Thursday, December 30, 2010

Getting the Family to Work as a Team"

                One of the most challenging areas of child rearing is to get our children to help around the house.  Many people involved in education and helping children to become more responsible wonder how to accomplish this task.  If you think of your home as a business and everyone who lives in it as an employee you can begin to give out important jobs and tasks based on their individual abilities.  Just like in a business, you must create a mission statement far your family.  Identify what are your most important values and priorities.

A.      Family Meetings/Mission Statement
·         Establish monthly or regular meetings to involve everyone who has an opinion in the process. Discuss important events and needs.
·         Emphasis Team Work
·         Mission Statement: What are your values and priorities in your home?

B.      Rewards/Reinforcement
·         Star charts, beans in a jar, any measure or chart of success
·         Reward based on success or effort
·         Reinforcement: if someone does a good job, validate the work and effort

C.       Create a Calendar/Schedule for your Family
·         Write out a printed schedule for chores: involve your children in the process
·         Divide up the chores based on your families schedule and abilities

D.       Consequences
·         If you don’t divide up the chores, you will have less time to spend together
·         Less time to spend with children
·         Discuss non involvement and choices

E.        Divide up the Chores
·         Setting Table
·         Cleaning the Family Room
·         Bathing Siblings
·         Making lunches
The investment of time you take in teaching your children to be involved in the home and learn to clean, cook or just be responsible will pay off in many ways over the years.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Organizing Children

One of the hardest tasks is organizing children’s toys and personal belongings because they change with the seasons and there are so many different types of items. One of the other reasons is that many parents don’t like to take away the control of their children belongings or they want the child to be responsible for themselves. I would like to suggest that doing some of the organization with your child might be successful or doing it for them as a model could also be effective.
Here are some basic ideas for the major areas of chaos.

As closets get cluttered and messy try using
• Plastic bins
• Proper hangers
• Drawers and dividers
Toys:
• Plastics Containers
• Baskets
• Shelves
• Remember “Less is more”
Books and School Work
• Sort Books together by category, put them in a bookshelf that is not overcrowded
• Old school papers can be stored in cardboard boxes or plastic bins that are labeled clearly\
Memorabilia:
• Photo boxes
• Storage containers
Kitchen:
• Detailed shopping list on the computer
• Easy and quick planned meals
• Healthy snacks
Take the time out everyday to organize something in your house, make it a daily habit and maintain all your’ existing systems.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Time Management

Can you keep track of your time?
What is the most important thing you have to do today?
How can you manage your "to do" list and what is the real priority?
Come hear me speak at " Cafe Mom" at the Jewish Family Service store-front office on Tuesday November 16th 2010 at 9:30am

Every problem with organization is in some way begins with a difficulty in managing time. If your time is not well organized chances are that your paper, projects and priorities are not either.

Time Management is the foundation for good organization. The purpose of getting the most out of your day is not getting the most done but rather getting what is most important done.

Plan and prioritize by using a daily planner.
Set aside time each night to go over what is most important to you.
Plan you time wisely, set small goals for yourself with realistic rewards.
Allow for flexibiltiy and some time wasters.
Have available a spiral-bound or losse leaf notebook to write your "to do" list.
Look at your activities seriously and write down your appointments.
Plan your week carefully and on't over-book yourself with too many obligations
Use your notebook to write down 'To do" list or write them directly into your day planner.
Use extra separate sheets so you can move the "to do" list over to the next day
In your planner divide tabs into subcategories to give yourself a place to retain important information
Eliminate all little post it notes, write everyting in one place
ALL of this can also be done on any smart phone!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Los Angeles area organizing and productivity specialists discuss 'typical' clutter, custom solutions

