mail. (Usually my checks are like $6, not $35.)