organization - hooey!critic

How To Get Kids To Clean Their Rooms (or at least what I’m trying!)

April 4, 2012 by Neena 4 Comments

I used to want my house to look like the lovely pictures in the magazines on my coffee table – decorated nicely, clean, things always in their place.

Then I had 3 kids and started working on a PhD and my standards moved to just being happy when nothing was growing in the toilets.

At the beginning of the year I had someone coming to help clean every two weeks. It was glorious and allowed me the much-needed time to write my dissertation. Now that school is almost done (dissertation defense in two weeks – yea!) it’s time I get back to my own cleaning and organizing routine. And, frankly I’m totally looking forward to it.

In all honesty, though, I’ve always had a little trouble with the kids cleaning their rooms. This seems to be the area that continues to baffle me. Usually I just tell them “clean up your room!” and the whining and fighting begins. They get frustrated, I get angry, and the room…well, the room is never completely done.

I realized recently (hello, lightbulb! It took you long enough!) that I am asking the kids to live up to my standards of clean and organized which is a bit unrealistic because, well, they’re kids. I certainly want them to establish good habits, but giving them a blanket statement of “clean up your room” didn’t compute in their tiny little brains. On the few occasions when it did make sense they never reached the expectation of what I wanted for their rooms. And I thought…

Why the hell do I want their rooms to look like the Pottery Barn Kids catalog?! They’re kids! Let them enjoy their rooms!

But, in the interest of continuing of establishing good habits, I’ve decided to forego the “clean up your room” and break tasks into smaller, daily chunks. This puts the task at their level so they can accomplish it and still has them learning the lessons of cleaning up. And, while this new idea means their rooms will never be “done” to my unrealistic magazine standards, they will at least be doing a little everyday.

Here’s what I’ve come up with. The charts are printed and will be taped on their bedroom doors so they can look at it, get the task done, and move on:

Everyday they have one or two simple tasks to complete – each taking no more than 5 or 10 minutes. I know that the whole room will be picked up during the week and they won’t be overwhelmed with doing the whole thing everyday. I want them to enjoy their rooms and feel comfortable playing with their toys without the constant stressing of putting it all away. And who really cares of the room doesn’t look like a magazine photo. Life just isn’t that picturesque around here. I’m finally okay with that.

What do you do to help your kids clean their rooms?

Filed Under: kids, organization

Preparation Sunday

March 25, 2012 by Neena 1 Comment

One of the many things I love about Sundays is my ability to prep for the upcoming week. I didn’t use to do this, but I’ve learned over the last year or so that a little prep on Sunday makes for a much less stressful week. I tend to break my preparation into categories. I do this mainly so I can tackle any necessary preparation at the right time. For example, it is nearly impossible to prep for the week ahead during the witching hours of baths, dinner, and bedtime. So I leave that time open for complete focus on the kids and family.

Here’s how I break it down:

Sunday Mornings

Coffee and blog reading – I love to use the quiet time in the morning to catch up on blogs from the week that I didn’t have time to read earlier. It’s relaxing and allows me to breathe before any chaos of the day comes running down the steps.
Menu Planning and Grocery List – I wish I could tell you that I’m a coupon shopper or that I look for sales before making my menu and list, but the truth is I base our meals of what is on the calendar for the week. If I know we have numerous activities on any given night I’ll make that a crock pot meal so it’s ready when we have a window to eat.

Social Media

Plan blog posts for the week – I always have an idea or two sloshing around in my head so I’ll take time to make a few notes or put things in my draft folder to finish later in the week.
Return emails – I try to respond to blog comments, my online groups, or review offers as best I can. Doing this on Sunday leaves me open for whatever comes in during the upcoming week.

Project Preparation

I’ve learned through years of marriage that the husband and I work best together if we plan ahead. I’m big on tackling projects on the weekends while he’s big on thinking through and planning what needs to be done before hand. We always take time to think about what we want to do for the NEXT weekend. We make lists of supplies or things that might be needed in order to begin and that gives us a whole week to pull it together. This way I’m not waking up on a Saturday morning saying “hey, let’s paint today!” and waiting half a day prepping to do it. For example – next weekend we are starting our vegetable gardens for the Spring. By prepping now we have all week to purchase dirt, plants, and the necessary supplies to put a small “fence” around the beds to prevent the dog from terrorizing my crops.

