Category: Organizing kids

  • 25 Things To Do When You Have A Two Hour Delay

    The dreaded two hour delay.  You whole day hasn’t gotten derailed, but the morning sure has.  Here are 25 things you can do when you are home with the kids for 2 extra hours in the morning.  You can stay productive and get some things done that you either haven’t thought of or have put off for too long.

    1. Make breakfast with your kids.
    2. Plan your child’s next birthday party.
    3. Download pictures off your camera to your computer.
    4. Update your holiday card list (and then throw out last year’s cards)
    5. Two loads of laundry
    6. Fold and put away 5 loads of laundry that are washed and dried but haven’t made their way back into the closets and dressers
    7. Strip all the beds and remake them.  The kids can definitely help with this one and it fosters team work trying to get that fitted sheet on the mattress.
    8. Clean out two drawers of your desk, kitchen or bedroom.
    9. Go through the spring/summer clothes and make your shopping list of items to replace or round out your wardrobe.
    10. Prep and load the slow cooker pot for dinner tonight.
    11. Meal plan for the upcoming week and create your grocery shopping list.
    12. Research vacation ideas (although your research may be clouded by the need to escape to somewhere warm)
    13. Do a workout at home.  Check out Fitness Blender  for free online videos.
    14. Create your training program for an upcoming race.  Hal Higdon’s website has training programs for 5k up to a marathon.
    15. Give yourself an at-home facial.  My personal favorite is Arbonne’s 3 step ultimate facial.
    16. Look ahead at your calendar and schedule your babysitters.
    17. Check calendar for upcoming birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, baby showers and shop online.
    18. Create your packing list for spring break
    19. Schedule your doctor, dental, eye doctor and mammogram appointments
    20. Call your parents, grandparents or a friend that you haven’t spoken to in a while.
    21. Write and send a thank you or thinking of you note to someone.
    22. Clean out your refrigerator.
    23. Go on www.abcya.com with your elementary school kids and play some educational games.  My kids are currently loving the geography ones in preparation for their upcoming school Geobee.
    24. Do your nails.
    25. Roll over and go back to sleep.   Or, just let the kids sleep in and enjoy the silence.

    If you liked today’s post, you’re welcome to use it in your own newsletter or blog as long as you include the following blurb: Tara Rudo, Life Strategist, helps working moms and families focus on what’s important. Get our FREE weekly tips and advice at www.NoMorePiles.com.

  • Get ready for outdoor activities!

    Spring is finally here and it is time to take out the ice scrapers and snow gear of your car and repack it to the rainy and warmer season. Whether you are the outdoors person or you will spend hours shuttling kids to various outdoor activities, you need to stock your car for spring.
    We recommend that you get a large tote to keep everything inside.  There are two that we recommend.  One, is the Smartworks Pop-Up Organizer  ($25 on Amazon) and the other is Thirty One large Utility Tote ($35 on Thirty One.com.)

    • This will avoid having your things spilled all over the car
    • Easy to move to another car or take it out of you need the extra space
    • Easy to bring inside and restock it after a busy week

    Here is our must have list:
    • First aid kit: bandaids, single use ice packs, antiseptic wash, allergy relief medicine (aka Benadryl. Also good to have on hand for bee stings), pain reliever, athletic tape
    • Sunscreen & bug spray
    • Water
    • Emergency snacks: power bars (regular Lara bars are good since they don’t melt), peanut butter crackers, fruit crushers and other non-melting items
    • Wipes and tissues
    • Trash bags: multifunctional item!!! Put the muddy, wet clothes in it; use it for sitting on if the ground is wet; or even wear it as a poncho if it rains.
    • Hair ties for those with longer hair

    car organizer unpacked

    If you have young kids or babies, you may want to add extra diapers and change of clothes. You should also keep these other items in your car or handy in the garage to use them on sports days:
    • Folding chair
    • Blanket
    • Hats and/or sunglasses

    Being ready helps you to enjoy more of the springtime weather and be prepared for unexpected events. When you are dealing with kids, it is NEVER a bad idea to be prepared for the inevitable, unexpected events.

