Everyday Mom
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Category Archives: Inside the home

Organizing the family room

March 6, 2013

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This was the most recent cleaning project I did President’s Day weekend.  The family room.  I HAVE to sort toys at least once a month–sometimes twice.  But I OFTEN wait until it’s too late.  I put about half of these toys in the attic and will rotate them next month.

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Loved it how the cat posed among the mess.  It was 2-3 day project. I had to buy some plastic shoe box sized containers for toys I wanted to store in the attic. Toys in the family room are typically stored in the blue and orange IKEA bins so the kids have easier access (and I don’t have to mess with lids).

I had to put a whole bunch of puzzle and game pieces in their original boxes. We also sorted through a plastic bin with drawers that used to be for Barbies and Strawberry Shortcake.  We found anything and everything in it.

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Thankfully it has been MUCH easier to keep clean.  I think the main reason is the reduction of toys and the rule “you may not take a game or puzzle out until you put the one that is currently out away.”  Away = box is closed, lid on securely and it’s on the shelf.  The kids are starting to do this without being told.  I had six kids playing in here on Thursday afternoon and it didn’t stress me out at all!

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Organizing Your Attic/Storage Space

February 11, 2013

This is what my attic looked like last week…an anxiety ridden clutter space.

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And after some hard work the last couple days I managed to get it looking like this…

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I am not a hoarder.  I am the opposite.  I get a “rush” from getting rid of things.  I was not always this way.  Actually as a child, I stuffed drawers with drawings, artwork, trinkets, toys–I could not get rid of anything.  I felt like I was giving away a part of myself.

I had over seventy stuff animals and I could not bear to part with any of them.  As a teenager it was childish to have a shelf full of stuffed animals–but I did not know where to begin when it came to getting rid of them.  I went on a mission trip to Romania and while I was away my mom did an intense cleaning of my bedroom.  She gave almost every single stuff animal away except for a few sentimental ones.  You would think I would have been upset, but I was relieved.  There is a tremendous amount of freedom in having “less stuff.”

I am not a professional organizer, but the more I “winter/spring clean” the more I enjoy it.  I have learned a lot about having an organized attic/crawl space/storage area.  Here are my own suggestions (and I’d love to hear yours!)

1)  If you are using boxes instead of bins, fill them up to the top.  They will stack better and not cave in.

2)  Label  your boxes on the outside facing out.  I used “Hello My Name Is–” name tags I had in my utility drawer.  I used to label boxes on the top which makes no sense if they are stacked.

3)  When in doubt, throw it out.  If you have not used it in a year or it does not work well, give it away.

4)  Keep the items you take out of your storage space annually like Christmas decorations closest to the entrance of your attic/storage space.  Keep items you hardly ever use (if ever) like VHS tapes or cassettes at the very back.

5)  Do not feel guilty about giving away toys or putting a large amount in storage.  Kids get overwhelmed with too many items to play with.  It actually can cause more conflict and boredom NOT less.

6)  If you save kid’s clothes, label them by size and season.  If you don’t have enough clothes to fill a whole plastic bin, use smaller boxes.  I personally think diaper and pull-up boxes work great.

7)  Each of our kids and my husband and I have “sentimental boxes” we refer to as “our special boxes.”  These are mostly items from our childhood and young adult years.  I go through my kid’s boxes annually and “reorganize them” and even reduce them down.  What might be sentimental to me right now may not be in a year.

8) Put manuals or instruction booklets in a file box.  I found manuals for everything from our refrigerator to a toy I bought my daughter for Christmas.  I would rather not hold on to all of them, but there have been times I have needed one.  Put them in a file or separate bin.

Here’s hoping I can continue to stay this organized!

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My Real News Years Resolution: Trying To Focus

January 25, 2013

Here is January 24th and I have taken almost a whole month off from blogging.  That was not really planned.  No, there was not any major crisis that occurred the last two weeks and I am not any more busy than I am other times of the year (less so, actually).

I was reflecting on Everyday Mom and my life in general.  I subscribe to many blogs and read wonderful posts.  I have seen stay-at-home moms like myself turn blogging into a full fledged career with book deals, interviews, seminars etc.  I had no aspirations when I started this blog.  I wanted an outlet to write and remember some of the creative activities I do with my children. If I could get some perks along the way or reach out to other moms along the way…win, win.

Some blogs I read are focused.  They center on frugal living, crafting, food, homeschooling, or couponing.  Mine covers all these things (well except for maybe the couponing).  Sometimes I feel like it is a potluck of too many topics.  A blog with ADD.

But yet that is me.  I love organized people.  I adore them. I married one. Schedules, lists, cleaning jobs, laundry routines–I crave it.  Yet a part of me fights it.  That part is strong and she usually wins.  Too often my life looks like how my attic does right now…a somewhat organized mess.

