HELPFUL HOMEWORK ADVISE {stop the homework hassle}

This is part of an on-going series LBDDiaries and I are doing on keeping our Inner Aloha/Peaceful Life.  See my previous post at Organize with a Calendar {for the CEO of your houshold} for some more great tips!

HOMEWORK HASSLE STRESSIN' YOU OUT?


Raising four Rugrats (aka. Children) I have learned that homework can be the cause of a lot of stress in a home.  I have also learned that EACH CHILD IS DIFFERENT. 

I have/have had Rugrats who come in the door from school and don't even have to have a word mentioned to them and boom they are doing their HOMEWORK WITHOUT ANY ISSUES.  I have also had Rugrats who I have to watch like a hawk and CONSISTENTLY REMIND THEM TO DO THEIR HOMEWORK... (and constantly check to make sure it is actually being done and/or check what homework they actually have.  This causes so much STRESS.

Because of this I am constantly looking for pointers and tips and ideas of new things to try.

I'm assuming I'm not the only one with this issue so I thought I'd share what I have learned and what seems to be working.........this week.

HOW MUCH TIME SHOULD THEY SPEND DOING HOMEWORK ?~


Typically younger children, for obvious reasons, can only do sooooo much time at the homework table.  A general rule of thumb is that children do 10 minutes of homework for each grade level. In other words, first graders should be expected to do about 10 minutes of homework, second graders 20 minutes, third graders 30 minutes, fourth graders 40 minutes, etc. If your child is spending more than 10 minutes per grade level on their homework each night, then you may want to talk with your child's teacher.

My 6th grade daughter Math teacher recommends that after any child in his class has worked 60 minutes on math that the parent sign the paper and the child can turn it in for full math credit.  They, of course, will be reviewing it in class to get a better grasp and hopefully become able to complete the entire assignment in the 60 minute time frame.



TRYING TO NOT PULL YOUR HAIR OUT DURING HOMEWORK TIME~

Something that has helped me a lot over the years is to have a time frame that homework is done.  Example: Come home from school, have a snack and start homework.  Also having a specific area of the home where homework is completed.

If your child doesn't feel seeing the good grades on his/her report card is a good enough reason to study and do homework you may want to consider a rewards program for them.

A DAILY HOMEWORK PLANNER..... REPEAT.... A DAILY HOMEWORK PLANNER

SET UP YOUR HOMEWORK ROUTINES~

Just like with us adults and getting our housework done or our job out of the home routines help greatly.

The first thing you need to do is figure out where your child should do their homework each day.  Is it the a desk in their bedroom?  This location may be better for the child who doesn't need as much help with their homework AND who you can trust to do their homework without constant supervision.  OR maybe a desk in the main area of your home OR your kitchen table.  I find for my youngest Rugrat that she needs to be where I can see her at all times.  This is important to keep her on track.  My older Rugrat daughter and son do great in their rooms.  It really depends on the personality of your child.
One you have established where you want your child to do their homework each day make sure you have everything they will need in that location.  We have a desk in our home that is loaded with all the supplies they will need. It is located right next to my home/office desk.  If you need your child to work from your dining room table obviously having all the supplies located on your table isn't doable.  I would suggest getting a plastic tub or a large basket that you can keep all the items in and pull it out at homework time.  This way everything is still together and easy to grab at homework time but it will allow for easy clean up when it comes time to set the table and eat..

Even on a post about homework hassles it's still all about the food!  HA HA

Sorry, it's how I roll....

Ya, I could easily keep going with the "roll" comment but I'll get back to the post....



WHAT IS THE BEST TIME TO DO HOMEWORK?~

 Is it directly after school?  Is it after they come home and have a snack?  Directly after dinner?  What works best for YOUR schedule as well as your child's?  In our home our children come home, have a snack and start their homework.  This is what works best for us.  OBVIOUSLY once sports start this changes.

Be flexible with the new seasons and having to change your routine occasionally BUT try to stay as consistent as possible.  Learning a good homework habit early on will help them when they begin college and you aren't there to remind them.  You may need to play with it a bit with the schedule at first to see what works best for you, but then try to stick to it the best you can.



