Archive for kids and toys

De-Cluttering 101.3

January 25, 2012 at 12:54 am · Filed under Garages, Spring Cleaning, books, closet, decluttering, kids and toys

Tip #3 for De-Cluttering:

1 In, 1 Out
You  may have heard this one before…for every new item you purchase or receive, one that you already own goes out.

Coming off the recent holiday which likely involved gifts, now is a good time to go back and practice this rule.

  • For that new book you received, pull one you already read off the shelf and donate it.
  • For the new sweater, choose one out your closet and give it away.
  • For the new kitchen item, find something you haven’t used in a long time and let it go.

Be ready to take this rule forward to any shopping you do.

  • New shoes?  Out go an old pair.
  • A spiffy new nail polish color?  Out goes an old one.

janets closet
Here’s a good looking closet where the clothes are all hanging straight.  For every new jacket she purchases, and old one will go out.

You get the idea.  This is going to keep you on  track with the right amount of stuff….If you keep shopping and not purging it is going to add up quickly and you will be back in the clutter again.

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Decluttering 101.2

January 25, 2012 at 12:52 am · Filed under Garages, Spring Cleaning, books, closet, decluttering, kids and toys

Tip #2 for De-Cluttering:
Are you holding things for “you night need it someday?”

While helping a family clean out the garage last week we ran into a number of items that fell into the same category over and over.  “But I might need it someday.”  There were items like electronic cords, an old cassette tape player, Disney movies on VHS, potential baby gifts (lots and lots of these),

The reality is those things that

  • Do you use it?
  • Do you need it?
  • Do you love it?
  • Is it important to you?
  • Do you have too much of it?
  • Are you holding it for “just in case I may need it someday”?
  • Did you once use that item, but it no longer really fits into your life?

Sometimes the item is practical and useful, but you don’t necessarily love it (a can of motor oil for example).  That’s a keeper….

But, if you have that same can of motor oil times 50 and those cans are taking up a lot of space, do you really need that much? Let some of it go….

Maybe you sold the car that took that particular motor oil….you don’t need those cans any longer….

Look critically at how the item fits into your life.

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De-Cluttering 101

January 25, 2012 at 12:50 am · Filed under Garages, Spring Cleaning, closet, decluttering, kids and toys

Tip #1 for De-Cluttering:

How to decide what to keep and what should go….

Ask yourself these questions.  The answers will help you reach your decision.

  • Do you use it?
  • Do you need it?
  • Do you love it?
  • Is it important to you?
  • Do you have too much of it?
  • Are you holding it for “just in case I may need it someday”?
  • Did you once use that item, but it no longer really fits into your life?

Sometimes the item is practical and useful, but you don’t necessarily love it (a can of motor oil for example).  That’s a keeper….

But, if you have that same can of motor oil times 50 and those cans are taking up a lot of space, do you really need that much? Let some of it go….

Maybe you sold the car that took that particular motor oil….you don’t need those cans any longer….

Look critically at how the item fits into your life.

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Define Your Containers

October 19, 2011 at 12:38 am · Filed under Garages, Mail, Spring Cleaning, decluttering, kids and toys, paper management

Home offices.  Kitchen Counters.  Entry tables.  These are prime spots in the home for baskets, bins, and boxes that are filled with many random items that just seem to collect there.  These are known as the “Big Black Holes” (BBH).  You have no idea what is in there and especially what is at the bottom.  There is nothing wrong with the container.  The issue is the system, or lack there of.

So how can you use these containers effectively without the BBH syndrome?

  • Define the Use of the Container very clearly
  • Only the items that fit in that definition can go in there.

Here’s an example
Say there are 4 square shaped baskets in your office all full of stuff, random, who knows what.

  • Empty all four, sort out the items and break them into four categories (or put them away and just start over).
  • Categories might include names like Maps, coupons and store cards, new mail, bills to pay, seminar notes and brochures, a specific vacation.  You get the idea.

It is not a catch all for anything, but a container for something specific.

The category may change over time:  a vacation that is next month has an end date.  The container might change after the vacation is complete to holiday planning items….

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Here are a few tips to make life a little easier this school year.

August 18, 2011 at 10:14 pm · Filed under back to school, kids and toys

(originally published 8/09)
1.  Have a drop zone.  One place where the backpacks, lunch boxes, shoes, and coats “drop”.  Low hooks, a bench, baskets for each person in the household near the door will help corral all that stuff that comes home.

2.  Set up the Launch Pad.  This will most likely be the same place as your Drop Zone.  Leave things you need to take with you in the morning including school items, but also errands, returns, and more.

3.  Become a night before household.  Anything you can do the night before and set out in the launch pad before bed is going to save time in the busy morning.  Load homework and library books in the backpacks, have duffles with sports items ready.  If you are so inclined pack lunch the night before.

4.  Set up a Homework area complete with all the supplies your child needs.  Maybe this is the kitchen counter or table.  Have a pencil box packed with everything they need in that area.  Save time and reduce frustration by having everything they need in one container and ready to go.  When the homework is complete, close up the container and put it away and bring the homework to the backpack for tomorrow.

5.  Get up 10 minutes earlier.  Are you mornings crazy?  Tempers flying?  Always running late?  Set your alarm ten minutes earlier and chances are you will get out the door on time.  Try for one week.  If that doesn’t work, delete another 5 minutes.

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Commit to communication.

August 18, 2011 at 9:15 pm · Filed under back to school, kids and toys

Open communication is such a healthy thing for your family.