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Back in October I tried to have a “Going Dark” day one day a week as I am very distracted by facebook, e-mail, and the computer in general.  It proved to be a good thing–I got housework completed in record time. But  I realized how much I use the computer for day to day things like looking up addresses, researching news articles, ordering products etc.  Did it make sense to put all these things off for a day?  Not when I need to look up an address for someone’s house because I have to be there in a few hours or that I have to register my daughter for swim lessons on a certain day?

Through this experiment and learning more about my anxiety, I discovered that I put off doing what I SHOULD be doing (like laundry, vacuuming etc.) and do what I WANT to do.  I am relaxed by things I WANT to do (like facebook, running, reading a good book) versus what needs to be done.

Before I do anything I don’t want to do (or am unsure about) I fight a little bout of anxiety.  Sometimes when I need to write an article it takes me 45 minutes to focus and get in the zone before I can begin.  Once I get into it, I fly with it. Word and phrases come naturally.  It is the initial “start-up” where I am trapped.

And it’s not solely with writing.  It with other things…such as housework, craft projects, making dentist/doctor appointments, meal planning, etc.  Sometimes it is the simple task of beginning a new day.  Some mornings I get out of the bed at the latest possible minute I can without causing everyone to run late on my account.  It’s not the “my bed is warm and cozy and I want to stay in it” nor is it “I’m so tired because I’m not getting enough sleep.”  It is that I don’t want to start the day because it is uncertain. What will it bring?  Once I get a chance to wake up, get my morning coffee and bowl of oatmeal–I’m fine.  Again it is the initial “start up.”

The past two weeks I have been praying fervently that God would cast away that “morning anxiety” and give me a spirit of motivation.  I am happy to say the past couple mornings I have awoken before the alarm ready to start the day.  I have even gone to morning classes at the gym and maintained my triathlon training routine.  I know we cannot base everything on feelings because they change quite often.  I am continuing to pray that I find healthy ways to combat my anxiety and push through it even on bad mornings.

One of my New Years resolutions was to be more disciplined and organized…and waste less time.  For me that is not maintaining a sparking clean house (it’s just not possible with little ones running around) but rather fight distractions so I can do what needs to be done FIRST.  Here it is Day #24 of the year and I have probably failed more days than I have succeeded.  Understanding how easily distracted I am and accepting it is helping me deal with it.  I find myself throughout the day saying, “OK I am doing Task #1 right now, then what will I do next?  What needs to be done this afternoon–what can wait until tonight?”  It does not come naturally to me at all.  LIke I said, I love the scheduled people who sees it and does it.

With running, you train and train until you can accomplish long races.  It doesn’t come with the first run.  I hurt all over and want to quit.  As your muscles get stronger, you learn proper form, and your brain tells your body to keep moving–it becomes automatic.  I am hoping my disorganized, out of focus routines can become a little more structured in 2013.

Posted by in Inside the home, Mental Health & Self Care Tags: , , , , ,

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December Photos #19 Cat versus string

December 20, 2012

DSC07835This cat loves this time of year because she gets to play with lots of wrap, tissue paper, and string.DSC07838

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A solution when your kids won’t clean

August 31, 2012

I think one of the WORST and stressful household chores is getting your kids to clean up the playroom/bedrooms.  There are times I am tempted to go in and do it all for them, but I know they will never learn that way.

Sometimes it goes well at our house.

Lately it has not gone well.

My solution?  We closed the playroom for 24 hours.  My husband even put up yellow tape yellow crepe paper.

My husband said I got the idea from the Cosby Show episode where Rudy and Vanessa get kicked out of their rooms and have to live in the basement. I actually was not thinking of that at the time, but it must have been in my subconscious.

Losing the playroom meant no playing with the best toys in the house and no use of the TV.  Once the tape was lifted, it was back to cleaning.  It worked pretty well.  I may have to implement it again, however cleaning has gone much better since.

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When Your Cat Is A Scaredy Cat…

August 14, 2012

This is our family pet:  a short-haired gray colored female feline named Salena.  We fostered her through our local humane society around this time three years ago. and then adopted her.  People who come to our house comment how easy-going she is–never scratches people, non-aggressive, never nips, and puts up with three very busy children who have been known to use her as a pillow.

She is strictly indoors.

This Saturday we went garage saling as a family.  We returned home and started making lunch for the kids.  I heard this constant “meowing” almost like the cat was trapped inside something.  I opened every single door, cabinet, and closet.  No cat.  The meowing continued.

“She’s in the walls!”  I declared.