  • August 4th, 2010 11:59 am PT
“Some clients hope the pile will just magically disappear,” says professional organizer Esther Simon
Photo: Microsoft Clipart
We consulted Los Angeles area organizing and productivity specialists for their expertise on the subject of office and workplace clutter.
The experts agree that the elements of office clutter tend to be fairly typical: client folders, unopened mail, business cards, unprocessed orders, books, manuals, pencils, pens, office supplies and, of course, those ubiquitous paper piles containing company memos, receipts, messages to be returned, notes from phone calls, newspaper clippings, "to do" notes ...
June Saruwatari contends, however, that “just because [clutter] is ‘typical, normal, not out-of-the-ordinary’ doesn’t mean that it’s okay. You determine what is acceptable to you. Is it acceptable for you to be working on a desk that has piles and piles of paperwork on it?” However, Saruwatari also points out, “Oftentimes, people get so used to living in their office with the ‘typical clutter’ that they become immune and desensitized to the effect that the clutter is having on your body, mind and spirit.” It is when the clutter is gone that office workers realize that it has been an unconscious stress on their internal systems.
But the solutions to organizing an office can be elusive despite the hundreds of books available on the subject of organizing the workplace.
“Some clients hope the pile will just magically disappear,” according to Esther Simon, the Traditional Home Organizer.
Beth Flarida, who offers professional organizing services through her company, Get It Together, says, “The real ‘secret’ to getting organized can’t be found in a formula from a book. You are unique and your business is unique. It’s about finding your organizing style and matching it to an organizing method that will work for you.” Simon agrees that many of the solutions she finds for her clients are things “they just didn't think of.”
Flarida explains that custom systems allow for success in staying organized because, “When you know your desk and office are organized in a way that’s true to you, you will tend to stay organized for years -- even decades -- to come.”
The National Association of Professional Organizers website states, “In business settings, an organizing pro can increase productivity and profitability with improvements in paper-filing and storage, electronic organizing, work-flow systems, employee time-management, space design, and more.”
If you are having difficulty managing the clutter in your workplace and are not as productive as you would like to be, consider hiring an expert!

Monday, November 8, 2010

Touch it once

 Many people lose time and important papers by taking in their mail, dropping it on a table, and getting to it “later”.  Sometimes, when “later” comes, an important bill has been misplaced or accidentally tossed out.  My rule to keep mail organized is just to “touch it one.” If you don’t have time to sort through it when it arrives, keep it in one designated spot-don’t use more than one location.  Then, when you do have time, be ready to immediately toss out junk mail in the recycling (you might want to shred papers with your name and address), and sort the rest in your file To Read, To File, and To  Pay  folders.  Get rid of catalogs (a major clutter creator) you don’t want to keep those you do want in a magazine rack or a file, if you keep several editions of particular catalogs.  Mark down invitations dates in your day planner to avoid overbooking you day or forgetting an important event.

Planning vs Not Planning

 What are the true benefits in planning your day?  Firstly, you might know what you want, you know what to expect.  You might feel more prepared and feel in control.  Can you estimate your time and how you can schedule yourself during the day?  You might even be proactive with your time and learn how to be more flexible when “Life Happens”  But what happens when you don’t plan your day and you are not in control of your time?  Are you not sure what you want?  You might not know what to expect.  You are not prepared and you can feel rushed.  You can easily lose track of time and have nothing in your day scheduled.  You are reactive with time and chaos happens whe “Life Happens”.  Which would you rather be.  Planning or not Planning?  You chose.

Deliberate Planning

How to get things done!  What can you do when you know you have so many different errands and things to get done during the day?  I would like to make a few suggestions.  One is having an intention to do something, be proactive.  Make a list and decide what is most important to you  based on that list.  Schedule time to do it instead of just thinking about it and procrastinating.  Pay deliberate attention to actually doing it.  But you thoughts together and take action.  If the errand is too difficult or time-consuming, break it up into bit size pieces with a nice reward attached for “job well done”  Give yourself credit for getting your job done on time.

Setting Up Routines

Four Steps to creating a routine for Anything.
1. Schedule create a schedule for the important things in your day
What is the best time for you to schedule your “to do” , appointment and business
How often do you need to do follow-up and take action?
Estimate how much time need to get it done.
It is best to schedule it as the same time each day.  Then your brain is already warmed-up and ready to go!
2. Steps.-what steps do you need to make sure you can follow your schedule
What do you need to do first?  In what order do you take your steps
Keep your steps in the same order to make your routine easy to do.
Supplies: What do you need to do to get the task done.  Is it organized and easy to get at?
  If everything has a place, it’s easy to find.
Space:  Dedicate a specific area for your supplies and set it up with the supplies at hand.  Find a space with few distractions.
3. Supplies-  What supplies do you need during the day to get the most done
4. Space-  How much space to you need to get things done?

