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Declutter Your Way To A Happy Home

admin — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 10:49:27 +0000

By Sherri Kruger, with Zen Family Habits

In the seemingly never ending quest to reduce clutter and simplify our lives it’s just hard to let go sometimes.

A few key questions and a clear vision of where you want to be can certainly help keep you going in the right direction.

As you evaluate and re-evaluate what to keep and what to part ways with ask yourself the following:

Do I use it?
Do I care about it?
When I see it does it make me feel happy?

It really does just boil down to these simple questions. If you don’t use something why are you hanging on to it? It’s taking up space and is just one more thing to clean, dust or move when company comes over. If you can’t bear the thought of throwing it away donate it to charity or give it to a relative who has mentioned liking it in the past. Sometimes it’s easier to get rid of something when you know it’s going to a good home.

If you are completely detached and indifferent towards a particular item there’s really no value in keeping it either. It takes up space and even if you aren’t short on space it’s nice sometimes to just have room for the sake of having room. A lighter, airier home can help you feel lighter and airier yourself.

Finally, the items that conjure up feelings of happiness, great memories and those that just make you smile … keep them.

Perhaps a subquestion to this would be: Are these “good” items on display or packed away in a box somewhere out of sight? Items that give you a sense of joy or happiness should hold a place of honor in your home. Any item worth keeping is likely worth displaying prominently in your home. Every time you walk into the room and you see that item, you’ll be met with feelings of warmth and of simply being home.

As we are now well into the new year take some time to look around your home and see if there is anything you could possibly do without. Start small, do a bit each day and before you know it your home, your sanctuary, will feel lighter and a whole lot more inviting.

Declutter Your Way To A Happy Home [Zen Family Habits]

[Editor's note: Thanks to Sherri Kruger for her post on decluttering your home. This is great motivation for me to go through my own home and remove the things we no longer have a need or a use for. It's so freeing to get rid of the things that simply taking up space!]

Get Organized by Breaking it Down

admin — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:57:10 +0000

As I was rummaging through my medicine “cabinet” yesterday (which consisted of Rubbermaid bins stuffed full of expired medicines), it occurred to me that I really needed to do some reorganizing. I know that at some point I had my linen closet (and my medicines) organized, but after a while it just became a mess in there.

I sometimes put off organizing projects, because they intimidate me. If a closet looks like a mess, I just shut the door and walk away, saying “I’ll do that later.” Sure enough, I’ll set aside some time and tackle it at some point, but I’m in no hurry to devote an afternoon to a messy area. The last time I did that, I ended up spending three hours working on my daughters’ storage closet, up to my elbows in baby blankets and toddler shoes.

Rather than repeating my three hour storage closet blitz, I decided to sit down and write out a list of organizing projects. I started brainstorming everything in my house that was bugging me, from the medicine cabinet to my storage closet full of old wrapping supplies. The thing that I focused on while I was writing out projects was breaking things down into specific projects. Rather than saying, “Clean storage closet” or “organize the kids’ old stuff,” I wrote down all of the little things that were part of larger projects.

Here are some examples:

Organize top shelf of my closet
Organize shoes in my closet
Purchase new baskets for linen closet, and put all of our medicines and first aid supplies in those baskets.
Clean out the floor of the linen closet – organize all of the random stuff thrown on the floor
Sort through the kids’ old toys – donate toys they no longer play with.
Go through my old clothes. Donate older maternity clothes to crisis pregnancy center, and other clothing articles to Goodwill.
Organize wrapping supplies in storage closet.
Get rid of old curtains in storage closet.

By breaking down specific projects into two, three, or four jobs per area, it’s much easier to tackle a project. If I were to do an entire area at once, it would take too long and I would hate doing it. Sure, I have a list of about fifteen or twenty projects to tackle in the next couple of months, but at least it’s broken down in a way that is more reasonable.

