What I've Learned About Organization

This has been brewing in my mind for quite some time. But before I get started, I want you to know that I have not totally achieved this organization thing. I'm still learning. I am a stay at home, home school mother of 4  and a farmer's wife. You may be in a completely different stage and setting. If organization doesn't come easily for you, I will not judge you.

I function best in an organized environment. I have OCD issues with making my bed and a few other things. (well, I thought I did. I just looked up that term and maybe it really doesn't apply. I kinda hope not anyway.) I like order, hate clutter, love schedules, and have passed at least some of this on to my children. Being flexible is not my strong point but God is teaching that one to me in a variety of creative ways.

1. Your children will seldom be neater than Mom.
I have seen this over and over. People tell me that they can't get the children to pick up after themselves or be neat. But one peek at the master bedroom or the kitchen, and you know Mom has higher standards for her kids than she's willing to follow herself. I must set a good example for my children. That means making my bed, hanging up my pj's, putting away my shoes and the like.

2. You can't put things away if you don't know where to put them.
We mom's have to have a plan. Hooks in the bedroom for pj's, hooks in the bathroom for towels, hooks in the entrance for coats. Drawers for gloves and hats, shelves for shoes, baskets for blankets. You get the idea. I am not a fan of toy boxes. Things get thrown in and lost, broken, or ruined. We have totes for lego's and little toy cars, nice cloth bags for the doll clothes, book shelves for the books, and a little kitchen cupboard for the toy dishes. Granted, when we have guests over and it's time to clean up the toys, it can be a little confusing. But we generally help with pick up or send them home and do it ourselves. Who doesn't like to skip that part if you have tired children? Each of the children has their own personal 'treasure drawer' and no one is allowed to dig around in it without permission. This gives them a place to put their stuff.

3. A hamper in each room saves the dirty clothes clutter.
I keep a hamper in each bedroom and each bathroom and I get pretty frustrated if I see dirty clothes on the floor! My children often gather and sort the laundry for the regular laundry days. I have a laundry cart in my tiny laundry room and it makes sorting the clothes very simple.

4.Get rid of clutter. Get rid of clutter.
Oh, did I just repeat myself? I am a bit obsessive about this one and yes, you can ask my husband if this trait has ever caused issues in our marriage. I am a pitch-er! If the dresser drawers won't shut easily, we have too many clothes. I often go through our clothes and consign, or give away what we don't need or wear.  Mail piles up on the kitchen counter and drives me crazy. At least once a week I sort through it and organize and pitch. Several times a week, I make a sweep through the house and gather up the children's paraphernalia and put it on a pile on the table. I give them each a chance to get their stuff and put it away then I pitch the rest.

5. Have regular clean up times.
Like before naps, or before supper or bedtime, designate a room to a child and pick everything up and make it neat and tidy. Sometimes I say, "All hands on deck" and we all pitch in together. Or maybe I'll say everyone has to put away 5 things. It's so much more fun to wake up in the morning and start my day in an un-cluttered house! 

6. Have a meal plan.
I've tried it all- to weekly menus to monthly menus to none at all. Right now, I'm not really planning menus but I do figure out in the morning or the night before what we're having for supper. That way I can have the meat thawed, put in marinade, or whatever it takes. The more of a plan you have, the less grocery trips you have to make for that one elusive item you thought you had. 

7. Teach your children to work.
You don't have to do it all alone. I read once that if you are feeling overwhelmed as a Mom, you need to delegate more responsibility to your children. Of course, all things considered- they may be too young to help and you might need some outside help. But if they are between the ages of 5 and 11, like my children are, there is MUCH they can do. My boys have been cleaning bathrooms for a long time, and all 4 keep their bedrooms clean. 

