The first day of school is (EEK!) Tuesday! I’ve been thinking a lot about routines and how to get (and stay!) organized. I’d been toying with the idea of designing a daily routine poster to remind the girls of the things they need to do each day, so I was happy to find these free printable Morning Routine cards by Amy Locurto of Living Locurto over at One Pretty Thing:
This is a good start – I need all four of these cards (which come in pink/green too). Although, now that I think about it, my kids do these in the exact opposite order.
I also need afternoon cards. She has a routine chart here (also yours free to print):
I need a chart with the dreaded H word, which comes after the snack.
I need evening cards too:
- Pick out an outfit for tomorrow (more on this in a minute)
- Get your backpack together (remember your library book, permission slip, lunch money, etc.)
- Pick up the toys and clothes in your room
- Pajamas on, brush your teeth
- Read a story, lights out
Ok, I guess I do need to put together a daily routine poster.
Incidentally, here’s another great organizing idea from Living Locurto: free printable days of the week hanger tags to help sort out a week’s worth of outfits for your kids. I like this idea because my kids have a ton of clothes, and they tend to want to wear the same two or three outfits over and over again. So, picking out a week’s worth gently encourages them to try new outfits.
Here’s a sneak peek at what I’m working on for Graycom — that’s “Grandma” to my girls, who couldn’t pronounce “grandma” and came out with “Graycom” instead. Needless to say, it stuck.
Graycom, in all of her amazing awesomeness, is coming from New Mexico to spend 10 days with the girls while Rolando and I celebrate our 15th anniversary in Spain (Barcelona-Seville-Granada) in a little over a week (Eep!). I am so excited for this trip.
So, in turn, I am trying to put together a comprehensive notebook with maps (to the pool, grocery store, restaurants, etc.), lists of fun things to do, chore charts for the girls, and general tips about the house, so that Graycom doesn’t have to fret for even one second while we’re gone. [Got that, Mom? NO fretting.]
But here’s where I crank up the absurdity level (to 11): I couldn’t just print out a bunch of stuff for her. I have to print things out nicely, label everything, and put it in a Molly-approved 3-ring binder — which I bought especially for this project.
What can I say? I’m obsessive about certain things.
Speaking of Spain, if you’ve been to Barcelona, Seville and/or Granada, I’d love to hear your restaurant suggestions — or any other off-the-beaten path thing to see or do.
Come this June, my company will move into a new office, and while my new office will not be a cool new Green Building like the one Molly is in, it will be a significant upgrade for our small company. Right now, it is relatively bare bones looking, so I need to start thinking about how to make my own space more beautiful and more “me”. Luckily for me, the fantastic blog coco+kelley, has just done an inspiring round of office tours of some creative types including the lovely Berkeley-based office of my cousin’s PR firm, Ruby Press…(wow gorgeous space Melissa!) After looking at all those lovely office spaces, I am feeling really motivated and excited.
In the first week of the spring cleaning challenge, I spent one hour (just one) in the basement and managed to pack up not one, but SIX trash bags. I also broke down a mountain of boxes. I took them all straight out of the house, and immediately it felt better. We still have a long way to go but it now feels just a wee bit more sane down there.
I also started re-reading Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston for some practical inspiration. “Most people keep things because they believe they will come in useful one day, but in fact the stagnant energy that collects around unused things causes stagnation in the life of whoever owns them. So instead of being an asset, clutter is in fact a liability. That’s why people who have clutter are always stuck in their lives in some way.”
So, for week 2: I can commit to taking at least one more bag of crap out of the house.
What one small thing are you doing to declutter this week?
We had lovely weather today, and it led me to take a new look at the house. Today, the basement just overwhelmed me.
So, here is my “spring cleaning challenge”: De-clutter the basement by April — that way, by the time we need to get the bikes back out of there, we will actually be able to get to them. My plan of attack is simple: Remove one bag per week…which is probably the best way to make progress without devoting a whole weekend to it. Want to take the challenge with me?
I can’t live without my Erin Condren calendar, which keeps my family organized throughout the year. I just received the 2009 calendar, which comes with September – December 2008, and I am loving it.
I’ve also got the “life planner” (in the pink/green/brown stripes) with my name splashed all across the front:
You get lots of extra goodies like stickers and calling cards and address labels when you buy a calendar.
I’m also addicted to their large round address labels (this is one of many designs):
Everything they make is fun and happy; and their customer service is impeccable. A great gift for a fun-loving friend.
In the first week of the spring cleaning challenge, I spent one hour (just one) in the basement and managed to pack up not one, but SIX trash bags. I also broke down a mountain of boxes. I took them all straight out of the house, and immediately it felt better. We still have a long way to go but it now feels just a wee bit more sane down there.
