Monday Tips for Busy Moms: Organizing for Daily Life

by Jennifer Worthington Lower

As you can imagine, I’m sure, I love to read organization books and magazines to get ideas for my own life, to help others and to share with readers. I have been in spring cleaning mode which sends organization into overdrive and I like to organize, not only my home, but my life as well. With all of the time I spend trying to think ahead and multitask, I somehow run out of steam when it comes to a “night before” routine. I get to it sometimes, but I usually get involved in things after the kids go to bed and before I know it I’m up way past my bedtime.

Sleep is a huge priority and I am a much nicer person when I get adequate rest, so off to bed I will go.

I have been reading about various tips and systems to implement to make getting out the door in the morning easier and I thought I would share them with you here. Basically, you want to get anything done that can be done ahead of time- Lunches packed, clothes laid out, bags together and maybe even a breakfast table set up.

One system that has come back to me a few times is the daily bin or shelf idea. It is recommended to set up a series of bins (or whatever would work for you and your family) for each day of the week. This gives everything that comes through the door with a deadline a home. Soccer practice on Thursday? Cleats and shin guards are in the bin. Piano lessons on Tuesday? Books and sheet music are ready to go. Something that I am terrible at is unloading my own stuff and sorting it. I will make sure my husband and kids are set and then I will let just wing it when it comes to my things. I figure, at least everyone else is going to be fine, and it will be my own fault if I forget my own stuff. I should not feel that way, but it happens. If I were to implement the bin system, I would save myself the trouble and sore shoulder from lugging unneeded junk around with me everyday.

I have also heard that some families successfully use a folder system or pockets on the refrigerator to keep organized. One folder per family member contains their schedules, forms, assignments, etc…. Everything is in one central location so Mom and Dad can keep track while each child is ultimately responsible for their own things. This would work well for school aged children. Mine are young so we don’t have much paper accumulation yet, but we will. One last thing that I will mention is the master schedule. This can be a hardcopy, paper and pen type calendar or you online calendars synced on your computer and smart phone. Everyone’s assignments and appointments are written in one place and all birthdays, holidays and special events are recorded. I like to have an online and paper copy of this. I always have my phone with me and it would seem to be the most convenient, but I like to write things down. The act of writing it seems to stick with me better than typing it on a key pad. I try to keep my online calendars up to date with my hard copy so there are no mistakes and everyone has a copy at their disposal.

I hope this can inspire you to try something new to make your days run smoothly. What do you do already that helps you organize your life?

Not again…?!?

I have officially done it again. I’ve waited really long to send thank you notes to the guests of our last birthday party. I typically do them later than I’d prefer, but – I think that 2 months is probably too long. They will get done this weekend.

The problem is that I really like to write thank you notes. I enjoy telling people what it was about their thoughtful gift that was appreciated. I love stationary – real stationary like this one from Paperluxe, and I can even picture myself sitting at my desk and writing a note that looks fabulous on paper and stuffing it into an equally beautiful envelope (with a liner), addressing it in elegant handwriting and putting one of those personalized stamps on it. When I’m really using my imagination I can even see myself putting a faux wax imprint over the seal.

You see, I give it a lot of thought. I have two downfalls. The first is that my hand writing is awful. I blame it on not having attended Catholic school or maybe growing up in a generation where computers were used to do my writing. Whatever it is – it’s awful. Secondly, with 2 kids, a full time job, a side business, a spouse and an extended family – I just don’t have time to pull all of the details together to make the cards what I want them to be.

I call it failure of perfectionism. For me if one of my elements is off – it ruins the whole project. So if I don’t have the right stamps or the right cards or envelopes, etc. I don’t like to start – because I know I’m not going to like the end product.

This year – I’m making a Resolution to do better. I’m going to cut myself some slack and not stress when one piece of the puzzle doesn’t fit just perfectly. This year – this decade – I’m going to get my thank you notes out on time!

What about you? Any resolutions to share?

Andrea is a new contributor at Chester County Moms. She lives in Berwyn with her husband and two daughters. Andrea works in Human Resources and is learning how to balance work, family and entrepreneurship. You can see what Andrea’s up to at http://parentise.com where she is working on creating a database of information built from the expertise of parents like you.

The Sickly Season…

It starts in late September – right after you’ve settled into the routine of daycare/pre-school. The first signs are a runny nose, maybe a slight cough…nothing to serious – but it seems never ending. The runny nose doesn’t go away in a few days, the cough gets worse. Maybe there is a slight fever – again, nothing serious – just seemingly never ending. I call this the “Sickly Season”. It last from September until March (at least in my house).

I have hopes that as my kids get older, this season will no longer affect us, in the meantime I just hope that we get lucky. You see, my kids are in daycare and pre-school. My little one stays with a wonderful woman in her home a few days a week and with my mother-in-law the others. My older one is in pre-school. My husband and I both work full-time.

This season wears on my husband and I – partially because the kids are sick – and the midnight and 2am wakings just aren’t fun. Partially because never knowing when a fever is going to hit that requires up to 2 days out of school and care is really difficult when you’re trying to build your career.

During the “Sickly Season”, I rely heavily on the flexibility of my job and the kindness of my mother-in-law to help out. Sometimes everything falls into place and the stress is kept to a minimum. Two weeks ago, my baby girl’s both had the flu and the little one had pneumonia – yet everything worked out fine.

However, having relied on everyone to help out during that time period means that I’ve worn out my favors for next week when my daughters school has parent teacher conferences on the same day that my in-laws go on vacation. I have 2 meetings that day that can’t be missed and my husband has to be at work. My best friend can’t watch my baby girl for me due to her schedule, etc. We seem to be out of luck.

In the end it will all work out, but I find myself looking forward to the end of the “Sickly Season”.
I know we’ll figure it out – something will just have to give. How do you manage the struggle between work and home, kids and career? What gives for you when you’re put between a rock and a hard place?

Andrea is a new contributor at Chester County Moms. She lives in Berwyn with her husband and two daughters. Andrea works in Human Resources and is learning how to balance work, family and entrepreneurship. You can see what Andrea’s up to at http://parentise.com where she is working on creating a database of information built from the expertise of parents like you.