    Car organizer packed

    If you liked today’s post, you’re welcome to use it in your own newsletter or blog as long as you include the following blurb: Tara Rudo, Life Strategist, helps working moms and families focus on what is important. Get our FREE weekly tips and advice at www.NoMorePiles.com.

  • Top 5 Tips on Organizing for Summer Camp

    There are only a few more weeks of school and then summer is upon us.  The kids are thrilled that summer is almost here, but personally, it brings me another set of ‘to dos’ in the form of prepping for summer camp.  Whether your kids are going to one summer camp for all 9 weeks or they are switching camps week-by-week, these tips will help make your summer run a little smoother.  Here are my top 5 tips for organizing for summer camp:

    1. Buy enough of each clothing type so that you don’t have to do laundry mid-week.  Most kids need swim suits, towels, shorts, socks, sneakers, water shoes, etc.  My recommendation is that you go find 10 towels, 10 bathing suits, shorts, socks, t-shirts, etc (not shoes, but at least 2 each of those).  Trying to do a full load or two of laundry on Wednesday just to ensure that you have enough clothes for Thursday and Friday just adds more stress to

    Over-the-door-pockets
    Use this over-the-door organizer to keep things at your fingertips.

    your week.  You can find cheap towels in a 5-6 pack at Sam’s Club or Costco.  Hit the consignment stores for bathing suits since they won’t last more than one season anyway.

    2. Label Everything!  I can’t stress this one enough, unless you have unlimited funds to replace all the items of clothing that will get lost if you don’t.  Lovable Labels has great self stick labels that adhere to the tags of the clothes and stay on even through the wash.  They even have a camp pack that includes labels for water bottles, shoes and clothes.   https://www.lovablelabels.ca/     Enter code TaraRLB1 to get 10% off your order.

    3. Make lunches easy.  There are 9 weeks of summer, so if your kids are in camp 5 days per week that means you have 45 lunches to pack for the summer.

    a. Pre-label all 45 bags (our camp requires disposable lunch bags) with your child’s name, bunk and other necessary information.  If you want to get fancy, use 4×4 shipping labels and just print a few sheets of them to affix to the front of the bag.

    b. Pre-pack 5 bags for the week with all the non-perishable items: snack, fruit leathers, spoon/fork, napkin, water bottle, etc.  This way you will only have to add a sandwich or main course.

    c. Don’t over pack. Our camp tells us that 50% of all packed lunches end up in the trash.  Only pack what you think your kids will reasonably eat while having a fun lunch with their friends.

    4. Streamline your morning routine.  There are so many things that need doing in order to get out the door in the morning, so make your life as easy as possible.  Hair needs brushing, ponytails put in, sunscreen on, bug spray, back packs packed, etc.  Keep all the items you need to get this done in a bin in your kitchen or mudroom or get an over-the-door hanger with pockets to keep everything at your finger tips.

    5. Prepare for summer first aid.  No matter how great the camps are at supervising our little ones, there will always be sunburn, bug bites, bee stings, cuts, scrapes, water in the ear, red eyes from chlorine in the pools and any number of minor first aid situations.  Make sure you have a good stock of all the necessary cures on hand.  Whether you like to use aloe, Calendula, peroxide or cortaid creme for whatever ails your little people, stock up now before the need arises.

    Summer is a time for the kids to step away from the books and enjoy all that summer has to offer, just make sure that you are ready to handle the the changes before they hit.  By getting organized for summer camp, you can ensure that both you and your kids have a fun-filled and stress free summer!

    If you liked today’s post, you’re welcome to use it in your own newsletter or blog as long as you include the following blurb: Certified Professional Organizer and Life Management Expert, Tara Donohue Rudo, helps working moms and families focus on what is important. Get her FREE weekly tips and advice at www.NoMorePiles.com.