I don't know about you, but for us...an organized family is a happy family. We have our weeks when we just can't seem to catch up or get it together, but for the most part we do well.
With a two year old girl, a very active seven year old boy and a ten year old girl with Autism...it's a must for me to stay organized. Daddy works during the day and then as soon as he walks through the door, I am off to school four nights a week. Add in the ballet class, archery class, soccer practice, soccer games, grocery shopping, etc....it's A LOT of stuff!!
I am going to share with you my 15 ideas for keeping the family organized.
-FlyLady's Detailed Cleaning List
-Organized Family Joy
and LINKS!!~*
In our house, a routine is a MUST!! Without it, everyone starts acting confused, crazy and chaotic! With it, everyone feels relaxed and they have a purpose. I have these two chalk signs hanging in our entrance. I bought the signs at Wal-mart for $3. The kids look at it whenever they need to see what's next. A routine is a great way to make sure everything gets done and everyone's on top of things.
AN IMPORTANT NOTE: When you are making your routine, keep everyone in mind. You want to keep it simple, so it doesn't overwhelm them and they don't feel like doing it. Include 'FREE PLAY'...a time for them to do whatever they want. And I also like 'QUIET TIME'...a time for everyone to separate and do something quiet. Our quiet times last for about 30-60 minutes, depending on how bored they get. For my daughter with Autism, she can get very overwhelmed through the day and she feels very stressed if she doesn't get her quiet time. It is also good for the other kids too. Calms them down and refreshes them.
A bullentin board is a great place to keep your routines, reminders, bucket lists and art work. I have our bullentin board in the kids room, right when you walk in. I have a paper copy of our routines, our fall fun list, school notices, extracurricular activity notices, up-coming events and inspirational art work!!
Kids like to know what's going too! This calendar is in the kids room on the wall. It's a dry erase sticker from Home Depot... LINK HERE! I drew the calendar lines myself, but I am pretty sure there are some dry erase calendars out there.
The kids get excited seeing what events are coming up or when it's their night for an activity!
It sounds silly...in order to be organized, you have to make your beds?! However, I feel that having a nice clean bed motivates everyone to keep the rest of their room clean. Also, you are teaching your kids to be clean, organized, discipline people.
We have a laundry basket just for the kids. They know any time they get changed that their dirty clothes go here...even the two year old. Later on I go through the clothes and separate them. This helps with the mess around the house.
This laundry rack is such a big help and saves a lot of time. We have it in our bathroom. We organize the three baskets as darks, lights and delicates. The baskets have velcro, which allows you to take them off the rack to bring to the wash. The rack also is a great place to put outfits for the following day.
Another great thing about this laundry rack...you can see how full it is. Sometimes its easy to procrastinate or forget to throw in a load when you have a lid. This is visible, so if I see it start filling up I throw it in the washing machine.
Link to laundry racks at Target.
This is such a life saver in the morning!! I used to waste time every morning sorting through clothes and arguing with the kids about what to wear. Now the day before we make sure we have the outfits ready to go in the morning.
Use an I-PAD or make a small photo album of outfits!! Create 15-30 outfits (include layers and shoes for the changing weather) and take pictures of them. Then the day before, have your child pick out the outfit they want to wear! Get the outfit all ready to go. The kids love this, especially my daughter. So convenient and fun!~*
I use to waste so much time running around the kitchen trying to figure out what to make for dinner. Not only did this stress me out, but it also messed up dinner. Half the time I would be missing an ingredient, so dinner never tasted quite right.
Now I print out my handy-dandy 'This Week's Menu'. I write down what I am going to make for dinner that week. I include a hamburger night or taco night...a home-made pizza night(kids love it!)...and a 'whatever' night. A 'whatever' night means I give everyone a choice of easy dinners like hot dogs, chicken nuggets, mac n' cheese, etc. These really help me on days when we're running around a lot. For example, on Thursday night my son has soccer practice at 6...so it's a good night to do whatever so we won't be late.
I also like to throw in a crock pot dinner and a soup. I like to pick meals I have made before and everyone likes. I leave my experimental cooking on the weekends. Some of our favorites are upside down chicken pot pie in the crock pot and a Bosnian chicken soup...so easy, so delicious!!
I like to use notepads for grocery lists, to-do lists and notes to the kids' teachers. I find that writing down groceries through the week as they disappear saves me money. It is better to keep track than go through the grocery isle trying to remember what you need. This is also a good way to write things that you might forget later on. I love these notepads from Susan Branch. The art work and name of the month is adorable!
LINK FOR SUSAN BRANCH NOTEPADS HERE!
(You can also find Susan Branch products on Barnes n' Noble.com.)
Cozi is a free app and website that helps keep your family organized!
"Manage the chaos of back to school and everyday life with Cozi, the must-have app for families:
Keep track of everyone's new schedules and activities, all in one place
Create and share shopping lists, chores and more in real time
Store all your recipes and quickly add ingredients to your grocery list
Access and update from any mobile device or computer."
-COZI
I love this app, because my husband can access the same account and we can both add to the grocery list or calendar. I also love how it sends me reminders when an event is coming up. Another plus, I have my chore list on it and I can check them off as I go!!
www.cozi.com
I have two shelves for each child. My youngest daughter has the two bottom shelves, my middle son has the two middle shelves and the oldest daughter has the two top shelves. I labeled the shelves for them with my label maker. This keeps things clean and organized, but it also helps remind them what toys there are to play with!
Have a place for backpacks, sweaters, jackets and shoes near the entrance of your home. We use hooks for backpacks and the sweater/jacket that everyone is currently using. We also have a basket for the shoes everyone is currently using. When we make outfits the day before, we also get the shoes and sweater ready by placing them near the entrance. The rest gets put away in their bedroom closets. Or the rest of the jackets and shoes are put in our coat closet. This helps get everyone out the door quicker and helps the kids keep their backpacks from getting stepped on or ruined.
I know not everyone is lucky enough to be home during the day to clean. However, I really feel that before the weekend(or whatever day you like to relax), you should take the time to clean the day before. For us, we like to spend the weekends relaxing and doing fun activities together. The last thing we feel like doing on the weekends is cleaning. So every Friday, I spend the day going from room to room cleaning, dusting and vacuuming. I use the FlyLady's Detailed Cleaning List. This helps me work quicker and make sure I get everything. Not only does this help everyone feel more relaxed, but the house is easier to clean by the end of the weekend!
CLICK HERE...For FlyLady's Detailed Cleaning List DOWNLOAD~*
Our family really needs that relaxing family day to keep us motivated for the rest of the week. When you spend the whole week running around trying to be super organized, it's nice to have a day to just relax. We usually do a fun activity in the morning like visit a farm or playground. Then in the afternoon, we all go find something relaxing to do for the rest of the day. This really recharges everyone and builds our bond as a family!!~*
ORGANIZED FAMILY JOY...RIGHT CLICK & SAVE
I hope these helped you find some organized family joy!! I have many other ideas but I don't want to overwhelmed you. Like having a lunch box section on your counter...with ready-to-go snacks and lunch box notes. My kids love getting lunch box notes. Or putting coloring books and crayons near the dining room table for any ready-to-go coloring.
I could go on... Thanks for visiting! Come back soon!~*
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