Hi Everyone,
Okay, this is it. Eight weeks to get it together! Our first "wild card" is one of my favorites -- I love the feeling of waking up to a clean, tidy kitchen each day. So, for this week, here's how to get the wildcard point:
A challenge "classic." Each night when you go to bed, be sure the kitchen is a place you'll want to face in the morning -- no dishes in the sink, no papers on the counter and no crumbs on the floor. (You can load and run the dishwasher if that's what you usually do, but otherwise, everything should be put away and tidy.)
For your "comment" point for the week, post a household hint or other good tip for keeping your life organized below:
For those of you who are new to this concept, don't forget to visit the spreadsheet each day to record your points (you should have received an invite to the link yesterday, but if not, let me know and I'll re-send.)
Hugs to you my friends!
Lisa
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hi Lisa, I did not receive the link to the spreadsheet. I've changed some settings, though, so I should be able to receive it now. Could you send it to me again? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteJenny
With my kids at home ALL the time (homeschooling) my life doesn't feel very organized and neither does my house, but I have made some efforts. I have "collection baskets" in various places where kid stuff that gets scattered around gets put, and they are to empty it and put everything away occasionally. When I get fed up with the stuff, I have one big basket that is "toy jail" - if I have to clean it up, it goes in there and they don't get it back for a very long time.
ReplyDeleteAlso, we always have a ton of library books checked out. My rule is that if they are left scattered about on the floor, on the couch, etc. rather than being returned to the book basket, then I pick it up and it gets returned immediately. When I get fed up with that, then they lose check-out privileges for awhile.
Hey,
ReplyDeleteI hope everyone is having a great first day/week! My "hint" is one that I'm learning about more myself. I am really in the thick of teaching my kids to help me. It's more work now, but I'm hoping it pays off in the long run. Sam in particular is really getting old enough to actually be of help and he seems to enjoy laundry a great deal!
Can't wait to hear from everyone.
Lisa
My "tip" is for organizing all the stuff kids bring home from school, or, if you have mass-production artists like my kids, all the art projects they create. I collect all the schoolwork, art projects, crafts, etc. that they do in a week and then have them select their top three / four items to show at Family Home Evening (we call it "Demonstration of Projects"). It gives them a chance to be recognized for their work and feel proud of what they've done. Then, of those projects that the kids selected as their favorites, I do an additional sort to save only those items that are worthy for posterity (very few). The remaining items get thrown away--but the kids don't need to know about that part.... :)
ReplyDeleteI have two tips: first of all, I LOVE my Swiffer vacuum! The main floor of the house, kitchen in particular, is so much easier and quicker to clean with this than a broom and dustpan. And it really gets all the dust and crumbs off the floor.
ReplyDeleteSecond, (when I am not putting the clean sheets that just came out of the wash directly back on the bed) I fold the bed sheets and stuff them in one of their pillowcases and keep them in the closet of the room where they are used. Then when I need a new set of sheets, I don't have to work through a pile of linens to find a complete set.
I wish my life was organized all of the time and my house was clean, but alas it is not. I love to look at organizing things on pinterest or magazines and I often become inspired. I'll search my house for some containers and go to town. My problem is always maintenance. But I keep trying!
ReplyDeleteI find that doing laundry on one day helps me from feeling like I'm constantly doing laundry... Everyone has their own basket in their closets...in the morning, I will strip the beds and gather all laundry from each bedroom(5)eek.. run the machines all day long, then fold at night, while catching up on a couple DVR shows, and put each back in their rooms before I go to bed. Then I won't do any more... only laundry day :) Also I keep a basket of cleaning supplies in each bathroom cab. complete with toliet brush, sponge and all cleaners... then if the kids are doing it, they have their own and don't have to share and if I'm cleaning, I don't have to drag them around the house with me...
ReplyDeleteMy favorite thing, lately, is a mud room addition that we built in our garage space. That is not an easy-fix organization tip, but what we have done with it can be done in other ways. I love cubbies & baskets for organizing things. I have fabric baskets (that previously lined across the cupboards of my small laundry room) that I have individually labeled for batteries, glue & adhesives, sewing, child-proofing items, house touch-up items, craft items, shoe polishing, flashlights, etc. The kids each have their own cubby/locker space to hang their coats, put their backpacks, along with a fabric bin to place their shoes that used to quickly collect by our front door. I am someone who loves to have a place for everything and everything in its place (although that doesn't always happen) so that I can keep some sanity and find things when I need them. As a back-up "hint", I often take a wash cloth after using it to clean or dry my face and wipe down my bathroom sink before throwing it in the laundry; it just helps my sinks look cleaner from all the of kid toothpaste between actual scrub downs.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm still learning all the great tips from others! I'm not sure if my tips are common knowledge- but I'll share anyway! Something my husband and I do that is easy if you don't have a large space/mud room. At our back door we have a coat rack and shoe rack, so as soon as we come in the house it's easy to store and it stays tidy.
