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"If you keep on saying things are going to be bad, you have a good chance of being a prophet."
Isaac Bashevis Singer
1904-1991, Journalist and Writer
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If you have kids, you know they’re one of the most wonderful and most chaotic additions you can add to your life. Cute and crazy-making, adorable and all over the place, hilarious and hectic, children have a way of turning a simple task such as leaving the house into an arduous process. Here are five ways to create schedules and routines to help corral your children’s energy and teach them healthy organizing habits for the future.
1. Check It Off. Checklists are a terrific tool for making mornings and bedtime go smoothly for you and your children. Ideally, a checklist should list all the things to be accomplished, listed in the order that they should be done. Even things as basic as washing, brushing teeth, and getting dressed can be written on the list to help kids make their routines into established habits. Once they have mastered the various parts of the checklist, you can experiment with removing the list to see if they can function without it. If so, terrific! If not, use it indefinitely until their habits are more established.
2. Combine Earning and Learning. Giving children an allowance, when it’s tied to household responsibility is a great way to teach money management, as well as accountability. Establish a system whereby your child gets a certain amount of money per week, (like a salary) but only if he completes his expected household responsibilities. At the end of each week, hold a quick family meeting where he collects his “paycheck” based on how well he has handled his jobs for that week. Let him know that should he choose not to meet your expectations, his allowance will be docked, just as if he didn’t show up for work. Using a method such as this one teaches your child the correlation between contributing responsibly and financial gain and shows him that each choice he makes has a corresponding result.
3. Set After School Priorities. Just as the morning and evening routines make bedtime and getting off to school easier, an after-school routine is crucial if you want to rear a productive child. Set up a series of rules for after school, which reward your child for accomplishments. For example, your checklist might say hang up coat and backpack, pull out papers for mom to sign and put in the proper bin, take the dog for a walk, get a snack and work on homework. When your child has completed the checklist, his reward is free time to play until it’s time for dinner.
4. Mealtime Routines. Mealtime is often your only opportunity to spend focused time with the whole family. Establish routines with your children so they become an integral part of the meal service. They can each have a few nights that they are responsible to help set the table, clear the table and do the dishes. Take them along on your weekly grocery shopping trip, too. Letting them help you shop is a fun way to teach them how to make a shopping list, compare prices and plan menus.
5. Plan Before Bed. Help your children prepare for each day by planning the night before. Look over assignments that are due, check for papers that require signatures, have them choose and lay out their outfit for the next day, and any other items that they need to take to school. Glancing at tomorrow’s agenda in advance will let them know what to expect from the day ahead.
Setting up consistency in your child’s routine early in his life will teach him time management skills, how to work from a plan, and how to set priorities and delay gratification. All these lessons are vital skills for success in college and beyond.
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"You must constantly ask yourself these questions: Who am I around? What are they doing to me? What have they got me reading? What have they got me saying? Where do they have me going? What do they have me thinking? And most important, what do they have me becoming? Then ask yourself the big question: Is that okay? Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change."
Jim Rohn
1930-2009, Author and Speaker
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The holidays are right around the corner and that means it’s time to think about entertaining family and friends at home. Whether you’re hosting a sit-down dinner or a yummy hors d’ ouerves buffet, a lovely table centerpiece helps set a festive mood. Rather than blowing your party budget on a store-bought centerpiece, here are four simple ideas for creating an inexpensive, pretty table using many items you already have in your home.
1. To create a simple candle garden for any season, stand a single white taper candle upright in a clear highball glass and pour white rice around the base of the candle for stability. Fill two more highball glasses with rice and candles and group them on a flat serving tray, filling the spaces between them with holly branches, pine, or fresh rosemary branches.
2. For a colorful fall centerpiece, fill a short, wide-mouth vase with fresh raw cranberries and stand one to three taper candles of varying heights in the berries. Set the vase on a wooden cutting board and arrange a few miniature pumpkins on the board, surrounding the vase.
3. Bring rustic autumn to your table by draping a raised cake plate with a square piece of burlap and placing a small pumpkin in the center of it. Surround the pumpkin with either miniature squash and gourds or a mixture of apples and pears. Add a holiday aroma by garnishing your centerpiece with several cinnamon sticks.
4. Add some sparkle to your holiday table in the simplest way possible by filling a large basket with Christmas tree ornaments. If you don’t have enough ornaments, turn a cereal bowl upside-down on the bottom of the basket to take up most of the space and pile the ornaments on the bowl to camouflage it.
Putting a successful holiday soiree together doesn’t have to be stressful. Use these easy decorating tips to save time and money on table decorations so you can focus on the most important parts of your event, such as your menu and guest invitations.
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"Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakens."
Carl Jung
1875-1961, Psychiatrist
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"The moment you commit and quit holding back, all sorts of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, will rise up to help you. The simple act of commitment is a powerful magnet for help."
Napoleon Hill
1883-1970, Author
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Freecycle. It's like REcycle with a twist. I recently went shopping at my favorite consignment store for some new clothing. One of our "house rules" is one in, one out. Every time we buy a new article of clothing, we try our best to get rid of an old one. It works well to keep the volume of clothing pretty stable so we never have to do a massive closet-cleanout. More often than not, we end up getting rid of MORE items than we brought in new, so it's a double win!
When I went through my closet following the one-in, one out rule, I ended up with 6 tops, 2 jackets, 2 pairs of shorts, and 2 pairs of pants that I no longer needed. I offered them up on my local Freecycle group and they were gone within 24 hours. Sweet!
If you aren't familiar with Freecycle, it's a fantastic online community -- an email listserv -- and you join it using a Yahoo ID and password. Once you're a member, you can post items that you no longer need to the listserv and someone will come get them right off your front porch. The stipulation is that everything offered must be offered FREE. No trading, bartering or asking for money.
You know I loooove me some Goodwill, and they do a wonderful job in the community. Freecycle is an alternate channel for moving things out of your life quickly and easily and the great part is that you never have to haul anything in your car. You just leave it outside and the person who claimed it will come pick it up. Plus, the item goes directly to a person who needs it.
Freecycle. It's sooooo SIMPLE. Check it out today and start making your garage, attic, basement and closets a lot emptier!
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If you've been wanting to "get organized" but you can't seem to find the motivation to tackle the important projects, perhaps you haven't tapped into the real benefits you'll receive. Listen to the newest episode of The Big O to recharge your mojo and find out what you're missing by NOT pursuing your goals of organization. The answers may surprise you...
Be warned -- when listening to The Big O, you'll always learn something great and you will have fun!
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"Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, you can make anything happen."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
1749-1832, Poet, Novelist and Philosopher
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