KEEP TRACK OF ASSIGNMENTS~

A daily homework planner is a good good good thing!  Your child should write down homework for each class/subject in their planner each day.  On occasion you will find that your child will not write down all of their assignments, as to get out of doing homework.  SHOCK AND AWE MOMENT I KNOW!  I have had this happen on numerous occasions.  Sooooooooooo if you too have a Rugrat who is a homework hassle King/Queen may I suggest requiring your child write their homework assignments IN INK in their planner AND have their teacher initial next to the homework list THAT IS WRITTEN IN INK (so they can't erase any assignments AFTER the teacher initials it......Not that they would ever dream of doing something like this).....  I only have on child who has to do the INK written assignments with signature but it is proving to be most helpful.  (smile)

*Be sure to check with your child's school for online resources.  Many teachers use "Schoolnotes(dot)com" OR they use another online grading/homework system that parents can go on to view both grades and homework assignments.

REWARDS~

I have started giving out "Good Time Tickets" to my Rugrats.  I don't JUST use them for homework I also use them for other things I catch them doing right in our home.  (For instance yesterday they unloaded some items I had purchased out of the back of my car WITHOUT my asking them to do it......)  If the planner comes home with the assignments written in it, they earn a ticket.  When they complete their homework if it is done NEATLY and they didn't dilly dally around making me repeatedly tell them to get back on task they earn a ticket.  These tickets can be redeemed for several "Good Times"  from picking what we are having for dinner to a trip to the coast for a weekend.  It all depends on how many tickets they save up.  There are also things that can get your tickets taken away.  Lying about what homework you have.  Picking any answer on multiple choice questions just to be done with the homework page "IMAGINE IT"...I don't have to imagine it..... I've lived it.....

You have to adjust here and there and I'm still learning, even after 20 years of these Rugrats.  You will find one thing works well with one child and something entirely different will work well for another.

Hope these tips were helpful!

What do you in your home that has been helpful?

Please share...we must stick together or these Rugrats will eat us alive....besides....together we can lower the stress level in many homes....

Or just open a bottle of wine...... KIDDING....

sort of...... tee hee

Ciao Bellas~
Momma

ORGANIZE WITH A CALENDAR {FOR THE CEO OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD}

This is part of an on-going series LBDDiaries and I are doing on keeping our Inner Aloha/Peaceful Life


Now that school is back in for most of us our lives have started getting busier again.  Gone are the kicked back summer days.  This doesn't mean we have to lose our "Aloha".  I refuse for it to mean this so I have been putting a lot of time into researching how to control the chaos.

One thing I have found VERY helpful is my calendar.  LOVE LOVE LOVE my calendar.  It is called "Mom's Family Desk Planner and it's by Sandra Boynton.  You can purchase them at several locations and online but I recently found them at Costco.  It's a 17 month school year planner so there is room to write things for the following school year during the current school year.  This has proven to be WONDERFUL.

Of course there is always your calender on your phone which works well and you can set alerts. I use this as well.  I like it because I almost always have my phone with me but I still love my desk planner.  I put it in my purse and that way I always have it with me.

At the beginning of the school year all the junk mail IMPORTANT papers come home and while I'm filling out what I need to fill out and send back to school I grab my calendar and I write down all the events that are on the school calendar.  "No school days", "Early release days", etc.  Then each week when the "Bulletin" comes home I again grab my calendar and write down all the dates/times of upcoming events they are announcing.

What is great about the Mom's Family Desk Planner is there is one column for MOM and one for the RUGRATS.  So I can see at a glance which column it is written in and know if it is something for me or something the rugrats are doing. 

I don't know if it is because I have my own special space and with rugrats that is hard to come by so I just get so excited (even if it is only a column on a calendar) but it's mine....all mine..... ahhhhhhhhhhh.......MINE!  Ok, sorry..

AND for the family to have an easy look they also make it in a big wall calendar.  Now this one has more columns.......everyone gets their very own column (unless you have more than a family of five, which I do but now one of my Rugrats is out on his own so I don't have to split a column between two of the children anymore) so you can record their activity in their own column and you can see at a glance who has something that day. 

At the top of the calendar there is a blank space that you can fill in your Rugrat's name and the very first column is for MOM... that's because we are the CEO of our households and we must always come first. HA....It was worth a try.....

Now remember if you do not take the time to write the appointments and events down in your calendar IT WON'T WORK.  Or if you do what I have been guilty of and you don't look at the calendar to see what you have coming up IT WON'T WORK.

