Random Bits of (Hopefully) Helpful Advice

As my child-rearing/full-time homemaker days draw to a close I want to share some of things that made my life easier and more organized—because for me, being organized means I have more time to read, hang with friends or snuggle on the couch with a kid and I am all about that!

 

• Cook dinner in the morning if you have time. At the very least, make the salad, prep the meat, fill the pot up with water for the pasta—anything to make dinner time faster and easier.
• When you cook and bake spread a dish towel on the countertop directly above the dishwasher. All the debris goes onto the towel which you then shake into the dishwasher.
• Cook doubles of everything and freeze it. You eat twice for half the work!
• Fold your laundry as it comes out of the dryer—I put mine in individual laundry baskets for each person. Don’t ever start a load you can’t finish!
• Keep water in the car at all times. If you do have to drive-through somewhere at least you don’t have to buy soda.
• Buy several hundred birthday candles at once. You put them in a Ziploc bag and they keep for years. When I was growing up I remember my mom always having to run to the store on birthdays because there were never enough in the box left over from the last birthday. Not me!
• Buy 40 pieces of white posterboard and store them under a bed or behind a bookcase—again with the not having to make emergency runs to the store.

 

Finally, don’t try to do all the work yourself. Teach your children when they’re young and reap the rewards as they get older. I’ve seen too many moms end up feeling bitter because they feel they give and do and there families don’t appreciate it or reciprocate. Many hands make light work.

What’s your organizing trick that makes your friends ask, “Why didn’t I think of that?!”

Comments

[Denise]

Fabulous tips! I especially love the one about poster boards as just last week I went to the grocery at 10:00 pm to buy one... it was not the first time. :)
This post is great - I think it is wonderful to learn from those who are a bit ahead of me in this journey.

[kcinnova]

You are right on the money with the poster board! I try to keep several on hand (they don't survive our moves very well). Birthday candles, check! Mine don't all match, but we've always had enough.

I color-code the calendar. Each kid has a different color (my own appointments and family events share a color). It makes it so much easier to see the "who, what, where & when".

[KSL]

1. If you are in front of the tv, you can fold laundry!
2. Even though my husband and I use outlook to make sure our calendars are coordinated, I bought a huge calendar to hang on the wall for the kids. I fill it in with all the appointments that will affect them, meds, etc. Eliminates the questions about "what do we have to do today".
3. When I had babies and toddlers, I always, packed the diaper bag the night before so I was always ready to go in the morning.
4. Stuck to their nap schedule, no matter what. We were unavailable from 12:30 until at least 2:30.

[Life As I Know It]

Great tips! The crockpot is the best invention ever for dinners.

Another tip of mine - it's okay to let things go every now and again. Some days the kids' beds don't get made or the bathroom sinks are still gooped with toothpaste. I stopped making myself crazy over having an immaculate house.

[Meg]

Thank you for your tips Jen! You seem to be quite organized. I think you and your husband have made a very loving, healthy, and stable home for your children.

Mr. Rambo: While I believe that you are entitled to your own opinion, I find that you advertising your blog to be a bit rude. Jen is not one of those things you describe American women to be.

[Busy Bee Suz]

These are all great pieces of advice...I actually did hoard candles and poster board!

We purchase birthday cards in bulk too...for those last minute parties. And as soon as my girls were able too, they were sorting/folding and putting away their own laundry.

ps. I won't be boycotting American women. :)

[green girl in wisconsin]

Such good tips--I actually DO feel better about our evenings when I make dinner in the morning.

[Brightside-Susan]

I had 3 kids playing sports so we were always on the go to various venues with differing facilities. I had a big bag always pre-packed with first aid kit, Advil, Tums, lotion, sunscreen, tissues, chap stick, hand sanitizer and snacks. Then I packed watever we needed for the day - water, sports drinks, lunch, etc.in a cooler.

In the car I kept extra hats, socks, undies, swim suits, towels, blankets, umbrellas and those packs that you could shake to make them cold for injuries. Also playing cards, frisbee and other small boredom busting games/toys.

This saved me a lot of trips if the kids decided to go home with someone else (to swim, etc.) It also helped with long waits between games, weather contingencies and the various maladies which errupt when out and about.

I had a safety pin for a broken bra strap and after that I was the go to mom for everyone on the team - word got how how organized I was.

[Suzy]

My tips are how to save money when the money grinds to a vicious halt:

1. Get a pay as you go phone.
2. Get rid of excess cable channels
3. Let your manicures/pedicures go an extra week
4. Do all your errands in one car trip
5. Mix water with dish washing soap to extend use
6. Turn off your printer and monitor screens when not in use

I've saved hundreds of dollars doing these and many more.

[Suzy]

I'd add one more thing to my list: Don't wait to cut back on bills. I waited almost a year on the phone and cable and then when I cut it all back I realized how much money I'd wasted by waiting!

You can always add it all back later.

[Mrs Fisher]

Great tips! Thanks for sharing these great ideas.

[Steph]

My 6yo son must be dressed to the shoes before coming down for breakfast on school days. Occasionally, he will ask to change things up and we do, till such time the nagging begins, then we revert back.

Clean out your purse, car and trunk every time you fill your gas tank.

Love the dinner prep in the morning tip!

[Slow Panic]

we're starting the teach your children thing -- a little late, but better then never!

[lanes]

I always bring a lunch to work - and with enough healthy (or healthy-ish) snacks that I don't get a late afternoon snack freak-out and scarf down one of the candy bars in the vending machine.

[Jenrantsraves]

You know I love you, but the "Never start a load you can't finish" line made me go HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Then, I rolled my eyes a few times. I like the dishwasher one, though. About the water in the car, I read that it is dangerous to have bottled water in a hot car - can cause cancer.
My lifesaver is a baggie with wipes in my purse!

[Little Miss Sunshine State]

I make my grocery list on an envelope. I make the list with the store flyers and my box of coupons in front of me. Coupons go into the envelope with the list.

Cook one extra serving of dinner for someone to take for lunch a day or two later.

[Lisa]

Pick basics for your wardrobe, it's black khaki and denim pants for me, almost any shirt matches.
Keep water and healthy snacks in the car, mine is individual bags of baked chips, pretzels, etc so you have good choices with you all the time.
Cell phone car phone charger is a must.
Thanks for all the great ideas.

[John Rambo]

If American women are so desireble, why are there so many websites out there trying to hook up American men with foreign women, although there are NO websites out there trying to hook up American women with foreign women?

If American women are so desirable, why is it that over 50 percent of them are single with no boyfriend/husband?

Sorry, you American women need to WAKE UP and come out of your pathetic dream world. NO ONE WANTS YOU! The only men you can get are American men who are stupid enough to date you. Otherwise, no man in the world wants anything to do with an American woman.

In poll after poll, American men are the most desirable husbands in the whole world, and the same polls show that American women are the LEAST desirable wives in the whole world.

Time to wake up and smell the facts. Sorry if it bursts your pathetic bubble, American ladies.

[Renee]

Great tips, but I'm at a loss for the posterboard. My daughter is only 10 --does this posterboard supply become more important as they get older?
:-)

[Tammy]

Great tips! I've done a couple of those myself. You can never have too much posterboard!

[mom taxi julie]

Make a menu and buy all the things on the menu for the week (at least if not longer). Every time I do this it makes my life so much easier and we eat out way less.