Kids Clothes- Managed -Back To School

This is such a struggle for me. Every year it gets a little easier as the kids get pickier and have specific things they want.  The clothes! So much clothes! 

I grew up getting pretty much a whole wardrobe before school started and we kind of continued that.  As the kids have gotten older and I have become a fan of minimalism, that’s faded.  Don’t get me wrong, they still get a few things because it’s fun and there is usually some need between growth and damage.  

Before I even consider looking for clothes, I try and go through everything they have. Stuff they don’t love and I don’t love, goes. Stained, ripped or too small? It allll goes!  I don’t want to keep stuff in their drawers they are just going to skip over every day. 

Then I grab the bin of hand me downs/sale finds for the next size, whatever size they are growing into. Grab things from it that are weather appropriate and put things back in their drawers. 

We keep stuff that is more than 1 year out in the Laundry Room, and stuff likely to be needed soon is in the closet top shelf. I need to label these someway that isn't permanent. I'll add that to my Fall Deep Cleaning/Organizing. 

I like making a note of things they need, socks and underwear are almost always a guarantee, in my checklist app. I also add sizes for tops and bottoms because it can be easy to mix up with 4. It’s broken down by kiddo. I do this because sometimes I’ll find an unexpected deal while I am out and don’t want to grab the wrong size or socks for the wrong kid. 

And because our younger 2 are especially rough on clothes, I keep the new stuff in their backpack put up until the day before school. 

I don’t try to manage the teens clothes anymore, outside of making sure they aren’t keeping things they won’t be able to wear in public 🤪

For the younger 2, I have a rough list of what I like to keep for them. It looks about like this

7 underwear

7 socks 

3 pair jeans 

3 pair of other pants (joggers etc) 

7 T shirts

3-5 hoodies

3-6 pair of athletic shorts (older one needs a pair everyday for sports) 

1-2 pair casual shorts 

Church clothes 

3 pair pajamas 

1 jacket

1 heavier coat 

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Back to School Organization~ Cleaning Cards

 I shared our updated Chore Packs last week, over the weekend I put together the cards for each room. These are not jobs that will take hours, just a checklist of a few items that each take a couple minutes max. Having some help do these few chores a couple times a week will sure help me, and help these kids learn how to keep the spaces they frequent tidy. 

I don't expect the bigger kids to need these for long, after a few weeks they will have the routine down, until then, they are laminated and have a spot easy to access. I also attached a dry erase marker because a certain 7 year old I know and love will want to check them off! It might add more time to the job than the actual job, but if it encourages him to helpful, I will take it!

I've got a card (just small, 4x6) for Kitchen, Bathroom, Bedroom, and Family Room.

Email me if you would like them too, free :)

FolkHollow@gmail.com

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Back to School Organization~Chore Cards

Sorry, sorry, sorry for even bringing it up. But today IS August 1st which means school will be in session before we know it :( I don't love that at all, but I do want to make sure it all goes smooth!

Honestly, the last 2 years or so have kind of had me/us in a funk! Baby, re-doing a home, health issues and overall busyness just have not worked in our favor.  To combat that busyness that isn't going away I need routine, and scheduling and structure. No way can I just toss that on the kids the first day of school.  I haven't updated our CHORE CARDS in years, those need an overhaul, and our weekly and daily routines need an overhaul too. We don't expect them to be followed 100% every single day, but having a plan in place that we hopefully meet 80% of the time still REALLY makes a difference. 

We are starting by adding chore packs again, and hopefully practice morning routines in the next couple weeks.

So this is the new chore cards. They are more work because the kids are a lot older now, I mean it's been 5 years!!! And these are all things that *might* need to be done. I promise we don't expect them to clean the coop everyday :) I left some blank because I laminated mine and wet erase markers work great on them! Sometimes we have chores that are just for a season, or a few weeks and I like to have the option.

Happy to share these printable sheets! Just email me (FolkHollow@gmail.com) and I will send you the file! I just had mine printed on card stock (using the floral as a back side), laminated them and then used these rings and a hole punch to keep them handy and together!

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1 Year To an Entirely Organized Home

 First I want to say that I know January, when the kids are home, after a few weeks off, may not be the ideal time to start. So, why am I starting now then?! For many of us the holidays are stressful. I NEED an outlet. Cleaning/Organizing is my favorite healthy outlet! If January is not the right time for you, it's ok! There aren't specific dates for this, just a weekly plan. 