  • Commit to eating dinner together at least three times a week and use that time to talk to each other.
  • Share things about your day instead of just asking the kids to talk.
  • Play high point/low point to make communication fun.  This gives everyone the chance to talk about their day and share some good and some not-so-good things that happened.  My six year old likes to throw in a middle point which makes us all laugh.


No Kids in your house:  The same principles apply to your work and home life. Your home office or area where you work should be set up with the supplies you need to perform your job.  The extraneous stuff should be moved away from this area.

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Set up a well stocked Homework Zone

August 18, 2011 at 9:14 pm · Filed under back to school, kids and toys

Establish a Homework area.
  • Choose a public area like the kitchen table or living room coffee table for homework.  That way you can be involved in your child’s homework and keep abreast of what is going on at school.
  • Have a pencil box with pens, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, paper clips, etc. that the children use daily or weekly.
  • Turn off electronics including the radio and TV.
With everything at the ready, they will spend more quality time on the homework.

Become a “Night Before” family.

Set up lunches, pack backpacks with library books, homework and other things for tomorrow’s activities the night before.  This will save lots of time and confusion in the morning.  Have a launch pad and drop zone near the front door.  This is a place for each family member to grab what they need as they run out the door and drop things as they come in.  We are taking about backpacks, sports bags, permission slips, newsletters, keys, mail and all the other paperwork that kids seem to bring home.
We have a rule in our house that

Homework is not done until it is in the backpack.

Does it work every night?  Not always, but we have improved our rate of getting the work to the teacher dramatically.  When homework is done, have the child put it in their backpack and leave it at the launch pad ready to go in the morning.

No Kids in your house:  The same principles apply to your work and home life. Your home office or area where you work should be set up with the supplies you need to perform your job.  The extraneous stuff should be moved away from this area.

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Adjust Bed and Wake-up Times now

August 18, 2011 at 9:11 pm · Filed under back to school, kids and toys


This should include you too.  I bet most of us are sleeping a little later during the summer.  Get ready for school in a few weeks by starting now.  It is too hard to adjust in one night.

Set bedtime and wake up time at the same time every day.  We all work better when our body clocks have consistency.  Choose a time for bed and work backwards to make it happen. If bedtime is 8:00, begin the wind down time at 7:30 with the goal to have the children in bed by 8:00.  Wake up time should give everyone ample time to eat, clean up, get dressed and straighten their room before it is time to run out the door.

Are you having trouble getting out the door on time?
Set the alarm 10 minutes earlier.  Super busy mornings are not the best way to begin the day. Tempers flair, shouting ensues…There has got to be a better way.  Beat the morning craziness by setting the alarm 5 or 10 minutes earlier. This simple adjustment could make a big difference.

No Kids in your house:  The same principles apply to your work and home life.  Summer is generally more relaxed and the fall is time to kick it into gear again.

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Re-establish lunchbox foods and chores for the year.

August 18, 2011 at 9:09 pm · Filed under back to school, kids and toys


Update your grocery list to include lunch box items and snacks that you have not been stocking during the summer. This year try a “greener” approach by purchasing large packages of snacks and then re-pack then in re-usable smaller sized containers for the lunchboxes.  Overall you will have less packaging waste.

Re-establish school year chores. Your routine is different in the summer than it is during the school year.  Bring the chores that are relevant during school days back into your household routine.  Each child should have age appropriate chores for themselves and to participate in the household.

No Kids in your house:  The same principles apply to your work and home life.  Summer is generally more relaxed and the fall is time to kick it into gear again.

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Avoid the Zig Zag

February 9, 2011 at 1:50 am · Filed under Mail, Spring Cleaning, books, closet, decluttering, kids and toys, paper management

How is 2011 going so far? Are you making some headway with your organizing goals? I hope so, but if not, don’t fret. Maybe you are zigging and zagging too much.

A definite hazard of getting things done, be they cleaning out the linen closet or a major project at work is the zig zag. You know what I mean. Instead to pursuing a project in a methodical, straight forward manner you meander. This can be physical or mental (or a little bit of both).

Let’s take the linen closet as an example. You begin the project by pulling things out of the closet. Some of the items should go to the laundry which is in another room. You wander over there and get distracted by the pile on the floor, turn the washer knob, fill the soap, load the machine, and then notice a clean towel folded on top of the dryer which leads you to walk to the bathroom to hang it up…and there the blow dryer is sitting on the counter, so you put it away under the sink where you see the silver cleaner which would be useful to shine up the bracelet you are wearing tonight, which reminds you to confirm the reservation. Now you are at your desk…EMAIL. Need I say more.

Yup, that is the zig zag. Once you are caught up in it it is really hard to get focused back to the original project. The linen closet is torn up and mess and you are frustrated.

How do you avoid the zig zag? Try this.

* Prepare for your organizing task by bringing supplies to the area where you are going to work. (bags, paper for lists and other notes, markers to write on the bags, etc).
* Bring bags or totes to fill for items that will move to other areas of the house.
* DON’T LEAVE THE AREA OF THE PROJECT.

By physically staying at the place you are cleaning (in this case the linen closet) you are staying clear of all the other distractions that will pull you away.

* Fill a bag with items for other rooms. Don’t go the other room while you are working. Instead, do a sweep of room to room later.

Have bags for donations, recycling, and trash all nearby. That will keep you in one place so you can focus on the task at hand.

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