As a mother of four children under seven organisation is something I desire very strongly. I have, from the very beginning of my motherhood journey, been a ‘prepare the night before’ type. Yes, perhaps my organisation borders on obsessive compulsive but over the last seven years I have learned a few tricks that help aid us in getting out the door on time for every activity.
Plan
A few years ago I started implementing a week planner, which is basically just a whiteboard in our house, with the week’s activities marked on it each Sunday afternoon for the week ahead, and a list underneath of activities, events or special occasions marked on it. Now, at a glance, I can see what’s on and be prepared for each day. It also means that I can be prepared in advance for birthdays and other occasions which means presents and cards can be sent early so as to arrive on the day, rather than afterwards.
Prepare the night before
School and work lunches are made after dinner and left on the bench in insulated cooler bags ready to go straight in school bags the following morning. This means we have to be a bit more careful about sandwich fillings so that the bread doesn’t go soggy but otherwise this has been a tremendous help. Homework and readers are dispatched back into school bags upon completion in the afternoon.
My children also unpack their bags as they arrive home, and bags are hung up straight away on their hooks and lunch bags returned ready for re-packing. This is a good habit I hope continues!
Any ironing not up to date is done the night before and I get out school clothes, shoes and so forth out the night before too so that if anything is lost we’ve found it before the kids turn in, rather than madly looking for a lost school shoe in the morning as we’re due to leave.
Anything that can be done the night before should be done then, if possible. Then in the morning you can focus on the breakfasting, toileting routine and there’s less pressure.
Restock nappy bags and so forth the night before and have…
A bag for each activity
During the course of our week we have school, work, pre-school, dance, swimming lessons and a few other things as well. I have found having a dedicated bag for each activity has been very beneficial. For example we use one bag for swimming and once the swimmers and towels have been washed and dried they are returned to the swim bag ready for the following week. The same occurs with the dance clothes for my daughters. Because everything is put back into the bags clean if you’re running late or pressed for time you know that you only have to pick up this bag and you’ve got everything you need for that particular activity.
I store these bags on over the door hooks in my children’s rooms or in our linen cupboard.
These are just a few organisational tricks that work in our house, feel free to share some of yours too, I’d love to hear them!
Originally posted 2014-09-16 22:02:22.
Organisation is important in a household. I tend to plan in my head what my husband will need for his lunch the next day ie make extra dinner so there are left overs, as sandwiches are not done in our house unless freshly 🙂 I personally like to plan out different things in my week but they must be written down otherwise I forget them!
Writing down shopping lists and meal plans is another great way to save on cash! Taking the husband grocery shopping also helps to save!
I’m becoming a total organisation freak too!
To save money for our house/land project we are renting a large townhouse with young adults from church. Add me, hubby, newborn, toddler (and two cats!) this makes for a busy household! All
Adults work (I’m on mat leave at the moment for a little while) so the morning time is a bit nuts.
Totally agre about planning ahead the night before. Meals especially, as this is where money goes leaking otherwise!