The Ultimate Mom Planner

"It is like someone reached in my brain and created the perfect planner to track everything I think about!"

I love to organize. That is no secret. Organizing is fun for me and relatively easy. I have always used a simple dollar store planner to organize the things I write down. Yes, you read that correctly. A dollar store planner. And that worked on a level. I also used several apps on my phone to stay organized. 

But for 2018, I decided I wanted a paper planner that was a bit more involved than the dollar store one. So I started my research. 

I found a great one from In The Leafy Treetops. I reached out to them to see if they would like to send me one to review, and they said yes!

When it came, I was floored.

Like I said, I did some research beforehand and thought it looked fantastic. That is why I chose them to reach out to. I expected it to be good. 

But not this good. 

I went through it, page by page, marveling at it. 

"It is like someone reached in my brain and created the perfect planner to track everything I think about!" I told my husband, "I can't believe someone could actually create this! It is just amazing!" 

At the risk of over-selling this, the website does not do this planner justice. I don't know if anything other than the planner itself can do it justice. I cannot wait for 2018 to get here so I can try this thing out! 

It has everything a mom needs to track in this planner. Months, yes of course. Birthdays, to be

expected. Contacts, sure. 

It also has some things you don't expect to see. Like, a place for you to write down all of your own interests and favorites. You know, like how you have in the little school year scrapbooks for your kids? This is for YOU. Sure, you know now. How precious will those details be to your children someday? Or to you even in a year to see if and how your interests have changed. 

It has a place to track all of your policy numbers. 

Different months have different features to track. For example, January includes a goal-setting section. December has a very comprehensive Christmas planning section. You can track your summer plans and goals in June. Back to school lists are in August. Thanksgiving planning in November. 

You can track financial goals. There are pages for that. 

You can track needs, wants, talents, hobbies, birthday plans, shoe size, pants size...for each child. There is a section for that. 

I just can't even get over it! I feel like my brain is going to weigh 100 pounds less once I get all of the info out of it and into this one place. 

So. Check the website out. There are many cute covers to choose from. All of them have the same great information inside. They have offered a special discount code for you readers! If you want one, use the code "Babywisemom" to get a discount. It's good for $4.99 off an order of $39.98 or more. In other words, if your order a planner and accessory they can get an accessory for free. Wahoo! This is a great gift idea for you if you are looking for things to tell people.

Below are some pictures of some pages, but check out the website to get the full details and to see some images of the pages. 

How to Organize Your Cleaning Schedule

Cleaning is a chore that never ends. It seems like you can never be done where you feel like there isn't another list in the back of your head of things that could be cleaned (hi, blinds). You have to figure out what works for you, your standards, and your time available. Here are some ideas of ways to organize your cleaning.

1-Have a 10 Minute Cleaning Every Day

This is an age-old tip, and there is a reason for that! Give yourself ten minutes to get as much picking up as you can. You can get a surprising amount done in ten minutes, and it is easy to focus for only ten minutes. This is also helpful to do at the end of the day after the kids have gone to bed. You can look at all there is to do and feel exhausted and overwhelmed. Dedicate ten minutes to it and you will be waking up to things much cleaner!

2-Decide on a Weekly Schedule

There are all sorts of ways to set up your cleaning schedule, and I have done many of them. Honestly different ways work better at different points in my life. My personal favorite way is to do all of the main cleaning in one day each week. That is my cleaning day. I like everything to feel clean all at once.

That hasn't always been feasible, however. There were a lot of years when I had to do some each day. Those were the years when my children were younger. I just couldn't focus on cleaning for a whole day, so I had to have a job each day of the week. One day was dusting. One day was bathrooms. One day was floors. So find what works for you right now in your season and go with that. It is okay if things change and even if they change often. 

3-Make a Plan for Deep Cleaning

Not everything is done every week. Have a list and a game plan for when you will do things like clean the blinds, moldings, curtains, washing machine, etc. You can do some each week, some each month, or have 2-4 times a year you have a big cleaning day that hits those things. 

4-Add Your Children Where You Can

In the young years, having your child have jobs absolutely makes cleaning take longer. For sure. I promise, promise, promise that it is 100% worth that effort. I promise. As your children get older, you have less time to clean and they make bigger messes. You need their help if you want to do more than clean up behind people. There are of course many benefits to your child for learning to clean and contributing to the home, but for now, I am talking about your time and how it is spent. For more on this, see:

• Balancing Household Responsibilities with Family Time
• Creating a "Good Helper"
• Chores
• Making Work Fun
• Teaching Children Life Skills
• Teaching Children to Clean
• Working Chores Into Your Day

5-Find Inspiration on Pinterest

There are a lot of fun printables on Pinterest for cleaning. I have a lot of ideas pinned on my cleaning board if you want a place to start.

Related Posts: 

• How Clean Should You Keep Your House? 

• How to Be Productive as a Mom

• Easy Cleaning Options for Busy Moms

How to Be Productive as a Mom

Work smarter, not harder. This is a common piece of advice given to those wanting to be more productive in life. Just how do you go about "working smarter" as a mom? The harder part seems to be part of the nature of the job as "mom." Can we be smarter? Yes indeed we can!