I look at my calendar every night after dinner.  Why do this instead of just looking at it in the morning?  Because when I wake up and see that my calendar says "Bring 2 dozen cookies to Rugrat's class" I don't want to have CHAOS sirens going off that morning.  I want them going off the night before. 

But what I do to TRY (key word) to avoid the CHAOS even more is.......

Example:

Susie needs 2 dozen cookies taken to class on Tuesday.  On Monday's date my calendar will say "Susie needs cookies taken to class tomorrow"  AND when I find out I need to do this, along with writing on my calendar, it gets written on my grocery list (future post coming on menu planning/grocery list/budget) so when I need to make the cookies on Monday it doesn't become "A WHOLE THING" as I like to say because i don't have the ingredients to make them and now I have to make a special trip to the store, etc.  .  

Calendars are so important.  Businesses use them all the time.  Why?  Because they have to keep track off all the appointments and jobs they have going on.  Who would expect them to remember all of this information without a calendar?  Nobody would.

Well as the CEO's of our household we have a lot to keep track of and who would expect us to remember it all without a calendar?  Nobody would, EXCEPT ourselves.....

Let's give up trying to fly by the seat of our pants and then beat ourselves up when we "forget" things.  Let's take the 10 minutes to sit down and put things on our calendar's as they come in.  It will save a lot more than 10 minutes in the long run. 

***I have found a great time to fill out my calendar is when I'm sitting and waiting for my rugrats to finish guitar lessons or soccer practice or wrestling practice.  Instead of sitting and thinking I have so much to do it's a great idea to fill in your calendar or start making that to do list.

To see the previous Aloha post click here "organize & reduce stress".......For more information on our Aloha journey be sure to go visit LBDDiaries and drink up a cup of her wisdom.

Ciao Bellas~

MOMMA

LOVING LIFE AND SMILES

I'm having one of those days!

You know the ones I'm talking about? The days where you have a huge smile on your face and you really don't know exactly why. I LOVE these days! I also love that they seem to happen so often.

I'm just in one of those moods AGAIN. One of the crazy goofball, lovin' my life moods!

I had a few days that tried to suck the life outta me...... But I crushed it! I'm back and smiling!

Office is going great! Better than I could have imagined it would. I'm enjoying being caught up on everything. Feeling like my "get organized" mission is really on it's way!

My weight loss/healthy eating mission is also going great. I am feeling good, have lots of energy and just feel happy! Who woulda thunk it? Eating good stuff makes ya feel good!

Of course it's a process, I wish I could snap my fingers and be back to my former thin self.......sniff.....sniff....... BUT it will get there. I will get there. I have no doubt. This girl is on a mission! Like a Double Agent type of mission. A mission that you can't fail at.

Secret agent man.......Secret agent man... (hear the tone/music with me)

Oh and Maui is officially 89 days away! Woot! Woot! I'm soooooooo excited about this! Tiny bit concerned about the office stuff, but I'll make it work. Between Hunk and myself we will make it work.

Time in Maui with my sister and my nephew who I don't get to see near enough.......who could stop smiling? I think I have figured out my mood! On top of my work life, eating healthy, becoming organized AND going to Maui in 89 days with some of my favorite people!

Why not smile?

Funny thing is, you can look at all the negatives in your life.....Let me tell you, they are there and I could concentrate on them........but I refuse to!

OR you can look at all the positives in your life......Trust me when you LOOK, you have more positives than you realized.......and SMILE!

Choose to smile with me today! Choose to look at all the positives in your life! And even if just for today.......ignore the negatives.

Don't worry...........be happy..........song keeps running through my head now...

Why is it always songs with me? I just love music!

I may or may not have had too much coffee this morning.....but I'm on top of the world!....... Ok, now movie lines are going through my head.

Why is it always movie lines with me? OH YA..... I just love movies!

I also love my friends and family! So thanks for reading and being happy for my happiness.......friends and family!

Much love and smiles to you all!

Ciao Bellas~

I'M THE BIGGEST LOSER THIS WEEK!

Let me start out by saying WOOT! WOOT! ALL ABOARD!

It's been so great being in contact with all of you who are on this train to a healthy organized life with me! We have been able to encourage each other and comfort each other when we slip up and then dust ourselves off and get right back on the train.

