As busy parents, who has time to read a bunch of etiquette books? Here are a few tips to assist you — Clever Parent that you are — appear more polished, educated and civilized.
- Sit down and get up on the right side of your chair at formal luncheons.
- Introduce the person with a lesser title to the person with a higher title or rank, men to women, younger people to seniors. The easiest way to remember how to do this is to speak the most important person’s name first. For example, Madame President, this is your new assistant, Jane Doe.
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Are you starving to be the hostess with the mostess? Casual supper clubs, elegant dinner parties, or child-friendly snacks; planning any of these are easier with a well-stocked, freshly organized pantry. Organizing the pantry is truly one of the most efficient ways to save money, time, and shelf space. (more…)
Organizing an emergency pack is a good idea for everyone. Once accomplished, it gives a great sense of relief. In the event of a water disaster such as flood, hurricane, tropical storm or mudslide these are a few priorities to act on today—before an emergency. (Depending on the type of emergency, contents for the pack will vary.) (more…)
Need a primer on primers? Is your color palette pleasing? If “Décor and More” is the biggest category on your perpetual “to do” list, keep reading.
As a professional organizer I help clients accomplish goals and implement new systems. It isn’t unusual to be asked to organize an upcoming project for them. Recently a chronically disorganized client (CDC) asked for my assistance organizing a painting project in her home. In each room painters were going to be freshening up the ceilings, crown moldings, baseboards and walls. The CDC was becoming overwhelmed with all the options and found that picking a paint color was easy compared to some of the other decisions which needed to be made. (more…)
An Organizer’s Guide to Book Awards
Once upon a time, when my two sons were in preschool, we three played a game while driving around doing errands. I would name a category and they would have to figure out things that fell into that category. We would do a ‘round robin’, taking turns, calling specific, category appropriate, items out loud. For example, if I said, “Food” they would name food items. Things like: fish sticks, Cheerios, French toast, spaghetti, and so on. As the boys grew older, I’d make the categories more specific like, “Vegetables.” Again, they would take turn naming all the veggies they could. Then, I would ask them to take turns but name the veggies in alphabetical order so they would start with, “A” (asparagus or avocados) and move onto “B”, (beans, broccoli, beets)“C” (cabbage, celery, carrots) etc. As a mom I was engaging them in conversation, teaching them to categorize things, practicing the alphabet, and last but not least, introducing them to new veggies (we don’t buy rutabaga or radishes but those veggies are helpful when trying to think of an “R” veggie). (more…)
The Other 3 R’s (Repurpose, Reuse, Recycle)
Learn what supplies you need to organize your child’s learning
Don’t rush out and buy every cute gadget and gizmo at the office supply store hoping it is going to keep your child organized and more productive. It could end up becoming clutter. Before heading out check in closets and drawers and see what you have on hand. A few basics that most elementary-aged kids need are items such as poster board, markers, glue sticks, colored pencils, number 2 lead pencils, scissors, lined paper and erasers. (more…)
ORGANIZING PHOTOS: Digital and Film
Got photos? Are they organized? Decide which photos you want to organize first: film or digital then follow these steps.
STEP ONE –Develop (film) or Download (digital)
Develop all canisters of film OR download all pictures off the digital camera.
STEP TWO-Edit
Overview:
Duplicate photos should be given away/deleted! The ‘give-away’ system can be as simple and economical as using envelopes or Ziplock baggies labeled “Grandma” or “School*”. There is no reason to hang onto 30 pictures of your child’s first day of school. In contrast, photos become lavish gifts when presented in a leather photo envelope or inserted into glass bookends. A nice gift for grandparents is to insert a photo into a pre-matted frame and let little ones sign their names on the mat. (more…)
