TidyKidz - We're habit forming!

Today, think of something you like to do, then do it!  Better yet, make a list of some of your favorite things and carve out some time each week to be good to yourself.  You should be able to come up with at least 5 things (more if you can), here are some examples:

1) Read a book or favorite magazine

2) Paint your nails

3) Do a skincare treatment (a personal favorite, very relaxing)

4) Color – yes like as in coloring book

5) Plant some flowers

If your life is anything like mine it’s just go, go, go.  Eventually you have to stop and re-charge or your go will have gone and went.  Have a little you time!  Sit down with a nice place mat, have a piece of pie and some tea – use a cloth napkin and a pretty cup.   Take the time to be a fraction as good to yourself as you are to everyone else in your house. 

YOU’RE WORTH IT!!

Happy Mother’s Day to all!

TKMom

The amount of paper out our house can just get out of hand.  The mail box just won’t stop generating it, the kids backpacks regurgitate it all over the kitchen table every afternoon, my desk seems to reproduce it and let’s not even talk about my husbands desk!  Or  maybe let’s… I’ve never seen a person balance paper stacks that high in my life, not real life anyway, he took those cartoons with the stacks of paper to the ceiling, VERY seriously. 

All we ever hear about is “go green” this, “conserve” that, yet the paper just never stops coming.  I try to keep up with it but inevitably I get busy taking care of other business and it starts happening…. the stacks begin to build.  Don’t think you can let the paper actually start to touch each other… that’s when things get really out of hand.  The next thing you know the paper is mocking you… snickering as you walk past it,  watching as you start to twitch because it’s all so important and if you throw it away you might just end up elbow deep in the garbage can searching for it at 3am.   

I categorize it, shred it, stack it, file it, burn it, recycle it, store it and it just keeps coming back.  

With all of the e-statements and electronic billpay-ability, it appears as a society we are trying to reduce the paper mockery, but somehow just can’t live without it. Until a time when it’s all plastic card waving, retina scans and video advertising it’s gonna be us vs. the paper.

Here is a couple of things we do to minimize the paper snickering -

1) The one touch rule – paper comes home and goes direcly to it’s home (most of the time) which could be anything from the filing cabinet, the bill holder, the circular file or the kids “I wouldn’t dream of throwing this away bins.”  That way it doesn’t go from the desk to the kitchen counter to the table and back to the desk again.  Believe me it helps!

2) Each of our kids has a trey for their papers so we can get through our “oh so busy week” without things getting spread all over the house.  On the weekend we go through the trey with the kids and throw some away, keep some for re-use (ie.) if you’ve only used one side and it’s not a keeper, keep a stack of it and use the backside for scratch paper or doodling.  Do I see a little green happenin’?

TKMom

Keep baskets around the house as a temporary holding area for clutter. Random toys, books, socks, etc. always end up being left behind now and then. The baskets allow you to get them out of the way for the moment. You could even have a basket for each child which they are responsible for checking on a regular basis. This saves you several trips through the house, up and down the stairs and allows the kids to take responsibility for their stuff.

Bins, bins and more bins. We love bins. Bins are great for organizing all of the little things our kids can’t live without. They can be labeled for specific items making it easier to find that special action figure to save the day. You can use pictures to label bins for younger children. Bins can transform that dark and mysterious place of clutter under the bed into a useful storage area. Bigger bins can store spare sheets, blankets and towels and smaller bins for those toys that have so many little pieces. They make bins in many sizes that are low enough to fit under a bed.

Give each child a bathroom bin or toiletry bag for their brushes, hair ties, floss, deodorant and all of the other things that can end up scattered all over the bathroom but are so often hard to find when getting ready for school. Put small, open bins inside drawers to separate small stuff or collections. While not a bin, an over the door shoe bag/rack is another great way to organize small toys, stuffed animals or even baseball cards.

Having a place for everything will not only cut down on the clutter, but will also cut down the amount of times you hear, “Mom” or “Dad”, “Have you see my……?”