There is a lot more that could be said about organizing a house. I like to look through the freezers every now and then and use up those forgotten items. And speaking of freezers, mine wouldn't win an award for being neat. I also like to clean out and organize the pantry frequently. I hate throwing food away.
Our mud room is this teeny tiny space that is supposed to store a lot more than it's actually capable of. Depending on what day you visit, you just might be shocked at the condition of that room. I always say you don't need a large space to be organized, but that room makes me wonder. I often feel grumbly inside when I step into that room, but after a thorough scrubbing and organizing and an attitude check about how much I have, I feel content again. First world problems definitely.
I have 2 daughters who are in the pack rat stage right now. It can be super frustrating. When I ask them to clean up their room, they do, but they save a lot more stuff than I would. Several times a year, I go in and clean it out and pack the 'junk' away. I save it in a hidden location for a month or so, just in case I eliminated something precious. I learned that the hard way. Then eventually I get rid of it all.
We have issues sometimes with the children's drawers looking awful. I set up a plan where I would make random drawer checks and reward anyone w/ neat drawers. It was amazing what a couple of quarters could do as an incentive.
I hope this is an encouragement to you with maybe just one helpful idea. We need to figure out what works for us and go with it. Habits form in a month, so one month of consistently adopting a new habit and you're hooked!:) 

Fall Goodness {Nature Hike}

I checked the forecast last evening and discovered that today is our last really warm day for awhile. So I brainstormed, cleared it with the principal, and put a plan in place. Now there are all kinds of homeschool mom's out there, some who are much more spontaneous than me. I usually fall in the category of being too rigid and too scheduled. So an impromptu outing like this is really taking me off of my normal path.

I announced before morning devotions that at 10 AM school would cease for the day and we would head to the woods. Spelling and Math were on the agenda for the boys and Annika had to do her Learning To Read lesson. We met our goals, grabbed a snack and a water bottle and we were off.

About 6 miles from here, right next to where Leon's parents live, is a 95 acre area of woods that belongs to the county. It is a public conservation area. Way back, Leon's grandparents owned that piece of timber. When his grandpa died, and left his grandma a widow after only 10 short years of marriage, with 4 children and 7 months pregnant with #5 (Leon's mother), and a farm to manage, Grandma did the only thing that made sense. She sold those 95 acres to the county. Leon and his siblings grew up in those woods and still like to think they kinda belong to them.;) That's where we were headed. (Excuse the family history bunny trail.)

The children and I spent a delightful hour and a half there this morning. The leaves are spectacular right now. Every so often as we walked along, it would suddenly begin 'raining' down leaves on our heads. Peaceful, beautiful, and totally refreshing. We brought some pretties home with us and now have a special centerpiece on the table designed by Jamison and Annika.

And I'm so glad this homeschool mom deviated from the schedule today!

Today

Today was a most unusual day here at our house.

About 6 months ago, when our children were going through a time of grumbling about having to work around the house, my husband and I hatched this crazy idea. Sometime we would have a "Do What You Want" Day. The children could do whatever they wanted all day. They could get up when they wanted, wear what they want, eat what they want, and choose their own activities for the day. The only rule was that I couldn't do anything for them. We did make an exception for Miss Brooke, who is only 3.

Today was the day. Oh, boy.

The children were so excited about this 'awesome' day, as they dubbed it. They slept in a little, watched lots of movies and played computer games, wore jammies all day, didn't comb their hair or brush their teeth, and ate lots of eggs! Logan had scrambled eggs for breakfast and supper and he made 2 egg sandwiches inbetween. We are an egg-lovin' family, but seriously, if I served only eggs for an entire day, I think I'd be in trouble. The others ate lots of eggs too.;)

The messy house, well, about drove me crazy. The children's beds didn't get made, and the kitchen looked like a war zone. I just tried not to go in there very much. I also got to choose my daily activities. I discovered that since I didn't have to cook, I definitely had more free time. I started the day with a run. I managed to sew 2 little flowergirl dresses for the girls as well. I was very thrilled to be able to cross that off my to-do list. The dresses are very simple, but needed to be lined. They still need zippers, hems, and sashes, but I think I can manage that sometime in the next 30 days.