And we have good reason to. It is easy to say "dishes can wait," but at some point, they really can't! You have to do certain chores at some point. We also don't want to let our children's lives pass us by with us having not participated in them. If we can work smarter, we can play some. Here are eight ideas to get you going.

1. Put the Lord First

I promise, promise, promise that if you put the Lord first in your day, your day will be more productive. Make it a priority to read your scriptures and pray. You will see a difference. I do this in the morning each day. I notice a significant negative difference when I either forget or decide I am too busy in the morning and wait until later in the day to read my scriptures (especially because that usually means it doesn't happen since it is out of my normal routine). See my post on Time With God and How I Do It: Scripture Study for more.

2. Set Goals

If you don't have goals for yourself to accomplish, you will pretty much aimlessly wander throughout each day. You will be like a dog running along to fetch a ball who gets distracted by a squirrel. You will jump from task to task as it captures your attention. You might get some things done, but you will likely realize you spent times on things that weren't necessarily the priority at the time. Set some long-term and short-term goals you want to accomplish and then break those down into ways you can work on those daily. For help with goals, see Goal Tips and Making and Achieving Goals. See also:

• Resolutions that Matter

• Making and Keeping Goals

• 4 Reasons You Should Set Goals

3. Have a Plan

Once you know what you are trying to accomplish, you can make a plan to get there. Each night, I look through my to do list for the next day to see what I need to get done. I make a list and prioritize it. I know what must get done and what is just "nice" if I have the time. I find it can help if I even just visualize myself going through my day with the plan I have. It sounds corny, but doing that helps me recognize flaws in my plan so I can readjust the plan. Keep a list wherever it works best for you. I like mine on my phone. You might carry a piece of paper folded up on your pocket or write it on a huge white board in your home. You might even be lucky enough to still be able to track things in your head. So long as you can keep that list, it doesn't matter where it is. But experiment. I definitely have preferences on where and how my list is kept.

4. Relieve Your Brain

This is referred to in number three, but have things written down. You won't be as efficient if you are having to worry about remembering the next five things you need to get done. As a mom, you also likely have too many things to keep track of to be able to do so all in your head. Write things down so you can focus on the task at hand and give it the attention it needs. I  have read a great recommendation to spend 15 minutes just writing down everything that is in your head--everything on your mind. You then take all the items and group them by priority and length of time to get done. Do the things you can get done in two minutes or less (it is amazing how many "small" things we carry around on our lists. If we do them, we can relieve them from our brains!). Then make a plan with the rest. 

5. Schedule Things Out

In your planning, schedule things out in a way that works for you. How will you be most productive in your cleaning tasks? Will you do better having specific tasks you must accomplish no matter how long it takes? Or will you do better with a time limit you spend cleaning no matter what gets done? Maybe a joining of both methods--have a specific task you do and then finish up with a fifteen minute speed clean? There is no one right way for all people to do it, but there will be a best way for you to do it. For more on organizing yourself, see my post on how I do it. 

6. Do Dreaded Tasks First

I just find I am more productive if I do my dreaded tasks first thing. I have my tasks that have to be done because of time constraints on them (for example, my kids have to be ready for school by a certain time). Then I do my cleaning tasks of the day. I have found if I let the cleaning go until afternoon, I often find myself at the end of the day having not done it yet. I work best just getting it done and over with. I also find I need to not let my computer time start until the afternoon if possible. I can easily let the many possibilities of the computer turn into a time suck. I try to do everything I need to away from the computer before I sit down at something that sucks my time.

7. Don't Overschedule Yourself (and don't underschedule either)

I am still trying to figure out the fine balance between stretching and challenging yourself and not overextending yourself. If you have too much to do, you will never be productive (see my post We Don't Need to Live at a Frantic Pace). But I also find if I don't have enough to do, I easily waste time and get nothing done. Why move to the list when there isn't much to do? Candy Crush awaits! I try to find the perfect balance of having things to do to keep me moving and working and not having so much to do I can't do anything well.

8. Be Preventative

Slow and steady work. Do your work consistently to prevent having to put out fires later. Consistently taking a few minutes to do the dishes makes it easier for you to manage that task than ignoring them for a couple of days (or for some of you even just a day or 12 hours) and having to play major catch up. 

These are some ideas to help you be as productive as you can be. This will enable you to find greater balance in getting things done you need to and still have time to spend having fun with your family.

Tips for Organizing Your Family Schedule

Whether you are trying to organize your baby's schedule or trying to figure out how to make a schedule fit together for your entire family, you are facing a big task. It can be tricky finding a balance that meets as many needs as possible while ensuring you can hold on to the core of what really matters to you. Once you have that schedule in place, you might find it can be hard to keep track of it all!

So how do people do it? I recently posed this question to my Facebook readers. Here is their advice. 

Have One Schedule Keeper

Just as I talked about last week on how to distribute responsibilities in marriage, it is wise to have one person who really organizes the family life. For most couples, the mother will organize the baby's daily schedule, but it might not be so cut and dry when it comes to the schedule for the full family. 

