Thanks to everyone for your fabulous responses to last week’s Talk to Me Tuesday post.  It’s great to know that I’m not alone in my hatred of slimy, grimy showers.

Recently I got a great question from April regarding my many charts.  She wondered where I stash my charts in order to keep them accessible without making things look cluttered.  Although the fridge is a tempting solution, I like to reserve it for things like my Kid’s Weekly Planners and their current homework.  Consequently, I have to stash my other charts and lists elsewhere.  My favorite stash spots?  The inside of my kitchen cupboards and doors.

For example, the picture above shows the inside of the cupboard door nearest to my fridge.  On it I keep my Mom Game Plan, my Stash Box Challenge sheet, a pack of post-its and a clip of quick-reference school sheets (like the lunch menu, and the school calendar).  I’m not crazy about taping things to the inside of my cupboards and doors, so I use removeable hooks to hold things in place instead.  When used in combination with small binder clips they’re an inexpensive, flexible way to keep everything close at hand. 

I use the same basic solution on the inside of my pantry door as well.  Here the clips and hooks hold things like this ziploc bag of clipped box tops, the kid’s lunch boxes, and my Reuseable Grocery List.  As for your question regarding the Picture Job Chart, April, I keep that one on a similar hook inside the hall closet door.  When Saturday morning rolls around I grab the chart from the hook, adjust the jobs, and then post it on the outside of the pantry door for easy viewing.

So there you have it, April.  By keeping my charts and lists in these hidden stash spots around the house, I’m able to keep everything accessible without adding clutter to the public areas of the house.  It’s a simple, cheap and easy way to keep things organized and out of view.  Just thought I’d pass it on.

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Sorry for the long delay in posting.  There’s nothing like cramming a birthday party, back to school, and a baptism all into one week to make you fall behind in your posts. 

Last week I received a great little email from Arian regarding my home laminator.  For years I thought a home laminator was out of my range.  After countless trips to the teacher supply store to laminate my stuff, I finally decided it might be worth the investment.  Thankfully, before I forked out the $150 I was planning to spend, I came across this little wonder.

Made by Duck brand, this inexpensive heat laminator is perfect for home use.  It’s small, lightweight, and folds up on itself for easy storage.  I found it at Wal Mart for under $30.  I bought mine a few years ago, but last time I checked, they still had them in stock.  The laminator’s instructions recommend using their laminating sheets (available in packs of 25 at Wal Mart for around $7).  However, I’ve tried it with several different types of film and it seems to work well with all of them.

I’ve used my laminator for tons of different projects around the house.  It’s kind of addictive, actually.  Trust me, once you make a simple sheet of paper toddler-proof, it’s tough to stop.   So far, my little laminator has held up fabulously; well worth the $30.  Just thought I’d pass it on.  Thanks for the great question, Arian.

If you’ve got a question you’d like to throw my way, please feel free to email me.  I’m no expert, but I seem to stumble through most organizing dilemmas sorta-successfully.  You can find the link on my About Me page. 

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One of the big drawbacks of a house without a designated toy room is that I’m forced to let my kids keep toys in their bedrooms.  Unfortunately, because our entire house is essentially one level, the cars, dolls, trains, and other random plastic objects inevitably make their way from the bedrooms to the common rooms of the house.  For the first few weeks, I would waste tons of time each night gathering up the various toys that had migrated from the bedrooms to the family room, kitchen, and hallways.  I needed a quick fix solution that would make my kids more responsible, so I invented this simple game.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I gave each of my kids a ’stash box’ a few years ago to help them be a little more responsible with their stuff.  A few weeks ago we started a new stash box ritual to help keep the toys in check.  We call it the Stash Box Challenge. 

I bought a cheap digital watch from WalMart and set the alarm to ring at 5:30 each night.  When the alarms sounds, we stop whatever we’re doing and the kids go get their empty stash boxes from their rooms.  They line them up on the fireplace and then we start the hunt.  We walk through each of the common rooms (i.e. living room, kitchen, hallways, bathrooms, mud room, etc.) and search for random objects that don’t belong.  As we find things, we add them to that person’s stash box.  For example, if Emily kicked her shoes off and forgot to put them in the shoe caddy they go in her box.  If Jack dumped his backpack on the floor instead of hanging it on the hook, it goes in his box. 

Once we’ve searched all the rooms, the kids dump their boxes and tally up their scores.  While I add their score to our simple fridge scorecard (you can find the file download below) they take their boxes to their rooms and put everything away.  We tally points all week on our chart and then announce the winner (and award the prize) at Family Home Evening on Monday night.

The first week’s scores were pretty pathetic.  My oldest daughter had a grand total of 58 items.  My youngest won the $1 prize with 24 items.  However, each week, the scores get a little lower.  As an added benefit, the kids seem to need my involvement less and less each week.  As soon as they hear the alarm, they grab their boxes and start searching for toys…hoping to catch one of their siblings off guard.  Generally, I just function as the referee and they do all the pick up.

