I am not the most consistant with keeping the house picked up, many can attest to that fact. So tonight I wanted to make things a little easier for the whole family.
I told everyone that they had to go find 30 items to give away. We got a pretty good pile of stuff to send off, and the great part is we no longer have to pick it up. It always feels like a weight has been lifted when you get rid of stuff. It is also interesting to see what the kids come up with to give. They are more willing to give things than I am. I think that as adults we are the ones that hold on to things and it isn't the kids. I hope they will feel a bit lighter now too.
After about an hour or so of sorting through papers tonight, from various piles throughout the house I have decided I am going to make a paper basket. I plan to put this in the kitchen where most of it came from, and all papers go into the basket. Then I don't have to run around the house looking for bills or wondering where some important info ended up. The kids can also put all the papers that come home from school. I hope that this way the place will stay a bit cleaner and I won't miss important info from the school. I will let you know how it works out.
What works for you?
Sunday, January 10, 2010
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That's a great idea. I have a little basket myself with file folders in it that say "receipts", "Bills" "To Do" "Scrap Paper" "File (things I need to put somewhere else)" "Calendar (which I now magnate to the fridge)" and also a few I'm not using at the moment: store ads, coupons to file, and rebates. When I started couponing it was really helpful because I had paper flying everywhere. It works great for me, but I'm still training my husband to use the receipt folder. It's a work in progress.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, I try to go through it once a week or once a month depending on the folder.
Sharee, Mom-your grandma-used to do something that would address the clutter quickly and got everyone involved in the process at once. Being a farm home we were often cluttered; you know ten people in a small house. She would say, "okay, everyone pickup and put away 20 (or some number) things." Everyone moved at once. The number as you know made it a game. Five able bodies times 20 items is a lot of clutter. When toys are involved, you can up the number it also keeps all kids moving rather then just the hard worker doing all the work. The kitchen goes quicker too. You can make it a race with a small treat at the end. Maybe your mom has already shared that one with you. Mom used to challenge herself and do it when by herself too. I think it would keep her moving, where we can become distracted and quit doing what we started out to do. How many of us relate to that? Well it's getting me moving right now.
ReplyDeleteI am going to put away 30 items right now. I like your blog Sharee. I am going to try your recipes. You're doing good things!