Caitlin said: Having me be the "schedule keeper" helps minimize conflicts. I manage the family calendar and any travel dates, guys nights , or work events my husband has he texts me and asks me to add to the calendar. We have found that using only one calendar and having one person in charge of if ( as opposed to both adding to it) helps eliminate conflicts that one of us might be unaware of. Plus I'm type A so it fills my need for control. Lol

We do this in our home. I am the schedule keeper. I keep our schedules on a shared calendar (more on that below). I plan out the kids' activities. I schedule the time each year for piano lessons. I decide which day works best for dance class or gymnastics. Even when my husband is the coach of the soccer team, I tell him which day and time is best to have soccer practice. 

Have one person be over all and aware of everything. 

This doesn't mean the other person can't have opinions, input, or ideas. It doesn't even  have to mean the other person can't add things to the calendar. If you share a calendar, then it is easy to see what is open and what isn't. 

In your initial setup at transition points, like the beginning of summer or a new school year, have one person be over making sure it all fits. If that doesn't work for both of you (maybe you are both Type A :) ), then sit and plan it all out together at the same time. There needs to be consistency and full understanding of the big picture when planning a schedule out.

Limit Activities

A great way to keep a schedule manageable is to set limits on that schedule. How limits would look at your house will vary from how it looks at someone else's house. We all have different capacities and various levels of help. If you have a great system of carpoolers with other families doing certain activities, you probably can allow more activities than a parent driving to everything solo. If you have a firefighter spouse whose shift changes week to week, you probably won't be able to schedule as much as someone whose husband has a very consistent and predictable schedule from week to week. The family with five kids might need to put more limitations on activities than the family with two. 

• Limit number of activities: One way to limit is to limit the number of activities each child can do. Some people say one or two at a time. Some people allow a lot more. Figure out what works for your family.
• Limit ages that activities can be done: Another way to limit is to not allow certain activities until certain ages. If a child has to be 4 before soccer can start, that makes soccer season that much easier for four years. 

Angela said: "We only allow one child to do one extra activity at a time. Given that we only have 2 and they are still young and not begging to do all the things, this works for us. If the brother wants basketball, the sister waits till spring to do gymnastics. If the sister is doing ballet, the brother waits till summer swim lessons. I'm sure this will change as they enter jr high and high school, but right now it works for us. Obviously not the answer for all families, but it helps to have minimal activities for the moment."

Use a Synced Calendar

Once you have a schedule set, you need to make sure everyone can see what is going on. There are multiple apps sand programs that can help with this. I find the two most popular to be Cozi and Google Calendar. 

If one of you needs to use Google Calendar for work, it makes sense to use that for home, too. Then anything from work that will impact the family can be kept track of.

Our family uses the app Cozi. We use the free version. My husband and I can both access it from our phones or the internet. We can both add or delete things. We can easily see what is going on where an when. Each person is color coded.

Having a calendar that automatically syncs that you can both access is the best way to make your schedules easier and more manageable. It also makes it so the one who is not the schedule keeper can safely add something to the schedule. He can see what is planned and what is free. 

Faith said: "We use Google calendar and have multiple color-coded calendars syncing. For instance, my hubby's work is green, my events are pink, events for both of us are red, meals are yellow, church events are blue, etc. I love it because I have access to his schedule but can also hide his calendar so only events that involve me show on the calendar so i don't get overwhelmed. I'm a paper and pencil girl and moving to an electronic calendar was difficult at first, but now I love it!"

Conclusion

These few tips are a great starting point to get things manageable and under control. Organizing the family schedule can be daunting, but if you apply these three ideas to your family, you will find it much easier!

How To Organize Toys

When Brayden was young, I had a good friend with a boy just a few months younger than he was. I was sure we owned every toy worthy of owning at the time (which is funny to look back on because we didn't have many). When we would visit her, it would amaze me that we had basically completely different toys, and they toys they had were all great and fun, also. How could that many toy options exist in the world!

As kids get older, the toy collection grows and grows. You don't want to just get rid of the toys when your oldest is too old for them because there will be younger siblings to play with those perfectly good toys. But we only have so much storage and so much space. Decisions must be made and organization must take place. Here are some tips for organizing toys, complete with tips from fellow blog readers. 

Only Keep What You Have Space For

This seems so simple and obvious, but it is very easy for us to get to a point where we just have more stuff than we have space for. Once you are out of space for toys, it is time to make some decisions. 

I have a very hard time getting rid of perfectly good toys. I was raised by parents who didn't have much. Their parents lived through the depression and were savers. You save, save, save. 

But they didn't also live in a time like ours where there was major consumerism. They didn't have the volume of stuff that we have. You just need to have a logical talk with yourself and say, "When we are out of space, it is time to donate or sell our excess." 

Emily said: "We don't have a perfect system, but the one thing I love is an old dresser (that I refinished) that we use as our TV stand. Each of the large drawers holds a category of toys (trains/tracks, blocks, cars, etc.) If a drawer can't fit everything it's time to donate! I love that it's an easy storage system that doesn't scream "toy storage.""

