If you were to ask my oldest son what he likes to do with his free time he would most exuberantly say READ! Yes, my son is a reader and I am so very proud of this. Now here is the problem… we go through an incredible amount of books in a short period of time! He can easily read a 300 page book in two days, if I let him sit there that long. If we don’t have new books available he will re-read books he already has, but that will only hold him off for so long.

Since we read so many books in this house we are most definitely frequenters of the local library. So much so, that once my son read and re-read most of his favorites at the local library we went to the next county and got a card there too. It cost us $50 but we have access to all the books in Nashville! We are more likely to find the books we are looking for and it only costs us the price of 4 of his favorite paperbacks per year.

To keep our experience organized at the library we start by having our son keep a list of books he wants to read. (You can download your own Library Wish List printable below!) Then we use the online system at the library to find out where the books are available and have them delivered to our local branch. Now that we have the books we really want on hold, we pick them up and browse for extra books we want for all of the kids. This makes the time spent at the library much less hectic, otherwise the little kids pick out their books rather quickly then they have to wait for big brother to find what he is looking for. The little ones are a lot less patient than he is!

Since we usually have a large amount of library books in the home I have a system set up to keep things in order. First of all we have a “library cabinet” where all borrowed books are supposed to live. For the most part this works but when they become bedtime stories we have to remember to get them back to the cabinet. I keep the receipt/list of books form the library in my planner so it doesn’t get lost. If the list does get lost this information can be looked up online very easily. Before we leave for the library I have my son check off the list and make sure everything is there. We have a library bag that we always use to tote the books to and from so we keep our library cards with the bag in the library cabinet.

I was going to make cute library bags for each child but guess who would be left carrying three bags through the library? You got it, me. So I am sticking with one big bag!

How do you keep your library books organized at home?

I created a FREE Library Book Wish List printable to help you get organized before your next library trip! Click here to Download.

It happens twice a year, I don’t know why it surprises me so. Every time I rotate the children’s wardrobes to prepare for the change in seasons I always get a shock at how much they have grown! I remember when we sold all of the infant clothes in the garage sale and now the toddler clothes are slowly trickling their way out. Say it isn’t so!

As I pack away clothes to donate or share with neighbors I like the little reminders I come across. “Ah yes, that stain was from the fall in the muddy water. This smudge was from the family portrait we made with finger paint.” I can remember the times when the kids received some of the clothes as gifts and how excited my daughter gets and sometimes the boys, not so much.

The best part of changing out the clothes for me is being able to pass them on to someone else to use. We live in a wonderful community filled with children around the same age. My daughter has some clothes that belonged to the girl next door. When we are done with our girl clothes they move on the the baby a few houses down. My youngest son of course gets clothes from the oldest and if those clothes survive they get passed to the little brother next door. We have a friend that opts for selling some of her girl’s clothes at a thrift store but she gets together with other neighbors and has a “pre-thrift sale” and I tend to snag the best dresses I can find there!

It’s a wonderful cycle… the changing of the clothes, full of memories, friendships and community.

What about you? Do you save your children’s clothes for their younger siblings? Pass them on to neighbors? Or do you opt to thrift or donate them?

It’s that time of year again! As the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year approaches it is time to get organized so your children will have a full year of fun, learning and success! Here are a few ideas to help you get your school year of to a great start!

Stock up on school supplies.

Start watching the newspaper circulars to get the best deals on supplies. Get your school’s supply list ahead of time to find the best prices. Definitely take advantage of the Sales Tax Holiday if your state has one. Tennessee’s Sales Tax Holiday is Friday August 6th- Sunday August 8th.

Start your routines ahead of time.

Don’t wait until the first day of school to try out your new morning routine. Ease your children into their new schedule to make things less hectic for them, and you! During the week before school begins get back into the habit of a regular bedtime routine so that your child is getting plenty of sleep before the big day!

Hand over some of the responsibility to your child.

Create checklists to hang in the bathroom and each child’s room to remind them of tasks they should complete before gong to bed and when waking up in the morning. For example, brush teeth, comb hair, put on pajamas or get dressed. Around first or second grade start getting your child used to using an alarm clock. Don’t do everything for them!

Create a landing zone for incoming school stuff.

When your child walks through the door help him get in the habit of putting everything in its place! You will need a place to hang backpacks and jackets, store shoes, and process paperwork.