-Grace

Suffering from Dry Air In Your Home? Try These Tips.

admin — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:37:10 +0000

Every winter, my husband and I start to notice our poor cracked knuckles and chapped lips. It seems like we can’t turn on the heat even once without feeling it on our skin… so we start considering a humidifier. Last year, we purchased two small ones. They helped, but not quite enough. This year, we decided to go with one large one and keep it running 24 hours a day in our upstairs hallway. It seems to be helping, though I still need to keep putting lotion on my dry hands.

Nature Moms Blog had a great post recently on natural ways to add humidity to your home. These tips are so simple and make so much sense! One that I like in particular –

“When you finish your shower (or during your shower if you don’t mind the lack of privacy or the chill), open the bathroom door and don’t run the bathroom fan. After drying off, hang your wet towel up in another room to dry.”

So here I am, running the fan with the door closed… while all along I could have been letting the moisture spread all over my upstairs. I didn’t even think of that one. Thanks, Nature Moms!

How to Add Humidity to Your Dry Home [nature moms blog]

Make Your Life Easier – Multi Task

admin — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:32:00 +0000

These days, it seems like I’m always doing two or three things at once. It seems like every time I turn around, there is a new basket of dirty laundry, a sink of dishes, and kids who need something. In my busy life, I need to do whatever I can to make life easier. One thing that I find helpful is multitasking, something that I seem to do more and more as life goes on.

Even though I sometimes feel like I’m a blur around the house, I find that doing multiple things at the same time actually helps me to slow down. It may seem counterintuitive, but just think about it. Let’s say you have six different things to do in one day. Doing them one by one will take up a lot of time, but combining tasks is going to leave you with leftover time. This is time you can use to play with your kids, go out somewhere fun, or just sit down and read a book during naptime.

Although I’m sure most of you already do this, I just wanted to throw out a few suggestions – things that I try and do in order to save time.

When my kids are in the bathtub, I clean the bathroom. I still pause to watch my daughter as she shows me how the Barbie Mermaid can swim, but I’m also getting something done while I’m chatting with the kids and supervising their bath. When we’re done, I have clean kids and a clean bathroom.
Every time I go up or down the stairs, I carry something. On my way up, I’ll carry a stray toy or shoes that belong in the kids’ bedroom. On my way down, I’ll bring a basket of laundry to take to the garage. I find that I save a lot of extra trips up and down the stairs this way.
The kids know that if there is something downstairs that needs to go back upstairs, they should put it on the steps. This way, I won’t miss it.
Clean as you go. Managing chaos in the kitchen is as simple as cleaning up while you are preparing a meal. If you’re waiting for water to boil, go ahead and start unloading the dishwasher. Do you need to stand and sauté the chicken for ten minutes? Try to use that time to wipe down counters or put away ingredients you’ve already used.
Fold laundry while the kids watch a movie. I do this all the time. If my kids are watching a movie or a short show, I’ll sit with them and fold laundry. This way, I’m with them so we can chat about the movie and what’s happening, but I’m also getting something done. I sometimes return phone calls while I’m folding laundry, which is another opportunity to do two things at once.
Double a recipe and freeze it for later. If you think about it, it’s not that much harder to double a recipe. Now that it’s getting colder outside, it’s time to start making soups and chowders again. Try doubling your soups and then freezing them for later on. Some good ones to try – Southwest Corn Chowder and Baked Potato Soup.

What about yourself? What are your tips on how to multi task and save yourself some time? I’d love to hear your tips!

-Grace

Your Ideal Family: How To Make It A Reality

admin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:20:54 +0000

[Editor's note: Thanks to Sherri Kruger for her post having the family you've always envisioned. Personally, I've always dreamed about what my life and children would be like, and these simple points give some great insight!]

By Sherri Kruger, for Zen Family Habits

For many the ideal family is the one most commonly portrayed in movies or on TV. You know the ones where the siblings all get along and never fight, there is always something fun to do or some mischief to get into. I remember seeing a family a while ago and thinking “wow they’re so lucky”. Fast forward a few years and now I feel I am the lucky one.