Ask For Experiences for Gifts Rather Than Toys

You won't have a relationship with everyone where you can make such requests, but for those you do, ask for experiences rather than toys. I am one who finds it tacky to tell people what gifts to get unless they ask for ideas. If "the thought" is what counts, when you take the thought away from the gift-giver, you are making it the "thing" that counts. 

What you can say, though, is "We are out of space for toys in our house! If you would like to give a gift, an experience would be fantastic!" 

You can alternatively ask for no gifts or ask for smaller items or items that can be added to collections so there is not more space needed.

Emily Ann said: "we don't have a ton of toys in our house and ask that ppl not give our son toys as gifts (we would rather have experiences like going to the zoo and what not). we have a small wooden box in our living room and a wire basket thing from target in our sons room to hold toys. in our basement there is a play area with a toddler slide, swing, small ball pit, a discovery kids tent and some toys. we live in the country and its really muddy so we needed an indoor play area. i watch while hes playing with toys and if its something he doesn't have interest in after a few times i usually give it away"

Get Creative With Toy Storage

There are so many ways and places you can store toys. Under bed, in dressers, in drawers in your family room...an obvious great source for good ideas on toy storage ideas is Pinterest. I have some ideas on my Play Room board and some in my Organizing board. You can do a simple search on "Toy organization" and find a lot of great ideas and find ones that make sense for your space. 

Use Totes or Bins for Storing Toys

This post contains affiliate links. A good old reliable form of toy storage is to put the toys by groups into plastic rubbermaid-type totes or to use baskets in the IKEA type bookcases or something similar. We use both of those methods for books and toys frequently. 

The tricky thing with the totes and bins method is you either need to commit to being present when all toys are cleaned up or you need to commit to remaining calm when the items are put back in the wrong bin. You can label and that can help, but things will get put away wrong and you will need to go through them every so often to re-organize. That isn't necessarily a bad thing; re-organizing is a good chance to get rid of things. It does take time and it does add to your to-do list. 

Erin said: "My son has hundreds of little trucks. To stay sane, they are all sorted into separate plastic bins (tractors, hot wheels, diggers, monster trucks, etc). He's allowed to have 2 bins out at a time. If he wants a different type of truck, he has to clean up and trade one in. Keeps me from having to see hundreds on the floor at the same time, and him from spending 2 hours cleaning them all up. "

Donate (or Store) What Isn't Played With

Like I said, it is easiest to keep things clean when you have less stuff than you have space for. That means you need to get rid of things when you run out of space. If you run out of toy space in the house, but you have storage space, doing toy rotation is fantastic (see below for more). 

If you don't have space for storage, donate your toys. You could also sell them on classifieds. Get them out of the house and into someone else's house.

There just isn't much point in keeping out something that rarely gets touched. Getting it out of the way will keep things cleaner and will likely keep your child more engaged in what IS there since there won't be too many options. 

Rotate Toys

The concept for rotating toys is simple. You have some toys out that can be accessed. You have some toys stored away somewhere that is out of sight and out of reach. Every so often, you take the toys out of storage, add them to what can be accessed, then put away other toys. This keeps toys interesting and fresh. It is like Christmas every so often. You can decide how often to rotate. I usually like 2-4 weeks. 

Elizabeth said: "For my little girl, her obsession is books! We have three 'loads' that I separated carefully balancing it out (fiction, non fiction, a kipper book in each pile etc) and I rotate them every 3 weeks or so. That way, her book shelf isn't a constant mess and she can actually see almost all her books at a glance.

I'm about to redo our craft cupboard. But I did recently buy new drinking glasses and the box it came in made a perfect 'craft caddy' for my three year old. She got a stash of crayola for Christmas but I didn't feel good about her using everything at once. So I chose a selection of things and now she has a jar of 8 markers, 12 crayons, glue stick, scissors etc all in one caddy. I don't have to hunt for lids or missing things because there are only a few things to keep track of!"

Tips For Keeping Things Clean

1-Limit how much is out--this is when toy rotation comes in handy.

2-Have clean-up rules--have a rule that toys have to be cleaned up before they move on to a new toy. You should also have your child help. Children are more likely to be careful about what they get out if they have to help clean up.

3-Don't buy too many--When it comes time for Christmas or birthdays, be aware of your available space when buying new toys. There are a lot of fun toys out there! You probably don't have space for all of the ones your child would love, and that is perfectly okay! 

2-Toy time out--If your child won't keep things clean or help clean, have a consequence. Take toys away if your child won't help clean up. 

Christina said: "I use a ton of 31 bags to organize toys. I also have a TOY TIME OUT BAG that gets filled with the toys left on the floor for my daughter to earn back. I do frequently purge toys as well by donating them or saving them and rotating them out, but since I don't have much time to rotate toys, they are either organized and put away, in time out, or gone. LOL"

Diedre said: "All our toys are sorted by type into plastic boxes with lids. These are placed on a small shelf in their playroom. Depending on the size of the toys (some things are in slightly bigger boxes) the shelf will fit 6-8 boxes/items. They also get to have 4 larger items (think dress-up box, doll house, etc) that just stay on the floor around the room. Anything that doesn't fit on the shelf goes into a closet. This gives the kids a variety of things to choose from without having too much to clean up. 