So I asked my husband who we should call.  Who do you call when your cat is trapped in the walls? My husband went up in the attic and crawled over the insulation putting his hand in every crevice while I did “a google search.”  Then I remembered we had been on vacation which probably stressed the cat out.  And our yard currently looks like this…

New siding and windows.  Lots of pounding, drilling, and extra noise during the day.  It spooked her.

No success in the attic.  We can’t hear her meowing in the attic but we can hear her downstairs.  Did she slip so far she is embedded in the walls?  The thought of having to put a hole in the wall and retrieve a dead cat while dealing with the smell would probably traumatize our three children…and myself included.

I call the fire department.  The gentlemen on the phone is very sweet, but said there is not much to do.  He suggest leaving food out and says most cats who can get in strange places can find their way out.

My husband goes outside and sees Salena darting across the yard.  She is jittery and spooked and runs away.

The meowing in the house stops.

So now we’re sitting on the patio and we safely assume our cat ran away and is gone forever.  My daughter is sobbing.  I am crying too.  My husband who never had the greatest affection for the cat decides to drive around the neighborhood and look for her.

An hour later we’re sitting in the house and we all hear meowing again.  We’re happy she did not run away but irritated we can’t figure out where she is.  My husband says, “That’s it.  I’m going back in the attic.”

I go into the garage and go into the furnace closet.  The meowing is stronger.  When I yell “Salena!” and bang on the wall, it intensifies.  Then I realize the sound is not coming from the wall, or the ceiling, but the floor.

So now my husband have to wedge this little door open (I only knew it was there because the cable guy had to go under our house about a year ago) and go under our house amidst all these pipes and wires.  I was grateful I was not feeling claustrophobic.  We had to army crawl and we were filthy dirty like we had been working in a cave.

Needless to say it took a couple tries, but we got her.  She would only come to me.  Now she is safe and sound.

We still have no idea how she got in there.  Our best guess is there a little small opening from where the chords from the air conditioner go under the house.  We just got new sliding glass doors and the kids have not been great about shutting them all the way.  We think she got outside and got confused on how to get back in.

My friends at the humane society shared that if your cat is stressed from extra noises from construction, keep him/her in a confined room while the workers are present.  They recommended getting a sedative from the vet if she gets too jittery or paranoid.  Your cat will “act out of character” if she/he is stressed as we experienced firsthand.

It wasn’t the way I wanted to spend a Saturday, but I am glad it had a happy ending.

 

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Summer Scheduling

July 11, 2012

I thrive on structure and organization.  I also crave spontaneity and changing the routine.  The two often come in conflict with one another when it comes to scheduling.  Last fall I tried making a day to day schedule on Microsoft Outlook. I wrote what I wanted myself and the kids to be doing every hour.  Two days of it stressed me out and I quit.

I have never carried a planner or calendar in my purse.  I have tried in the past only to end up losing it or giving up.  I love some of the summer calendars I have seen on several other mom blogs.  The detailed and extensive planning is a little too much for me.

I am more of a “list person.”  I make a “To Do List” on Sunday and try to complete the tasks throughout the week.  The problem with this was my tasks were things only I needed to get done.  Sometimes kid’s activities got thrown to the wayside.

My kids love to ask the “When are we going to do–?” questions.  When are we going to go to do a craft?  When are we going to go a hike?  Maybe tomorrow.  Then tomorrow comes.  Too much laundry.  Or I have to finish this project.

My husband was out of town for two weeks in May.  I made a very loose schedule for each day while he was gone.  I had several people coming to help and I had to make a schedule for them.  I had to coordinate my marathon training runs while my child care helpers had my kids.  I have stuck with it since. 

I have a white board in a central location that lists the activity we will do for the day.  My oldest loves it because she knows what our day is going to look like.  I feel like we are not “wasting” our summer away.  We have done many fun activities already because we scheduled them.  It has really reduced the “Mom, when are we going to do–?” questions.

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Toddlers & Decluttering Toys

July 3, 2012

This post “Anxiety:  When A Messy House is the Cause” has received a massive amount of hits. Clutter, piles, and messes stir up anxiety for moms.  For myself it is little pieces of toys, paper, and crayons littered all over the house.  It has sent me into a “mommy anger session.”

Did you ever read The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room when you were a kid?  Mama Bear gets so frustrated with all the clutter she starts throwing all the toys in a giant box in a maddening rage?  Yeah I have been there.

It is difficult if not impossible to keep up with the cleaning and clutter.  Especially with a two and a half year old in the house.

Take for instance MY two and a half year old.  Now I love that girl to pieces and I treasure her personality.  This child has sometimes been referred to as “Hoarding–Buried Alive.”  She LOVES to gather little contents from all over the house (puzzle pieces, Barbie shoes, Happy meal toys, game pieces etc.) and stuff them in bags.  Or shove it all under her bed.  I cleaned under her bed yesterday and this was all pushed under it.