Thing is, luck actually has very little to do with it. A great family life doesn’t just happen, you’re not just born with it. A great family, like any great relationship, requires effort. A great family is more likely to succeed if everyone is on-board playing the same game by the same rules.

Here are some ideas to get you started down the path towards your ideal family.

1. Begin with the end in mind. Close your eyes for a minute and be still. Think about your ideal family. Visualize it. Once you have a clear picture in your mind answer the following questions:

What makes this the ideal family?
In what way is it different to what you have now?
How does this ideal situation make you feel?

Visualization helps remove the abstraction that comes with saying something vague like: I want a happy and close family. What does a “happy and close family” mean to you? Be as specific as you can be.

2. Be inclusive of everyone. If creating your ideal family is what you’re after then include everyone. Granted very young children may not be able to contribute much but it’s still important to have them around. Once everyone has had a chance to answer the three questions from point 1, compare notes.

Be open to what comes out, try not to be judgmental, dismissive or close minded. Make this a positive time with family and encourage everyone to share. You’ll gain insight into what makes others in your family tick. What similarities do you notice? What are the major differences? Discuss them and see what comes out. Sometimes the best ideas aren’t even your own. Shocking I know!

3. Make a plan. Pool your ideas and see if you are able to create a single unified path towards your ideal family. While I think compromise is okay, I prefer to find a solution that makes everyone happy, this can sometimes take a while. But if it’s not win/win then it’s unlikely anyone will be happy. Make a list of activities you can do each day to get closer to your family’s ideal.

Will you create a morning ritual?
Will you make family dinners a priority?
Will you devote one day on the weekend to doing a family activity?

Whatever it is start small, be consistent and make it something you all look forward to. Get excited!

4. Meet regularly. Once you have your action plan and know where you’re headed as a family, have regular meetings. In the beginning I found that once a week was ideal. Once we had the details sorted and had talked through what we wanted to we scaled it back to once a month and now we chat when we feel we are straying from the path in some way.

A lot of times what sounds good in theory either isn’t practical, fun or sustainable in practice. Having a set time dedicated to discuss any thoughts or concerns keeps issues from being dragged out and can get you back on track.

5. Be open to change. Don’t be afraid to spice things up every now and then. Some activities you initially choose may be seasonal or you may just lose interest in them. Change is usually a good thing. If you decide as a family to change things up a bit consider doing it at a family meeting where everyone is present and can have a say. Life changes. Circumstances change. Expecting one path and a handful of activities to create and maintain your ideal family forever is unrealistic.

This is your family, have fun with it. Keep things fresh and interesting. Great families often don’t just happen, they are created.

This post and others can be found at Zen Family Habits. Provided by The Mom’s Cheat Sheet with the permission of the author.

Your Ideal Family: How To Make It A Reality

Create A Play Area That Fits

admin — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:11:08 +0000

[Editor's note: Thanks to Sherri Kruger for her post on setting up a play area for your children. These are ideas that both parents and kids will enjoy. As a mom of two young girls, I really appreciate these tips!]

By Sherri Kruger, for Zen Family Habits

If you have children then you know all too well that they come with toys. Many MANY toys. Those toys seem to multiply every week. Some toys are great they can spark imagination, creativity and a sense of wonder in little ones. They can help pass a rainy afternoon and even provide valuable insight into our child’s world.

Although these toys are good I don’t like the idea of them taking over the entire house. My solution: an area the kids could play in, store their toys and books, make a mess and not have to clean it up right away. If you are still fighting with messes, stepping on Lego, or tripping on trucks then perhaps these tips are worth a shot.

1. Blend it in. I wanted the kids area to be fun and bright to spark imagination and creativity but I did not want it to stand out like a sore thumb from the rest of the house. We chose subtle colors that complimented those we have throughout the rest of the house.

