Organization 101

During the past few weeks, my goal has been simple. Not easy, but simple.

Organization.

It started with a meeting at MOPS where we created our own Mommy Binders, which keep track of regular routines including groceries, meals, phone numbers, schedules, etc. Putting this together was a lot of fun for me - after all, who doesn't love anything in sheet protectors and scrapbook paper? - but it really caused me to do a lot of thinking about what it is that I do.

We were encouraged to think about the routines we have already established. To think about how we could make our time more efficient and to do one new thing every week. I had absolutely NO idea this binder would change my lifestyle so drastically!

Some of the biggest changest I've made have to do with food. Not surprising, since I live with three boys. Here are some of the changes I've worked to make in our house:

• I wrote down a huge list of our favorite meals (and put it in a sheet protector inside my binder) so I can refer to it while planning my weekly meals. Why do we always forget what we like to eat when it's time to plan dinners?
• I think about our menu options as I cut coupons. If ground beef is on sale, I'll make meatloaf, sloppy jos, and beef stroganoff, for example.
• I've been doubling recipes and cooking meat ahead of time, then freezing in labeled Ziploc bags. Gosh, why hadn't I started this sooner? I keep a list of all freezer meals and then refer to this list when I'm planning my weekly menu. For a night when I know I would have been out all day, I might plug in one of those freezer meals. This has also worked really well in allowing me to help cook for others! I'm also getting better with freezing leftovers. After all, how much chili can you eat in two days?
• I started cooking at least one soup a week. My husband works outside in the cold everyday, so he has really enjoyed this! My boys are big fans as well. Surprisingly so. I keep leftovers in labeled Ziploc bags and freeze for another day. When it's time to eat again, I simply thaw the bag in the refrigerator and then reheat, or boil for a few minutes in water and then remove contents from the bag. A great side dish to ANY meal!
• I've been using the boys' naptimes more efficiently. Since it's not practical for me to try and make dinner with four arms pulling at my legs, I now make dinner while they sleep. After I put the boys down for their nap, I begin making dinner. I'll get everything ready and then put it in the refrigerator. If it's a Crockpot meal, I start cooking it on high (usually, you cook meals for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high.) This has been working extremely well! It only takes about an hour and then I have the second hour to do what I want. I haven't been as stressed at 4:30pm when I would normally start dinner and so I can be more relaxed with the boys before Andy comes home at 6pm. Today I made corned beef and cabbage and have it cooking in the Crockpot. Who says you can only eat it on St. Patrick's Day?
• Andy and I have a renewed vision for our 15 minutes after we put the boys down for the night. I know there'll always be at least one load of laundry to fold, the bathroom needs to be wiped down, the dishwasher filled, leftovers put away and Andy's lunch to make. We make ourselves do something for at least 15 minutes, but I know that all of my other chores will take about an hour. When those things are finished (and they don't even take THAT long) then I can have ME time. And I do love me time.

One of my friends dreaded putting the dishes from the dishwasher away and so she timed herself. Any guesses as to how long it took? Three and a half minutes. Why is it that the things we tend to dread most, take the least amount of time to accomplish? Another one of my friends had a great idea for school lunches: she makes all of her kids' lunch sandwiches on Sunday night and then puts them in the freezer. Then she just pulls out the desired sandwiches that morning (or night before) and they're thawed before lunchtime! What a great time saver!

Some of the moms asked what we should do with our kids as we try and clean? While I suppose we could do it while they sleep (if your kids are still taking naps) or after we've shuffled them off to Grandma's (and c'mon, could we all do that everyday?) that may not be very practical. They told us that we should get the kids involved. Give them squirt bottles and a wash cloth to wash the oven door. My boys love doing that, by the way! Allow them to use the Swiffer or the duster. One of my friends said her kids fight over who's going to clean the toilet! What kids don't like cleaning tools? Except my boys, of course. They're still afraid of the vacuum. Guess which mommy never vacuumed when they were babies? Yup. Guilty. I have all of my boys' toys in galloon-sized Ziploc bags with a glider close. They put their toys away every single time. I'll have the pictures to prove it next time! We've been doing it ever since they were about a year old. And trust me, they are more than capable.

The same friend that makes the sandwiches on Sunday night and freezes them has her kids do one "mommy chore" every day. This could include sweeping the floor, vacuuming, setting the table. With four kids ranging from 2-7, she gets a lot done! I believe she has them choose one strip of the paper out of the jar to reveal their job for the day. Another friend writes the chores down on a large sheet of paper and has the kids drop pennies on top to reveal their next job.

I also thought about creating new routines for myself that worked with our schedule:

• The garbage truck comes on Friday morning, so on Thursday night, I empty all of the garbage bins and clean out the refrigerator. Makes sense, right?
• An idea from FlyLady.net is to spend one day a week doing what she calls a Weekly Home Blessing. You clean 10 areas of your house for 7-15 minutes each (depending how much time you have allotted.) This includes dusting, sweeping, purging magazines, cleaning the windows, emptying small garbage cans, vacuuming, etc. You don't concentrate on doing a thorough job. You just set the timer and work until it rings, the move onto the next thing. Cleaning isn't such a chore anymore because I don't leave EVERYTHING until I *have* to get it done!

As I've said, this new lifestyle has been wonderful! I'm less stressed in the evenings, more excited about making new things for my family to enjoy, and can spend more time doing things that I like to do. We've also been saving money because there are fewer times when I just can't get dinner together and we go out to eat instead! That's how I rationalized buying myself a Droid Incredible after my old phone died. I told myself that I'd rather pay $30/month to have this phone than spend that on a night out. Trust me, we still get out. But we could definitely afford to cut back. And I win!

Now, back to Tetris on my phone. I'm really getting good at this game! :)