Organizing the Mothers' of Preschoolers

                Developing a successful routine for the school year doesn’t just happen like magic-it takes a bit of creativity, basic planning and a few indispensable tools.  But the rewards are well worth it.  You can achieve more time for you and your child, fewer frantic mornings, and a happier mom.  Remember what they say, “If Momma ain’t happy , ain’t NOBODY happy!”  There are a few tips that will help you be a happier, more organized mom.  We all know when Momma is happy, EVERYBODY”S happy1
                The first bit of advise is to remember that successful school days begin the night before.. Therefore consistent and early bedtime routines are essential.  Most 4-5 year olds should be in bed no later than 8:00p.m., and most need to be in bed earlier.  Healthy routines help children feel secure and build self-esteem.  Allow at least a half hour after dinner for reading to your children (or allowing him or her to listen to books on CD/tape if you will be leaving them with a sitter), quiet play time, brushing teeth, and saying goodnight to other family members.  Personalize the routine in a way that works for your child!
                Second, lay out all clothes, even shoes and socks.  Involve children in these decisions if it’s important to them.  This preparation saves up to 10 minutes in the morning and avoids surprises (“I thought you washed my costume yesterday!).  Make lunch/snacks the night before and use this opportunity to teach kids about healthy food choices (carrots or celery? Grapes or an apple? Other clever lunch choices: pasta in disposable, mini plastic deli containers sold at Smart and Final.  Avoid pre-packaged”kiddies” lunches (low nutrition +high price=bad idea).  Review your own schedule to make your game plan for the morning easier.  Load car with stroller, diaper bag, briefcase, and dry cleaning.
                Try to clean up the kitchen before you go to sleep so you avoid facing a morning mess for breakfast.  Some mom’s will find relief if they set the breakfast table the night before or even prepare and portion out the dry cereal.
                Now for after school success we have to look at our preparedness.  Can you arrange to pickup your child from school ON-TIME?  Essential role modeling of the consideration and sense of responsibility you want your kids to develop for you. (Also gives them plenty of time to talk to you in the care without you being overly harried.)  Have non-messy snacks for children in the car if you live more than 10 minutes from school and empty backpacks each afternoon after school to avoid unpleasant evidence of old lunches and avoid missing teacher’s notes.  It is essential to look inside of your children backpacks daily!
                Schedule homework time and relaxation time for your child.  Teach time to put homework back in backpack right away.  Sit down for a healthy dinner with our children.  Offer a variety of foods, including soups, salads, meats, to discourage them form becoming too picky and only being willing to eat hogs and pizza from take out restaurants.
                Lastly, in the morning before school give a half hour from wake-up time set aside to leaving the house.  Encourage healthy breakfasts, including pancakes, grilled cheese, bagels and cream cheese.  Morning time will be more relaxed if you did all the things you should have done the night before!

It’s 10:00 p.m. –Do you know where your day went?


You’ve put in a long day, and you’re beat.  But before retiring for the night with a good book or magazine, take a few moments to ensure that tomorrow will yield even more results:
Write down your goals for the next day (very successful people also tend to keep written goals for the week, month, and year!)
Think about the week’s likely errands, and try to map out the most efficient way of getting them done.  Perhaps doing most errands, in one morning or afternoon would be better than doing one or two each day and chopping up your available blocks of time.  Finally one of my most important tips for maintaining order in the home is to spend twenty minutes each day straightening out your home, particularly your papers.  This will help you get a fresh start for the morning.