2. Make it inviting. There are ways to make the area inviting without making it too kiddie like. We have pictures of the boys on the walls using large frames. The play area is well lit so even on gloomy, overcast days it’s not a dreary place to be. There is a colorful play mat on the floor and it opens to the living-room and computer room so the kids don’t feel completely removed from the rest of us.

3. Limit the amount of furniture. Kids like a large open area to play in. Trucks need to be pushed around, mega blocks need to be stacked and forts need to be built. Our play area is in the basement at the base of the stairs. In their play area is a set of cube shelves we bought to store books and most of their toys. It’s tucked in the corner of the room so as not to take up much space. For Christmas we’ve added bean bag chairs to the boys lists and when they are a little bit older we’ll get a craft table of sorts so they can create their works of art.

4. Make it educational. It’s sometimes difficult to separate educational from boring. Along one wall of the play room we created an alphabet tree, it is fun, educational but still matches the overall feel of our home. We had large vinyl letters and numbers printed with an adhesive backing. We used the large letters as the trunk of a tree and the small letters as a branch. We painted on branches and leaves and placed the numbers throughout the branches. We hung a large clock with real numbers, not roman numerals, to teach the boys to count and tell time. We also painted a magnetic chalk board on another wall for them to draw on and play with their magnetic alphabet.

5. Limit the amount of toys. If you have a thousand and one toys for your children to play with try stashing some away for later. What I’ve found is the more toys my eldest son has access too the less he plays with any of them. He becomes overwhelmed with the choices and in the end chooses not to play with them at all. We have 2 plastic bins that we use to rotate through their toys. Every month or two we pull out the bins. The toys that were out now get stored and toys from storage are out to be played with. This has worked very well for our boys. With fewer toys to choose from their attention is held longer on the ones that are out and every couple of months it’s like getting brand new toys.

We have a very open home. Our kids are welcomed in every corner of it. We have no “kid-free zones” but at the same time I don’t want to have their toys take over every corner of the house. With a little planning, forethought and a lot of love we’ve created a space where our kids can be kids and we can enjoy the space too.

This post and others can be found at Zen Family Habits. Provided by The Mom’s Cheat Sheet with the permission of the author.

Create A Play Area That Fits

Start Planning Your Christmas Shopping – And Start Clearing Out Old Toys

admin — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:00:39 +0000

It may still be October, but it’s time to start thinking about Christmas. As I was watching my two year old play with her My Little Pony today, I thought about how she would enjoy one or two more and have several to play with – what a great Christmas idea for her! I started getting excited, thinking about what to get her for Christmas (and I’ll admit that my secret reason for getting My Little Ponies for her is because I used to love them when I was a child).

Not only is it time to start thinking about Christmas gifts for the kids, but it’s also time to start thinking about Christmas purging. I’m talking about going into the playroom or the basement and surveying all of your kids’ toys before you go out and buy new ones (and before you start giving grandparents ideas…). To stay organized as you add to your collection of childhood fun, I have a few thoughts on the subject.

