Why don't they listen to me

One thing to keep in mind, when talking to a child about something that they have done wrong, is the fact that they actually may not even understand half the conversation that you have with them.
Don't get me wrong kids are truly smart. But sometimes all it takes is just one word that they don't understand or misinterpret, and the whole meaning of the conversation can change.

At work one day I had gone over to a child that had done something very minor, but even before I had reached him he started looking down as he though he was in trouble. So I said straight away "it's ok your not in trouble", and straight away he burst into tears. I figured out that he didn't understand the very simple word "not", so basically he heard "your in trouble".
I got to thinking about the word "not" and when you listen to people talking, we don't use that word a whole lot as we generally shorten it, Don't, Didn't, Cant, Hasn't etc etc, you get the picture.
It does change though, when a child is in trouble, what people usually say, instead of "don't" is "Do NOT do that again" and the word "not" has a whole new meaning, "NOT" is now, nearly always an anger word.
I've found that thinking about what I say when trying to talk to any aged child, really helps them to understand what is happening.

Big companies ripping us off

Ever noticed that it costs more to do the laundry now a days, than it did a few years ago.
Yes the prices have gone up, so yes it does cost more.

There is another reason why it costs so much more than it use to, the reason is this.
Companies that make laundry products, for example laundry liquid, the ones that provide you with a cap that is deep enough to put just the right amount into your load of washing.
Now what they have done over time, so you wont notice, is to increase to volume of the lid size. This will lead you to believe that you will still be using a full cap to do your washing.
It's the same for other products, nappy soaker, fabric softner.

How do I know this, well simple.
I had a bottle of fabric softener (Fluffy) that was quite a few years old, I could hardly read the label. I had always just bought refills. The cap volume was almost the same size as the fabric softener dispenser in the washing machine. Now, DW had bought a new bottle and the cap size was huge compared to the old one (I hadn't thrown the old bottle out yet, so I was able to compare).
To my amazement the new cap size held an extra 50% more than the old cap. It was only because I use the dispenser in the washing machine that I picked it up.

The same went for 2 well known nappy soaker lids, the difference was, I actually saw the difference in the change that was made in the cap size, they didn't do it gradually, it changed in the matter of a week.

I'm sure there are many many more companies that have done the same, but I havn't been able to see the others as I havn't used them.

If we look around I'm sure that we could find similar things that companies are trying to get us to use more of instead of putting up the price.

A few weeks ago, I had bought flea treatment for both my dog and cat, a very very expensive brand and very very good I might add.
I hadn't bought it for a few years (didn't have any really problems with fleas). Anyway, the directions stated that you need to repeat the treatment, every 3 to 6 months.
To my surprise it now states that it needs to be done EVERY MONTH.
What ever their reason for saying this is only something they know, but I'm sure it's to make more money.

If you read this, please tell others to be aware of what they use and how much.
I think it's time to start saving money for everybody.