Any time they clean-up without whining, or do an extra big job around the house, or anything else I decide is worth it, they get to trade one item from the shelf/floor of the toy room for one out of the closet. This way I get willing helpers, the toys get rotated, and everyone is happy."

Conclusion:
Toys definitely have the potential and power to take over your home, but it doesn't have to be that way! You can utilize these ideas to keep control over the toys and not let the toys control you.

If you don't already, be sure to follow me on Facebook. I share what is posted here each day along with other articles I find helpful and interesting. I also answer questions and do live Q&As each week. It is a great way to connect!

You can also find me on Instagram, posting pictures from our days as well as quick tips.

Related Posts:

• Toy Storage
• Toy Rotation

Must-Have Items For Your Diaper Bag {Plus a $50 Gift Card Giveaway}

This giveaway is a partnership with Nakturnal, with a prize of a gift certificate. All content and opinions are my own.

While a diaper bag essentially serves one main purpose for all of us, it functions differently from family to family.  For some, it might more of a purse/diaper bag, and for others, it is more just for baby stuff.  In one family, the father might carry around the diaper bag just as often if not more often than the mother, making the style of the diaper bag potentially quite different than for the family where just mom carries it around (some people even get two or three bags so they can go his/hers!). Some people might want space to haul everything, down to the kitchen sink, while others are going for more minimalist and the the bare necessities.

What are the must-haves?

What are the basic musts to have in your diaper bag? You need space for:

• Diapers
• Wipes
• Changing pad
• Extra outfit (you never know when a leak is coming)
• Feeding needs (bottles, formula, nursing cover, nursing pads...what do you need?)

What are the good-to-haves?

Once you have your musts, you might consider these items to help improve the baby experience:

• Burp cloth (for some babies, this might be a must rather than a good)
• Diaper sacks (good to be kind to those coming behind you)
• Diaper rash cream (some babies are more prone to rashes, so you might find this a must)
• Lansinoh or other nursing ointment or cream

What are the maybe-haves?

Not all of these items will be things you find of value, but they are wroth considering. 

• Hand sanitizer (there is debate on the effectiveness of this. Hand-washing is best, and I have to wonder if a wet-wipe is preferable to sanitzer)
• Baby toys (for older babies, this moves up in the priority list)
• Ziploc bags (for putting soiled clothes in, but you could use your diaper sacks if you have those)
• Snacks (for you, and for older babies)
• Nail clippers (you never know when that is needed)
• Medicine (ibuprofen, tylenol, gas drops, teething relief...)
• Bulb syringe 
• Jacket/hat/
• Lotion, shampoo, toiletries
• Mama things (for many, the diaper bag doubles as a purse, so you might have your chap stick, sunglasses, hygiene items, your own medicine, wallet, etc)
• Pacifier (even if your baby doesn't usually use one, sometimes it is handy when you are away from home)

Conclusion

Needs can fluctuate over time and even circumstance. Your must-haves will be different for a road trip than they would be to the park down the street. If you feel concnered about keeping everything in the bag easily accessible and organized, I love this idea on how to organize your diaper bag.

Now for the fun. Time to enter to win a $50 gift card. Enter below.

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Tips for Organizing Your Bathroom

My master bathroom is small. It isn't just small by today's modern construction standards (hello bathrooms that are as big as my bedroom); it is small by the 1920s "We should carve out some space from this house for some indoor plumbing" standards.
Having a small bathroom means I need it to be organized. I made a resolution this year to majorly declutter my house and I have been through my bathroom. Here are some tips for getting your bathroom organized. This post contains affiliate links. This does not increase your cost. 

Remove Everything

I say it every time that I talk about organizing. I say it every time because it is the number one and best way to make sure things get organized and that you only keep what is necessary. If you love the way things are arranged now and worry you won't remember how to get them back in the same spots, take a picture of it before you begin. However, I will say that I find when I am putting stuff back, I always have a slight tweak to how it was before so that it is better than it was. So don't be afraid to approach your current setup differently. 

When I am removing things, I work on one section at a time. I don't remove everything from the entire bathroom. I will remove everything from one shelf or from one drawer. I do this so the project remains manageable. I have kids. I am likely to get interrupted a few times during the process. I don't want stuff scattered everywhere for hours or even into the next day. I work on one small section at a time so I can get it put back together. 

Wipe It Down

The bathroom is just a dirty place. It gets dusty. It gets hair all over the place--even when you clean regularly. Hairspray and other hair products get sprayed in there. We painted a few rooms over Christmas break, including our master bathroom. Before we painted, we cleaned the walls and base moldings well. The rooms were quick and easy. The bathroom was the smallest of the rooms (by far) and took the longest to prep (by far). You need to clean each shelf or each drawer well once it is empty. 

Throw Away Expired Medicine and Products

When my mom was my age, I was a young teenager. I remember looking through her make-up and perfumes and being horrified to know she had stuff that had been around as long as I had!!! It seemed like an eternity to me an I couldn't imagine having things that long. 

Fast forward to me being the same age and I totally get it. Time flies. It gets faster as you get older and it gets faster as you have kids. One of the last things on your list of things to worry about is, "How old is that eye shadow?" 