We've been doing some purging together in our Facebook Group, it's helped me get rid of 275 ish things, and there are still plenty of days to go! I feel like I need to roll with that, before any clutter makes it's way back in!

I still try to do some organizing every week, usually on Friday. This fits right in with our current routine.

I've done this in the past (a couple houses ago) this is what that looked like

Sadly, many of those don't apply to our current home. Many still do though, and I have plenty of new things to add to this list.  Taking the time now to make my list so I have a plan and can jump right in that first week! How perfect that the 1st is a Sunday? Just lines right up with this plan!

I hope you will join and take the ones that don't apply to you (like Chicken stuff) out, and add what you need, in! Post it to instagram and help others get inspired to spend more time with their family and less time dealing with clutter! Tag me! @OregonHousewife :) I am sure I have some giveaways happening for participants!

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Updated Homework Setup

I have no idea if any of our older 3 will have homework. I am assuming the 6th grader will and probably the 1st grader, going to set up for that and change it if we need to. Oh how I miss the last time I shared our work set up. 2 tiny elementary students and a pre-preschooler :(

We already have a drawer for colored pencils, crayons, art supplies and that kind of stuff. It's just not very conducive to homework, too many fun distractions. I don't want to do anything TOO over the top or crazy. I'm just tidying the drawer that already has all their other stuff. Journals, devotionals and such, stuff we ideally use everyday. Added a little basket with plain pencils (no one comes looking for those) and a few crayons. I might add their workbooks, once we know who has homework and how much. 

This is also where we will keep their reading logs and folders, if it's like years past where they bring them home Monday and return Friday. 

I don't know if there is anything worse than a frantic type A kiddo who doesn't know where their homework folder is and it's time to go. I'd love to eliminate that whole dilemma with this! 

 It's not a huge drawer, but I am also hoping to have room for 1st grade library books. He is NOT of the type A variety and really has no desire to keep track of anything.

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Weekly Outfits for Kids

Now that I have all their stuff organized, gonna straight ruin that and make a week + worth of outfits.

Last year I was too tired to care much about what they wore, wasn't worth the battles. 

This year I have had a bit more sleep. I don't want it to be a battle, but I'd also like some more of her clothes to see sunlight.

These fancy schmancy dollar tree hangers are perfect! 5 slots to hang outfits. I am planning on doing 2 weeks at a time and adding this task to my Sunday night routine until I either burn out or feel like she can do a little better job not wearing her 4 favorites. I haven't found the hangers lately, but amazon has some HERE

I also just clipped the matching hair bow or headband right onto the shirt or hanger! 

This will probably save me a few minutes each morning. Once the weather is more varied I might have a little bit of hard time getting her to choose the weather appropriate one.


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Back to School Goals!

Summer is fun and all but I love the routines of school time too! Last year was so OFF for us. New school, new morning routine with bus riding, having a baby that slept like a newborn, and a new house in shambles. Most of that is settled now.  I feel like we let so much slide and now I have August to get back on track after almost 2 years of being off our game.  School starts the end of August for us, exactly 1 month from today.. Yikes!
Just a few things I want to have ready before then, some routines in place, some work done.

Put Up Decorations

And be real about what I am keeping, not sure I will need all 6 banners we have in that bin.

Update our Breakfast Routine

Update our Homework Setup

Lunch & Snack Prep

Morning Routine for School 
Mine and the Kids

Meal Planning

Kids Chore Packs

Sports Area in Garage

Outfits picked out for middle 2 

While I still can 😭😭

Get a Command Center set up
This is unlikely but I would love for it to be wrapped up, or even started!

Not worrying about any of it this weekend, but hoping Monday is kind!



And I know our after schools are going to be so weird now that we have 1 kiddo who won't be home until a bit later. But figuring out afternoons is on the list to figure out after a month or so. 

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Working on Productivity

When I first left my job, I was TERRIBLE at getting things done! I felt scattered and was easily distracted, floundering. And this was almost a decade ago, before cell phones could do all that neat stuff they do now! I knew we could do more fun stuff as a family if I could manage my day better.