Kid Preparation

Pack lunches for Mondays and prep lunch supplies for the week. I try to have all lunch supplies packaged individually before the week starts (ex: grapes, crackers, etc.) Then I just have to pull them out and throw them in lunch boxes during the week. It saves a ton of time on a busy weeknight.
Hygiene – I promise I bathe my kids during the week, but Sunday is the big bath and hygiene night. The kids are scrubbed squeaky clean, nails are clipped, ears are cleaned out, brushing and flossing are monitored, and hair is dried. This lets me know that they are at least starting the week off fresh and clean.
Clothing – all Monday outfits, shoes, socks, accessories, etc., are set out on Sunday night. No exceptions.
Backpacks are checks, folders are signed, reading logs are updated from the weekend, and everything for Monday is already inside. This means no show-and-tell or ice cream day surprises. Plus, everything that needs to be signed is kept on our high counter so I am reminded it needs to be taken care of and sent with the correct kid.

Busy Mama Preparation (usually after the kids go to bed)

look over and update the calendar with anything that is happening during the upcoming week. I keep a paper calendar but I always add kid and family events to my google calendar so my husband can sync to it and know what is going on. This week alone we have karate x’s 3 days, piano, ballet, , preschool Easter party, boy scout pack meeting, karate graduation, volunteering at the preschool, karate fitness run, and hand delivering my dissertation to my committee. See why I gotta write it down?!
Fill er up! I try to run out on sunday nights (or I send the hubby) to fill the car up with gas so there is no chance I’ll run late during the week or run low in the middle of crunch time getting from one activity to another.
Make lists – Sunday nights I’ll make a monday to-do list or list of errands for the week so that I can work those in while the kids are at school.

I know this seems like an awful lot of stuff to do on a Sunday (and I didn’t even include the grocery shopping, the laundry, or church!), but I promise you that prepping ahead for the week is one of the few things that keeps my head above water. Well, that and Lexapro.

So what do you do to prep for the week?

Filed Under: a list...sorta, activities, busy days, daily grind, organization, Uncategorized

(my first ever) Menu Planning Monday – and some other stuff

January 3, 2011 by Neena 6 Comments

The holidays officially feel complete. The decorations are packed up, new toys are stored in their rightful place, and Hubby is returning to work after being home for over a week. While the kids still have a couple days left of their break, I’m finally feeling like life is returning to our normal sense of chaos.

While I didn’t make any huge resolutions this year, I have vowed to get more organized. I tend to be pretty competent in this area, but I know there are several areas that can run a bit more smoothly – like our weekly menus. I’ve always made a weekly menu, but recently realized that I need to put more effort and thought into planning for our busy schedules. Once my classes begin in a couple weeks I’ll be limited in how many nights I can cook. I need to have things prepared so my kids have a good dinner while I’m in class. Add nights with karate and swim lessons and it takes some finagling and structure to be sure dinner is prepared and we aren’t relying on take-out or fast food.

So, this is my motivation to begin participating in a Menu Planning Monday link-up. Not only will it hold me accountable for my own planning, but I hope to get a variety of dinner ideas to fill my arsenal.

Monday: Vegetable Soup and Grilled Cheese (we do soup at least once a week)

Tuesday: Navy Beans with Sausage and Steamed Veggies

Wednesday: Chicken Penne Pasta Bake and Salad

Thursday: Sweet/Tangy Meatballs, Egg Noodles, Steamed Veggies

Friday: Hot Dogs and Tater Tots

Saturday: Chicken Tacos and Rice

Sunday: Leftovers

I’ve also decided to spend a good bit of time this year focusing on my blog and what it is I love about the experience of blogging. I want to remember what brought me here in the first place and reconnect with the blogosphere. I feel that some of this has slipped away since I’ve been back in school working on this PhD and I’ve realized that isn’t acceptable. I refuse to lose something I love so much just because my schedule is hectic. You guys mean too much to me. The experiences, the friends, the community is worth the endurance and I want to embrace that as much as possible. What can I say?! You guys rock my fro!