The reality is that if it is makeup you like and use consistently, you aren't going to run into it being too old. So if you do have old makeup, ask yourself if you really are going to use it and if you need to hang onto this makeup that is perhaps older than your children...

The same can be applied to lotions, perfumes, hair products...try the items and smell them. Ditch them if they feel, look, or smell funky. 

Throw away old medicine that is expired. They have expiration dates on them.

Keep Only What Fits

You don't want your shelves or drawers overflowing. Keep what you use and what you need.

Use Drawer Organizers

I talk about this often, too. Drawer organizers!  I use these drawer organizers in our bathroom and I LOVE them. I can take them out and wash them in the dishwasher every so often to keep them clean. They help keep the brushes out of your toothbrushes (we keep ours in drawers because I once read that germs from flushing the toilet go in the air and can land on toothbrushes if they are on the counter. For the same reason, we close the lid to the toilet before flushing). It keeps the hair elastics, finger nail clippers, bobby pins, etc. together. 

Use Storage Cabinets if Needed

Our master bathroom has minimal storage built into it. It has a single vanity with one drawer, one cupboard under that drawer, and the space under the sink. A couple of years ago, we headed to Lowe's and got an upright cabinet for the bathroom. It is a similar idea to this Pantry Cabinet. I could sing the praises of this thing all day long! It is fantastic. amazon has a wide selection of sizes and styles if you just look here: Storage Cabinets. If you order online, just read dimensions carefully and measure that out at home so you are sure you are getting the size you want to get. 

inside my cabinet

Use Storage Containers

I got a few storage containers at Lowe's, also, that I use to hold things that are similar to each other. I keep them in my cabinet. I keep my monthly feminine products in one. I keep all of our medicine in another. I keep hair products in another. The final has some random things--hair removal, extra contacts, extra make-up...

I also use a basket for storing nail stuff in. I also have my Storage Caddy that I used when Brinley was a baby as a breastfeeding supply storage solution and now use to hold my hair products and facial cleansing products. 

Be Creative With Other Storage

If you are looking for ways to store things, you can "Pinterest with purpose" and search for specific storage solutions. I have this cute jewelry holder my husband made for me hanging in by bathroom. It is very handy! I love being able to see it all at once. 

Bath Towels

Side note, since I am talking bathrooms. I recently purchased some bath towels at SAMs Club. They are fantastic. Hands down, they are the best towels I have owned. You can buy them on Amazon (100% Cotton Luxury Bath Towel), but they are cheaper at SAMs. 

Lightbulbs

Another side note, Daylight LED Light Bulbs are amazing. They really do look like daylight. We put these in our bedroom and bathroom at the end of December and I will be buying them for all lights in the house as we need to change them out. It has been so nice during this winter--we have had a few weeks with only a couple of days with a little sunshine. The light bulbs have kept me on the right side of sane. 

Related Post:

Tips for Organizing Your Bedroom

Organizing Kids Crafts and Memories

I remember the scene like you would remember any horrifying experience. Summer was winding down, I was about to have baby, and I wanted stuff organized and ready to face the new school year. I pulled out the piles and piles (and piles) of paper of pictures that Kaitlyn alone had created over the last few months. I wish there was some way to transfer my memory to these words so you could experience it with me. Alas, you will have to be contented with knowing it covered the entire floor of my office and it was high. Above my ankles.

This is the moment I realized I needed a much, much better system for organizing the kids' artwork. Up until this point, things had been pretty smooth. Brayden pretty much considered coloring to be torture time even as an 18 month old. I had always just taken a day once a year to photo all of the crafts made in the previous year, keep some, and thrown away the rest. It wasn't super fast, but not super long either. 

The once a year tactic was not going to work any more. Neither was once a quarter, obviously. I had an artist on my hands. Not only that, I was going to have two more children to add to the mix. I needed a better system. This post contains affiliate links. 

Phase 1: The Pre-Sort

Each day, go through your child's backpack or pile of art creations. Throw away anything you do not need any memory of. I won't tell you what you do and don't need--that is for you to decide. When Brayden was in Kindergarten, I kept every paper. When Kaitlyn was in Kindergarten, I kept only tests and art projects. I cut down even more these days--we don't need to remember every score on every test.

I put things I want to keep into hanging file folders on my wall. There they wait until the next phase.

Quick note--kids love to have their work displayed and I love to display it. Kaitlyn and McKenna have a large magnetic board in their room and we also hang things on the fridge. If something will be hung, I hang it. I don't put it into my hanging file folders until the item is done being on display.

Phase 2: The Photo Session

Just about every Saturday, I get all of the papers I have saved out and I take a picture of each one. I put each paper on a white foamcore board and put the foamcore next to a window in my house so the pictures will be nice. 

Doing this weekly means it only takes me about 10ish minutes each week. Sometimes I will skip it on a Saturday if things are crazy and I need to cut something. 

Phase 3: The Sort

Once I have taken the photo of the item, I put it in one of two piles. One pile is to keep and one is to throw away. I only keep a handful of things. The reason is just so the kids have something tangible to look back on their elementary years. I loved looking through my items so I want the kids to have the same experience. I am nostalgic. 

