So, after I got Dakota to sleep, I took Jaxon outside for some fresh air. I was wearing a short sleeve top and thinking how nice it is that in November, I can wear short sleeves. Now, on the contrary, I remember wearing a sweatshirt on a June or July night in Colorado and Idaho and thinking that was great. I have to admit that I am loving this great weather.
This past Sunday was our family dinner day! Every month during the year, someone in the family has everyone over. No, I haven't taken my turn yet. I'm afraid that everyone would feel claustrophobic. Anyway, I spent some time talking with a couple of my sisters-n-law about organization in a big family. I think my last 3 children came so fast that I never had time to think or readjust how I was doing things. What might work with 1 or 2 children, may not work with 3 or 4. Needless to say, I have felt very disorganized since our move.
How in the world do I move from a 3 bedroom apartment to a 5 bedroom house and not have enough space for everything? Well, I started to break it down. Where are my problem areas? My laundry room and my desk are the biggest. Oh, and lets not forget my closet and the hall closet. So, how do they do it. I got a few tips.
1. Keep all of the kids socks in the laundry room and don't worry about mating them. I love the idea of keeping their socks down here in their very own little rubbermaid drawers. Although, I do have to mate TC and AJ's socks. I KNOW that TC doesn't care to wear an ankle sock on one foot and a crew sock on the other. Hence, the mating will continue.
2. Stop folding underwear. I guess that I might just be a nut but yes, I fold everything. Anyway, if I want to be successful at keeping a household together, then I must let a few things go. That includes folding underwear.
3. Go paperless with your bills. Online billing can be great. I was halfway there but I might take the entire plung!
4. Buy a new front loader washer and dryer. Ok, that isn't quite reasonable for me right now but when I ever have to buy a new washer and dryer....oh, yeah! I would love to get all of our jeans washed in 1 load.
Just a few tips but man it has helped me a bunch this week. I realize that we have to make things work for us and all of our priorities are different but I hope that maybe you could share a few of your time saving tips and organizational tips with me. What can you not live without?
How do you keep things tidy?
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6 comments:
Wow you fold their underwear? I’m having a hard time with just 2 kids so I’m going to be in big trouble when we have more!
My biggest thing that helps is the grab bag. Trey’s not quite getting the grasp of it yet but we’re working on it. Basically when the house is all cluttered up with toys, shoes, and the general stuff that hasn’t been away you basically tell the kids they have 5-10 minutes to clean up and what doesn’t get picked up gets put in the grab bag. They can’t get the stuff out unless they do some sort of chore or something to help you out.
It’s not a perfect system but it’s a start. Not sure how it would work having your younger kids who aren't quite ready for it. Oh and don’t use a trash bag my parents through away the grab bag once and I’m pretty sure my brother is still traumatized by the loss of his Chicago Bulls jacket 15+ years later. Good luck!
My parents were way big into job charts. When we were younger we would have jobs like pick up toys, help mom set the table or unload the dishwasher, or put away laundry. It was easy stuff that even if we didn't do it right, it was easy for mom to fix.
But as we got older we had jobs like mow the lawn, clean the bathroom, vaccum the house, etc. At the begining of each school year we would sit down as a family and make a new job chart. The older kids got the hard jobs and the younger ones the easy jobs. (That part sucked about being the oldest)
We always knew what our job was for the day, and it left my parents free to work on church callings, organize, and spend time with us. We learned how to work as a family to get the jobs done.
I hope that helps and I totally liked Brooke's idea with the grab bag. I'll have to try that one.
thanks, those are awesome!
I only have one child but the thing I like the most is all his toys and books go in box type buckets. I just go around and pick them up and they all go in the same place. It is wonderful. Jacen is also able to help me clean up his toys :) I can see how this system might be a huge problem with multiple kids..but for now it is wonderful. I think the best thing you can do for yourself is find a system that your kids can help with. An age appropriate system, like the containers being labled with pictures, etc. Take the time to help them see where things go and how they can help out :) Let us know what works for you!! Thanks for this post...I love reading others ideas!!
For me ( I know I only have one kid so take this for what it is worth) deciding what is for dinner is the most frustrating thing ever. It stews in my mind all day long, then when I finally decide I realize I don't have all of the ingredients. Ahh, it drives me crazy! So....Monday's are my grocery day. I plan my meals a week at a time ( I used to try to do a month schedule that was too much) on Monday, I get everything that I need for the meals that week and every day I know what I am making for dinner and don't have to run to the grocery store four times a week in order to get it made.
You are a super mommy. At least you are thinking of ideas. I am just sitting here feeling overwhelmed, but not trying to fix it!
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