So, in my first effort to reconnect I created a F acebook page for hooey!critic. See over in the side bar? You can click on that, like the page, and make me feel all kinds of loved. I mean, come on?! Don’t you want to be a part of warming the cockles of my heart? It’s not nearly as dirty as it sounds. I promise.

Filed Under: Facebook, MPM, organization

Ta-Da!

December 29, 2010 by Neena 3 Comments

I mentioned the other day that I’m faced with a huge need to organize and purge my house.

This transpired into a project: kitchen command center

I’m pleased to say that the project is finally done!

Before:

And, after…

Isn’t it just lovely?! Everything has a place, all the supplies are easy to find, and I finally feel like I’m gaining some semblance of control over my crazy, chaotic life. Overall, it was not expensive project – but I did need to invest in a few pieces. Hubby encouraged me to buy the cork boards with the frames so that it looked a little more polished. I think he was smart to suggest that (but don’t tell him he was right!).

black cabinet: I already owned – got it free from a neighbor several

years ago in trade for my baker’s rack

wall files: Staples - I actually already owned these, but they broke when Hubby took

them off the pantry door they were hung on before the project (hehe!)

cork board/dry erase board: both purchased at Staples for around $14 each

charging station: Staples – under $20 bucks

green cloth bin: Target, under $7

The entire project cost me under $70, took a little more than a day (with shopping and sorting time included) and has really freed up my counter space. That, alone, is priceless!

Filed Under: before/after, organization, projects

Taming the chaos

December 28, 2010 by Neena 4 Comments

There is something about the end of Christmas that sends me into cleaning and organizing overdrive. I suddenly want to purge all my unused crap, redecorate, buy bins, and create a perfectly smooth-running home – as perfectly smooth running a house with three little weirdos can be!

I’m bound and determined to get organized before I return for my Spring semester of school. The downfall of having an assistantship last semester was that my house, my systems, my general need for order was thrown to the wayside and I ended up living in so much chaos that I became crazy stabby neurotic girl.

So for the sake of my husband’s gonads and my sanity, I started a project.

Actually my friend and I started a project.

My friend, Dani, recently started an organization consulting business and is helping me create a command center for my kitchen – a place with homework supplies for the kids, all our scheduling mumbo jumbo, and the plethora of papers that keep taking up my freaking counter space. She came over yesterday, drew up some plans, and made me sort all my crap into piles.

And there was a lot of crap to sort.

See? Crap.

Anyway, the goal is to take the hutch off the cabinet and use the wall space behind it for a large calendar, some wall files, and a dry erase/cork/magnetic board. There will be a charging station there for all our electronic gadgets and storage for all the school stuff that comes in daily.

I can’t wait to have it finished!!! I need to head out tomorrow and buy a 2011 calendar and get the other things hung in the right place. The plan is to have a week or so to get used to the new system before vacation is over and more crap comes into my house on a daily basis.

This project is totally giving me the organization fix that I’ve been craving. I’m feeling less stabby and more centered and calm. And, I’m sure hubby is glad that – for now- I won’t be taking my lack of ability to live in chaos out on his manly areas.

Everybody wins!

Come back tomorrow for the finished product – command station hooey!critic style!

Filed Under: organization

Resolutions schmesolutions, I say!

December 29, 2009 by Neena 4 Comments

Now that the year is coming to an end most people are trying to decided what resolutions they are going to make for the new year.

meh.

I don’t care for resolutions. Frankly, I find them a little limiting and filled with pressure and promises.

Plus, I suck at keeping them.

I mean, really. Who really needs to make another freaking diet resolution.

This year I’m going to lose all that extra weight and eat only fish and steamed asparagus and I’m going to workout religiously every single day. I will fit into that *insert said piece of clothing here* and I will look amazing. Let me tell you the plan I’ve made to do it all over lunch at The Burger King!

So, no resolutions for me. But, that doesn’t mean that I don’t need to attempt to accomplish something. I decided that it was time get the ‘household’ stuff organized. You know, the calendars, school papers, permission slips, etc. And, I wasn’t about to wait until the 1st to do it. I’m more prone to success when I’m spontaneous with my plans.

