On February 11, we met as Relief Society sisters to learn and discuss ways in which to create a more peaceful, orderly home. Margie gave a wonderful lesson including counsel and guidance from church leaders about how organization, order, routines, provident living, and living within our financial means all work together to create a more spiritual, peaceful home. When we examine these aspects of our lives, we can see how the temporal and spiritual are intertwined and greatly influence the other. As we strive to seek Heavenly Father's help and follow counsel provide by church leaders, we can have homes that serve as our own temple and refuge from the outside world.
Sisters shared great input and thoughts, including the need to be flexible and embrace the disorder and chaos that is bound to happen while children are young and growing--as this shows the joy and happiness that children bring to our homes and lives! Children can learn from parents what it means to create order in our homes, and there are great teaching moments in daily living that will help prepare children for creating their own house of order some day.
Lastly, we were reminded not to be so hard on ourselves!! We do the best we can do---and that's all we can do! We can be a little better and try a little harder each day. As we trust in Heavenly Father and rely on Him, we will be able to achieve the balance we need to create the type of home we would like to have. As we put our own lives in order, we will then have more opportunities and greater means to reach out, serve, and help those around us. Having a peaceful, Christ-centered home will lead us to want to help others have the same experience!
Here are tips from our very own sisters--ways that can help us have more organized, orderly homes. Thanks for sharing!!
Organizational Tips From VF1 Relief Society Sisters
Trudy Cook
Since I first got married, 53 years ago
this August, I have made tentative menus, meal planners for a week, month or
whatever. It was usually based on how we
were paid. It was a way of knowing what
we were going to eat. For seven days, I
might say: beef, fish, chicken, pork, no
meat, lamb optional. I did this because, just starting out, it was
overwhelming to figure out what to cook.
Then I'd make a meal plan, and my shopping list was generated by the
recipes I would cook. It took all the
craziness out of what we were going to
eat. It included breakfast, lunch,
dinner. Once you get the hang of
it, it doesn't take long and it saves on
trips to the store and makes cooking easier.
It is quite cost effective, as you only buy what you need. It saves lots of time in and out of the
kitchen. I used the word tentative, because I never had to cook a meal. If I didn't want to cook, I didn't, but I was
always prepared. I think it helped me to
learn to like to cook.
1.
De-clutter - I've learned that the
easiest way to keep a clean house is to get rid of things. I didn't realize it, but every item I owned
took a little bit of my time. I recently
went through a giant purge and got rid of 8 bags of items I never use in my
kitchen. I had so much more space, and I
haven't missed any of it in 8 months.
Next, I went through the games. I
noticed after I got rid of half of them, my kids actually played with the games
we had a lot more. I guess having so
many stuffed in the closet was overwhelming to them, so the simplicity actually
helped them play with them more. Last, I
went through the toys. I had the kids
pick their absolute favorites, then, I got rid of 5 bags of toys. Once again, my kids started playing with the
toys more and didn't miss any of the ones we got rid of. I was shocked. After these three things, the time I spent
cleaning each week was cut down by half!
2. Christmas every 3 months - I have another
friend who takes out one box of toys at a time, then every 3 months or so, she
puts them away and pulls out another box.
It makes it exciting for the kids to get new toys to play with and there
is so much less to clean up.
3. The miracle cure to laundry - Our current
apartment is a little small for our family, so out of necessity I had to put
the kid’s dressers with their clothes in the basement. (I thought about doing this in the past, so
I'm glad I've finally been able to test it out). I can't believe how much easier it has made
my life. Their rooms stay clean for one
(which is a miracle), their clothes are all right next to the washing machine
so it's easy to throw them in, and after they are washed, they sort out their
own clothes and put them directly in their drawers. No transporting, folding, transporting, and
then putting away. I finally feel like
laundry isn't taking over my life!
In terms of organization tips, I have
become a list master to try and tackle those crazy things that seem to linger
and never get done. I make a few kinds of lists of things to do, e.g.house
projects, travel plans, etc. I have my regular weekly planner. In that I put
things that must be done at the start of each week. Then I take a look at my other lists of
things that would be nice to get done someday and see which if any I can fit in
during that week. This helps me to prioritize. Even one check, each week, off
the lingering list helps
- I put socks divided by color or white
in a linen/mesh bag that zips shut so I never lose a sock.
- Don't let clean dishes sit in the
dishwasher over night.
