End of the School Year

If you have school age children, you child has brought home a plethora of worksheets, papers, and art projects throughout the school year. Here are some ideas for all this paper:

• Save a limited number (less than 10) of your favorite art projects from each school year.
• Take pictures of projects then get rid of the originals.
• Mat and frame the best projects.
• Store favorite items in a storage container. When the container is full, sort through items, keeping only the best of the best. Never save more than fits in the container. (One container per child for his/her entire school career.)
• Use a scanner to store the best of the child’s written work on your computer. You’ll have the child’s handwriting and written messages without all the paper taking up space.
• Preserve your favorite samples of the child’s written work in a scrapbook.
• Use a 3-ring binder and page protectors for a fast and easy way to store some of your child’s art and written work.

After you have selected the work that is special and meaningful for you and your child, recycle the rest.

Organize for the Way You Live

Organizing ideas can be found everywhere. There is no one right or wrong way to organize. The best way to organize is the way that works for you and takes into consideration your lifestyle and habits. Let me give a few examples.

Every morning when you are hustling your children out the door, you catch one that needs his/her hair combed. You try to address this earlier in the morning, but somehow never quite get to it. Think outside the box. How about putting a squirt bottle of water and a comb in a basket by the door so you can quickly fix the child’s hair and go.

You child always drops his/her dirty clothes by the bed. There is a laundry basket in the closet, but it never gets used. Try putting an attractive basket by the bed for the clothes to land in. Working with existing habits is easier than trying to change them.

So, read all the organizing ideas you can find. Than use the ones that fit for the way you live.

Spring Cleaning

The snow has finally melted in the north and the weather is getting warmer. Now is the time to do some spring cleaning, time to clean out the house and lighten your load. Make it a treasure hunt. Go through each room in the house (including the garage) and see what you can do without.

1. Donate or have a garage sale to get rid of items that are still in good condition, but you don’t use.

2. Throw away anything that is unfixable, unusable, outdated, and taking up space.

3. Collect items that are broken.
a. Is the item worth fixing? If no, toss.
b. Will you use the item once it is fixed? If no, toss.
c. Set a date. If you don’t have the items fixed by that date, toss them.

4. Gather winter items and store them until fall (for us that live in the North).
a. Store sleds, skis, and ice fishing equipment in the rafters or attic above the garage.
c. Store winter outerwear and clothing in under-the-bed storage containers or out-of-the-way closets.

Statistics show that the average American uses only 20% of the items they own. Just think how much more space you’ll have and how much easier cleaning will be if you get rid of some of that clutter!

Getting Organized for a Move

1. Donate, sell, or throw away everything you don't want to take with you. Some organizations that accept donations will pick them up at no charge. Check in your area.

2. When labeling boxes, mark the room and the items that are in the box, for example: “Kitchen: bowls”. Mark on the top (so the person carrying it can see) and at least on side (so when boxes are stacked the label can still be read.)

3. Keep packing supplies together: tape, scissors, and markers for labeling boxes. An apron with pockets or a brightly colored bag keeps the supplies at your fingertips.

4. To prepare for moving day, pack your luggage as if you are spending a night at camp. When you get to your new home, you’ll have easy access to a change of clothing, pajamas, personal care items, a towel, and bedding.

5. Pack a small toolbox with the tools you’ll need for taking apart furniture and putting it back together at the new location.

6. Set aside several boxes for packing up the last of the household belongings on moving day.