ReplyDeleteI love being organized but with a 6 week old baby and 4 other kids, it has been a challenge. One thing that has helped me keep up with things around the house is a little planner I bought at the beginning of the year from Motivated Moms. It is a week by week calendar that has daily jobs to mark off to help keep everything in your house stay clean and organized. On Monday it can have me plan menus, take inventory in my refrigerator and clean toilets, but it changes every Monday. On Tuesday it can have me clean out my purse to changing hand towels in all the bathrooms. The daily chores change everyday and I can do everything in less than an hour. I also give my kids their daily chores from this daily planner, then their chores are different every day and we stay on top of everything.
ReplyDeleteI am addicted to maximizing my space.
ReplyDeleteI cannot stand an area that is wasted space. When you don't live in a large home, you need all the help you can get! I have bins in closets & under beds. I have ottomans that double as storage. I have over the door hanging organizers in the office, bathrooms, and other places. Having a husband that builds everything for everyone else on a regular basis, we come last. The last thing my husband wants to do on his day off on sat is work at our house! I have learned to be self sufficient and do as many projects as I can do myself. Being organized keeps me sane and helps me be a little (just a little) more patient while I wait for my projects to be done! Have a great weekend!
I have a file box on a counter by my kitchen. Each child has a file folder there for 2012 schoolwork and 2012 "treasures". Then each day when I look at their paperwork, if it needs to be saved it goes straight to the file--if not, to the trash. Calendar items go straight to the ical on the computer and then to the trash. It has helped me keep papers off of the counters.
ReplyDeleteAlso, well, this is kind of random. I usually sit with my kids while they practiced their musical instruments. A couple of months ago, I started ironing (I have 5 boys in the house--always a pile of church shirts to iron) in the same room that they practice in. Now I am still there to keep the kids on task and correct mistakes, but I'm always caught up on the ironing. Killing two birds with one stone. Bring over your wrinkled clothes!
I am thinking that I should have picked another day to blog about organization since I am feeling extremely unorganized today. I have to say that I love ical and the calendar on my phone. I do not know how I would survive without them. I have a chore chart that I can look at and know that my little helpers will do their tasks so I do not feel so overwhelmed. I have also accepted the fact that my house is not a museum and it will never be totally free of projects and clutter. I have managed to keep my kitchen clean and clutter free for the entire week and it felt so nice to wake up in the morning to clean and clutter free.
ReplyDeleteBeing organized and keeping things clean is still new for me... l'm really working on it in this crazy creative brain. The best thing for me this past year has been the "5 minute room rescue" I will tell my children that I will fix them a snack (or lunch, or we'll go on a walk or whatevet it may be) after we all do a 5 minute room rescue. I put on a few songs they love and we speed through the main floor and put the rooms back together. It really doesn't take long IF we all help and then I feel so much better and happier to do something fun.
ReplyDeleteEmily
I have an 2 month old infant and two little girls who are ornery in the morning! I've learned over the last two months, though, that our morning goes so much smoother when I am showered, dressed, etc and ready to conquer the day before any of the kids even wake up. I am then able to give all of my attention to them and getting ready for school, instead of yelling at them to get ready while trying to finish getting myself ready. Makes for a much happier morning!
ReplyDeleteEach of my kids has a "homework basket" that we keep near our table where we do homework. Each basket has pencils, erasers, crayons, markers, a ruler, paper, glue, and books that they are reading that week. When it's time to do homework, each child grabs their basket and gets started on their homework. They have everything they need so they can just get their work done and not have to keep getting up to look for a pencil or glue. Homework can be hard enough sometimes and this helps things run a little smoother for us!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI have a spiral binder for each child. In it I put papers from ongoing activities. One might include a scout merit badge worksheet, a soccer roster, a medical release form or physical form, school pictures, their primary program part, some article I want them to read etc etc
ReplyDeleteWith 4 kids doing 6 sports I have to keep my time organized. I just keep a very meticulous calender to keep it all straight. I make to do lists at my computer of all the little things I need to respond to. On really busy days I write out a timeline to keep me on task. I send gentle reminder emails to my husband of the events that he needs to attend. I always have a running grocery list on the counter for the kids to add to when something runs out. I find that if I want my kids to do chores, if I give them a list that it's more likely to get done than if I just ask them to do something. To feel organized I have to do laundry almost every day. Every morning I start a load of laundry and it keeps the smelly soccer socks from growing things.
ReplyDeleteLately I haven't felt very organized, however it feels good to see some progress even if it might be minimal..... I'm learning that Less is not more, it's BETTER! For example Less Clothes in my kids closets means less laundry to do and to put away. Less tupperware in the cupboard means less dishes to do and less fighting to get the cupboard closed.
ReplyDeleteThis is a day late and a dollar short. I've been having a hard time trying to get this to post. Anyway, the one thing I do is to try to clean a portion of my somewhat large home a day. My house is never completely clean and usually not completely a disaster. I think a good suggestion for keeping clean and organized would be to hire a staff of servants. Maybe that's what my kids are for????
ReplyDeleteSeeing that Ann is late gave me courage to post too....I am the least organized person I know, so I have very few tips to impart. I bought an iPhone a few years ago when I forgot I had signed the girls up for tennis and William missed a week of summer school. It has helped me a lot, mainly because it is always on me and I check it frequently. I'm a bit of a Luddite, so this was a really big step for me.
ReplyDelete