As many of you know I'm doing the Biggest Loser Challenge with my family and family in law.....well .... my brother in law's family but like you know I consider my brother in law more like the brother I never had. I always call him "MY BROTHER FROM ANOTHER MOTHER". I love him and he picks on me.......that's how we roll. Isn't that how all brothers and sisters are to each other? So his family, is my family by default. Not sure they are aware of this......but yep, that's how it is....... You take one sister you get them both!

This week I am happy to report that I lost 3.2 pounds. Please note that is not thirty two pounds, there is a POINT in between the three and the two. DANGIT! A point that made the difference of me being the biggest loser and me not being the biggest loser of the week.

In some areas if I were titled the biggest loser I don't think I'd be so happy about it. But in the area of weight loss I'm walking on sunshine!

To be honest what has been the biggest blessing isn't the fact that I'm starting to fit into smaller jeans (though I'm not going to lie, this makes me smile big time!) it's how great I'm feeling.

Any of you who have been following my blog know that this last week I returned to being in our office full time instead of doing most of my work from home. This has been a major adjustment for sure BUT before I started eating healthy and trying to get organized I think it would have taken me to my knees.

Sure, I'm tired when I get home, but I feel great! I'm feeling like I'm actually starting to be "on top of everything". Not like, on top of any tables dancing "on top of everything"........though I may or may not have done this in the past.... But on top of areas of my life. Felt the need to clarify for all of you smarty pants (SISTER) who would email me asking what all I'm ON TOP OF.... Ok, I'm letting this one go. I've dug the hole and if someone brings a hose, I'm going to drown. WAIT, I'll swim my way to the top. See.... I'm so on top of it now that I found my way out of a deep hole.
Ok, sorry, way silly mood today.

If you saw my laundry pile you would know that this getting organized is a work in progress but it's getting there... In fact.......what's that noise I hear??? Do you hear it? Yep, Bingo! Yahtzee! We have a winner...... It's my dryer! Laundry pile about to be annihilated!

I really think that eating healthy has given me so much more energy and made me feel so much better. As I mentioned in past posts I feel better emotionally as well as physically. That's what's making the getting organized mission that much easier to accomplish. I mean OBVIOUSLY I haven't lost enough weight yet for that to be the reason I have more energy. It's plain and simple..... I'm not putting so much crud into my body so I'm not feeling sooooooooo like crud!

I hope you all will feel inspired to join us! Together we can do anything!

Take charge of your own life. Make that change.

You know why you should? Because YOU ARE WORTH IT! I only know many of you via my blog and I love you more than cheese. (for those of you who don't know me.......this is HUGE LOVE)..... If I feel that way about you...... just think about how many others feel that way about you too.

Your children, your significant other, your parents, your BFF's........ They all want us to be happy and healthy!

It's time to get a little selfish and spend some time taking care of ourselves. Don't listen to that voice in your head saying you will fail, or you can't do it. YOU CAN DO IT! I CAN DO IT! WE CAN DO IT! Let's kick some booty together!

Don't fight your feelings, give yourself a chance!
Shake shake shake, shake shake shake,Shake your booty!
Shake your booty!
Oh, shake shake shake, shake shake shake,Shake your booty!
Shake your booty.
You can, you can do it very well.
You're the best in the world, I can tell.
Shake shake shake, shake shake shake,Shake your booty!
Shake your booty!
Oh, shake shake shake, shake shake shake,Shake your booty!
Shake your booty.
Shake shake, shake shake!
Shake shake, shake shake!
Shake shake shake, shake shake shake,Shake your booty!
Shake your booty!
Oh, shake shake shake, shake shake shake,Shake your booty!
Shake your booty.

All ABOARD!!! WOOT! WOOT!

Ciao Bellas~

MORNING MADNESS- GOODBYE!

Since I'm now leaving the home each morning and heading to our office I realized I need to find some way to ease the morning madness.

I've always thought I could do things to help in this area but since I came back home after taking the Rugrats to the bus stop I had time to do things then. The truth is even if I had time to do them when I got home there was still morning madness looking for homework, getting packed lunch etc. And now because I don't leave the office for lunch, I also need to pack lunch for myself.

I've done some research and come up with a few ideas I plan to implement to help cut down on this morning madness.

The biggest thing is getting ready the night before for the morning. I KNOW I'm exhausted the night before from the day of...... BUT...... if it will make the day of's (is that a word?....lol) morning go so much smoother, it will be so worth it!