My job is raising babies and keeping our house cozy. Working on projects here and there and a little work outside the home too.  For you it might be juggling working from home, kids and school. This doesn't have to be just for the stay at home mom/homemaker.

I started to realize all the things I wasn't keeping up on throughout the week. Once I realized how much easier it would be to keep up on stuff I started with LISTS!

So here are some things I've done since then that have made *most* of my days pretty productive. Of course not everyday is that way. We all have rough days, knowing what it takes to get back on track makes those rough days no biggie!

Write It Down
Everything you WANT to get done that day. Make those goals big and give yourself grace, it's ok to leave some undone. Be realistic about what you CAN get done and optimistic about what you want to get done. I do this the night before often.

Pick Your Top 3 Must Do
And then do the most important first. I like to be fully caffeinated when I take on whatever that #1 job (besides taking care of the kids) is that day. I avoid ALL multi tasking for the first 3 tasks. I love multi tasking, but at the same time it's not always the best option for those important tasks.

Being Positive and Self Motivating
I try to start everyday with something positive. I kind of treat my to do list as a job, if I was doing this for someone else and being paid for it, how would I get it done. I didn't have a problem getting my work done at work. I just have to be the one to hold myself accountable. 

Tiny Tasks
Those ones that will take 10-15 minutes but just keep getting pushed aside. I set my timer and just do what I can to knock a few of those out in however long I have before my next thing.

Breaks and Bribes
I am terrible at remembering to take breaks for healthy snacks, but after the first couple important tasks I try to do that. Energy is a must! On especially busy or rough days, I bribe myself with the promise of 10 minutes of my favorite time suck. Pinterest is usually my go to!

Routines
When you have things that are continually on your list. Daily, weekly or monthly. You will find it might be easier to add those to a routine. I LOVE the routines I have established after a couple months of focusing and not floundering.  I've been doing about the same thing weekly since becoming a SAHM. It's about time to tweak that though. Life has just changed enough that things aren't quite right for our current routine.

When there are times when I am just not getting it done, I use some of these tips.

If it's been a long stretch of unproductive days, I have to get REALLY serious and evaluate what in the world I am spending my time on! Some people suggest writing down what you did in every hour.  I feel like I would spend so much time writing. I usually know what my time sucks are. Pinterest, Facebook etc.

~I start saying NO to things that aren't a REALLY good match for our family. We skip some of those extra activities.

~I use those sneaky hours that slip away from us more often. Phone calls, and anything else that can be done from the car. So much time waiting in pickup lines and at sports. They add up, I start to make them a bit more useful.

~I also notice that when I am not feeling my best, or after and indulgent weekend of not eating the best, I am way less productive! Staying healthy really helps me.

Feel like you don't know where to start? I love this idea of spending a couple days of being REAL about where your time goes!

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Real Life for 6.. Getting rid of the EXCESS!

 July is my month to finish purging, for REALSIES this time. Everything. Not a drawer here and there. Everything! I know once school starts I won't have time to do this job the way it should be done. I want all of August to be fun and open, until it's time to get back into school mode.

My FRESH  approach to purging is super simple and short.

1. I remind myself WHY I am purging, sorting, organizing, whatever you want to call it.

 Having less stuff to deal with gives me more time to do what we want.

 

Pretty sure no one wants to go through their belongings, or spend time dealing with too much stuff, or looking for that 1 thing among all the other things. 

There are so many other things we would rather be doing!

2. The 6 month rule

You know the one! Haven't used it in 6 months, you probably don't need it. *

 

Obviously there are exceptions. Christmas tree stands and inflatable pools aren't year round things. You get to decide if you want to pick up and move that quesadilla maker again in 3-6 months. You know those exceptions for your things.

When I am feeling burned out or hesitating about an item.

 I remind myself that pretty rooms aren't full of junk, and who doesn't want a pretty room?

And when it's all done, I will be back to my 15 minutes a day rule. Just 10-15 minutes a weekday of organization will keep the clutter problem at bay.