- Put baking soda in the bottom of the
trash can (just a little) and change it about every 3 to 6 months. Pour it down
the sink to help with the drain smell
- soak dress shirts in the washer with
water and oxi clean powder for 1 to 3 hours before washing to get out sweat
stains on neck and sleeve cuffs, then drain and wash as you normally would
- drink a glass of water before you eat a
meal
Attached is a picture of something that has made my life easier this year. It is a file I keep on my kitchen counter to take care of paper clutter/mail. I file it right away so I don't have piles of paper sitting around. Then, I can go back and go through it, when I have time. I think you can see some of my categories. In addition to the ones you can see, I have a folder for Bob, me, and the pets.
Here are a couple of things that work for
me when I do them. The operative word here is WHEN.
a) Wake up and get ready before the kids
are up. The days where I am able to read my scriptures (even for a few
minutes), make my bed, get dressed, etc. go a lot smoother than when I don't.
b) Meal planning - I've tried to do
monthly, but weekly seems to get done more often. It's nice to know what you're
going to be having for dinner before 5 p.m. ;)
Also, in this vein I've started making
dishes and freezing half of them for another time. Prep work is done for 2
meals. Yeah baby!
c) Planning at night for the next day. I
usually just jot down what I want to accomplish - phone calls, errands, chores,
etc.
d) I just started exercising again on
November 1st. I've found that my day goes smoother if I go straight to the gym
after getting Lucy and Andrew on the bus in the morning.
I can't allow myself to leave the house
in the morning until one load of wash is in.
What is most helpful for me is to broadly sketch out the week. If I know what day I will take care of
"X", then I don't have to stress over it today. Then I simply make a To Do list for the day,
in broad order of priority. The list
helps me take advantage of "butterfly moments", which otherwise would
flutter by with nothing accomplished.
To keep my cooking to a minimum I ask for
restaurant gift cards for birthday, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Christmas,
even resorted to Grandparents Day so the cards keep comin’ in so I can keep
eatin’ out.
I keep a lot of files for different
things and I label the outside so I know what is inside when I pick them up.
We try to give things away if we haven't
used them/worn them in one full year (so I get out all my favorite platters
once a year to keep them safe).
Each of the kids has a cute, labeled bin
that they put their papers from school in. I sort through them about once a
week so that at the end of the year only the "favorites" can be kept
and put in their school memory books.
I make the kids update their own school
memory books for each year on the last day of school. (Not homemade book,
store-bought ones that ask questions and have spots for pictures and things).
Label-maker, label-maker, label-maker! It
is definitely one of my favorite possessions, and labels on things help tons
once everyone in your house can read them because who doesn't like to put
things in the place with the label?
Have separate tote bags packed the night
before for your next day's activities. (Bag for gym, bag for kids during doctor
appointment, bag for library trip, bag for kids’ sport activity etc). Line up
the bags in one central location, so you can grab and go when things are
hectic. This helps you mentally go through what you need the next day, as well
as gives you time to prevent last minute "emergencies" like an
unwashed uniform b/c you've prepared ahead of time.
Crockpots are your best friend, when
you've got a busy day--saves you time & money ... and helps your family eat
healthier than fast food on the run!
Always do the dishes before bed.
I
always grocery shop on Mondays and make it last the week, writing a complete
grocery list before I go.
I
make our lunches the night before.
I have all the kids’ lunches, outfits,
outerwear, shoes, backpacks, hairbrushes, squirt bottles, aquaphor for chapped
lips, tooth brushes and paste ready at night, so when I wake up in the morning,
all I have to do is pop a few fridge items (already prepped), in their bags and
make sure they get dressed at the right time (gather up outfit, shoes and
outerwear from their individual pile). Usually, I have quite a leisurely
morning with no stress. They eat, brush teeth, get dressed, grab backpacks and
are out the door.
The thing that's currently helping me the
most is having groceries delivered. We use the app Peapod, (which orders from
Giant), to build our grocery list. Then we schedule delivery, in a range of
hours on a certain day. We have until midnight the day before to add to the
list. They app remembers each order and can build a list for us. You can sort
by "aisle", lowest price, price per unit or by ingredient like
gluten-free. Wade loves this because he can get what he wants when he needs it
instead of waiting for me to get to the store. There is a small delivery fee
(free for the first 90 days) and we include a driver tip with the order. It's
so convenient.
Each day I have an assigned chore, i.e.
M/W/F laundry, Tue grocery shopping, Thu clean master bath, F wash kitchen
floor
2013 I printed out a 12 month calendar
and wrote down dinner menus (I go shopping by my menu) and this year I’m using
it. So I have a year’s worth of dinners.
A wise woman once told me, “Never pick up
something twice. When you pick something
up, put it where it belongs”.
Laundry – Fold each load as it comes out
of the dryer. Then, the clothes don’t
pile up to an overwhelming mound.
~~Stay tuned for following posts including the Budgeting Info and Freezer Meal recipe used during our activity!~~