A big thing for me is getting up and making my coffee. Get the coffemaker ready the night before. At times I have done this. I just have to push the button and start it in the morning (or some have a timer you can set so it's ready when you wake up). Every morning I have done this I'm sooooooo glad I did. It only takes a few minutes to do but in the morning when you have a million few minute things to do it's wonderful to just push the button!

Another suggestion I found was to set the breakfast table the night before. I'm teetering on this one but I'm going to give it a try. Often my Rugrats get cereal or egg sandwiches but I think it's worth seeing the difference it may make.

This is a BIGGIE...... Make a to do list of all the things you need to do the next day. List, List, List.......I honestly think this is a HUGE key to organization. After making the list you can see what items you need to have ready to go in the morning instead of leaving the house without the checks you need to deposit, or the shirt you need to take back, etc.

Pick your clothes out for the next day and have or help your children pick theirs out too. Then when your son needs to wear his wrestling sweatshirt and it's dirty, you don't find that out when you need to leave in 15 minutes and he would either be wearing it stinky or wet because there would not be enough time to dry it. Also cut down on the I don't know what to wear problem that we all sometimes have. Trying on a million things and then not having time to hang them all back up when you finally find what you want to wear.

Another BIGGIE in my book: Have a central control station (ie: table, counter top) near the front (exit) door and make sure everything you need to take with you is placed here the night before. Determine what homework assignments, library books, sports gear or musical instrument the kids need to take with them to school and place them at the central control station.

Make as much of the school lunches as possible the night before and put them in the refrigerator. If you are packing your lunch to take to work now is a great time to do that also. Especially if you are trying to stick to a healthy eating diet plan the last thing you want to happen is to not have time to pack and just HAVE to go to your favorite Mexican food restaurant for chips and salsa the next day. I've implemented this and started taking the left overs from dinner and putting them in a Tupperware container for me to take to work. It's yummy, easy and saves money........which we all know is a great thing to do!

This is a big one for me. If you are going to need meat for tomorrow nights dinner take it out and put it in the fridge to thaw before you go to bed. This way you don't get stuck with frozen meat you are trying to defrost in the microwave OR do what I did often and say forget it and order a pizza!

Of course this last one I've known for a long time but seem to sometimes have a hard time with it...... Getting the required amount of restful sleep tonight will help you to have the energy you will need to tackle whatever tomorrow brings!

Cheers to easing or saying goodbye to the morning madness!

Ciao Bellas~

ORGANIZATION: ARE YOU RESPECTING YOUR TIME?

An organized person seems to have a calmness about them that I just don’t seem to poses, often enough. I seem to have this sense of urgency off and on throughout the day. Followed by a feeling of not getting everything accomplished that needs to be accomplished throughout my day.

Most people are interrupted at least one time in every 5 minute time period. If this is true for you, analyze what’s causing those interruptions. Your situation is going to be different than mine or than your best friends or your neighbors. We all have different things that disrupt our days. If you haven’t paid attention to the loss of time in your day take the time to do that now. You will be shocked by how much of your time is whittled away by these interruptions and disturbances.

Think of ways that you can protect the time you have each day. There is nothing wrong with telling someone that you can’t meet them at the time they suggest, or maybe even not at all that day. It’s ok to say I can meet you at 10:15 or 7:40 exactly…..I can’t be there at 10:00 or at 7:30. Whatever the case may be. Even your best friend and your family members can learn not to interrupt.

What I’ve learned is many time “I” am the cause of my interruptions. Is this true for you? Do you insist on checking email every few minutes or answering your phone or cell phone even when you are in the middle of something important? Can’t the call wait a minute? Why do we feel just because someone is calling at that moment that we have to stop what we are doing an answer it. It’s even thought of as very rude if we do this. I’m not suggesting that we screen all calls but there is a time when answering that phone is going to cause a chain reaction for the day. Maybe you are running out the door. You stop to answer the phone and now you are late for the kids bus stop, which now requires you driving them to school, which then makes you late for your dentist appointment. You get the idea. But something about that ringing makes us think we HAVE to stop and answer. We will even cause ourselves to be late because we forgot our cell phone at home and we have to go back and get it. What did we do before cell phones? I'm guilty of this. What if my Rugrats try to call? What if Hunk tries to call? What if? What if?

