Ending the School Year with Organization

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Did you know the end is just as important as the beginning? Closings, completions and round ups make for great celebration.  Here are a few baby steps to get this school year “done.”

Spend an hour culling through all the papers that have come home this year. Decide what is precious and sneak the rest out the door.  With those final touches, you will finalize this year’s school memories.  Be brutal and know what “precious” means to you. 

Clean out your own paperwork from school activities.  Finalize what you will be passing along to the next boy scout leader, PTA volunteer or church Sunday School teacher. Pass the papers along before the end of June so you are ready to begin fresh for your new volunteer opportunities.

 Print all the photo memories from this year using automated services. Only 6% of photos are being printed, so choose the most precious.  Archive the photos on cd, dropshots, or other medium to clear off your camera for summer memories to come.

Evaluate and donate kids clothes that are too small.   Shorts, tees, and other summer attire from last year may not fit.   Decide how many you need of each for this summer, take a little shopping trip, and be ready.

Host a family celebration for the end of the year. Too often we miss these opportunities to give our kids a hug and praise for their successes each year.  Bake or buy cupcakes, purchase ice cream and have an end of the year grand slam celebration.  Making the most of every day makes a big difference!

How will you celebrate the end of the school year?

Favorite Organizing Products

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These are a few of my favorite things!

Love label makers! These make everyone’s life easier!  You can find where it is, where it goes and everyone in the family can put things away.  Dymo Letra Tag and Brother P Touch are my faves.

Desktop paper sorters come in lots of styles. My favorites open from the top and have hanging files in them. The hanging file categories include action, pay, file and other every day paper slots. Choose one that matches the decor of your room.

One of my favorite “outside the box” ideas is to use the hanging shoe organizer in lots of different places. These are great at the back door for bug spray and sunscreen, great in the craft room for all the small tools, glues and attachments, great in the toy room for Barbie or hot wheels and great in the kids room for hair bows.   You can see everything, you can reach most things and it is an unused space that provides for storage.

What are your favorite things?

Six Steps to Summer Success

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Summer is just around the corner!   For our family that means time by the pool, time to relax and time for family fun!  The key to summer is knowing what works for your family.  

1.       Keep a routine that works.  Everyone still needs a good night’s rest and great yummy healthy food!   Delicious summer treats include berries and berry smoothies, low fat high protein hot dogs or burgers on the grill, and ice cold watermelon.  Keep bedtime routines consistent with a little later time, but still with a routine.

2.       Family fun includes fun place to go!

Houston Children’s Museum                www.cmhouston.org 

Houston Zoo                                        www.houstonzoo.org

Berry picking                                        www.pickyourown.org

Nature Discovery Center                      www.naturediscoverycenter.org

Lunar and Planetary Institute              http://www.lpi.usra.edu/

Galveston beaches

Area parks

3.       Let’s continue learning this summer too!  Visit the public library once a week, learn a new educational computer game, play chess, RISK or monopoly board games, plant a garden, or take care of a pet.  There are so many experiences to explore.  And don’t forget to include writing and math too in what you do, from baking a cake to journaling about summer travel.

4.       Swimming and summer are a natural! But also add in hiking, biking, walking, jogging, skating and other outdoor activities. Take advantage of cooler morning and evening temps for outside fun.

5.       Summer is the time for creativity.  Encourage your young artist with sidewalk chalk, water color paints, paper mache, crafty creations, and other artistic mediums. The wonderful aspect of creativity is that there is no “wrong” way to express yourself.        

6.       Include more down time in your week. The summer is the best time to kick back and relax. Take a break from the harried and hurried school routines by having more time for talking and just being around the house.   Have summer be the time for family and friend connections.

What are your summer success stories?

Latest and Greatest Organizing Products (NAPO Organizing Expo 2010)

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  • Love lists and don’t want to reinvent them? Then ListPlanIt is for you!   I was thrilled to meet Jennifer Tankersley and purchase a professional subscription to ListPlanIt.   To quote their website, “ It is a place where those who simply love lists and those in need of a little assistance in mental organization can both find what they need.”  Purchase it at www.listplanit.com
  • For organizing knick knacks, crafts, or small toys, Ziploc® Brand products help you get more out of anything you want to store. Find these at http://Ziploc.com
  • Modular canisters make a big difference for our humid Houston weather!  As it says on the Rubbermaid website, “remove those bags and boxes of pasta, cookies, chips, baking supplies, etc. and put your ingredients into Modular Canisters whose space efficient design maximizes shelf space. Lids snap tight for a secure seal to help keep items fresh.”  Find these at www.rubbermaid.com.
  • I love labelmakers! Here is the newest one from Dymo.  It looks so sleek, so stylish and so user friendly.  And it makes finding your stuff so easy, as well as fun!  Find it at www.dymo.com. 
  • Other favorites include clutterfreebox.com for storage and pursepurfector.com for the most organized purse ever!   

