3 Things Motherhood Taught Me About Home Organization
Alex with her 2 kids
credit: Stargazer Photography
Motherhood and organization may not be the first images that come to mind. Everyone remembers those first few weeks of being new parents to a tiny newborn. Everything is tiny, the sweet smells, and the cuddles. Time is filled with precious moments but there are also the overwhelming and exhausting times with a never-ending supply of dirty diapers.
My baby days are behind me, but I am a busy mom to a 3-year-old and a third grader. I have found that even though my kids are starting to get older the lessons I learned in those first few weeks remain the same. Parenting will always be overwhelming, and you will most likely be worried that you are doing everything wrong, but I can give you 3 tips to hopefully make your home life a little bit easier.
Have your child make a morning to do list
1. Prepare
When it was newborn time preparation meant- stockpile diapers! Now it means set your child and yourself up for success.
Get some buy in from your school age child! Have them prepare a morning to-do list where they list out everything from alarm going off to brushing teeth. You can be the most organized person in the world, but if everyone in the house is not interested in helping stick to your routine you are fighting a losing battle.
Decide how you will be tracking all the school paperwork- before it becomes a problem! Don’t let a dreaded paper mountain happen in your home! Before you know it, your child will miss a field trip because you never looked at the permission slip! I have a file folder stand in my kitchen. A file for weekly homework, a file for papers that need to be signed, and important papers sent home from school.
Frame a few pieces of artwork to display in a playroom or child’s bedroom
One thing is constant in parenthood, the fact that your children are going to grow up. It’s hard to say goodbye to the different stages of your child’s life. I dread the day when my son doesn’t want “all my snuggles.” But the memories are what matter. Pick a few favorite drawings to save or find a favorite scrapbooking company like Shutterfly to document those favorite memories. A cute project I did was frame some of my daughter’s preschool paintings for her room. You cannot feel bad about throwing away papers sent home from school. My mother recently downsized and we had to go through so many drawings and pieces of schoolwork. They were sweet to look at, but they went in the trash after collecting dust for 30 years.
2. If everything does not have a place- it will never have a place.
Some of the ways we have been able to have a semblance of order of our home has been setting up different stations and organization systems in the home. Taking the time to create sustainable systems will save you time in the long run. Not only will you be saving time, but you will be happier.
Reading station- we have bookshelves and reading space in both children’s room. They love reading at bedtime. My daughter passed down her favorite preschool book to her little brother. We read this book religiously every night. My son now will not go to bed without reading Larabee! I can’t imagine running through the house looking for that book!
Homework station – We have a drawer in our kitchen dedicated to homework. Don’t let those drawers become junk drawers. The peace of mind knowing your child knows exactly where to find a pencil for math homework is like no other. It’s one less plea for help during homework hour.
My first child did not have the luxury of my sippy cup storage solution. I tried doing a basket for lids and a basket for cups. It was a never-ending struggle of finding lids. Things would get knocked over. In one word. Disaster. We recently featured this amazing water bottle organizer on our instagram I use it for water bottles and sippy cups. It has saved me so much time. I am no longer embarrassed when someone opens my cabinet doors!
Budget friendly closet transformation
Invest in organizing your child’s closet- My daughter’s closet has been an ongoing power struggle for a few years. When I had my closet done over the summer, she begged for us for a “fancy closet” too. I decided to organize her closet on a budget by putting together drawers and shelving from target. Now she has drawers with a purpose and isn’t creating a mess every time she is looks for a shirt. Our relationship has been saved- at least until the teen years!
3. You might do everything perfectly, but a brown crayon might end up in the dryer
Recently my family went on a cruise. I did everything just right with packing. I bought suitcase organizers, we separated dirty clothes, and I did all the laundry the day after we got back home. Even though I did everything perfectly, I could not account for the fact that someone put an old dirty brown crayon in the white laundry. When I opened the dryer, I was horrified to find that everything was covered in BROWN splotches. Google was my friend and I was able to save most of the clothes with boiling hot water, dawn soap and vinegar. I hope you never find yourself in this situation- but this is the only solution!
The point of this story is you can’t control everything. Try to prepare the best you can but you are always going to be in a situation where you find your perfectly organized Tupperware drawer destroyed because one of your kids made lunch. Create systems in place that are simple and maintainable and roll with the punches.
The reality is no one is perfect but if you create routines and organization systems you can fool a few acquaintances into thinking you have it all together but most importantly you will knock some of the stress out of your life.