Question of the Week: How do you Make Do?

Make do the best way you can

First of all, you may be asking yourself, "What does make do even mean?" Well, to make do, in a way, is a substitution. Do with what you have, in other words. The original saying is actually, "Make do or do without." There's nothing like a pandemic and a trucker strike to make you use your imagination. Because I'm not good at doing without my creature comforts - or even thinking that I might have to do without them. I don't think it's coincidental that the only difference between panic and pandemic is 'dem'. 

Toilet paper make do

For example, at the height of the pandemic, my son and I spent an entire morning driving to several stores in town until we had enough toilet paper to make do for several months. How was that make do? As you recall, we were allowed to buy only one package of toilet paper per visit at that time. That is, if the store had any toilet paper at all. And we sure weren't assured that our favorite brand would be available at any given time. So, we bought whatever brand was available - cheap or expensive, thick or thin. You find out quickly during a pandemic that you can't be picky, right? We considered ourselves lucky to have 4 or 5 packages of toilet paper at the end of that day. 

Make do toilet paper

And at that same time, Dollar Tree nearly always had the single roles and the 4-roll packs that you could buy without limitations. Just in case you hadn't cured your fear of possibly running out of toilet paper and thought it wouldn't hurt to have a few more roles on hand. By the way, I hadn't been to the Dollar Tree in over a year until this crisis. Now, I go there every couple of months since they were there for me when I needed them most.

2-in-1 shampoo make do

A month or so ago, when I needed more 2-in-1 shampoo (combined shampoo and conditioner), my grocery store didn't have any. None. I'm guessing this is because of the trucking strike. I don't know really know. Don't care either. All I do know is that I need some sort of conditioner so I can get a brush through  my hair after I wash it. 

They did have plenty of individual bottles of shampoo and conditioner. So, to make do, I just bought those in my favorite brand. Oh my goodness! What little bit of conditioner I used after shampooing my hair made my hair feel so oily and weighed down. It also took much longer to dry my hair that night. 

So, the next time I washed my hair, I put almost the amount of shampoo in the palm of my hand that I normally use. I put just a "tad" less. Then I added that "tad" measurement of conditioner to the shampoo in the palm of  my hand, mixed them together with my fingers, and washed my hair. Voila! Homemade 2-in-1 shampoo. That worked like a charm. No weighed down or oily feeling. And no extra hair drying time.

Now that I know this little make do trick with shampoo and conditioner, I'll be trying other brands that don't have the 2-in-1 choice. Because another thing about making do is discovering other choices you would never have tried or thought of. Do you have a make do that you think others might find helpful? If so, leave a comment below. 

Take care and God bless, 

Patricia