I think if we are going to learn to control our chaos and get organized we need to prioritize. We need to respect our time. If we don’t respect our time, others certainly won’t know how to respect our time. They won’t even know they aren’t respecting it. How could they, if we don’t set boundaries?

We can’t give 100% to everything at the same time.

This has in the past caused me to feel like I’m not a good enough Momma, not a good enough wife, not a good enough friend and not a good enough office manager. This is a rut I just don’t want to be in. I know I can’t be everything at once but when I’m doing the role of each of the things that makes up who I am I want to know I am doing my best while I’m doing it.

This caused some recent changes that I’m not thrilled with but I’m already finding to be in the best interest of my family.

Many of you know that we own our own company. Since moving I’ve tried working mainly out of my home and only going to the office when I have to. Hunk brings items home from the office for me etc.

PROBLEM: I’m easily distracted at home with phone calls, laundry, dishes, running to lunch with a friend ok……….and Lifetime Movie Network……there I said it……I know you were waiting for it. =) I’m not respecting my time and spending it wisely. I’m allowing and even at times encouraging interruptions.

But the biggest problem is space, lack organization, and having everything I need when I need it. And, importantly, Hunk can only do so much. When he is working at a site it is hard for him to answer the office phone that is transferred to his cell phone because we can’t transfer it to the house because I leave to pick up the Rugrats or I’m in town doing errands or whatever I may be doing……..

I came to a realization that this isn’t working. The fact that I want to be a 100% stay at home momma is great but it’s not my reality right now. I am grateful that my children are all in (and out) of school and at least I don’t have little ones at home……I can imagine the pain I would feel then. And many do feel this pain daily. They do this because they are doing what they need to do for their family. I have to step up to the plate and do the same. Sure I can hire someone full time back in the office but I would still need to be in to oversee them AND lets not forget pay them a salary that probably isn’t a good idea to take on right now. But with this economy we are blessed to be so busy and each and every customer needs to be treated in a way that makes them feel as important to us as THEY ARE.

RESOLUTION: I’m back in the office from 8am to 5pm each day. I do have a part time helper 2 days a week but other than that it’s all me now. The phone is answered every time it rings. When I need a file I can pull it, when I need to file something I can. Our office is right next to our shop which gives me quick access to job sheet and time cards that our employees fill out without having to wait for Hunk to bring them home to me.

DOWN SIDE: My daughters have to stay at after school club for 3 hours each day except for Wednesday when Grandpa picks them up and take them to guitar lessons after school. The funny thing is they have begged for years to be able to stay after because they do crafts and play with friends. So they are excited. Me……..not so much. But this is my reality right now.

UPSIDE: The office has never run more smoothly. Customers are excited at how quickly I am taking care of their needs and that when they can’t reach Hunk they are able to speak with me and a good majority of the time I am able to help them. Along with fielding some of his phone calls I’m also able to help Hunk with scheduling of jobs and other small things that help him concentrate on what he needs to be doing.

Being active in our Rugrats life is a MAJOR PRIORITY for both Hunk and myself. There will be times when one of us are away (for instance Hunk is at camp with our daughter and her school this week) and the other will do their best to pick up the slack and cover. This times will happen and we will deal with them. But on a normal daily bases this is our/my new reality.

I was whining to a friend about how sad I was but that if I was on the outside of our business knowing what I know about our business and I was advising the owner as to what needs to happen my advise wouldn’t match the actions I was taking……….I had to stop doing what I WANTED to do and doing what I NEEDED to do.

She said something that helped me put this in to perspective. She said “Remember when you were so upset about selling your beach house? How you said you didn’t have to sell it but it was probably for the best. How it would make your monthly payments less stressful?” I said “Oh ya, I remember” She said “Well, you cried when you sold it but the next month when you didn’t have to make the payment and your finances weren’t as tight you said it was the best thing you had ever done.” I said “Yes, it is the best thing to happen in hind sight.”

She thinks working in the office full time will be like selling my Beach House. It hurts a little because it’s not what I want in a perfect world. But in the end I will see that it was for the best. It will relieve a lot of stress and I believe our business can only improve more because of it. And the reality is that when I would pick my Rugrats up from school, when I got home I had to keep working because I had too much to do. Or Hunk would call and need something and he’d have to wait because I was running to the bus stop. Those are all stress factors that may not be eliminated but they will greatly reduced.

