Grease or oil: The orange cleaner does an excellent job. Use it concentrated dab on spot and wait 30 minutes or until oil has loosened. There is a product at automotive supply stores called GoJo. Use liquid nonabrasive kind following above directions. It does contain petroleum distillates that could leave a stain on clothing. Always test a spot before using a cleaner.

Be careful of orange cleaner you buy, many contain petroleum distillates that dry certain fabrics and material. Check clothing before placing in dryer. Heat sets stains and if any stain remains on clothes, dryer heat makes it very difficult to remove.

Mini blinds. Oh how they attract dirt. For lightly dusty blinds, put a clean old cotton tube sock over one hand. Spray that with and all purpose cleaner. My favorite all purpose cleaner is to nearly fill a spray bottle with water then add one good squirt of Ivory Liquid dish washing detergent and gently shake to mix. Turn slats of mini blind down and wipe over slats turning sock as it soils. Reverse slats and walk around behind them and repeat. To clean cords, grab a can of foaming shaving cream and gently dab on cord. Wait 20 minutes then rinse. Strange as it sounds foaming shaving cream removes many a stain.

If your blinds are past point of no return then try this handy trick. First pound two nails into back part of your home positioning them about a foot narrower than width of blind. Remove blinds one at a time and place on nails. At grocery store purchase a can of Dow or Lysol Tub and Tile Cleaner. Don't use spray bottle because those don't foam very well.

Put blind on nails and turn slats facing down. Spray slats thoroughly with tub cleaner starting at bottom of blind working your way upward. Wait until foam begins to drip down from top then wipe them down with a damp sponge. Reverse slats and turn blinds over and repeat process. Dry and rehang. You should clean one blind in about 10 minutes without mess of dunking them in bathtub and scratching tub.

Mary Findley spent 12 years professionally cleaning homes and developed a mop made to clean with ordinary terry cloth towels. She also shares her cleaning tips and shortcuts with you twice a month in her "Moppins Mail" newsletter. You can sign up for her free newsletter at http://www.GoClean.com.

Clumsiness and Poor Coordination: Many ADD children exhibit problems with fine motor control. This can be seen in poor handwriting and in difficulty performing other routine tasks such as buttoning buttons or tying shoelaces. When combined with child's inability to plan or organize a flow of activities, resulting outcome (written paper, self-dressing, etc.) may appear chaotic and disorganized. Many ADD children also exhibit gross motor control clumsiness due to poor motor planning cognitive skills or other co-existing weaknesses in areas such as balance, depth-perception or eye-hand coordination.

Disorganization: The ADD child is a study in disorganization! Whether it is state of child's room, organization of a term paper, set up of child's school supplies and workspace, grooming, dressing and hygiene skills, or any other aspect of child's life, most probable outcome will be a disorganized mess. This results from ADD child's impulsivity (jumping at any solution), distractibility (stopping in middle of any activity), hyperactivity (pulling out and tearing apart everything in sight), and inattention (they lose interest anyway!).

Mood Swings: With an ADD child, everything is always at extremes, and their range of emotions is no different. In some cases, they can be extremely domineering and controlling as they seek to gain attention for themselves. In other cases, they can be unreachable, and no amount of discipline or parental intervention seems to have an effect. When an child with ADD is "stuck" in emotions of moment, there seems to be no way for reasonable discussions to bypass emotional whirlwind in progress. ADD children can be described as oppositional, stubborn, overly-dramatic, flighty, ecstatically happy or excessively sensitive, just to name a few of extremes experienced by ADD children.

Poor Social Skills: Based on all of issues discussed so far, it's not surpising that ADD children don't fare well with peer relationships. They speak and act impulsively, show off and dominate conversations or class time, clown around at inappropriate times, miss subtle social cues, may be physically clumsy and awkward, and often irritate and annoy their peers in a thousand daily ways.

As a result of symptoms and behaviors just described, ADD child encounters all too many difficulties in their young lives. True ADD should not be considered a "phase" that will be outgrown. Rather, parents and educators should seek all of education and knowledge they can find to help these kids flourish and succeed throughout elementary school years.