 Have a product you love? Share it with me and what you love most!

Organizing Kids’ Clothes

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This guest post is written by Meredith Delap, an amazing organized mom who inspires me!

When it comes to staying organized with our small childrens’ clothing, there are so many challenges.  If you can somehow manage to figure out a laundry system that works, you still have to deal with the ever-present problem of outgrown clothes.  It is shocking how quickly my son’s onesies start getting too tight to snap and how a modest skirt on my 4 year old all of the sudden becomes a mini skirt.  It’s something we all have to deal with ALL the time, it’s not like you can organize once or twice a year and be set. 

What’s tricky about this is that it’s not clear cut where things either fit or don’t fit – there are varying degrees of fitting-ness.  All you moms know this, there are the items that fit perfectly (today at least), the items that are a little small but she can still squeeze into it so it works, the jeans that only fit if you roll the waistband and cuffs up, and often the items that you’ve received as hand me downs that kinda fit but are really a tad big.  Now, it really isn’t a problem when I’m the only one making clothing decisions, but when my husband is helping out in the evenings or weekends (or my fashionista 4 year old is picking out her outfit) I am often saying “That doesn’t fit anymore!”  or “Don’t put those jammies on Sam, they’re way too small!”  To which my husband responds, “If they don’t fit, why are they in the drawer?”  Good question. 

So I try to stay on top of this issue by going through their wardrobes often, definitely with each season change and sometimes a few extra times too.  I pull EVERYTHING out and lay it on the bed and put back in the drawers only the clothes that fit or still have room to grow.  What’s unpleasant about this task is that things have to get so much worse before they get better…..but I guess that’s true of most organizing projects.  It’s amazing how nicely everything fits back in once I pull out the things they weren’t wearing.  And I like the independence it gives my preschooler because she can find something to wear and I know I will be happy with her choice (because it won’t be her favorite pink fleece snowman sweats in size 3T when she currently wears a 5T.  She would wear those high water pants if they were still in her closet). 

The outgrown clothes go into boxes and storage for me because 1) we aren’t sure if we will have another baby or not 2) my husband and I both have several siblings that may have kids in the future and we would like to share with them our over-abundance of baby/toddler clothes.  Once we know our family is complete and we have shared the good quality clothes with our nieces and nephews, I plan to give everything else to friends who want hand-me-downs and donate what’s left. 

This is just one of the many things we have to stay on top of to keep our homes running smoothly.  I think it’s important though because it sets the stage for clothing organization early on.  I’m trying to teach my kids that we treat all of our things nicely and take care of them, and for clothes that means hanging them up or folding them and putting them away.  My daughter is pretty used to a (usually) tidy closet now and I like to think this will help her as she gets older and her clothing becomes more of her responsibility.  Or maybe I’m in denial and just don’t want to think about those messy teen years ahead.  And the verdict is still out on my son, who is not even 2 yet….he may be a major slob and have my pulling my hair out.  Oh well, we can always call Gigi – one of the perks of having a professional organizer for a mother-in-law!

Teachers Team up to Organize

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This weekend I worked with a team of teachers to organize a storage closet they shared.   The closet had become totally unfunctional, being blocked on the floor with extra supplies and other clutter.    I had high hopes for this project, but the teachers exceeded my expectations! In 2 hours they had cleared the clutter completely!  How did this happen?

Start with a common goal. Together we defined what was clutter and what was not. Donations were designated for charity or other schools. 

Put a team plan in action. We divided the room into areas for specific content.  We labeled each section of the floor for  math, language, science and geography . One teacher stood at each spot to assess keep or donate.  The donate piles were labeled charity or school.  Runners took items from the closet to the designated areas.

Many hands make for light work. Ten teachers arrived that day ready to make a difference for their school.

So how did we accomplish so much? We stayed on task, partnered, and made excellent decisions. As you can see from the before and after pictures, now the closet is ready for more materials. 

How will it stay organized? Each teacher knows the new rules for what to keep, each teacher has their own shelf for their materials, and we labeled each area to know where to replace materials. 

Have a big project at work? Set the date, gather the team, set the goals, and go for it!

Green Organizing Baby Steps

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Reduce, reuse and recycle are the buzz words for all of us.   Everyone is recycling these days! It is no longer just a trend.  It is what we are focusing on as we are all away of the limited resources and overconsumption.  How do we take this to the next step in green organizing? Here are a few baby steps for being even more environmentally friendly.

Set up your command center with a recycling bin right there.  How easy this makes recycling!  Have a paper and a shred bin right at that spot.  

Turn off your computer each night and lights during the day.  Save energy and money!  Check out this site for the costs and savings.  Thanks to the www.simpledollar.com for this enlightening post!