The "Touch it Once Rule"


 Many people lose time and important papers by taking in their mail, dropping it on a table, and getting to it “later”.  Sometimes, when “later” comes, an important bill has been misplaced or accidentally tossed out.  My rule to keep mail organized is just to “touch it one.” If you don’t have time to sort through it when it arrives, keep it in one designated spot-don’t use more than one location.  Then, when you do have time, be ready to immediately toss out junk mail in the recycling (you might want to shred papers with your name and address), and sort the rest in your file To Read, To File, and To  Pay  folders.  Get rid of catalogs (a major clutter creator) you don’t want to keep those you do want in a magazine rack or a file, if you keep several editions of particular catalogs.  Mark down invitations dates in your day planner to avoid overbooking you day or forgetting an important event.

The Efficient Minute


Between our regular phones, cell phones, and other tools of telecommunications, opportunities of communication have never been greater.  Unfortunately, so are the opportunities to waste time on the phone.  Learn how to prioritize your use of the phone.  For example , save time by asking the caller politely, “How can I help you now?” This will help you both get to the point quickly, and enable you to offer to call them back at a more convenient time.  After all, just because it’s a convenient time for the caller doesn’t mean it’s a convenient time for you.  At home, remember, call waiting and answering machines are our friends, use them.  Don’t pick up the phone unless you really have time to take the call.  Some people almost never answer the phone and simply retrieve messages at the end of the day.  You can be business-like on the phone without being curt, and save yourself loads of time over the course of a week.

A day in the life of a professional organizer

Every day I come across something very important about staying organized. Many people are relaxed about keeping good backup of payments in their file cabinets and they forget where they put an important statement or bill.  We all have heard about creating homes for our stuff, or putting things away where they belong..”a place for everything and everything in it’s place”.   But today I was reminded about how important it is for us to keep reciepts of large checks and payments we make to the government or making a large payment for something we brought.  In case the check gets lost or the company complaints they did not recieve the payment in a timely fashion..you can look it up quickly and send in a copy.  Create a file for long term storage for such payments and bills.  You will be happy and relieved when you find it.  It beats having to rewrite the check or deal with getting a copy of the stub from the bank.  Remember creating a good file system for your important papers is essential.


We all know that filing is one the easiest, yet most frequently delayed, methods of keeping important papers organized. Here are a few tips to set up a logically classified filing system:
*Start by making a list of file categories you will need, with relevant sub-categories (under “Insurance,” you would have Home, Auto, Life and Disability, and perhaps others.
*Choose color-code labels that are visually appealing and can also serve to trigger what the file contains.  For example, a green label could refer to financial files; red could refer to medical files or health insurance.
*Attach the labels to the files and alphabetize them.  Put your sub-categorized files after the main file.  For example, after “Auto” , you would have the subcategories of “DMV” “Insurance” , “parking violation”, “Registrations” and “repairs”  Depending on how much filing you need to keep up with, do it weekly or at least monthly.  Remember, much of what you file will never be looked at, so only file what you will really need.

Why I make my bed in the morning

Starting the day off on the right foot sometimes makes life a little easier.  What I think it really means if that you begin with a clear thought process and a clearer vision of what you need to do.  Usually I suggest to each of my clients to write a realistic “to do” list and keep your priorities in mind.  But what I also like to do each day is begin my morning with order and have a bit of control.  Since I feel that we are living in a world that we really don’t have control over I can personally put control in my domain by making my bed. You see if I take control over my own space and develope some level of order and cleanliness I can begin to see clearer and develope  some level of direction.  This may sound funny to most people but it is true and I would like to challenge anyone to it.  The worst that will happen is you will be a shinning role model to your family and your room will look better.  So…Tomorrow morning go make you bed and take on the day with some level of control.

End of the Year School Papers



            As we reach this time of year all the children, students and teachers are excited with finally finishing a successful school year (hopefully).  This is the time to review the work and save what we treasure in a safe place.  For the teachers it is a good time to review what format, teaching materials and test were successful and file them in an organized way.  I would suggest getting a portable filing case, holder or box and labeling each hanging folder by subject and grade level.  This can later be reviewed or added to later in the year. 
            For the student she/he should review the work that is most memorable and worth saving for their personal memorabilia box.  I would suggest getting a bankers box or storage box labeling this and either use hanging folders or just lay down each notebook in the box.  Remember to ask each student “Is this something you would like to see in 20 years? “  May times we hold on to things for a few years and then throw them out.        I think it is better to go thru the work right about school is over before you go to camp/summer vacation or settle into a carefree schedule.  Clean out your school work area and then you will be ready in September to start again.  Remember to do this task with your child/student so they do not feel that you are throwing away work that they did and you did not value. Teach good technique for de-cluttering, cleaning out the backpack, saving some of the good used school supplies i.e.: calculator, scissor, tape can save you some money next semester.  Remember after all is clean and put away you can really sit back and have a wonderful, restful summer.

