Cleaning Our Closets ... again!

This week I am focusing on cleaning out our closets ... again. We do this every spring and fall, as the seasons change. And I am inspired to get this done before the PTS community clothing exchange this coming weekend.

A few days ago, I spent several hours working on the kid's closet. We filled five garbage-size bags of clothes to donate to the clothing exchange. At least two of the bags are full of summer clothes from last year that I was saving for the spring exchange.

Sometimes I wonder how these kids end up with so many clothes. But it is not something I am going to complain about. I am so thankful for all the hand me downs from friends and family that keep my kids well clothed throughout the year!

I'm not sure if I will have time to clean out my own clothes by tomorrow, but that is my goal. Either way, I am very pleased with all that we got done this week.

Personal Goals for 2009

I know it is already March, but I wanted to post my goals for 2009. I have already been working on most of these for the last two months. But they needed to be better defined and documented. For me, goals need to be specific and measurable in order to properly motivate me.

So here are my goals for 2009:

• regular exercise routine (at least three times a week) - Since my daughter was born, I have not been able to establish a regular exercise routine. I really need to do this for more energy and to get control of my migraines (when I am running regularly, they seem to decrease in frequency)
  


• read 25 books - With kids, it has become increasingly difficult to set aside reading time. I was going to set a goal to read 50 books, but after realizing that would be almost a book a week, I decided to back off a little.


• purge / organize our entire apartment - This is the longest we have lived in one place and have accumulated too much unorganized stuff. I am used to cleaning and purging with each move; instead I'll have to do it without the motivation of a move (unless we end up moving this summer ... still to be announced).


• increase my "solitude" (time alone with God) by 10 minutes per day - That may not seem like much, but it is over an hour a week. I wanted to make it longer, but felt that even this small amount of time will require a new level of discipline.
  

Hats & Scarves

Since the tackling all my paper problems last month, I have been neglecting my "problem areas." I was overwhelmed by the size of my projects and couldn't get up the motivation to start something I knew there wasn't time to finish.

Our entry closet is the next big problem area that I need to tackle. I would love to just pull everything out, sort it all (PURGE) and put it all back in an organized fashion. But in reality, I would get it all pulled out and barely start the sorting when something (children) would need my immediate and extended attention. The end of the day would come, my hubby would come home and I (along with a kid or two) would be surrounded by piles of stuff from the closet and ready to cry.

What I really need to do is think smaller, break the projects down into manageable pieces. So, today I had a few minutes (about 20) to spend on a project before my daughter woke up from her nap. What project could I complete in just a few minutes? I decided to tackle the winter wear that has been piling up in the top of our closet. It has been a source of frustration for months now, never being able to find that matching glove, or grabbing three hats out before finding one that still fits the kids.

Here is how I was storing the hats, gloves and scarves before --
in a big box on the top of the closet.

And here is my solution to this disaster.
I used a shoe sorter that is designed to hang on the back of the door.

Now everyone can find their winter accessories quickly. The kids can even reach their own, making them feel important and helping us get out the door little bit faster!

For more great "tackles", check out Tackle It Tuesday hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom. (yes, I know it is Wednesday... but better late than never, right?)

Let Your Child Soar

Parents (the magazine) recently published a list of their all-time favorite parenting nuggets of advice from their panel of experts. They had 50 items on their list.

I was inspired, for a new year's parenting goal, to work on five of them this year. Here they are, listed in no particular order.

1. Let Your Child Soar - encourage your toddler's mission to gain independence. Don't do for them what they can (and should be learning to) do for themselves. This is very difficult for me; most of the time it is faster and easier to do it myself.
   


2. Schedule Daily Special Time - spend ten or 15 minutes a day alone with your child, no interruptions. I have found alone-time with each child challenging with two kids.
   


3. Don't Try to Fix Everything - give your kids a chance to find their own solutions. Now that my kids are old enough to get in each other way, it is difficult to find the balance between letting them resolve their issues, or stepping in. I don't want my son to always be frustrated with his younger sister, but she is here to stay so he needs to learn how to deal with her.


4. Ask Three You Questions - practice the art of conversation with your children by asking them three "you" questions each day. My son has always struggled with his speech. This is a good way to encourage him to step outside his comfort zone.


5. Savor the Moments - enjoy it now; this phase will be over far too fast.

Paper Problems

It has taken me a month to tackle my weekly "problem area" -- my paper problem. I was inspired by Org Junkie's Monthly Organizing Round-Up.

Before I started, I gathered all the stashed paper from around the house.


We purchased a new file cabinet a few months ago to add some storage space to our ever-growing filing needs.


However, I never seemed to have time to organize it properly and it quickly became another "junk" drawer.


I also have several other attempts at organization that never worked like I was hoping. This little plastic drawers-on-wheels was one attempt, but it didn't worked right, and the clear sides allow the mess in the drawers to leak a feeling of chaos.


And this little desktop file box was suppose to help, but I could never keep it neat enough. Again it just left a visible feeling of disorganization.



Here is the reward of a month's worth of effort.


It could use a little more purging, but at least the paper is under control (and hidden) again. The new file cabinet provided the space to hold all our files for the business and personal finances.


