Who, what, when , where…is my sanity?

Being organized is just part of my DNA, I am VERY type A. My husband teases me because he says I am constantly in the “nesting” phase even though I am not preggo, but he & the kids love the fact that things around the Krause house are organized…..most of the time. There are moments of course where my brain can’t handle anymore and has..for lack of better words…brainfarts. I am going to share a few things today that I do to keep myself organized between being a wife, mommy, room mom, team mom, blogger, new member of Junior League, plus {gasp} my own personal life! This is by no means in depth details of the inner workings of the Krause household, but maybe some things will inspire you. 🙂

Calendars & lists and lists & calendars! I have my calendar that I write everything down on, plus my Google calendar that is also on my computer and phone. I also make lists about almost everything that needs to be done. Seriously. Everything. I have 2 calendars…one is a weekly/monthly planner that I bought at Target for about $10, the other is from May Books and is just a 40 page weekly. I love it because it is completely customized with my monogram and all. They are pricier but SO cute. The calendars keep my blog schedule, Junior League activities, few personal life activities, baseball games, birthday parties, school meetings, play dates, you name it and it is written down! If I didn’t have a calendar I would be lost.

A lot of moms think that when the kiddos start school life will be easier. HAHA you are wrong. I am a much busier stay at home mama with 2 kids in school than I ever was with 3 at home. It is very important to keep everything organized and have a system because it is easy to forget things. A few things I do are:

• Check folders as soon as they walk through the door. This lets me know homework, behavior, and see what papers come home that I need to know and/or do something with. I sign whatever needs to be signed, and write checks for whatever needs money {it is always something} and put it back in their folders right away.
• I let them have a snack and watch a quick cartoon then we knock out homework. Next week though it will be homework time as soon as they get home. TV time will be earned and very minimal.
• I do my best to make lunches the night before and keep them in the fridge, it makes the mornings run soooo much more smoothly. When I make them in the morning we are usually rushed and frantic…then things happen like they did Thursday morning…I made my boys lunches and sent them to school, when they got home that afternoon they informed me that I sent 2 sandwiches in one lunch and poor Kadon didn’t have a sandwich. Mom fail. Oops.
• Backpacks have a special hook in my laundry room right next to the garage door, that way there is NO excuse when we are walking out the door that their backpack not be right there. Grab and go!
• Clothes picked out the night before laid out on their floor from shirts and shorts to socks. We have designated “shoe baskets” by our front and back door and that is where the kids keep their shoes, that way the kids always know where their shoes are.
• I also keep 6+ of the kids stainless reusable cups in the fridge with water, so it is easy to grab for lunch, class, or practices.

Both of my boys play baseball which keeps our schedule pretty chaotic…especially since my awesome Hubs is the head coach on one team and an assistant on another. To keep our baseball world sane I have:

• All games and practices on the calendar. Duh.
• A basket in the laundry room that holds their entire uniform. For some reason if it is in their room things get misplaced. When they get home from a game they immediately put their uniform in the dirty clothes so it is guaranteed to get washed faster {they aren’t good about bringing their laundry basket downstairs often enough}. I wash it and it goes straight back into the basket.
• As team mom for both teams I keep an Excel spreadsheet to track who has snacks or concessions for each game, who owes money, rosters, etc.
• There are 2 hooks in the garage specifically for their baseball bags. That way everything stays in the garage and is easy to throw in the car before practices and games.

I know a lot of mamas that have specific cleaning schedules, for being as type A as I am, I do not have a cleaning schedule. I clean as it needed, which is all the time it seems. At least a few things get done daily. There is always room for improvement as far as a schedule, but random works for me on cleaning.

As far as meals go, I have a meal planner {from May Books} and I use that to plan meals weekly and make my grocery list. I try and use my crock pot a lot during baseball season because it just makes life easier. I will also try and prep our meals in the morning so that in the afternoon when life is most chaotic that is one thing I don’t have to worry with. I am very picky about what we eat, so it takes a lot more effort with our meals that making a prepackaged dinner. {*nothing wrong with that by the way, it just isn’t what we do in my home}

 Nothing I do to stay organized is rocket science by any means, but some times the most simple ideas come from some one else…you read it and think “hello, why didn’t I think of that?!” Maybe some one will have that moment from reading this.

What are little things you do to keep your family & house organized? What ideas can we get from you?