Winning tips for Moms to stay organized and save time

Being an organized mom is somewhat like being an artist.  You just need some good supplies, tools and a little good advice.  Everyone knows that there is an artist within all of us.  It just needs to be drawn out and given a chance to perform.  I would challenge each mom to give it a positive try.  Here are some tools and advice I would give to the mom who wants to be organized.
Start with using a separate clipboard for each child to keep track of his/her school permission slips, doctor’s appointments, or paper work.  Mark their appointments in your own Day Timer or Smart phone so you remember dates of field trips and other special events.         Create a “Family Yellow Pages” Buy a 3-ring binder and plastic sheet protectors.  Slide in your class rosters, religious groups’ rosters, Mommy and Me lists, and other often referenced lists.  This notebook can also be used to keep coupons, emergency numbers, and miscellaneous things that you don’t want to toss, such as favorite jokes, quotes, or articles.  The Family Yellow Pages will become your best friend.  You don’t want to ever lose your best friend, so keep it by your kitchen desk or phone for easy access.
                Create an arts and crafts center to keep supplies.  Use plastic containers for things your kids need and want handy: crayons, glue sticks, rulers, scissors, glitter, construction paper, etc.  Don’t keep junk: If it’s broken, throw it away.  Keep the arts and crafts centre where you want your kids to do these activities:  kitchen, playroom, or bedroom.  You can put it on a rolling cart if you lack cabinet space.  Create kids’ art portfolios by buying a thick plastic art portfolio (available at Michael’s or Pearl Art Supply) to store large artwork: this can be stored under the bed or behind a bookshelf.  Date all the work!  For actual schoolwork, use a banker’s box or storage box (Staples) that accommodates hanging folders to subdivide by holiday or grade.  Be selective.  Don’t save every scribble.  The best tip is to take picture of your kids holding up some work/pictures before you toss them! Other storage tips include buying a 64-gallon plastic flip-top containers (Target) for dress up clothes, holiday decorations etc.  Create a hanging file system with separate hanging files for report cards and evaluations, medical records and immunizations, extracurricular awards and certificates.  These small tips will make either a better artist or a better organized mom!

Are you “Organizationally Challenged?”

How many of the following things could you locate in five minutes or less?
  1. house keys
  2. auto insurance policy
  3. children’s school schedule
  4. current phone bill
  5. favorite subscription magazine 
  If you DON”T know where ALL these items are right off the bat, you’ll get frustrated and probably waste far too much time looking for them.. Misfiling or misplacing important papers is a common and unnecessary problem. 
    Lack of organization in the home is not only frustrating, but can be costly.  Add up the late fees or interest penalty fees on bills you’ve forgotten to pay, overdue books from the library, and even the cost of buying duplicate supplies, because they were misplaced. All that money, and even more importantly, all that time, should and could still be yours.  When you are organized, you will enjoy a new feeling of freedom: that comes from having control over your possessions, instead of your possessions controlling you.  With extra time and energy on your hands, there’s no limit to the new opportunities that will open up to you.  You will be able to pursue personal exercise goals, participate more fully in community projects, take on part-time work, or explore the hobby of your dreams.
    
If you have neglected your home or home office for too long, you can easily feel overwhelmed by the task, Take heart! Just like with physical exercise, you will be amazed at what you accomplish in as little as 20 minutes per day.  Begin with small goals such as going through a single drawer of a file cabinet.  If your desk is buried under two feet of clutter, begin this task by clearing off one small corner.  Set reasonable goals and you will be on your way to being delightfully de-cluttered.