I also learned a thing or two about the weaknesses of my system while reading all sorts of organization articles online this month. The biggest change to my system was the addition of filing space for articles that I keep about my personal interests: health, food, parenting, etc. This should help keep miscellaneous papers piles to a minimum.


The old plastic file drawers-on-wheels and our old black file cabinet will be converted into other storage space for crafts, office supplies and kids activities. But that is a project for another day.

Now all I have to do is keep up with the filing.

Clothing Exchange

My "problem area" for the week is all our clothing. It is time to pack up all the summer clothes and pull out the winter clothes. For the kids, this process includes pulling out everything that is too small and determining what we have (and need) for the coming season.

This comes just in time for our community's clothing exchange. Twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring, there is a big clothing exchange for everyone in the Seminary. People donate their wearable, used clothing and pick up 'new' clothes donated by others. I always find great children's clothes.

They start accepting donations today, so I will be spending this evening and tomorrow sorting, washing and clearing out clothes.

Organizing for Toddlers

There are so many great things I want to do with my children, but we are held back by a lack of planning and organization. This is the next big area I am tackling in my journey toward living a prepared life.

I have recently discovered a series of books by Trish Kuffner that are full of creative activities for kids, using things I have around my home.

I LOVE these books. You really need to check them out.

The Toddler's Busy Book - This book has great ideas for activities to do with your one-and-a-half to three year old that stimulate creativity and learning, not to mention stave off boredom on long rainy days.

If you have older kids, she has also published The Preschooler's Busy Book geared toward three to six year olds.

Most of this book is still too advanced for my not-quite-three-year-old, but I enjoyed reading it for additional inspiration and a picture of the soon-emerging skills to watch for in my children.

For children six to ten there is The Children's Busy Book. I haven't read this one at all.

Another great book is the The Wiggle & Giggle Busy Book.

I have only read a few sections in this book so far, but I am finding great games to play with my kids.

These ideas have really helped on rainy days, when we can't get outside to run around.

All of her books have large "Rainy Days" sections to help with those 'stir-crazy' days.

I have been so inspired by these books. There is a great section in the beginning of each book that lays out how to organize your home to meet your child's changing needs.

You will have to stay tuned to find out how well I am able to implement these great new ideas into my daily life.

Food Processor!

I bought a cheap, little food processor this week. I have never had one before. Growing up we had one that we used for things like grating zucchini for bread and making pizza dough. Overall, I am little ignorant of all I can do with this new gadget.

So, I am appealing to all you food processor users out there. What do you use your processor for most frequently? What tasks has it simplified for you?

Is my home prepared?

I have been pondering what it means for me to be prepared in my home. It mostly comes down to organization and discipline.

I use to be more organized, back when life was simpler, before kids. The last three years have been a slow surrender to the forces of entropy. Now I have to expend great amounts of energy to get back to where I was. But I must, for the sake of my family and myself.

So, my conviction to be more prepared, to be in a position to be used by God, begins with a few basic rules. (I'm almost too embarrassed to admit the level of chaos in which we now live, but confession is good for the soul, right?)

1. No dirty dishes left on the counter or in the sink over night.
2. The kitchen table, the bookshelves and the desk need to remain clear of clutter.
3. I need to tackle at least one "problem area" each week -- "problem areas" include, but are definitely not limited to, all the closets, my bedroom, the play area, the piles of crafts and games.

I have no desire to be legalistic about this, and there are always exceptions, but these rules really are about finding freedom not bondage.

So far, this has been a good week. The rules have lowered my stress around dinner time (I don't have to do dishes before I have enough counter space to cook and I don't have to rush around clearing the table before we can eat). We have also had the opportunity to invite friends over, without needing three-days-warning to get the house picked up.

My problem area for the week was the hall / linen closet. It was a huge pile of stuff that we no longer used. I also found several toiletry items that I had bought and lost (toothpaste, shampoo, etc). It took several afternoons (with only about 15 minutes available each day) to get it done; it sure looks good!

Now I just have to apply some of the discipline I was talking about to keep it up!

How prepared are you?

I have recently been reminded (and convicted) about an aphorism used constantly by the head of the engineering department back in college -- "God uses prepared people!"

There have been so many opportunities that I have missed lately because of my lack of readiness; opportunities to reach out to others, to share, to encourage, to build relationships, to minister; opportunities for my children, for my husband, for my friends. God is challenging me to live a prepared life.

This is a huge task, and will probably be a continuing theme in my posts for a while. It includes so many areas of life: spiritually, physically, mentally, financially. The area weighing heaviest on my mind right now is preparation in my home (can anyone say "organization"?).

So, I am pondering this life goal and considering the baby steps I can take today, tomorrow, this week, to live in obedience, to be prepared.

Meal Plan?!?

So, I have been reading about meal plans lately. There are some enthusiastic bloggers who have had great success with this. Some people do a plan each week, some prefer a monthly plan. I have attempted meal plans in the past, and have not been very successful, but the it looks like it is time to try again -- to save money and especially to lower the stress around dinner time.

I am debating between a monthly or weekly plan. Should I just jump off the deep end and tackle the entire month at once? I am going to try one week at a time for a month. Does anyone have some tips for getting started? How do I avoid the pitfalls that have foiled my plans in the past?

Check back in a few weeks to see how it goes!