Hey honey! I have an idea! I’m going to finally create a message center in our kitchen for all the miscellaneous stuff that flies around. I’m going to get a new calendar and put all the different activities on it for each child. I’m going to coordinate and label and highlight my anal ass off! It’s going to be useful, practical, and brilliant. And, I want to do it right now.

*crickets…*

When the mood for this kind of crap strikes you just have to go with it.

I had seen an article in Real Simple that showed something similar to what I wanted in my kitchen.

But, those Real Simple bitches were all crafty and shit with their glue gun, custom tags, and weird ribbon.

Um, yea. I don’t do that.

What I do do (hehe…I said ‘do do’) is a little more Walmart and ghetto, but just as effective.

Ta da!

I have a spiffy new calendar to mark down all the appointments, school holidays, swim lessons, and haircuts. I actually had to buy a new calendar because the preschool didn’t have the kids make one this year for the holiday gift. Instead they made a candy bowl.

I’ll be sure to mark on my new calendar exactly how much use I’ll get out of that candy bowl…

Done.

I do have to say, though, that the calendar I bought is designed for moms and comes with five thousand little stickers to use for various activities. My OCD is loving those fucking stickers!

I even have my dry erase board with my weekly menu, tablet of paper, and space for notes like ‘Hey the mattresses for her big girl bed are being delivered Wednesday – don’t forget!’

I even has a plastic wall file thing just like the Real Simple people had. Only mine came from Staples and cost about 1/3 as much. Now I have a place to keep all those papers that come home from school reminding me about yet another fundraiser or that my kids will end up on the top of a bell tower if I don’t take the ‘wait a year’ recommendation for kindergarten.

Wouldn’t want to lose those.

So, I’m pretty proud of my spontaneous, Suck it, Real Simple message center. Now I just need to get all these little people back to school – not so they can learn stuff, but so I can test out my kick ass anti-resolution project!

It’s good to have goals, right!?

Filed Under: ocd, organization

Organization has its drawbacks

June 2, 2008 by Neena 2 Comments

Today I came to the hard realization that even when you’re uber-organized some stuff is just a pain in the arse!!
I got a bill in the mail today from the kids’ dentist visit back in February. It claimed that we were over 60 days late paying the bill. HA! I emphasize the laughter because I have never paid a bill late….it’s that weird mother OCD thing. Anyway, I had to dig out the proof that I did, in fact, pay that bill at the beginning of March. I found it easily, but then had to call and get records faxed, return calls to make sure stuff was received, etc.
In the end they found proof of my payment, apologized for the nasty-gram bill, and told me to have a nice day. I should have wished them better organization.

On the down side, I don’t envy my kids when they have to clean out my files when I die. They will certainly be able to find anything they need, but I can already imagine the eyes that will roll when they discover that I still have copies of my phone bills back when I used to live in a dorm in college…pre-turn of the century! At least they are all labeled and filed accordingly.

Man, I’m sick…

Filed Under: dentist, files, nablopomo, organization

Organization has its drawbacks

June 2, 2008 by Neena Leave a Comment

Man, I’m sick…

Filed Under: dentist, files, nablopomo, organization

the magic power of a label maker

April 1, 2008 by Neena 2 Comments

I must confess that one of my favorite things in the entire world is my label maker. It is a rather high quality one that I stole from my husband. He claimed it was for work stuff, but I assumed since it I found it abandoned in the garage it was up for grabs! I put new batteries in it and bought new tape. Now it is mine and and find myself just looking for stuff to label.

Today I cleaned out a cabinet in my kitchen that holds my cookbooks up top and pet supplies down below. I got to use my label maker 8 times just on that cabinet! A little excessive, I know. But, I am just one of those people that thinks there is a place for everything and everything should be in its place (Thanks, Mom). I know that seems unrealistic as a mom of three little ones, but I can’t help myself. It’s like a weird high. My idea of Heaven includes things that are color-coded, placed in cute little baskets, labeled, organized, and easily accessible. I’m getting all excited!