    
Esther will help you learn how to do this, so you can enjoy a clutter-free home and spend more high-quality time with your family and friends.

    Esther Simon, The Traditional Home Organizer, specializes in organizing the home and home office.  She will help you make a difference in your life by reducing clutter and chaos.  During the initial consultation, Esther will show clients how to prioritize organizing tasks.  No task is too difficult for her.  She specialties in empowering her clients to manage a broad range of organizational issues, including the endless paper trail, efficient space planning, user-friendly filing systems, and flexible time management.  Esther can provide expert training in your home to teach you how to eliminate the clutter and take back the control in your life.  As a mother of seven, Esther’s own immaculate home is proof positive of the effect that a well organized environment can have on one's life.  She will help you plan a realistic daily routine whether you are a stay-at-home mother of any size family or a wall street executive.  
Esther holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work and is a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers.  She applies her social work skills and extraordinary organizing talents to the home environment. 
Topics discussed include: Taming the paper jungle
Developing a touch-it-once mail sorting system
The user-friendly file system
Storage and retrieval of important documents and appropriate retention time.
Creating an efficient kitchen (she has first-hand experience in kosher kitchens)
Beautifying your closets and drawers 
Simplified schedules for painless event and Holiday planning
   
The Efficient Minute

    
Opportunities of communication have never been greater. With home phones, cell phones, faxing, tenting, paging and computers, our personal time is spent in a telecommunications conundrum. So, are the opportunities to waste time.
    
Learn how to prioritize your use of the phone.  Learn to maximize conversations in short time.  This will let you and the caller get to the point quickly, complete the purpose of the call or return the call at a more convenient time.  The caller’s convenient time may not necessarily be convenient for you.

    
Also, caller ID, call waiting and answering machines are for your benefit. Utilize them efficiently.  Don’t answer the phone unless you have time to take the call.  Some people almost never answer the phone and opt to retrieve messages at the end of the day.  You can be business-like on the phone without being curt, and save yourself excess time over the course of a week.
 
The Clean Sweep-Stakes For Your Children
    
Most parents struggle to get their children to keep their rooms clean, to keep them from eating in their rooms, and in general to exhibit more tidy behavior.  Unfortunately, most kids are wired to be messy.  When a room gets out of control, make a game out of cleaning it by making a “Sweep-Stakes” contest.  Gather your kids together, and tell them you will give prizes for the best cleaning jobs.  To prevent an unfair advantage going to the oldest child who can do the most, give prizes according to effort, or simply establish separate prizes for different children.  You can turn on a kitchen timer for 10 minutes and see how much trash they can collect or how much they can tidy before the bill rings.  You’d be surprised how far this little incentive will go!
It’s 10 p.m. Do you know where your day went?
   
    
You’ve put in a long day, and you’re beat.  Before retiring for the night with a good book or magazine, take a few moments to ensure that tomorrow will yield even better results: Write down your goals for the next day (successful people keep written goals for the week, month, and year!).  Think about the week’s likely errands, and try to map out the most efficient way of getting them done. Try to resource your best energy for morning or afternoon, and plan your agenda, without chopping up available blocks of time. Finally, one of my most important tips for maintaining order in the home is to set aside twenty minutes each day to straighten out your home, particularly your papers.  This will help you get a fresh start for the morning. 

 