The fantastic thing about this is………..if it doesn’t work I can change it. And this morning when my alarm didn’t go off and I had to drive my son to school which caused me to be 45 minutes late, I didn’t have to worry about getting written up by my boss…….. There is always a bright side right?

So pick a day and make yourself very aware of what is triggering chaos in your home. Is it because you are over scheduled or are you just not having enough respect for your time?

See what changes you can make to move toward a more peaceful lifestyle.

I’m still working on mine…….but wanted to share what I’ve been learning/trying along the way.

Ciao Bellas~

GET ORGANIZED- STOP LOSING YOUR KEYS

How many of you spend a lot of time searching for your keys in the morning?

It usually would happen to me when we are running 5 minutes late for the bus stop and I run to where I KNOW thought I put them and they aren’t there. My blood pressure rises quickly. So does my voice throughout the house.

Who took my keys? Has anyone seen my keys? HELLO!? We are going to be late. We aren’t going anywhere if we don’t find my keys. You will miss school and then you will have tons of make-up work to do. Basically what I’m saying is if we don’t find my keys you are repeating the 5th grade. This is how tired I am of someone moving my keys…….

Well, I didn’t really say ALL of those things, but you feel my pain don’t you? Tell me I was not alone in this.

Please......

As I’ve shared I’m on my mission this year to make this my best life. I shared that this was going to be through organization and healthy eating. These are the two MAIN things I want to improve this year.

Keys having been a huge issue, I tackled them first!

I’d like to apologize now to the deer on my property for my driving past them at 100mph trying to get out of my driveway and to the bus stop on time.......after the key hunt. I'm also so happy to report that this doesn’t happen anymore…….. Well at least not very often.

Why? Because I installed a Key rack next to my front door!

Ok when you see "I" installed please read "HUNK" installed......

It’s really cute too. They aren’t expensive and you can get all kinds of designs. Some say keys, some just have a few hooks. Mine is a metal design with 3 hooks. Yeah! I love it! It has been a lifesaver in the morning.

Now if I can’t find my keys I know it is because Hunk drove my car last and he left them in the ignition.

No more searching the kitchen table, the desk, the sofa table, the night stand, the bathroom (yes, I found them there often....living in the middle of nowhere makes for long drives and I'm usually running for the potty as soon as I hit the door)…….

It also works great for Hunk to hang his sunglasses on. Another item we commonly search for.

Looking for misplaced items is such a time suck and blood pressure raiser….. This is something I'm working hard to eliminate. Started with the keys and will be moving on to other items, like homework, important papers, etc.

I think it's funny how when someone can’t find something when they find it they say “Of course it is always in the last place I look for it.” I mean Really? I would hope so. I would hate to see someone say. “I found my keys on the kitchen table but I’m going to keep looking for them, cuz it's so darn fun” Cracks me up…… Sadly though.... I think I’ve even said it before.

It’s one of those Bill Engval moments “Here’s your sign”…….

Like I did the other day. I pulled up and my son was at the log splitter with piles of wood around him. I said “Hi son, whatcha doing? Splitting wood?” He was kind to his Momma and said “Yes, I am. Hi Mom!” But when Hunk got home he told me that my son told him (ie talked crap behind my back on his Momma. LOL) what I said and that he wanted to say “Here’s your sign”….. I hadn’t even realized I’d done it.

Ok, back to my point of this post………. =)

So consider which items you are constantly searching for and then determine the most convenient spot to store them. Find a spot that is easy for you to ensure you will actually use it. Don’t put your drop off spot in your back bedroom when you know you come in the front door and will drop it on a table there. Or if you come in and out thru your garage door, it’s probably not best to put it by your front door.

Make it easy. As soon as you come in the house, you should have a place to set those crucial items so that you won’t be tempted to carry them with you into the living room OR bathroom or wherever the last place you are going to looks for them is…..

It will take a few days to get in the habit of hanging the keys up when you walk in but once you do you will forever be grateful.

Your kids and husband may miss the yelling “Where are my keyyyyyyyyyyyssssss?” in the morning……..but you won’t!

I promise!

And I wouldn't *poop* ya, you're my favorite turds!

Sorry.......it slipped.

Ciao Bellas~