I must be a 'whole to part' learner. (That sounds better than a backwards learner.) I jump in and do want I want to do for a while, then step back and evaluate what works best. This is my scheduling, organizing week. I was tired of painting so planning seemed like a good excuse reason to take a break from my paintbrush.
First we did the dreaded seasonal clothes change over. This time I took the tip of some other seasoned moms and stored the clothes by type and sex instead of the unreliable size. For example; boys- short sleeve shirts, girls- summer dresses. It will make it simpler anytime we need an item from the boxes. I also put a dryer sheet in each box to keep the contents smelling fresh.
To pare down the number of outfits, I made a checklist for the boys and one for the girls. I wanted to make sure everyone had what they needed, and weed out what we had too much of. Basically we kept 6 casual outfits and 2 church outfits, enough socks and underwear for a week, 1 pr. of tennis shoes, casual shoes and church shoes. That way I could easily make a list of what we still needed to fill in. (How does one kid end up with only ONE pair of socks?)
After years of planning on doing it, I typed up a list of all the dates of the liturgical feasts we want to remember to keep, especially the feasts of our name saints. I will refer to it during planning each week and pull out books or craft items we will want to use for an upcoming feast. I can also add items to the grocery list then. (After all, we're talking about feasting here.)
We started this and haven't finished it, but Monica and I are making daily boxes to pull out for the little ones while we do school. Just simple stuff. After Christmas we will change the contents.
Monday- play dough
Tuesday-paper, scissors, glue stick and stickers
Wednesday- lacing cards and shape sorters
Thursday-potato heads and cars
Friday-new coloring books and crayons
My last project before I get back to painting will be that ever-changing menu/grocery plan. This time, I'm sure I'll hit on THE ONE PLAN that will carry us through the winter. It could happen.
Last week, I finally stored everything by "type" of clothing too (as opposed to size). It's already been easier! Good tip about the dryer sheets.
Posted by: Suzanne | September 28, 2006 at 07:14 PM