Collect all the toys they no longer play with. When the kids are asleep, take a bag into their play area. Pull out everything you hope to either throw away or donate, and put it in the bag. Don’t do anything with this bag for a week or two, though. My rule is that if my kids actually remember some random Happy Meal toy and ask me where it is, then I’ll return it to the toy room. If they forget about it, then I will get rid of the old toys.
Remove toys that are too young for your kids. I don’t know about you, but my kids are growing up more quickly than I realize some days. I still have a bag of Mega Blocks in my toy room, even though they are moving on to Duplos and Legos. Look through your children’s toys, and pull out toys that are too young for them. Store them if you plan on having more kids, or donate/yard sale/give them away. Once in a while if my kids catch on to what I’m doing, I just remind them, “You’re a big girl, right? You have some new toys you received for your birthday. “I’m going to put away these baby toys – you’re too big for these now!” And they usually are fine with that explanation.
If you are already maxed out for space, let the grandparents know. It’s wonderful if you have family who enjoys blessing your children with many gifts, but don’t be shy about letting them know your limits. For our family, we are running out of room for larger toys. My kids have a craft table, two easels, a huge Barbie house… and the walls are closing in on us. A grandparent may really enjoy buying some huge present for your child, but if you don’t have the room in your home let them know. Mention toys that take up less space – craft supplies, puzzles, games, etc.
Before Christmas hits, have new storage/organization ready. If you’re looking at a play area that can’t hold one more toy, consider being proactive with your space. If you know what your kids are getting for Christmas, think about how to organize it now, rather than the day after Christmas. Go ahead and put up a shelf for the new games they are receiving, or assemble some storage cubes to hold new toys and stuffed animals from the grandparents.
When you go shopping for the kids, add to what they already have. If I buy my four year old some Barbie furniture for her Barbie house, it won’t take up any space or become just another random toy. She already has the doll house and the Barbie dolls, so more furniture would be pretty cool for her. Another example: my four year old recently received a bike for her birthday, so I went to Target yesterday and bought her a bike helmet, bell, and basket for her bike. She’ll love the gift, and I love that we’re not buying more toys!
Make stockings practical – but still fun, of course. Feel free to make fun of me on this one, but I like to put practical stuff in my kids’ stockings. Don’t worry – I don’t fill their stockings with diapers or plain white socks. But I do fill their stockings with cute Disney socks (Target – $1!), a new toothbrush, hair bows, and even fruit snacks. Once fall hits, I stop buying fruit snacks as regular snacks. After a couple of months without them, they think it’s a novelty to have a stocking full of Princess fruit snacks. I’m sure tricks like that won’t last very much longer, but I’ll do it while I can. Just remember that stockings don’t have to be filled with a bunch of cheap little toys. In a month’s time, these cheap little toys will be the things that you find strung along your house, stuffed in random baskets in the play area, and then they become forgotten. And then you have to pitch them next October!

As the holidays are upon us, enjoy getting ready for them. And if you shop early (now is still “early,” right?), remember to do what you can to minimize the chaos on the day the presents arrive. Although it’s always fun to head to the playroom with a bunch of new things to play with, it’s even more fun to do it knowing that toys are not coming out of your ears, and you actually may have a place for all of this new stuff!

-Grace

Relaxing With Your Kids

admin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:31:38 +0000

These days, it seems like more and more moms are rushing their kids from one activity to another. Soccer, ballet, and music class seem to fill up the time slots that used to be allotted to climbing trees, making forts under the dining room table, and playing games with the kids down the street. Don’t get me wrong – I think it’s great that there are so many activities available for little kids these days. We’ve participated in various activities, and I’m looking forward to doing more with my kids as they get older. It just occurs to me that in this busy world of motherhood, sometimes we overlook the simple things – like taking a day at home to just hang out.

Have you ever declared a pajama day? Or perhaps threw out your to-do list and just played all day long? Sure, we need to take care of the kids and feed our families… but sometimes the other stuff will just have to wait. You’ll never get this day back, and so I encourage you to take the day off here and there (with your kids, of course!).

