Mornings Are Hard

Mornings Are Hard

Getting children ready in the morning can be a challenge. Add in pets to take care of, parents who have to get ready for work, and differing schedules, and you’ve got a recipe for chaos. Planning ahead is the key to success. Many people choose to pick out their clothing the night before, but I can’t always guarantee I will be home at a decent time, or remember to do it on hectic nights, so I do the entire week at once. It has made mornings so much easier!

First, I set up a weekly organizer. Finding the right sizes, colors and quantities were the hardest part of this. I ended up using these stacking organizers I found in the kitchen section at Wal-Mart. They came 3 in a pack for about $5, so they were affordable enough to stock up on. I chose to do only kids’ clothing first, so I needed 15 (3 kids, 5 days). I opted not to do weekend outfits as we rarely leave the house on weekends. Since I could only find white bins, I needed to color code them myself. I used a roll of duct tape in each of their colors and just put a strip on the front. It needed to be visible when the containers were full, but it wasn’t necessary to cover the entire bin. I used the leftover tape to identify laundry baskets and other containers, but more on that later.

On the inside of each bin, I wrote the day of the week. It only had to be visible when filling the containers, so I just wrote it with a marker inside.

I then stacked them according to height, and lined them up for the week. This made it easier for my youngest to figure out which one to grab, since she was still learning the days of the week. Everyone grabbed from the same stack on the same day.

In each bin, I placed socks, underwear, pants, shirt, and matching accessories if needed (bow, belt, etc.). Everything they needed was ready to go.

We have our shoes in a separate organizer, but you could include them in a weekly clothing organizer if you wished. We no longer spent precious time hunting for the right pieces, and Daddy no longer dressed the children in off-season, ill-fitting clothes.

How it works: as I take clothes out of the dryer, or go through closets for already put away clothes, I match the outfits and fold them together. Since I only do Mon-Fri, I have all weekend to get it together. If I am washing clothes during the week, I will fold the outfits I want and separate them, and the kids put the rest of the clothes away. This way, when the organizer is emptied on Friday mornings, I have most everything ready to fill it for the next week. You could do it all Sunday night, or two weeks at a time, or whatever works for you. As long as everything is ready to go Monday morning, you can’t go wrong.

Now enjoy your morning cup of coffee just a little bit longer, the hard part is done!

Items Used:
Scotch Super Thin Waterproof Vinyl Plastic Colored Tape, .75-Inch by 125-Inch, 5-Pack

Basic White Stacking Bins - 3-pack - 12" X 9" X 5"

Sharpie Fine Point Permanent Markers, 12 Colored Markers(30072)
 

Cleaning Part 1: Tackling the Chore

Cleaning doesn’t have to be an everyday battle, nor does it need to be a weekend cleaning spree with no time to relax. Cleaning is an unavoidable part of life and managing a family home. Here are a few ways to simplify the job.

Tip #1: Make it a group effort. Nobody likes to clean alone, and many hands make light work. Get the kids involved, even the toddlers. Give them a rag and a spray bottle of water, and they will scrub everything in sight! Vinegar is perfectly safe for small children and cleans glass streak-free.

Tip #2: Make a list. I can’t do anything without making a list (just ask my husband!). Write down everything that needs to be done. This can help you prioritize everything that needs to be done, and gives you a finite goal, rather than “clean house”, you have a list to follow: “take out trash”, “Vacuum bedroom”, etc.

Tip #3: Turn on the tunes! Cleaning is a boring chore for everyone but Monica Gellar, so turn on some music to sing along to and make the chore easier. Dancing while cleaning is also a great way to burn extra calories!

Tip #4: Delegate! Assign everyone in the family, including the kids, tasks from the list you made. You can divide them up according to time or difficulty, and split the work up equally.

Tip #5: Work over a week. Cleaning doesn’t have to be done all at once. Split it up by room. Monday do the master bedroom, Tuesday do the living room, Wednesday the kitchen, etc. This allows you to focus on one room at a time and do a thorough job, instead of doing just a little bit in every room and seemingly making no progress.

Tip #6: Just as the professionals do, work from the top to the bottom. There’s no point in sweeping the floor first, only to drop more crumbs while cleaning off the table. Start at the top, dusting ceiling fans and windows, and work your way to the floor. Then after you mop or vacuum, you are done. No more walking back over the clean floor!

Tip #7: Make it a game. My kids won’t do anything unless it’s fun. You can play basketball, trying to wrangle all the socks in the baskets. Or give each kid a broom and see who can sweep up the most crumbs. My boys especially love to see who can get the most dust/dirt on their rags while cleaning.

Tip #8: Set realistic goals. Your house won’t go from disaster to fabulous in a matter of hours. Go through it once to get all the clutter picked up, laundry put away, and trash taken out. Then go back through another day and give it a deep clean- scrubbing baseboards, washing curtains, and scrubbing counters.

Tip #9: Reward yourself! After a long day of cleaning, go out to a movie or treat the family for dinner. Enjoy some relaxation, and come home to a clean house.

Tip #10: Know your limits, and hire help. While I don’t recommend spending money you don’t have on a maid service every week, hiring help is sometimes needed. Whether it be a first time deep cleaning for you to maintain, or a professional handyman to move furniture, paint, or take care of necessary repairs, you can’t always do it yourself. When time or physical ability severely limits you, don’t be ashamed to get help where needed.