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Real Life For 6~ Kids Clothes Part 1

 It's about that time when we are bombarded with ads telling us we need to buy our kids NEW clothes. I don't know about you, but our kids still have a ton of clothes from last year that aren't worn out and some even still fit.  As part of our effort to have a fresh perspective on everything, giving kids clothes a new look and doing some reducing, absolutely not buying as much as last year which was already a huge reduction from years past. We obviously didn't need that many if there are 5-6 shirts that were only worn 1 or 2 times. Part of this is due to the struggle with our tween. He is very picky with his clothes all of a sudden, too bad for me because I was still in the habit of buying ahead. T Shirts just won't cut it anymore, he really only likes the athletic style shirts, as much as I don't like them :) choosing my battles on that one.

I am sure there are a few things our kids do actually need for the next school year, socks come to mind, but I can't tell you what that is, or watch for deals on it, if I haven't done a good job of knowing what we have vs. what we NEED (that need vs. want thing is still a work in progress here).

Sooo, first thing first, what do they actually NEED for the next 6 months. This is going to be different for everyone, depending on uniforms, what shoes are or aren't allowed at school, activities, etc.  Make your lists for your family. I am trying to be as harsh as possible and keep things limited.

Here is our list 

Shoes: Athletic, Casual, Rain boots, Dressy for the girly too.

Socks and Underwear: 7 days worth

Pants: 4 Pair of Jeans (our everyday staple) 1 alternate pair, 1 Dress Pants

Shirts:  T-Shirts 7 (long and short sleeve), 2 Dress Shirts

Sweater/Sweatshirts: 3 and at least 1 with a hood

Jacket/Coat: 1 of each, with a hood

Dresses: 3 Casual/1 Dressy

Gym/Sports stuff: 2 full outfits

Now this hasn't changed much since I talked about this 2 years ago here! I haven't really bought a whole lot of anything in the last 2 years, well not for the big kids anyway. I HAVE  done a much better job of sticking to necessities. We still have TOO MUCH. 

Part 2 coming up. How we keep it all organized and easy to access. 

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My Morning Routine & Checklist

 I posted about mornings and how important they are for us. I didn't get specific in my routine, but thought I could, so here it is. This is my ideal SUMMER morning, once school starts it will need some tweaking. And no, not every morning is like this but I wish they were!

When you set your alarm and it seems like such a pain, remember WHY you are doing it. Whatever your WHY is. Mine is alone time to mentally prep for the day and then a little prepping for a smoother day.

 I have mine laminated and it snaps right into my planner with these snazzy little stickers, just in case I am ever ( and let's be real, that is always) on the tired side and need a little reminder about what a smooth morning would look like.

5:00 Rise and Shine/Start Coffee
5:10 Coffee/Bible Reading
5:30 Workout
6:00 Make To Do/To Be Lists

6:15 Shower and dress
6:45 Make Bed & Start Laundry
7:00 Breakfast

7:45 Kid Work
8:00 Power (Half) Hour

Wondering what any of those are? Here is a quick rundown.
Just get up and start my coffee, get dressed
I like to read in the mornings while I have my coffee
I have a few different workouts that are all under 30 minutes, I just pick one.
Check my planner, dinner plans, make my lists. To do, those are obvious. To be, those are sometimes things I need reminders on, be patient, be more present etc. Depending on how things have been going.
Shower and get ready for the day
Once hubby gets up I can make the bed and start a load of laundry
Make breakfast for everyone, eat breakfast
Set the kids up with either some paperwork, chores, a game, art project. Just something for them to do for a dedicated amount of time while I get my Power Half Hour done.
Power Half Hour~ A half hour can feel like NO time or like a long time. I spend that first 30 minutes of the day moving as fast as I can to get the chores of the day done. I can usually get everything (or nearly everything) done in that 30 minutes. Well, besides laundry, because laundry is just never ending! I don't ever want chores to take all day or for it to feel like that is all we do.

How do you do mornings? 
Any schedule or routine? Just wing it day by day?

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Mud Room {Real Life for 6}

The mudroom is our between spot, from the garage to the house and it is ABUSED!

Half the time the shoes end up there instead of put away in the garage, all the dirty kitchen towels and table cloths end up on the floor, I haven't organized the cleaning supplies at all. It's just been a hot mess. Used some of my free time to get some things settled this week. AGAIN.  It's still not working 100% for us, but for now, this is what we have!

Yeah, so bad before!

First things first. The laundry stuff, we keep things really basic here so they don't take up a lot of space. Just 2 shelves for soap, color catchers and the stain remover. Once I figure out how this other shelf fits in here?! 

Then Cleaning supplies.

The easiest way to keep these manageable is to limit the potions and sprays you bring home. The less you have the less you have to deal with. We really don't use much, some Bon Ami for toilets and sinks and then just vinegar/dawn combo. All of our cleaning supplies in this 1 basket!

After is a little better but still not exactly what we need, at least its clean and organized and has no clutter!

We have BIG plans for this room eventually. It's not a pretty room by any means, and it's set up so strange! The hot water heater in the closet?  But for now I just need it to work for the 3 kids we have leaving in a rush in the morning, and the 1 kid who loves to play in here! I can't wait to get started (not before baseball season is over) and make this room more usable for us.

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Mom Drawer

 This was my dresser growing up, I hesitated to take it back until just recently. Well now that it's here, it's perfect! It fits just right and has given me a convenient spot for my mom/wife life organization.

it's not quite the big command center I was dreaming of, like these.

But it's working! My WOTY is FRESH, still working on it, in lots of ways.  A fresh perspective on what I actually need to make my life run smooth was one of those things. I don't need a big ol' command center, just this. This drawer, where I can keep my planner, my daily necessities like the speaker and devotional/Bible, grocery list, my few favorite pens, lip gloss and eye drops, yay allergies. I also keep my coloring books, in case I have a few minutes to myself ❤️

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Organizing Friday {Week 9}

I can't believe we are already 8 weeks into this year!  Last week was coupons and meal planning.  

I don't do coupons for food much, you can read about it HERE, that being said, I do have some coupons for other stuff. Those things need to be wrangled.  I keep it simple, and in my purse or I will never remember them.

I have seen some other ways for those that have a lot of coupons though!

Meal Planning
Was the other one for the week I missed.  I haven't been great at meal planning this year at ALL.

While I don't really keep recipes around that much, I do have a section in my planner where I SHOULD be meal planning. But nothing that needs organizing. No stack of recipes or papers or complicated schedule.

This week is the LAUNDRY ROOM
I don't know how spiffy I can get it this week, we will be at the hospital for much of the week. But I am going to work on it when I can!
Before

 

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Organizing Friday {Week 3}

Last week was HARD! But I am amazed at how messy and unorganized it all was!

After taking care of all of the drawers and cupboards I actually have a whole empty cupboard and 2 empty drawers! What?!

Here are the after pictures, it's still ugly and unpainted and not any different on that aspect.  The good news is hubby got to replace the ugly old pipes under the sink. Bad news? It didn't fix the kitchen drain issue we were having, so we won't be doing anything fun in there for a while. Plumbers are spendy!

Can't wait to move the microwave OFF the counter!

No idea what I will eventually use this for.

Or this one!

This is my favorite drawer! My coffee drawer!

This week is Pantry and Food Storage. If I was being smart I would have looked ahead I wouldn't have spent the little time I did on that, last week. Should make this week easy though!

We have a tiny pantry compared to what we used to have. Still adjusting and not over buying at the grocery store has been a HUGE challenge.  It doesn't look so bad right now. Not that it looks good, cause I know it doesn't!

I really want to make it pretty and practical! That's a hard combo with grubby handed kids 😐

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Organizing Friday Week 2

I'm Following along with the 52 Week Organized Home Challenge.

Last week was sink and counters! Got that done but I'm a little, no scratch that, a lot scared of this week!  

Here are my before and after from last week. 

And After

Eventually we will get those wires taken care of and move the microwave in here. It's on the LONG list of things to do. But it hasn't been a priority yet.

Under the sink is much better too, we didn't redo the pipes yet but the pink stuff is gone and so are the spiders!

I grabbed a basket that will fit under here for recycling, instead of using the counter top. And the little tin is the perfect size for corralling dishwasher tabs, sponges and dish soap.

This week is kitchen cabinets and drawers.
Ours have really been abused since we moved in. Moving stuff here and there while we sand/paint etc. You get the point, it's a disaster!

Just a few of them. Some are worse than others.

It's going to take me all day today and probably a little of my free time next week to finish this up.

Let's see yours! Drawers and Cabinets take a lot of work to keep up! 

Any amazing tricks for keeping them organized?

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