Oh, To Be Organized…

Today, I’m joining in with Timberdoodle’s Home Organization Blog Hop.

I am probably the last person who should write a post about organization! I have great intentions. I feel so much less stress when the clutter is gone and my home is organized. My Pinterest page has tons of pins to help me get my rear in gear and everything works out beautifully in my head. However, I can’t seem to get a handle on it in real life! My garage and children’s room is currently in a state of utter chaos in an ongoing attempt to get organized. My office is a disaster and the homeschool supplies are in a constant state of vagrancy. So instead of writing to tell you all the amazing organizational tips that I use, I am waving the white flag and letting you peek into our chaos. I will share what we are attempting to accomplish (I quite literally just disassembled a bed) and hope that if you have some amazing insights, you will share them! I hope you will not judge my mess… life is chaotic, to say the least! Plus, I feel that it’s important to show other moms that it’s not all Pinterest perfect. Far from!

Here are my before picture. Hopefully, by posting this I will be holding myself accountable to update this blog with finished organized projects (the boys’ beds are scheduled for delivery this week!)

Before…

You wouldn’t know it looking at our home, but about a year ago we made a decision to work toward creating a more minimalistic home. You can’t tell, but we have gotten rid of a lot (sans books and legos….those were a deal-breaker! They are our joy.) While I am still anxiously awaiting the day when I feel like this goal has been met, I DO notice it when I am at the store. I find that more and more often I see things, get ideas, and then simply leave empty-handed. I may be slow in fixing the problem, but at least I am no longer feeding it! Below I discuss three areas of our life that could always stand to be more organized and what I am doing to accomplish that.

Boys room

Because I work from home and need a quiet space that can be locked to prevent interruptions while on video, it has become necessary for the boys to share a room. I had started by using a corner of the garage as an office, but in the Arizona summers, my classroom was literally melting (and so was I!) Eventually, we moved the boys together and created an office/homeschool room. The problem is, two boys in one small room means very little space to play and very little personal space. We are also finding that having toys in their room is not working out so well. So, in an attempt to create personal space and maintain sanity, the boys’ room will be getting a makeover, which I will proudly show off in an update when the beds arrive. The idea is to create their own spaces and move the toys into the garage, creating an area where they can access their toys that is not in their rooms. However, the garage redo is not happening for a few months as its still well over 100 degrees out there.

Homeschool

I am a planner. I love creating curriculum, planning our days… I just love it. Don’t ask me to create a bulletin board ever again! But, I will plan a unit study for you, no problem. I’m the mom who would spend July planning our entire year. Then get frustrated when those plans were ruined within the first week. I had to teach myself to start planning for a shorter amount of time. I’ve also tried just about every planner on the market (digital and physical). Yet, I always found myself frustrated. Look at all the things we didn’t get done! Then I started something new. Instead of writing down what I planned to do, I wrote down what we actually did each day. While this was a big confidence booster that we do indeed accomplish a lot, it still didn’t quite fill my need to plan. This is our current method and it’s actually working for me. My kids go to an enrichment program on Fridays, so this is my planning day. I use regular old lined paper and write down the lessons we plan to complete in the next four-day loop. Then, as we complete a lesson or activity, I highlight it. This shows me exactly what we accomplished, while still giving me a basic outlined plan to follow. On Friday, I simply move anything we didn’t get to into the first available spots for the next week and we move on with our lives! It is so ridiculously simple. Anyone else LOVE simple?!

Meals

Tortellini Soup

I am not really sure if this falls under organization or not, but it feels like it should as it has made my life SO much easier. A friend recently introduced me to a meal prepping company called Citrus Pear. You pay for your meals, they shop, you go and spend 2 hours meal prepping and leave with enough freezer meals to last the month, they clean up. I am in love! The meals are reasonable and all I have to do is throw them in the instant pot. Mr. Man has cleaned his plate every night (big deal!!!) and my husband is excited to see a variety of meals (including meat) come across the table again. I love that the meals are prepared using (mostly) unprocessed items and I’ve lost 4 lbs since I started using them (which is a huge deal!… especially since I have changed nothing else). Dinner has never been easier. Check out their site to see if they have a location near you, I highly recommend it.