I have to put diapers, wipes, socks, and underwear all out of her reach.  She has emptied a whole thing of wipes and shoved them in her hamper.  She has decorated her whole room with diapers.  I have found twenty pair of socks all shoved behind her dresser.

That is why all this stuff is put way out of reach in her closet.  I never had to do this with my older two.  Even when we were staying at my parent’s house, she hid packs of Lifesavers in her bed that she gathered from the pantry.

This kind of cleaning frustrates me greatly.  I would much rather clean toilets or scrub the kitchen floor than separate little pieces of toys or join pairs of socks back together.

But attitude is everything.  This is how toddlers learn.  From touching things, messing with gadgets, putting toys into bags, and opening boxes.  This is her way of “playing” and “discovering.”  Of course it will not be like this forever.

On a more practical side, we significantly reduced the amount of toys and books her in room.  Some went in the attic. Kids do not need a whole pile of toys everywhere.  It is overwhelming for them not to mention maddening for moms when it comes to picking them up.  We also try and ”neaten” her room everyday after she gets up from her nap.  Just a 5-10 minute ”declutter” rather than spending an hour every few weeks.  Slowly she is learning to clean up her own messes though that will take some time.

 

 

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Getting Your Kids to Pick Up Their Toys

May 29, 2012

One thing that has really stressed me out in the last year or so is getting my kids to clean the family room and other areas they play in.

I have tried everything such as…

Putting all the toys in a big box and they have to “earn” them back one by one.  I saw this idea on Dr. Phil.  Did not work with my kids.  They joyfully helped me put all the toys in a box.  Out of sight.  Out of mind.  They did not really miss them.

I tried being more laid back.

I tried being more of a drill sergeant.

I set timers.

I attempted to make “cleaning” fun with jumpy peppy music.

Yesterday we picked up my oldest from school and I told the kids three areas needed to be cleaned before supper:  the family room, eating area, and upstairs playroom.  No TV watching would occur of any kind until they were cleaned.  They cleaned from 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM with very little assistance from me.  They did a wonderful job.  Wow.  How did this happen?

The only solution I have found is

#1) Our kids are a little older.  I used to have too high expectation for three year olds and even four year olds.

#2)  Consistency.

A couple weeks ago my husband started having the kids clean every single day.  They like to play in the eating area because naturally there is where my husband and I spend most of our time.  This area needs to be cleaned daily.  It is part of their route around 4:00 PM to clean it and get ready for supper.  The family room gets cleaned around the same time every two to three days.  Bedrooms get cleaned about twice a week.

We used to clean right before bedtime.  I found everyone was too tired including me.  We settled for a half effort job.  It often turned into a battle of the wills.  For now, after breakfast and right before supper are the prime cleaning times.  It makes the evenings after supper more relaxing for everyone.  They expect it now and it’s part of their routine.  And the house is staying cleaner.

Posted by in Inside the home, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , ,

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Goodbye dirty bottle rooms. Hello Bottle Drop!

May 9, 2012

I was at a neighborhood association meeting when I heard a representative from the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative share about BottleDrop.  She informed us that in the beginning of March five major grocery stores in our town would be closing their bottling rooms.  If you wanted to recycle bottles or cans you had to bring them to a new redemption center located less than one and a half miles from the five grocery stores.

My first reaction:  “What a pain!  Now I have to make an extra trip to drop off my cans and pop bottles.”

After a few visits to BottleDrop, I like the concept.  The bottle rooms in the major grocery stores are often dirty not to mention small and congested.  Pushing a cart with a baby and toddler in tow means careening around everyone else’s bottle filled carts.  The machines break down often.  There is a separate machine for glass, cans, and plastic bottles.  So if you finish your cans and the plastic bottle machine is in use–you end up waiting in the small congested room trying to keep your shopping cart with a screaming toddler from blocking everyone else’s way.

At BottleDrop there are staff people walking around and constantly wiping down carts and machines. It is spacious and clean.  The carts are not metal shopping carts–large plastic carts on wheels you bring right out to your car.  You can put all your cans, bottles, and glass in the same machine.  The machine automatically separates it into bins.  You can redeem your cans for cash from an automated machine or staff member.  You can even open an account and get a “bottle drop redemption card” instead of cashing out every single time.

The plus side is my kids love going!  There are flashy signs everywhere that teach them about recycling.  The employees are really helpful and friendly.  There is a little window where my kids love to watch cans and bottles moving along a conveyor belt.  It’s a perfect preschool field trip.

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