What Matters Monday- Getting Organized

I can hardly believe how quickly this summer has past. Now that we are headed back into fall, my family schedule has gotten a bit more complicated. My oldest daugher has just started back to preschool. My youngest and I are joining a mom & me playgroup. Both girls will be taking a dance class. My dear husband always keeps a crazy schedule with his sports and volunteer activities. My scheduled activities are the least in our family -but, like most moms, I’m responsible for getting everyone back and forth, fed and dressed.

All of these changes have left me struggling to figure out how to keep it all together, make sure our house is clean and make sure there is time for fun in-between all the running & cleaning! I’m really not the most organized person I know, so it’s been a bit of a struggle for me. Sometimes while I’m trying to figure it all out, I find myself thinking that I’d much rather be scrapping than sweeping up the kitchen (for the 3rd time that day!).

Scrapping rather than sweeping??? Yes, I have a problem, LOL! BUT, I’m not interested in looking for a 12-step program just yet. Instead, I’ve decided to put my scrapping skills to good use. I can scrap some projects to help me get organized and stay organized. Not only that, but I can think of some ways to get my family involved too (insert evil laugh here – ha-ha-ha-ha)!!!!

I figured that the first thing I needed to do was to figure out who needs to be where and when. Now, I do have a calender already, but those little boxes drive me nuts, and we have a lot of activities that get repeated on certain days. Not only that, but dates regularly get changed and I end out crossing out (or using white-out) frequently. So, all those little boxes are a mess, and I’ve got to re-write all re-occuring activites each month.

Are you ready?? Here’s the part where we put those scrapping skills to good use!

I found some great calendar templates from Sya’s Blueprints – that come with both the top (picture/ LO portion) and bottom (dates portion). I opened up this months template and grabbed my current calendar. (Okay – the templates are for 2009, so I had to swap a month name to get the corresponding dates because I need organization right now, LOL!) I then opened a 4×6 file and typed out all of the re-occuring events – school days, sports, etc. I’ll laminate this later and hang it next to my calendar as a key. I used my new Watercolor Doodle Brushes & Ellie Lash’s “Fly Free” kit to make this key.

Then I used the brushes to mark the events on the correct days on the calendar grid. (HERE’s THE TIME SAVER…) I made sure that they were on their own layer so that I could easily drag them onto next months calendar template. Then I just filled in all the other single day events.

Now I can print it and save it. Any new events can be hand written in, or I can go back and add it to the template and reprint it!

Now that I know when all the scheduled events happen, it’s time to fit in some other organization. A great way to get my kids to help out with the chores (ie keeping their rooms neat and organized) was to make them a chore chart. Both of my DD’s really enjoyed scrapping on mommy’s computer (I let them help – so don’t judge their scrap styles too hard, LOL!). Here is DD2′s chart – she picked Tiny Cowgirl by Britt-ish Designs

The charts hang in their rooms, and at the end of each day, they get a sticker for each chore they completed. Any chores they don’t complete each day can be made up with extra chores, like wiping down the fronts of appliances, or changing wastebasket trash bags (they are still little, so we keep the chores simple). At the end of the week, mommy has had a lot less argueing with them, and they get to earn some special time with mom or dad, or maybe some money for their piggy banks.

I’ve actually used this chart over an over, for potty training, chores, etc. I thought I’d share it with you. (Click the pic for the download – the password is happy )

So maybe getting organized isn’t what matters most, but getting organized gives you time to do what matters most – making more memories with your loved ones!

I have some more ideas on how to get better organized by scrapping but would love to hear any things that you have done (feel free to share some pics too!). I’ve started a thread in our forum – stop over and get – or give us some great organizing tips!

This entry was posted on Monday, September 15th, 2008 at 4:00 am and is filed under Freebies, ScrapMatters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.