It’s a simple system, but it has made a big difference in how my kids take care of their toys and how our house looks by the end of the day.  I figure that’s a win, win in any Mom’s book.  Just thought I’d pass it on.

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I used to be a complusive chart maker. I would go through phases where I’d make a sticker chart for various things like brushing their teeth, eating their veggies, cleaning their rooms, etc. Unfortunately though, after the ‘this new system will solve all my problems buzz’ wore off I’d often forget to keep track and the charts would lose their effectiveness. Over time I simplified, and created this simple sticker system.

I bought an inexpensive book of sticker sheets at Target and cut each page into thirds. I printed and laminated each of the kids names and then taped it all into my kitchen cupboard (easy access is key). They each set a goal for what reward they’re working for and we jot it down on a post-it and stick it up next to their stickers.

My kids have come up with all kinds of rewards. Anything from having 2 friends over at once to a trip to the video store is fair game.

They earn stickers by doing anything on their own that I happen to notice, like cleaning their room or eating a least favorite food. Generally the stickers end up on their shirt so they can show them off to their siblings, but it doesn’t really matter to me…as long as their not on my furniture.

I also use the stickers to break bad habits. For example, when my first grader refused to write her name in lower case letters, I would put a sticker on each paper she brought home with the correct lettering.
When the sticker sheet is empty, they get their reward and a new sticker sheet goes up. It’s a simple system, but it seems to work perfectly for our family. For about $5 I’ve got a 6-month supply of stickers and a chart-free fridge. It’s tough to beat that. Just thought I’d pass it on.

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During the morning rush to get the kids off to school, I found myself checking multiple papers to find out what was happening that day. Did we need to pack library books or p.e. shoes? Is it a hot lunch day or do I need to pack a lunch? Does she need to bring her girl scout vest or ballet shoes? Some things were on the calendar and some were tacked up on the fridge. I felt like I was wasting time that I couldn’t spare, so I created this weekly planner to help my first grader manage her own schedule.

It’s a very simple velcro system. On it I list the days of the week Monday through Saturday. I created icons in MS Word for each of my daughter’s usual activities and color coded the titles for easy sorting. Under each day, I’ve added a strip of velcro that can hold three icons. The first icon shows what’s happening at school that day (art, library, pe, music, computer). The second icon shows what type of lunch she’s having (cold or hot). The third icon shows reminders and afterschool activities (test, homework, afterschool activity, etc.). I added a few extra dots of velcro down the right side to store the unused icons.

Usually, on Sunday night at family council we’ll gather all the various calendars and reminders and my daughter will arrange the icons on her chart. As a side note, she’ll also use this chart to help her know what clothes to put in her clothes organizer that I posted last week. For example, on p.e. days she knows she can’t pick a skirt and on brownie scout days she’ll add her vest to the outfit for that day.

We post this “planner” on the fridge so she can see it each morning when she’s getting dressed and packing her backpack. It has made a huge difference in our morning routine. I’ll also use it throughout the week when her teacher sends home reminders and other info. I think this one will stick with us for several years. Just thought I’d pass it on.  You can find the free file downloads below.

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With three kids under 5, I got very sick of listening to the whining and fighting over petty little daily problems. I don’t like playing the referee all day, so I created this fridge Busy Bee chart to help me.

Each day, one of the kids is the assigned to be the Busy Bee. They are the little decision maker for the day. They choose everything from what movie to watch at quiet time to who gets scrubbed in the tub first. When the kids are fighting, the busy bee gets to be the ref and decide who should win.

I know it sounds simplistic, but it has saved me from so many hassles. Now instead of running to me to solve problems, the kids try to work it out on their own. They know that I’ll just tell them to ask the busy bee. It’s been almost 18 months since I made this chart and it’s still one of my favorites. Just thought I’d pass it on.  You can find the free file download below.

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Hey there, just thought I pass along this little tip. I finally created a job chart that works for our family. I ran around the house and took pictures of all the rooms and jobs (when they were clean). I laminated all of them and added velcro to the back. I used black foam-core and black velcro to create the backboard.
Much to my suprise, it’s been 6 months and it’s still working. The handy part about it is that it’s completely adaptable. We don’t always have the same jobs each week (I like to rotate my neglected areas ). This job board is handy because I can grab the pictures of the worst rooms and throw them up on the board Saturday morning. Better yet, it gives the kids an example of what I expect the room to look like when they’re finished. Even little Emily can figure out how to clean the living room simply by looking at the picture. Once the kids have their jobs done, they are free to watch cartoons or whatever.

On the back, I used to have a daily job board (make bed, brush teeth, etc.) However, now that the kids are in school much of the day, I think I’m going to change it to a money job board. I’ll post pictures of money jobs in columns of $ ($1 jobs, $5 jobs, $10 jobs, etc.). The back is also a handy place to stash the extra photos as well.

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