Your Clutter Busting challenge for the week of January 30th is to Create a Weekly Schedule.Designate certain days for different jobs. For example: I do towel laundry on Mondays and also clean the bathrooms those days. Tuesdays I do all clothes laundry and dust and sweep bedrooms. Wednesday is Bill day and home office clean up, etc. etc.
Once you get into a routine, your family will follow. My family knows that if their dirty clothes are not placed into the laundry basket on Tuesday morning they will not have it cleaned that week. Read the rest »

Your Clutter Busting challenge for the week of January 23rd is to create a daily schedule.It is essential to establish routine in your life regardless whether you work in or out of the home. One of the key areas is to create a daily schedule. I am not talking about a super rigid by the hour timetable, rather a set number of tasks to do within a certain time frame.The 9:00am deadline:
I find it easier to get my shower and dressed prior to my husband leaving for the day. I am a morning person by nature so a 6:00am shower works for me. In my world, I have to get everyone fed, my husband out the door and my daughter to the bus by 7:15am, at which time I have a little boy who is desperately requiring my attention! I have a general list of things that I like to have completed by 9:00am. The reason I have set 9:00am as my morning deadline is that unplanned visits rarely occur before this time. Read the rest »

We think you Clever Parents will love Card-Blanc and their beautiful cards where every piece is truly a work of art. After hand-making her son’s birth announcements to rave reviews from family and friends, Kathy Martin decided to make a business of it. Clever Parents caught up with owner, designer and creative mind behind the company and learned about the moms who assemble her cards, what inspires her designs, and how running the business is a lot like raising a child. Read the rest »

How much does it cost to raise a child from birth through age 17, assuming you cover housing, child care, food, health care and the like? It’s a scary prospect to consider, no doubt, but does curiousity have the best of you? Read the rest »

Your Clutter Busting Challenge for the week of January 16th is to create a Chore Checklist:

If you find yourself making daily to-do lists, this next challenge is essential!

1. Create your list. Take a few minutes and write down everything that needs to get done in your house per week. Think of everything; dust, sweep, clean out the car, watering plants, going to the library, etc. etc.
2. Organize your list into a one-page spreadsheet. I organize it by rooms, but do your checklist however you see fit.
3. Add to your manual. Print your list, three-hole punch it, and place into your Household Manual. Read the rest »

Your Clutter Busting task for the week of January 9th to January 15th is to start a household manual.Shopping List:

• Three ring binder
• Couple of packages of page protectors
• Pack of 3-hole index pages

I am going to describe how I have put my Household Manual together, but please create a manual that will best suit the needs of your family. Stop writing list after list! Keep all of your to-do’s in this one binder!

Index 1: Weekly checklist
Index 2: Temp. File (Invites, appt. cards, upcoming events, etc.)
Index 3: Permanent File (Misc. Important papers, important contact names/phone numbers, CPR page, Birthday Card List, etc.)
Index 4: Take out menus

For the first section, I made up copies of my weekly checklist (see attached-we will discuss in detail next week how to make your own) and placed them in the binder. Throughout the week, I simply check off when I complete a task. It makes cleaning so much easier! On the upper right hand corner there is a place for the week’s menu. I work on next week’s menu page during this week. At the end of the week, I simply rip out the page and I am ready with a new page for a new week with a completed menu at the top!
The second section is full of clear page protectors. I slip into these pages: invitations (which have already been RSVP’d), and important papers for upcoming events (School, Brownie, Cheerleading, etc.). Don’t waste your time digging through piles of papers and risk tossing important papers inadvertently in the garbage!!
The third section is also filled with clear page protectors. This section is full of long term and permanent important papers such as important contact names and numbers (mechanic, plumber, gas company, etc. etc.), babysitter information sheet, Birthday Calendar, and I even have an emergency CPR page.

The final section is yet again full of clear page protectors. This is where I keep take-out menus.
It is so handy to grab your manual rather than digging through a junk drawer or looking for a misplaced post-it! Throughout the many missions ahead, I will often times refer back to the household manual. Please do not think this is something that you should be even attempting to finalize this week, as this manual will continue to be a work in progress. Next week we will focus on planning a chore checklist.

- Betsy