Lights, Camera, Action!

You know that question your parents were always asking? It's the same rhetorical question you've adopted now as a parent. It comes in many forms or variations, but it all boils down too, "Who keeps turning all the lights on?"
With all the children running around my house, I used to spend a ridiculous amount of time walking from room to room, just to shut the lights off. My husband, who has been dragging his feet like you wouldn't beleive when it comes to changing our lifestyle to be more eco-friendly, was constantly frustrated that we were paying to light rooms that no one was in. So, I appealed to the monetary skimping side of him and formed our own makeshift solution.
Since all of our children are young, there's hardly a way we can tell them to just leave the lights alone. Instead, I determined which light were absolutely necessary and which were not. For those that were not necessary (hall lights, pantry, added lights in the living room, things like that) I removed the bulbs and used painters tape to tape a small piece of paper over the switch. Now, no one in the house even bothers to turn those lights on, so when I walk around to flick off lights I can mostly concentrate on bedrooms. It was a win for all of us. The dear husband is no longer complaining of the money being wasted and I was able to make a small, easy change in our home that reduces our family's footprint just a bit.
Happy green living until we meet again!