Lesson learned? By tonight, my listless children were getting bored. And a little grouchy. And maybe tired of eggs? Perhaps even ready to have a new day tomorrow, where Mom has lists of chores and we keep the house looking like a place we want to live in.

I suspect they won't forget this day for a long time. I even suspect they will talk about it to everyone, making it sound like an amazing experience. I suspect they are also glad it was only for today. I sure am.

Just Another Day In the Life of .......Us

Fridays are usually busy days. Ever since we married, I try to keep my Saturday to-do list at a minimum. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I thought it might be interesting to me years down the road to see what a typical day looked like for me. So I jotted down notes all day yesterday.

A quote that kept going through my mind yesterday was "Life is not an emergency. Life is a Gift. Just slow." Somehow I think that should be my 'life quote'. I tend to be a hurry, hurry, rush kind of person.

7:00 Start laundry
7:30 Fry eggs for breakfast.
8:15 Comb girls. Logan clears table and feeds scraps to the kitties. I clean up kitchen.
8:30 Devotions in the living room. Songs-"He's Still Workin' On Me" and "If I Were a Butterfly". Children quoted the week's verse-James 1:25. I read 1 chapter of David Livingstone and 1 chapter of Even Donkeys Speak.  Close with Prayer.
Girls go color. Boys start school.
I change the laundry.
10:00 I make a snack of trail mix...almonds, raisins, m&m's, pretzels and deliver it to my children. Annika breaks the round pretzels up so they say COC and asks me what that spells. I show her how to write COO.
10:30 Check Logan's writing assignment. Note that he is really improving in his cursive writing. I put away Art books from yesterday. Plan work next week in our Animals book. We are studying about Africa right now in History.
10:40 Color with Brooke. Check Jamison's Math.
10:50 Do Spelling words with boys.
11:10 Help Logan with his long multiplication.
(The boys opted to skip break today and get their work done early.)
11:20 Change laundry. Check Jamison's Writing.
11:30 Check Jamison's Language. Jamison's done with school. Logan needs help with a Math problem. He sits on my lap to do it. He's getting heavy...
11:40  Jamison colors his History paper on Kenya. I head downstairs and check fridge for leftovers. Put casserole dish in oven to heat. Change laundry. Check on girls. They are playing 'camping'. Annika 'sleeps' on the floor with a blanket. Brooke is riding her horse to 'South Carolina'.
11:50 Check Logan's Math. Help with corrections.
12:00 Logan finishes up. I set the table for lunch.
12:45 I read to the girls and put them down for naps. Logan clears the table.
1:00 I fold laundry and sort out piles for the children to fold. Logan cleans their bedroom. Jamie does piano.
1:30 I check on Brooke. She's still awake. I lay with her and fall asleep. Oops. Logan cleans downstairs bathroom. Jamie folds laundry.
2:00 Finally get lunch dishes in the dishwasher.
2:15 Dust furniture. Clean upstairs bathroom.
3:00 Read my Bible.
3:15 Go on bike ride with the boys. We are all out of shape and don't go far. After we get back we discover why Jamison's bike pedaled so hard. The tires were flat! I help the boys wash the windows in their old 'shop'.
4:00 I vacuum downstairs. The girls fold the towels and washrags. Everyone helps put the laundry away.
5:15 I grill the chicken breast for supper. Scrub potatoes and put them in the oven.
6:00 Cook frozen green beans.
6:30 Suppertime!
7:30 We all help Leon hang the new vertical blinds in our bedroom.
8:30 I play Uno with the children.
9:30 Family devotions and bedtime for the children.
10:00 I rush upstairs after hearing Annika screaming, crying and gagging. Apparently Jamie cleaned out his treasure drawer today and gave the girls each a glow stick. They were lying in bed, stuck them in their mouths and bit them. Annika bit through hers and got the yucky stuff in her mouth. It tasted awful. We gave her a glass of milk, Leon checked online and decided she'll survive. The things kids do.....

And to all a good night.

Another day is history.