Getting dinner on the table is a daily challenge. A little meal planning can save you time AND your sanity during busy weeks. Maybe you’ll even enjoy cooking for your family a little bit more!
A couple weeks before Christmas one year, I was knee-deep in holiday preparations and getting caught up at work in order to be able to enjoy some well-deserved time off. One day, leading up to the dinner hour with no plan of attack, I was Skyping with a friend and the words “I hate cooking” appeared on the screen.
This guest post was written by Jenn Howe, one of YMC’s awesome Project Managers and a mom of two who does her best to be organized, too! Here is her tale of how she stayed in on a cold winter weekend to tame her messy kitchen pantry and create an efficient space for her and her family.
Many moms put many things ahead of themselves, working hard to make sure that the people around them are healthy and happy. Do you do this? If so, I’m right there with you.
This means that we’re doing a great job of taking care of our families but how well are we taking care of ourselves?
‘Tis the season to get organized for holiday shopping and whether you’re starting now or waiting until December, having a good plan of attack can really make gift shopping easier.
Having a plan for my gift giving helps me simplify what I can as the hectic holiday season approaches. Here are six things I do—and that you can try too—to get prepared to tackle all of that shopping:
We’re all way too busy. And when we do have some free time, who the hell wants to spend that time cleaning the house? BUT…we all know that it needs to be done. Job one is keeping the house healthy. If it can look tidy, even better. And if it can be done quickly, well that’s just the best.
I’m a huge fan of cleaning the house on the go. And Mr. Org is too. We do it bit by bit, like this…
If you find yourself overwhelmed by everything on your plate, turn to the tried and true “To-Do” list to get on track.
I’m drowning in details. I have a lot on the go, as most of us can relate to. Summer is shifting into the busy-ness of Fall. The Kid has started Grade One and we’re gearing up for a full extra-curricular schedule. And work continues to be busy. Ridiculously busy.
Summer is a super fun and super messy time of year. The combination of kids being home from school, the melting drippy treats, and outdoor activities of this time of year can all lead to a mess at any given moment. But with a little advance planning, you can be ready to take care of any messes around your house, in the car, and when your family ventures out on summer adventures.
As a natural born planner, I have a list of things I always do to get ready for day-tripping. But I also love discovering new ways to get organized by finding online tools and smartphone apps. I'm going to tell you more about them as I share 7 things to do when planning a day trip.
The Kid, Mr. Organized and I love driving. My 5-year-old is crazy about vehicles, so hitting the open road is the best way for us to travel. Enjoying the ride, spotting any cool sports cars, and checking out work going on at road construction sites are all part of the experience.
Going to the auto show is an annual tradition for Mr. Org and the Kid. For the Kid who has been fascinated with cars since infancy (see a fraction of his Hot Wheels collection here), it really is second only to Christmas morning!
I have distinct childhood memories of my mother’s wallet. She always has—and always will—sorted her cash by denomination. Fives, then tens, then twenties. Always grouped in the proper order and neatly stacked together. With the fronts facing out and all of the heads on the bills aligned. As a kid, I remember waiting patiently for her as she carefully put her change away after paying for our groceries. It was all in place before she set foot outside the store.
We just had the Christmas that Lego built. The Kid received something like 6 Lego sets over the holidays to add to his growing collection. It really is the perfect gift for him as he LOVES building any sort of vehicle out of Lego and it engages him more that most toys. He’s been having a terrific time but it has introduced a new organizing challenge for me. What to do with all of this Lego?!?
If you’ve been wondering why my posts have been few and far between over recent months, just take a look around you.
Managing the re-branding, re-design, and re-building of the YMC site has been a labour of love for me that began almost a year ago, kicked into overdrive mid-summer and took over my life for several weeks before our launch. A project this big exercised all of my organizational muscles and tapped out my planning prowess.
Put up your hand if you have too many things on your plate and not enough time to do them. Yeah. We are all not only putting our hands up, we’re waving them around frantically.
As parents, we all strive for a delicate balance of timing to keep it all of our balls in the air. And when one of those balls needs more attention and time than expected, any hope of balance can be lost.
I’ve recently been thrown a couple more huge time-management curve balls.
I work from home every day. Being part of a virtual company like YMC means that there is no “office” for me to go into. We all do our jobs and work together over the airwaves, from the comfort of our homes – and in and around our families. Between the craziness of the Kid ruling the roost and the daunting task of keeping track of everything going on with the YMC site, having a comfortable and organized space I can retreat to helps me stay grounded and focused on my job.
There are dishcloths, tea towels, napkins and the facecloths we use to wipe down the sticky Kid after every meal that pile up every day. And then there are the dirty clothes that Kid is always stripping off as he walks in the door – sometimes at our request when he has been playing in the dirt and sometimes of his own volition (man that kid enjoys hanging out in his underwear!) – that always wind up in the kitchen. This adds up to little piles of not only dirty, but often damp, laundry in my kitchen.
It seems to me that clutter-busting TV shows fell out of fashion a few years ago - I miss them! In the early 2000’s there were a couple shows out there that focused on helping people tackle their clutter problems. Remember Clean Sweep? Or Neat?
I was in a lunch meeting with Erica and another colleague yesterday, when somehow in the conversation I mentioned something about my husband creating a spreadsheet to manage some aspect of our household. Knowing my flair for detail and having received many of my spreadsheets, our lunch guest looked surprised that I was married to someone as organized as me.
I love that our home office has one wall fully outfitted with Ikea wardrobes. The Kid’s room has the same set-up and all that extra storage space on the second floor was a huge selling feature of the house!
My husband received an email yesterday morning from our former neighbour. The other day, he and his wife saw the comic below and they said it reminded them of me:
