Comments (12)

By Mom Unplugged, October 5, 2010 12:02 pm

Yes I am still here on planet Earth!

What a long blog break I took! Actually I have been way too busy to write lately. I, a confirmed pack rat, have been organizing, sorting, and “de-junking” my house.

I wish I had taken before and after photos. Clutter and mess was creeping in and threatening my sanity. So far two whole pickup truck loads of stuff have left my life and it feels GREAT!

I am not done yet. I have a big house and lots of things pack ratted away, but I am nearly done with the downstairs and then I will move on to the upstairs.

It took me a whole year of sitting around and procrastinating to finally get going with this enormous undertaking!

If you are feeling bogged down by stuff and need some tips to get moving to eliminate it, here is what I have learned:

• Start small. Don’t think about your whole house or you will just want to curl up and take a nap instead. Be sure to make each goal achievable in a short time, preferably a day or two.

• Pick a closet, drawer, cupboard or something easy for your first tidying session. Once you see how great it looks, you’ll be inspired to tackle the bigger jobs.

• Make a deal with a friend to help each other sort and organize. When you have someone else there to help you work, you can’t just go take a nap instead! Plus, it is way more fun to do it with some pleasant company.

• If you don’t have a friend available to work with and you can afford it, hire someone to help you. This might sound extreme, but that is what I did. Hiring a helper is the only reason I have been able to accomplish all that I have accomplished so far. My helper is a friend of a friend who needed a part-time job. It is a definite win-win for us both. She has a job, I have help and motivation, and we both have found new friends in each other (never having met before).

• Set a schedule and stick to it. For example, Every Monday 9AM to 3PM at your friend’s house. Every Thursday 9AM to 3PM at your house. If you are not strict about your schedule, you’ll find a way to procrastinate. Trust me. I KNOW.

• Be ruthless, it will feel good in the end. Do you really need five pie plates? If you haven’t worn your out-of-style, navy blue interview suit in ten years why are you keeping it? What about that tacky porcelain cow that your aunt gave you for Christmas twelve years ago and that you keep only because you like your aunt (not the cow). Someone out there will find that cow in a thrift store and think it is the most wonderful piece of art and you (and, indirectly, your aunt) will make their day if you only just give it away!

• Unless you are a regular Ebay seller, don’t hang on to things thinking that one day you will sell them on Ebay and make a fortune. Ebay takes time to do right and if you tend to procrastinate about sorting your house, you will almost certainly procrastinate about listing your things on Ebay. Just get it all out of there and let a “real” Ebayer find it in the thrift store. The good feeling of letting go is probably worth more than you would have made anyhow!

• If you have sentimental feelings about any of your give-aways, don’t put them in your own yard sale. Seeing strangers handling your precious belongings and haggling with you over prices will be distressing. Either give them away to a thrift store, or find a good friend who will sell them for you.

• Once you decide what to toss out and what to donate be sure to get all of it out of your house right away. This avoids second thoughts, nosy children, and clutter simply moving to a new location such as a garage or attic. Plus, you need the immediate reward of feeling the positive energy that moves in to replace the stuff that leaves.

For more inspiration as well as some ideas for where to donate your cast-offs, read my old post Sort, Junk, Donate. Good luck!

(Thrift shop photo courtesy of Wikipedia - license information here)

Comments (7)

By Mom Unplugged, January 11, 2008 11:40 am

(So sorry for the pun, but I just couldn’t help it!)

Dear Readers,

Puzzles, puzzles, puzzles….Unplugged Kids do a lot of puzzles, and we are “Puzzle Central” here at the moment. Puzzles are my 2 year-old’s latest obsession, but they have always presented a bit of a problem for me.

Those simple wooden puzzles with the tiny knobs just fascinate my little one! The problem is, that I have never figured out how to store them. They always seem to end up in a pile on the floor of mixed up pieces and debris.

You are all probably laughing kindly as you read this, shaking your head sadly and saying to yourself: “I can’t believe she doesn’t know.”

Is there some great Mom-Club puzzle organizing secret out there that I am not privy to?

I have tried the following:

- Stacking them on a shelf: Looks nice until someone wants a puzzle from the bottom and all, or at least, some of them end up tumbling to the floor.

- Stacking them in a large plastic storage box with lid: This is worse than stacking them on a shelf since they all spill inside the box creating a giant, hour long sorting exercise for me.

- Puzzle racks: Nice idea but expensive and take up a lot of room. When you have a lot of puzzles, then this is not a viable option. (Does anyone have a method of making these at home? It can’t be hard, but not being terrible handy, I haven’t really thought of an easy way.)

- Keep them on a high shelf out of reach: This is no fun, plus that means that kids must bug Mom anytime they want a puzzle. Definitely NOT a good idea.

- Baggies: Instead of keeping puzzles on a shelf with the pieces in them, take the pieces out for storage and put them in a labeled baggie that attaches to the puzzle board. This is probably my most successful storage method, but I am not using it at the moment because I don’t like fiddling with baggies and I am DETERMINED to find a better way to store the puzzles in an assembled manner.

Usually I am the one offering unasked-for advice to the whole world via this blog. Today however, I turn the tables. I am unleashing the power of the blogosphere to help me solve my puzzle-dilemma.

The challenge is this: We can send humans to the moon. But can we find an easy, affordable and tidy solution for those boxless knob puzzles? I leave it to you dear readers, to come up with a solution to my problem!

Or, do you all use that easy Mom-Club solution that I know must be out there. If so, am I worthy enough to be allowed in on the secret? Pleeese! Pretty pleeese???

Thank you.

Signed,
Puzzled in Arizona

Comments (6)

By Mom Unplugged, November 21, 2007 10:28 pm

This is all an alien concept to me, “Slacker Holiday Mom.” So I asked my very organized and holiday-loving bloggy friend Heather of Celtic Mommy to help out with ideas for organizing (thank you Heather!!!). All you “Holiday Prep-Loving Type 2′s” out there might need some hints for how to get it all done in time to enjoy yourselves, so hopefully Heather has some good ideas for you here (plus, she put in lots of great links):

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Heather says:

“Before I had children… before I got married… before I moved out of my mom’s house… I was a holiday organizer. I have always been an organizer. I think part of the reason may be that my mom is completely UNorganized. Yep, she cannot tell you where the wrapping paper is… where the scotch tape is, where a pen is! But she knows where her heart is, and that was all that really mattered.

Even though my mom’s way was successful for her, I still did things my own way (made lists, made a budget, shopped early, sent cards early, etc.) and that worked for me.

These tips work for me. Some may or may not work for you. It all depends on each individual’s personality… so take each tip with a grain of salt. Also, all the links I use are included.

Why Organize? ( FlyLady’s Cruising through the Holidays and Organized Christmas)
I organize for selfish reasons. I want things done early so I can enjoy the holiday season, period! Sure, I’ve had frazzled years where I am up until 4 a.m. wrapping gifts… and I never want to do that again! Do you like being up until the crack of dawn knowing something you just lovingly wrapped is about to be torn open… my guess would be no. AND, by getting organized, you make time for yourself and your family and for those other things that matter:

Stringing popcorn for the tree. Playing the dreidel game. Taking walks as a family. Baking together. Visiting with neighbors, family and friends. Hot cocoa and s’mores by the fire or under the stars. Watching the mail for holiday cards and reading them with your family each evening. Making your own wrapping paper. Green alternative to wrapping paper. Touring local houses strung with lights . Snowball fights, snowman making and sled riding…

Sound inviting? Here’s how I do it. Again, take what you can from this for this year and add a little on next year and the next… find ways to make the holidays a fun time, not chore time.

Calendar: Right now (End of November)

If you send out cards, start getting them ready now if you haven’t already. Buy stamps online or when you are at the grocery store rather than brave the post office lines.

Write down your family’s measurements (shirts, pants, shoes, etc.) and keep in the same place as your shopping lists. Now is also a great time to go through old clothes and toys and donate to charity. This works on several levels such as teaching charity to children.

Make a shopping list! Not just for people but for all holiday items including postage and cards, tree budget, food budget (if baking gifts or having dinners), travel budget if applicable.

I do mine in Excel for easy keeping and then take a printout with me when shopping. This way I know what I’ve already bought and what I still need to do. On my list, I have:

+ Gift recipients’ name
+ Things they like (colors, games, books, movies, food)
+ Ideas I’ve written down throughout the year (If something was mentioned in July, I added it to my spreadsheet)
+ If making homemade gifts, what needs to be purchased (i.e. yarn, fabric, paint)
+ Money budgeted
+ What has been bought already
+ Money spent already
+ Homemade items completed (YES/NO)
+ Shopping completed (YES/NO)
+ Items wrapped (YES/NO)
+ I also have past years gifts listed so I know what I bought.

Every time I go to the grocery store, I grab an item or two that I will need for my big baking weekend (an extra pound of butter, a jar of a spice I will need) so that it doesn’t bust my budget.

If I am out at the bookstore or my local mall for some reason, I check my list to see if I can pick up anything on my list. Otherwise, I try to buy online as much as I can. Most places give free shipping for a standard small fee and I can track everything from home. And, items are almost always in stock right now!

When I get home, I put on holiday music and some holiday socks, make a fresh pot of mint tea or hot cocoa and I wrap a few gifts (about ½ hour to an hour). If I can’t do it right when I get home, I do it in the morning when the babies are asleep or in the evening while something is in the oven… or when the hubby is watching the kids in the bathtub. The point is to do a little each day so that you are not overwhelmed come mid-December.

I get out the boxes of decorations and check for broken items or if anything needs to be replaced and take care of that now. Also, we have many many craft projects in this house. So, I organize things like felt, glitter, glue, markers, paint, etc. that we’ll be using in the next few weeks. (More on projects later)

I take 1 to 2 hours (sometimes more, sometimes less) each day to work on the homemade items I am giving this year. For me, the handmade gifts are a way of customizing with love, a little something for each person. And, a little money goes a long way when you make it yourself!

That’s it for now… the main point of all of this is to do a little each day! This thousand mile journey begins with one step… and by getting a little more done each day, you will have time for those things listed above. Or, if you don’t feel like stringing popcorn and it’s too hot to make a snowman, tell us what holiday tradition you would like to do this year.

Heather
Celtic Mommy”

Read all the Christmas/Holidays Unplugged posts by clicking here.

Thanks to morguefile.com and photographer gracey for this photo.

Comments (13)

By Mom Unplugged, November 16, 2007 1:55 pm

No, not a list for Santa, not a gift list, or even a “to-do” list. If you really want to unplug your holidays then why not start by making a list of what your particular holiday means to you, or at least what you would like it to mean.

Only once you figure out what you want your holiday to be, can you then take steps to make that vision a reality.

For example, Christmas to some people has a deeply religious meaning. To others it is a time to gather with family. For others, it may be a time to think more about helping people and making our world a better place. Perhaps your “ideal Christmas” is a combination of several of these themes.

I can pretty much guarantee that no one is going to put on their list:

• “Christmas is a time to spend a lot of money at Walmart buying gifts of cheap plastic toys and nose hair trimmers.”

• “What I like most about Christmas is running around like a crazy person trying to create the perfectly decorated house like in Better Homes and Gardens December issue.”

• “My favorite Christmas pastime is spending hours writing hundreds Christmas cards to send to every friend, family member and business acquaintance I have ever known in my life, all while worrying that I might forget someone who will send ME a card and thus make me feel bad for not having sent them one.”

So, write your holiday list and see if your usual holiday matches what you want to be celebrating. If not, then perhaps it is time to make a few changes.

Read all the Christmas/Holidays Unplugged posts by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of morguefile.com and photographer ronnieb.

Comments (10)

By Mom Unplugged, September 28, 2007 8:11 pm

Original art…

Original art…

And yet more original art!

All for free!!!!!

If you have children, don’t spend money on a lot of art. Some of your kids’ original masterpieces can look quite stunning when nicely framed, or even displayed clothespinned to some string or wire as in the last photo. Plus, the kids are pleased.

(The string/wire display is a nice substitute for the refrigerator if you have a non-magnetic stainless steel one as we do)