I immediately throw away the throw away pile. You have to act quickly so kids don't see the pile and intervene. 

Phase 4: Storage

For storage, each child has a nice file box. It is just cardboard but offices will use them to file things in. Brayden will make it through elementary school with just one. Kaitlyn might need two. I keep these boxes in our game closet downstairs. The kids often get their boxes out and go through their papers. I don't mind this (as long as they clean them up). Things don't stay as nice as they would, but the point is for them to remember what they did. I also have a photo of everything whether we keep it or not. 

That is as far as our storage has gone so far. A fun idea is to take it a little further and to print a memory book or a picture collage of their projects. For a child like Kaitlyn who loves art, this would be a treasured book to go through. For a child like Brayden, it would be a book on the shelf that rarely got looked at. If you have minimal storage space, this is a good option and you could save just a small handful of hard copy items. 

That is it! This process makes things very simple. I have never been overwhelmed like I was that summer day all those years ago. 

You can get more ideas from my post Managing the Paper Influx. 

Giving Prime Relationships Prime Time

I recently came across this quote:

"...please scrutinize your schedules and priorities in order to ensure that life's prime relationships get more prime time!" Neal A. Maxwell

That quote was said in 1994--many of you were probably born in that year! Life has changed a lot since then. When that quote was said, I was an early teen. Kids were not as busy then. Parents were not as busy then. Families were not as busy then. We weren't distracted by the Internet at all, much less the Internet in our pockets. 

This quote has just gotten more pertinent over time. It gave me pause and caused me to think. I think it it is wise to frequently evaluate how we are allocating our time. I love the notion of "prime time and prim relationships." 

I think it has long been human nature to give our best to the world. We look our best for those outside of our homes. We act our best. We are more patient. We show more grace. 

As parents of young children, we often feel trapped in monotony. Life is the pretty much the same day in and day out for many years. We start to feel a little disconnected from the world (and so we cling to those electronic devices like a lifeline!). We feel like we aren't contributing much. We think about serving others and will learn about the importance of service at church and feel guilty because we are so focused on our little families we rarely think of those outside of our home. 

We need to always remember that serving our families counts as service. We need to cut ourselves some slack. We are giving our prime relationships our prime time. 

At the same time, of course we want to show our children good examples and teach them to serve others. We don't want to turn our backs on the world around us. 

Life is a fine balancing act, and consistent evaluation of how we are doing will help us make those minor adjustments as we need to. As you choose how to spend your time, be sure you have things balanced so your family can and does get your prime time. Set limits on yourself to do so. Say no if you need to. 

There is no blanket answer here. We can't say X number of hours is correct to be devoting to your family. We can't say "Do only ABC number of things that aren't focused on your family." The answers will vary from person to person. Be prayerful and mindful of how to spend your time and you will know if you need dto give more outside or less outside your family. 

Tips for Organizing Your Bedroom

This year, one of my major New Year's Resolutions was to declutter my entire house. I find moving to be one of the best ways to declutter--you really are willing to get rid of stuff if it means you don't have to move it. We haven't moved in 6.5 years and don't plan to basically ever, so I can't rely on the move to get rid of the clutter.

Because we haven't moved in 6.5 years, you know there is a build up of stuff around the house. I face another hurdle when it comes to decluttering. I am a major "prepare for a rainy day" person. I can go through my clothes and think, "I know I don't like this and I know I don't plan to wear it, but if we needed to stop spending money on clothes for whatever reason, I could wear it if I had to." 

A little stronger than my need to save things "just in case" is my desire for things to be clean. I like my life macro clean. I do also clean on a micro level, but that is a means to an end because having things micro clean means my macro clean is possible. (see my post on macro vs. micro cleaning if you are wondering what on Earth I am talking about). 

Achieving My Goal

There is a bit of a "fad" going on right now surrounding (affiliate link) The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo. I have friends who have read it, applied it, and absolutely love it. Here is the thing, those friends are all 100% friends without children. One of the big suggestions in this method is to do it all at once, not slowly over time. Well, that sounds nice and I see the point, but there is no way I ever have a day long enough and free enough to do all decluttering in one day with my four children. Maybe if I make it a point of decluttering every year once I have finished this 6 year purge (not a bad idea), but not possible right now. Right now, my time is limited to about 2 hour spurts at a time and usually just once a day. 

So for me and my decluttering, I have to take baby steps. I have chosen to tackle one room each month. At the beginning of each month, I will figure out how to break up each room into smaller goals that can be accomplished in my 2 hour chunks. 

We are nearing the end of January and I have already finished room one, which included my bedroom, bathroom, and closet. Pretty good! Now for some tips on the bedroom front.

Everything Needs a Place

When you are deciding whether or not to keep something, you absolutely cannot keep more than you have space for. If you do, things will be messy. The easiest way to keep a house clean when you have limited time available for cleaning is for everything to have a spot and to not have more than you have space for. 

Leave Some Open Space

If you want to make life even easier on yourself, get your stuff down to where you have a little extra space. You might be able to squeeze every shirt into your closet, but if you get rid of 5-10, you will have more room for your clothes and you will find it easier to quickly put things away. 