Set up a paper command center.

The easiest way to process school papers is by setting up a file for each child. When they come home they can unload graded papers and artwork in their file for you to look at later. Keep a separate file or clipboard for papers that need immediate attention or signatures. Homework that needs to be done should go in the designated homework area.

Last but never least… Label Everything!

The best organizational tool out there is the label! Label school supplies, outerwear, backpacks and lunch boxes! After investing all that money on supplies and new clothes a few labels will go a long way when something turns up missing. Make it easy for the finder to make a quick return!


What do you find is the hardest part for your family to get through in a new school year?

Do you ever feel like toys are taking over your household? I believe one of the biggest causes of toy clutter today is simply, overabundance! Our kids have too much!

Moms, you’ll be happy to hear this but I’ve been finding lately that it’s not entirely our fault! What about the grandparents, aunts and uncles that come to spoil our children and leave clutter in their wake! They have the best of intentions but sometimes the toys can get overwhelming, not just for us trying to keep them picked up, but it can be overwhelming for the kids too.

Don’t despair I have a few ideas that you can pass on to your relatives when they are looking for gift ideas:

1. Subscriptions:

Whether the subscription is to a favorite magazine or movie rentals this is the gift that keeps on giving with minimal clutter left behind. My Mom gets our family a NEtflix subscription every year and just keeps it going. The kids love picking out the movies they want to see and we don’t have to store tons of videos.

2. Food:

Who doesn’t love to go out to eat? The kids will find it fun to have their own gift cards to buy food with or just go out for a special ice cream treat.

3. Time:

Taking a bike ride or a hike in the woods can be a special one-on-one time that will stick in your child’s memory longer than that widget so-and-so bought them that will break or get lost in a matter of weeks.

4. Experiences:

If Grandma is not the outdoorsy type then a trip to the theatre will surely be a fun time to remember. Maybe plan a few of these trips ahead of time and get gift certificates so that you physically have an item to give on a Birthday.

5. Money:

I know money can sometimes be the least fun gift to give but enlist a family member or two to just get savings bonds each year for Christmas. When Junior is ready to buy a car in the future it will be nice to have something to go towards it and he will be so thankful to know that Grandpa helped by giving those bonds.

Does your family have any special clutter free gifts they give?

[photo: MarcinMoga/Lolek

This post was first published on May 22nd, 2009. Updated on March 15, 2010 to include a new storage idea!

It’s a sickness I tell ya! While I was doing a little research for organizing Lego’s I got this crazy urge to go buy a bunch of them just so I can organize them all. Don’t worry I refrained.

Right now we have a rather small collection of Lego’s that were Hubby’s when he was a little guy. Then we topped those off with some my son received for his last birthday.

In anticipation of a growth of Lego’s in the coming years I gathered up a few ideas I really liked….

Meredith and Laura use bins that slide under the bed. A great idea and super easy clean up for those larger collections.

Josie took matters into her own hands and hacked an Ikea table. I like the fact that it gives the kids a specific place to play and provides lighting too!

Another Ikea inspired idea… Robinella uses the Trofast drawers to organize Lego’s with a table underneath. I like how the storage unit also serves as a shelf for completed projects.

Jess’ husband built this really cool table to store all of their kid’s Legos. It has 6 drawers on each side of the table. (Laura gave Jess the storage star for this idea.)

Oooooh, how pretty! Now being the organizing geek that I am, I would love to sort them all by color, and type, and size, and well you get the point. Not very practical for the little kids but storing Lego’s in compartmentalized boxes would be good for the pro’s.

Since I have this dream of doing a construction/tool type theme for my son’s room I would love to use this storage bin wall organizer to hold all of his Lego’s. Of course it would look nice if the Lego’s were all color coded too but that may be setting the bar a little high. :) Regardless I love the look.

Kimba found a great solution for storing Lego sets together while not taking up tons of space. She stored each Lego set in a storage bag along with the instructions. Several sets can fit in one storage i this way!

For more Lego organizing ideas for the young and older check out:

Jeri’s post – 16 Lego Storage Options

Wiki How’s – Sort and Store Lego Toys

Evil Mad Scientist – How to Organize your Lego Bricks for efficient building

And if your kids have this many Lego’s we need to have a talk. :)

[top photo by: Glenn Calvin]

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