Table of Contents

-Introduction
-Did you know?
-Monthly Mission – Kids Stuff
-Check Out These Pages! – Relevant pages and new site additions
-Making School Mornings Easier

Introduction

Welcome! As I write this, my kids have been back to school for a week. This is my first year having them both be in school for the full day and I have mixed feelings about the long quiet day. I sort of miss them, but I’m also excited to have the time to work on some home projects and getting things better organized around here after a relaxing summer. And one other thing I’m excited about is having more time to spend on my website to post new information and help everyone with new ideas to live a more organized life.

As for my recent change in my email organizing strategy… I’ve been maintaining it pretty well, although I still haven’t conquered all the reading I’ve filed away. Perhaps this is a sign for me to determine what’s most important to me and then let go of what I don’t plan to ever read. However, I’m an information junkie and I want to read everything!

Regarding family home life today, “The average home contains 438 books and magazines and 139 toys.”

I think my home might have a few less books and definitely more toys… maybe 139 per kid would be more like it! This just adds more fuel to the fire to reduce our belongings. I know I didn’t have nearly as many toys as a kid, and I turned out fine. (I also spent more time outside playing.) Also, the Grandparents visited over the summer and hopefully now they have seen and will better agree with our request to not buy too many toys for Christmas and birthdays. Money into their 529’s would be great, maybe a DS game, a book, or something functional, or “laundry” as my son said when he opened a gift one year that had clothes in it.

Source: Excerpt from the new book “Life At Home In The Twenty-First Century” as presented in People Magazine July 2012, available on Amazon.com August 2nd.

Life at Home in the Twenty-first Century: 32 Families Open their Doors

With the new school routine, it’s a good time to revisit and reorganize your kids stuff. (No kids? There are plenty of other areas of the home you can focus on for the month.) To read about how to help your children be better organized, click here.

Here are some pertinent pages on the website you may have missed along with any new pages.

How To Organize Books For Kids - A quick and simple way to organize kids books so they can actually access them and put them away when they're done.

Before and After Photos - If you enjoy seeing before and after photos of organizing projects, you can find them all right here.

Living Room Storage Make-over - See how we recently re-organized our living room (play room) with a new Ikea wall unit that's great for storing lots of stuff.

Adding A Closet Shelf - See how adding a quick and simple shelf to a closet can add functional space.

Spice Rack - See before and after photos of my spice storage including my new spice rack.

Garage Makeover - before and after photos of my personal garage makeover. See how we tackled the problems and ended up with a functional garage.

Streamline Your Morning Routine - Ideas to help you get out the door in the morning and be on time for work or school.

Bathroom Drawer Make Over - How to organize a bathroom drawer, an example with before and after photos.

Stop Clutter - Quick simple tips on how to stop the clutter from coming into your home in the first place.

One thing I was not looking forward to with the kids going back to school was those messy mornings. Although, I think we have things pretty under control, all it takes is one person waking up on the wrong side of the bed all grumpy and all bets are off. We can’t always control our kids’ moods, but here are a few things we can control to help make things easier.

Have a Designated Area – Have a spot for each child to put their school stuff. For us, each child has a nice basket in the entry area in which to put their book bag and any other school items they might bring home or need to take to school. This is their spot to put school items so they are not forgotten or misplaced.

Sunday Before School Starts – Make sure you have all the items you need for the up coming week to pack snacks and lunches. I have even gone as far as to make a snack/lunch packing area in the kitchen. I’m having the kids pick out their snacks and any non-perishable lunch items for the week and putting them in a basket in a cabinet they can easily reach.

The Night Before School – I’m having the kids pack their snacks into their backpacks for the next morning. I’m also having them put the non-perishable food items for lunch into their lunch boxes. We are putting anything cold into the lunch boxes in the morning along with an ice pack. Also the night before, have the kids put anything they need to take to school in their designated areas and have them set out an outfit for the next day.

Morning Routine – Work out a morning routine that works for your family. Ours is pretty basic, but it’s the same routine every day, so they know what to do and by when (with my guidance of course). We’re up at 6:45am, dress and eat breakfast and they know that by 7:30am, they should be brushing their teeth because we leave for school by 7:50am. If your children are very young, it might help to post a chart with what needs to be done before you head out the door, and the child can check them off or move the progress marker, depending on what kind of chart you use.

No kids? Well, these ideas work well for grown-ups too! Be prepared beforehand so that your mornings go smoothly. Until next time, happy organizing!

Tracy Greene
Plan-and-Organize-Life.com