Last week my dustpan broke. It had a tiny crack for several months that made it a pain to use and I every time I would use it, I would tell myself to add it to to my shopping list but then by the time I finished sweeping, I'd be on to another task and never remember. But the little crack became a big crack on a day that I just happened to need a few more dollars in my amazon cart to get to free shipping. So I got this one.
I love it! Even Lucy, who's morning chore is to sweep under our kitchen table, was excited about it. A dustpan has to be pretty darn good if a 5 year old starts raving about it. But she doesn't need my help to use it so it really makes our mornings run smoother. And since I do quite a bit of sweeping with a baby on my back, it makes my life a lot easier too. Best $15 I've spent in a while.
Another tool I love - my can opener. We had really bad luck with can openers. I've tried electric ones and hand ones, more expensive ones like the kitchen aid and super cheap ones that we really only had to keep in our emergency supply kit. One time we got a new one and it only opened 2 cans before it broke! 2 cans! I'd look at reviews and moan. I don't have high expectations from my can opener. It doesn't need to be any particular color or look fancy or do anything other than - open cans. I was about to try the pampered chef can opener even though it is a bit pricey and I had heard mixed reviews. But I was also getting desperate.
Then back in February, we went on our impromptu road trip and I commented on my aunt and uncles' can opener and then got me one as a present before I left. It's a Swing-A-Way. It's amazing. It opens cans! Easily! Like cutting through butter. In this case, it wasn't that we needed to spend more money for a better tool, we just needed to find the right one. Now we have an we can sleep easy knowing that chili or peaches and cottage cheese are just a twist away.
Next tool I need to upgrade is my pencil sharpener. I owed these little metal ones and they are great. I lost both of mine recently but will order new ones because they are great for packing with our nature/art kit or for keeping in my little pencil box for on-the-go schooling. But now that we are doing first grade, even without a ton of hand writing, we go through pencils fast. And I'm tired of having to sharpened everyone's pencils. So time to upgrade to a bigger, better, faster daily use pencil sharpener. But which one?
A classic old-school wall mounted one is a top contender. So is this "Best Pencil Sharpener" which I've seen recommended by several people in homeschooling circles. Do you have a favorite? Please let me know because I have our big armoire/office full of paperwork, school supplies and manipulatives to clean out and re-organize and I need some motivation so I've decided that a pencil sharpener will be my reward!
PS - Those aren't amazon affiliate links. Just plain ol' links so you know what I'm talking about.
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