Easy Organization

How many of you spent the last week of December/beginning of January organizing your house?

How many of you spent the last week of December/beginning of January organizing everything you own?

Anybody?

Just me then?

Alright, what can I say, I love it when everything is in its place.

While I’ve refined a system of organizing my life stuff, I’ve had to adjust my practices to deal with all the paraphernalia the little creatures who now reside in our home summon from the air. Seriously, I don’t know where it all comes from.

Because they grow so quickly, I go through their clothing once a month, clear out the stuff that doesn’t fit and isn’t worn and either pack it up for storage or donate it. I go through toys more often just because I’m always picking them up. Similar kinds of toys and toys with parts are zipped together inside clear vinyl bags and then all toys are stored in canvas totes on a set of shelves in the children’s closet. Out-of-sight is the best kind of storage in my mind.

To combat the paper, pictures, drawings, doctor sheets and all the other stuff that doesn’t fit in a photo album, this is what I do:

I keep two folders, one labeled for Love Bug and one for Sweet J, in our ‘paperwork’ cupboard in the kitchen.

Because the folders sit on a shelf higher than my face, I put their names on clear tape and, because the folder is transparent, I can see which folder is which.

Then, I can simply stick save-worthy papers in the file and the items don’t lay on the counter or pile up elsewhere. Here are a few things I saved: the family valentine we sent to loved ones with Bug’s thumbprint, an envelope with hair clippings from her first haircut (with the envelope dated) and lots of her doodles.

The story of the doodles: I have a small paper pad right next to my bed so I can write things down, clear my head if I need to, when I lay down to sleep. Love Bug has basically taken it over and often times fills it with doodles. I took to dating them and writing down short explanations of the drawings, if she offered any. These doodles are from her ‘crunchy face’ stage. I love them so much I kept a lot of them.

Then, at the end of the year, as I did a few days ago, the files are emptied and reviewed before being moved into the accordion file, placed in the folder marked for the year.

I like the system because 1.) all incoming items are quickly reviewed and either tossed or placed in the save folder, 2.) it’s in an out-of-the-way but dedicated place which makes for easy organization and 3.) all the items are later put in one place so they are easy to find.

I’ve been doing a similar drill with items MJ and I want to keep from these years. I have a folder that I fill all year and then empty into an accordion folder labeled with the year. Christmas cards, ticket stubs, meaningful cards, calendars and anything else we would like to look back on.

This system might not last forever for the children. I don’t really know what to expect as for the amount of stuff we will come across, much less want to keep. I take a hard line with save-worthy items but who knows. I’ll keep adjusting with the years because someday, going through a whole pile of Bug’s crunchy face drawing will make for some happy remembering.

Take care.

__________________________________________________________

Winner, winner!! From the second year two giveaway, the winner is:

True Random Number
Generator
Min:

Max: Result:8
Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Nora who said – “I got some of these for Christmas presents.  I had pictures of the grandkids and Dawn did such a good job.”

Look for an email from me, Nora, with further instructions.

Thanks to all who entered and thanks to Dawn for providing the prize.

Have a great weekend!