Remove Everything

It is really easy to look through your clothes and think, "Yes, those are all things I like enough to keep." Don't do it that way. Literally take everything out of your closet. I did one rod of clothes at a time. As you put it back, decide if it is really worth keeping. Do you love it? Have you worn it recently? Is it in style enough you are willing to wear it in public? Is it flattering? If you aren't sure, try it on. Only put the things back in your closet you think you might actually wear. 

Do the same thing with your nightstand drawers, your socks, your underwear, your shoes, your bookcases, your make-up...just remove everything, wipe out the drawer or shelf, and then add it back in if you still need it. 

I have talked specifically about removing everything before: 

Organizing Tip: Remove Everything

Have a Final Number Goal

I also give myself a number of what would be ideal to keep. The number will vary from person to person and from type of shirt to type of shirt. So I will look at my sweaters and think, "14 is enough. Then I can basically only wear a sweater twice a month." 14 is a great number for keeping the wardrobe interesting. Some might like more, some might like fewer. Choose a number and start by putting your favorites to fill that number. After that number, only add them back to the closet if you LOVE it. 

You can do this for things like socks. You might think, "Oh that hole is fine." If you have 20 pairs of socks, you probably don't need to keep the socks with the hole in them.

Organize By Type and Color

I like to put my clothes together by type. All of my sweaters are together. All cardigans are together. All short-sleeved shirts are together. All long-sleeved shirts are together. All sweaters are together. All jeans are together. All dresses are together. All skirts are together...you get it. 

I also organize by color. I started this in high school. When I worked retail in high school, we organized clothes in a certain color order. They are more pleasing to the eye that way. There are different psychologies on how to organize based on the age of your target clientele. I just keep it simple and go by the rainbow--it is something I can remember. I do red, pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, cream, black, gray, white. I do darker shades of each color and work to the lighter shades. 

Find a Way To Track What You Wear

I started my clothing purge by doing a soft removal. I got rid of everything I knew was an absolute no go. This is easier when you are past the "I am 10 different sizes every 2 years" phase of life. Let's be real, being pregnant, nursing, losing baby weight, getting in shape, getting pregnant, nursing, etc. over and over means you have a lot of different clothes that look better on you at different times. A shirt that is flattering when you are nursing a baby isn't necessarily going to look good when you are not more endowed. I am a at a point where I am more stable in my body size, so I can with more confidence get rid of things. So keep that in mind as you are going through clothes. 

I want to also know what I am wearing or not. I might think I will wear it and then never be willing to put it on when it comes time to get dressed. A couple of years ago, there was a great idea circulating Pinterest. It is to hang your hangers backward. As you wear the item, you turn the hanger the correct way. Then you can see after a period of time what you wear and what you don't. 

We all have clothes we know we look good in. We all have others we aren't so sure about. Save the "not so sure about" for days you will be home for the whole morning. Then you can put it on and see how it looks through the day. See how it looks as the day goes on. If it isn't flattering, there just isn't a point in keeping it. Even a cute shirt might not look cute on you. The colors might be wrong and the fit might be wrong.

I have two daughters who are the same height (different by only 1/4 of an inch) and same weight (different by 1 pound). They have different coloring, though, and different builds. I have only been asked if they were twins one time EVER. I have been asked if Brayden and Kaitlyn are twins way more times than that, and they have never been close to the same height. These two girls look very different in the same clothes despite being the same size. What looks fantastic on one rarely looks fantastic on the other. It has been a real eye opener for me that it isn't about size or weight--body type really does have a ton to do with what you look good in and what you don't. So my point is, don't keep something because it is so cute you think it should look good on you. If it doesn't find a friend it will look great on and feel happy seeing her wear the cute thing. 

My plan is next December, if a hanger never was turned around, the clothes will be donated. I live in a place where we have very distinct seasons and temps range from below 0 to above 100. That is why I am giving myself a year. 

When You Buy New, Get Rid of Old

As you move forward now that things are clean, as you buy new things over time, don't add it in without getting rid of an older piece (unless you really need more quantity and have the space for more).  This post contains affiliate links. 

Use Space Under Your Bed

The space under your bed is a great place to store things. We keep extra blankets under our bed. We also keep our wrapping paper under our bed. Use the space, but don't abuse it. Don't over fill it or you won't be able to get to it again or you will forget half of it is there. I really like to use these short Rubbermaid totes to put things that are similar together under the bed. 

Use Drawer Organizers

Drawer organizers are fantastic for keeping things organized. I used these drawer organizers in our bathroom and I LOVE them. I can take them out and wash them in the dishwasher every so often to keep them clean. I use similar things in my nightstand drawers to keep things organized. If everything has a place in the drawer, it is fast and easy to put things away. It is also fast and easy to find things when you need to.

We use drawer organizers in all of our children's dresser drawers. I also use drawer organizers for my makeup. I really like the space definition! Baskets are another great way to keep things together and organized.

Conclusion

Take some time to make sure your room is decluttered. You want your room to be a place that can stay clean so it is a place where you can go and relax at the end of the day (or in the middle!). It can be your happy place where you rejuvinate and prepare yourself for the work that is sure to come the next day.