Some fun things you can do on your day “off” –

Baking projects (and don’t forget to add the love). My four year old just loves to help me bake, and it’s something we can do together. Make cookies, let the kids ice them (and get incredibly messy), and turn up the music while you’re cooking. Another thing my four year old does while we are baking is to be in charge of “adding the love.” I let her dump in the flour, sugar, and other dry ingredients, but the most important ingredient she adds is love. She’ll pretend she holding “love” in her hands, and she’ll shake her hands in the bowl to add the love. I tell her it makes everything taste better.
Have a living room picnic. When lunch rolls around, spread a blanket on the floor in front of the TV. Turn on your favorite Disney movie and have a picnic! This is great for cooler weather, because real picnics outside would be too cold for everyone. Turn an ordinary event like lunch into a fun treat for the kids.
Get creative. Pull out the art supplies, and go nuts. Coloring books, play-dough, and other craft projects are so much fun!
Set up a scavenger hunt. Kids as young as two can get into this one. Hide stuffed animals (or anything else) around the house or in a single room and have the kids go searching for them. My daughter thinks it’s hilarious when I “hide” stuffed animals under the rug or behind a pillow.
Enjoy story time. Read, tell stories, and have your kids tell stories. We like to start a story, and then have the kids finish it. Sometimes we take turns, and the tale keeps getting sillier and sillier as we add things to it.
Consider going out somewhere, but not to do anything productive at all. Rather than stopping for a quick chocolate milk in between errands, take the kids out for a treat and make that the entire purpose of the outing. I like to take my girls to Starbucks, get them milks, and coffee for me. We’ll sit and visit like we’re girlfriends, and I absolutely love it. I’ll hang out there for as long as they’ll sit (relatively) still, and just enjoy being out with them.

My kids will only be little once. Soon enough, they won’t want to play with me, and they’ll be busy enough with their own social lives and extracurricular activities that I’ll long for the chance to spend an entire day hanging out with them. So on those days when I’m tempted to rush around doing housework, errands, and running them to preschool or pre-ballet, I know that it’s important to take a down day here and there. So remember to slow down a bit, and savor these moments in childhood.

-Grace

Scrubbing That Pot Just Got Easier

admin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:03:45 +0000

Although I love crock pot meals, the one thing I don’t love is scrubbing the crock pot afterwards. Especially when I make chowder or chili, I feel like I’m always left with a dish that takes forever to scrub. It seems like even if I fill it with suds and let it sit overnight, I still have a nasty mess in the morning with caked on food particles. Yuck.

Lifehacker linked to this great idea from Parent Hacks, and I wanted to pass it along to you. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to using regular dishwashing soap to soak my crock pot (or other pots and pans!) again. I’m not sure why this never occurred to me before, but at least I know about it now!

Crusty Pots and Pans Come Clean with an Overnight Dishwasher Detergent Soak [Parents Hacks, via Lifehacker]

Simple Ways to Be More Organized

admin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:50:28 +0000

Years ago, I had a neat little apartment that was usually spotless. I knew where everything was, and things rarely were out of place. The key to my organization wasn’t really much – it was simply lack of disorder and lack of chaos (and by that I mean lack of children). There really wasn’t much going on to mess anything up, so I felt like I was on top of things. As you can imagine, I was in for a rude awakening once I had kids. The things that I used to be “organized” about suddenly seemed like they they were falling to pieces. It’s like this – you may think you’re a great swimmer because you’re paddling around the steps of the pool pretty well, but you don’t really know if you can swim or not until you’re thrown out to sea.

Having kids is sort of like that – getting thrown out to sea. Suddenly you’re up all night, there are new things everywhere (bouncy seats, clothes, bottles, diaper pails), and you have to keep track of a lot more than you used to. Before you know it, you are misplacing bills, running out of toilet paper in the bathroom, and standing in the rain fiddling with key after key until you find the right one.

With little kids running around causing all sorts of disorder, I’m always looking for ways to get (and stay) organized. I realize now that staying organized means finding a system to keep things orderly, accessible, and in the front of my brain. I have too much on my mind and too much going on in my home right now to just assume that everything will fall into place on its own (like I did when I had that neat little apartment, so many years ago….).

Tips like these from Real Simple’s website are things that I find incredibly helpful. I love these creative little tips because they utilize household items (rubber bands, shower caddies, matchboxes, etc) to keep your belongings organized. You don’t have to head out to Target or The Container Store to feel like you have a handle on life – look no further than your own home.

Get Organized Using Everyday Items [Real Simple]