The “Touch it once” Rule
    Many people lose time and important papers by taking in their mail, dropping it on a table, and getting to it “later”.  Sometimes, when “later” comes, an important bill has been misplaced or accidentally tossed out.  My rule to keep mail organized and  “touch it once.” If you don’t have time to sort through it when it arrives, keep it in a designated spot…one location and don’t move it.  Then, when you do have time, be ready to toss out junk mail in the recycling (you might want to shred paper with your name and address) and sort the rest in your “To read, To file, and To Pay folders. Get rid of catalogs (a major clutter) that you don’t want, and keep those you do want in a magazine rack or a file (if you collect editions of a particular catalog or magazine).  Mark down invitation dates in your day planner to avoid overbooking that particular day or forgetting an important event (Gee, sorry Uncle Sam, didn’t realize your 80th birthday party was today!). 
Don’t Pile It –File It
Filing is one of the easiest, yet most frequently delayed, methods for keeping important papers organized.  Here are a few tips to set up a logically classified filing system.
Start by making a list of file categories you will need, with relevant sub-categories (i.e. INSURANCE, with sub-categories of HOME, LIFE, AUTO, DISABILITY).
Choose color-coded labels that are visually appealing and can trigger what the file contains.  For example, a green label could refer to financial files. Red could refer to medical files or health insurance
Attach the labels to the files and alphabetize them. Put your sub-categorized files after the main file.  For example, after AUTO you would have the subcategories of “DMV”, “Parking Violation”, “Registration”, “Repairs.
Depending on how much filing you need to keep up with, do it weekly or monthly. Remember, much of what you file hardly gets looked at, except when you really need it.
I don’t want to throw it out, but I don’t know where to keep it…
Many of my clients like to keep selected newspaper or magazine articles on various topics without having to keep the entire publication.  If you like to save articles on specific areas of interest tear them out and put them in sheet protectors, which can be kept in binders.  You can easily add subject tables in the binder to quickly access the topics of your choice.  This is also a great technique for saving phone lists and rosters.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Organizing the Mothers’ of Preschoolers

     Developing a successful routine for the school year doesn’t just happen like magic-it takes a bit of creativity, basic planning and a few indispensable tools.  But the rewards are well worth it.  You can achieve more time for you and your child, fewer frantic mornings, and a happier mom.  Remember what they say, “If Momma ain’t happy , ain’t NOBODY happy!”  There are a few tips that will help you be a happier, more organized mom.  We all know when Momma is happy, EVERYBODY”S happy1
                The first bit of advise is to remember that successful school days begin the night before.. Therefore consistent and early bedtime routines are essential.  Most 4-5 year olds should be in bed no later than 8:00p.m., and most need to be in bed earlier.  Healthy routines help children feel secure and build self-esteem.  Allow at least a half hour after dinner for reading to your children (or allowing him or her to listen to books on CD/tape if you will be leaving them with a sitter), quiet play time, brushing teeth, and saying goodnight to other family members.  Personalize the routine in a way that works for your child!
                Second, lay out all clothes, even shoes and socks.  Involve children in these decisions if it’s important to them.  This preparation saves up to 10 minutes in the morning and avoids surprises (“I thought you washed my costume yesterday!).  Make lunch/snacks the night before and use this opportunity to teach kids about healthy food choices (carrots or celery? Grapes or an apple? Other clever lunch choices: pasta in disposable, mini plastic deli containers sold at Smart and Final.  Avoid pre-packaged”kiddies” lunches (low nutrition +high price=bad idea).  Review your own schedule to make your game plan for the morning easier.  Load car with stroller, diaper bag, briefcase, and dry cleaning. 
                Try to clean up the kitchen before you go to sleep so you avoid facing a morning mess for breakfast.  Some mom’s will find relief if they set the breakfast table the night before or even prepare and portion out the dry cereal. 
                Now for after school success we have to look at our preparedness.  Can you arrange to pickup your child from school ON-TIME?  Essential role modeling of the consideration and sense of responsibility you want your kids to develop for you. (Also gives them plenty of time to talk to you in the care without you being overly harried.)  Have non-messy snacks for children in the car if you live more than 10 minutes from school and empty backpacks each afternoon after school to avoid unpleasant evidence of old lunches and avoid missing teacher’s notes.  It is essential to look inside of your children backpacks daily!
                Schedule homework time and relaxation time for your child.  Teach time to put homework back in backpack right away.  Sit down for a healthy dinner with our children.  Offer a variety of foods, including soups, salads, meats, to discourage them form becoming too picky and only being willing to eat hogs and pizza from take out restaurants. 
                Lastly, in the morning before school give a half hour from wake-up time set aside to leaving the house.  Encourage healthy breakfasts, including pancakes, grilled cheese, bagels and cream cheese.  Morning time will be more relaxed if you did all the things you should have done the night before!