More Secrets

There was a time when I was a one-kid mom running my own home. I have since evolved to a three-kid mom sharing the homemaking responsibilities. I think things are about equal ... more kids, less homemaking responsibilities. I thought I'd share some of what I do that has made keeping house MUCH easier for me.
Before we moved in with my folks and the only kid I had nipping at my heels was Eve, I used the Card File System. The what??, you ask. I got this idea from the book Sidetracked Home Executives, a book my mom read when she was a young housewife and passed on to me. It's a great system to organize your chores and appointments and everything else you want to accomplish in a day, week, month and year. I'm hoping to go back to this system once things stabilize around here.
Now I use a calendar. I made a blank one that I framed and write in the days, month and chores with a dry erase marker. My goal these days is to do ONE chore a day. For example, this week looked like this:
- Monday: Our room
- Tuesday: Bathrooms (mine and the girls')
- Wednesday: Girls' rooms
- Thursday: Laundry
- Friday: Closets
Sometimes I end up doing laundry more than once a week and "closets" isn't on there every week. It usually rotates with something like "floors" or "organize" or something like that. I'm a big list maker. I feel SUPER accomplished if I can finish my one chore a day (which I usually can) and check it off. I feel like an ober achiever if i can manage to throw another chore in too.
BUT IS THERE TIME FOR ALL OF THAT?? A very valid question, I frequently ask myself. The answer is: But of course!
Part of the hole Card File system I mentioned above is timing how long it takes you to do one chore. Not how long it takes to clean the entire bathroom but how long it takes to do each individual thing: clean the toilet, wipe down the sink, clean the shower, etc. It's AMAZING how long it really takes you to clean something! I can clean my entire bathroom in about 3 minutes ... THREE MINUTES! That includes straightening, wiping down and scrubbing the toilet, spraying down and rinsing the shower, wiping out the sink, wiping the mirror and cleaning off the floor. So if time is your issue, I encourage you to set a timer and let yourself see how it really doesn't take that long to get stuff done. I was amazed! I'm sure will be too!
What secrets do you use to gets daily chores accomplished?

Getting It Together!

I LOVE ORGANIZING!

I LOVE THE DOLLAR STORE!!

I've been on a cleaning/organizing binge lately! It started with me declaring war on germs in an attempt to keep the flu away. That bled into organizing the girls' closets, drawers and clothes. I'll post more on all that later. 

So I went to Target to get some organizing equipment and ended up with a big basket for books for $10. I was okay with the price for what I was getting. But then I came home only to discover I really needed 2 more of those baskets. 

Instead of going back to Target, I headed to the Dollar Store! SCORE!!! I found everything Target had at the Dollar Store plus more. Granted it's probably not the quality I would've gotten at Target, but it worked perfectly for what I needed.

I discovered how rolling clothes and towels can save SO much room in your drawers and cabinets and look so much neater. With that in mind, I found these amazing drawer organizers! FOR A DOLLAR! They had 2 different sizes. I'll post pictures later of the organizers in use so you can see how amazing they are in action!

 They had 2 different sizes - small and medium. But that leads me to believe there's a large somewhere!

This is how they looked in the package.

Some of My Secrets

In my free time (HAHA!), I like to cook/bake. Some of you may be thinking "Um excuse me? Don't you have 3 kids under 2 1/2? How does that even happen!?"

My answer is, Yup I do! And here are some of my secrets to being able to do something like cooking/baking when you have little ones:

**Move in with your amazing parents who are as dedicated to your kids as you are and support your parenting flawlessly.**

Okay, so I realize that's not a reality for everyone. But I was able to get stuff done even when I just had Eve and we lived by ourselves. Here are some of my REAL secrets:

1. Learn to do things fast! (Setting a timer for yourself helps with this. See how much you can get done in 1 minute) I naturally do everything fast but I had to learn to be precise and accurate with my speed. If you can do your tasks fast you can do what you're trying to accomplish, tend quickly to your babe and go back and forth. See #2!

2. Multitask! It's something I highly recommend for all moms. But know how and when to turn it off and on. If you're not a natural multitasker, there are some great books out there. Or chances are you have a friend who is ... call her!

3. Get used to letting your kids fuss. They WILL BE OKAY if they cry for a minute while you finish something up. Especially if they are clean and fed and all they want is your attention.

4. Your high chairs aren't just for mealtime anymore. I discovered this trick with Eve. A lot of the time she just wanted to be a part of what was going on, so I'd put her in her high chair, give her something to play with (if you're in the kitchen, plastic dishes work great!) and set her within site of the action. This way I could interact with her as well without worrying about her getting into what I was doing. Also, get your high chair out of the kitchen! This is a great trick for any room in the house.

5. When at all possible, involve them in what you're doing. Okay, this might go against #1 and definitely won't work with everything. I involve Eve (not so much the babies yet) in almost everything I'm doing. If I'm baking or cooking in the kitchen, I give her a bowl and spoon and let her do her own thing (usually it's make muffins or birthday soup). Or I sit her up on the counter and let her stir, pour, or supervise whatever I'm doing. This works best when you're not on a time crunch and you don't mind a bigger mess. This can also be applied to anything! I have her help me "fold" clothes, dust, do my makeup, sweep ... you can find a 2 year old version of just about anything!

This is probably the hardest one ...
6. Encourage and teach your kids to play independently and be patient. I understand this comes more naturally to some kids than others. I do think it's something that can be instilled in every child. With Eve, it's hit or miss. Sometimes she'll do one activity by herself for 30 minutes to an hour ... play in her room, draw, color, play outside. When she's "in the zone" I try to leave her alone :) or poke my head in and say "You're doing a wonderful job playing!!" I've also started to play a "game" with her where I set my timer for 15 seconds and we have to be really still and quiet. From the time Eve was old enough to start asking/demanding things, I started using the word "patience" with her. I know a patience song, too, that I would sing to her. Oddly enough, she would stop and listen. When she was started talking, "patience" became part of her vocabulary. Now she says "I'm doing a good job being patient." :)

Do you have any secrets?