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/18/how-much-money-does-turning-off-the-lights-really-save/

Wash laundry with full loads of clothes. Using this sorter, you can see when it is time to do a load.  This keeps the load together, ready to go.  http://www.containerstore.com/shop/laundry/hampers?productId=10000486

Establish a regular routine for recycling.  Have a bin for plastic, a space for paper, and a garbage can for aluminum.  Set these up in the garage right near the door.  Take your recycling out to the curb or to the center weekly.  

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=14458&f=34415

Eliminate electronics and make money too! Here are several resources for selling electronics.

www.gazelle.com

www.buymytronics.com

www.myboneyard.com

www.mygreenelectronics.com

What baby steps are you taking for green organizing?

Eva’s Note

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Not sure what this note is? My four year old grand daughter Eva wrote it last week for herself. It says “choir.”  She said to her Mom and me, “I want to be sure I remember that I have a choir performance on Sunday.”  She wrote several of these notes through out the week to herself, each more adorable than the next.

There really is something to modeling organizing! Eva sees her Mom, Dad, Paps and Gigi (that’s me!) write notes to ourselves to remember things all the time. She sees us make lists for grocery shopping, dinner menus, recipes, and dates in our calendars.  It was very natural for her to want to help herself remember in this way.

 Eva and her mom decluttered her closet last week too. Eva brought her outgrown clothes to a friend at school to share.  She was especially excited to share a pink tutu with a dance friend.  Eva is already starting to recognize how to organize her closet!  

 Next time you are thinking about your family and getting organized, remember how powerful your actions are.  Moms often ask me how can they help their children get organized.  It is all about your being a role model for all types of organizing.

What powerful actions are you sharing with your family?

Be a Natural Delegator

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A guest post by Leslie McKee, my colleague and blogger at www.getorganizedpittsburgh.com.

 

Everything gets better with delegation.  Some people struggle with delegation because they feel that they are imposing or asking for help.  I am a natural delegator.  I see it as a form of collaboration.  My immediate response to a new task or project is to break it into smaller, more do-able parts. When I am doing that, I’m immediately thinking about how I can incorporate other people’s skills and insights.  Bringing other people in automatically makes it more social, fun and adds accountability.  I find that people are flattered to be considered an expert or simply recognized for what they do well. 

 

In business, as an organizer I realized early on that I simply could not organize Pittsburgh single handedly, but I could definitely be a resource to help!  Finding resources is one way to delegate.  In that process relationships are often built.  I always just ask, even when I know it might not be a great fit, because it often leads me closer to answers and progress.  It also opens the doors for people to ask me for help as well. 

 

I find that the delegator has to be a giver as well.  It is not about giving everyone else jobs while they watch you do nothing.  It’s important that the delegator connect with why they should be taking on the responsibility that you are delegating.  This is especially important at home.  I get cooperation because I’m fair and it’s clear that we do things that ultimately benefit the whole family.  So here are some step to think about when delegating:

 

1.      Break it down and decide if this task is a good one to delegate

2.      Consider who might help you.

3.      Consider why they might want to help you.

4.      Decide what parameters you need to put in place.

 

Try to find areas where you are a natural delegator and where it works in your life. Then see if you can add that to more areas.  You will usually feel more supported, find yourself doing more of what you do best and create a life that comes together nicely.

Principal for a Day

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I am a lover of learning and an eternal student. I love everything to do with school! I was grateful, humbled and excited about the opportunity to be principal for a day at our local elementary.  The day started with the magical words, “Mrs. Delap is here for Principal for a Day”. And off we go to visit kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade classrooms, learning labs and more.  What I learned was beyond my most magical thoughts!

 

As a former kindergarten teacher, I come with my biases. Play fair, be kind, work hard and listen carefully are all my inborn mantras. Imagine a school where communication and high expectations are part of the culture. Technology is there assisting with all sorts of learning, whether it is visual, auditory or kinesthetic modalities. Parents come to help in each classroom, feeling welcome and a part of the learning process. This is what I saw during the day.  Kids were involved, learning, and doing.  They were immersed in language and math.  

 

Teachers are individualizing education on both ends of the spectrum.  Not only are there gifted programs, but the school houses a special unit of Severe Communication Disorder programs for autistic students.  Teachers partner and plan as groups, adding their own flavor in their own classrooms.  Everyone comes together with their strengths to make this school exemplary. 

 

When asked what parents can to do best assist their kids in school preparation and success, the staff and principal mentioned learning social skills, organizational skills and study skills are the highest priorities.  Our school promotes a culture of caring, getting along, organizing your paper and time, and studying effectively.  Each month the scohol hosts a Coffee Talk about school success. 

 

Of course there will always be challenges in our school, especially with funding. This elementary sponsors many fundraisers. My small gift to them was a gift certificate for an upcoming school silent auction. 

 

Thank you Humble ISD Foundation for the opportunity to be a part of our thriving and vibrant education system. And yes, I did promise the teachers a raise and give the kids a half day of school!  It was one of the best days ever to be an educator!