The Pick Up Game

I don't know about you but I get pretty tired of picking up matchbox cars, legos, hairbands and shoes! When you have little ones you can usually see where they have been by the trail of stuff they leave behind. It has gotten so bad that I can follow my son from where he comes into the door till he is sitting down for a snack.
Enter house and drop backpack randomly inbetween door and place where your snow gear goes.
After backpack is dropped head to snowgear parking area shedding your hat, mittens on the way.
Kick off boots and do not place them on the drying rack but leave them where they land.
Shed coat and snowpants and leave them where they drop.
Head to the potty where you forget to flush and leave the hand towel in the sink.
Head to kitchen for a snack.
Open cupboard, dig in snack tray, select snack and walk away, leaving rejects on the counter and cupboard open.
Head to table where you enjoy your snack.
Get up from table where you leave your wrappings and crumbs and chair out.

I get that he is a boy but my daughter is just as bad. Usually they bicker during this process too. Well a whole night of this can make for a very untidy house and when you are a mom that is also a full time student I need all the help I can get. After watching Mary Poppins with the kids I got an idea. Why not give them that "spoonful of sugar" and make picking up after themselves a game. I know that if I trail after them picking up, their college roommate will hate them and they won't learn how to tidy after themselves.

My M n M jar...The kids know when this comes out they are going to clean!

Here is what you need:
1 bag of M n M's or Smarties or Skittles..some tiny kind of piecing candy (candy is a treat in my house not an everyday kind of thing so it does give the kids some sort of incentive)
1 house full of kiddo stuff that needs to be put away
To Play:
Lay out the ground rules with all the participating kids standing in front of you.
My Rules are simple, if you see something laying around or something that needs tidying then its fair game. I do not limit them to only their stuff. They can only pick up one item at a time. No fighting over the same item or game over they have to pick up without the "sweet" rewards. They have to stay in "public" areas, living room, play room, stairs, hallway, etc... Bedrooms are off limits. If you have something that does not belong to you that belongs in someones room (like a shoe) you may enter their room to set it on their bed and then exit quickly. They can put their own things away when the game is over.
How we start:
After I go over the ground rules they are in the same starting position. I say GO! They then have to scurry through the house and find an item out of place or left behind. They have to grab it, and tell me where it belongs (this is me trying to reinforce where things belong!!) and then run and put it in its home. I then place an M n M in their pot. This continues with laughter and periodic cash outs where a kiddo requests a sweet to keep going. I usually grab one from their pot and pop it in their mouths. It keeps the atmosphere light and them to keep going.
The Reward:
They each get their pots to enjoy while watching some TV or playing the Wii and I get a tidy house :)








  

Papers Everywhere!!!

I don't know about you but I seem to have piles of paper everywhere! I find it on my breakfast bar, kitchen table, desk, china hutch, next to my bed and anywhere else that is flat! A good friend of mine decided to tackle hers and long story short her idea was just brilliant. I decided to borrow her idea and custom fit it to my family. It helps you stay organized, lets your kiddos know exactly where to find their "stuff" and gives you a brag board without overwhelming your fridge.

My breakfast bar, as you can see the kids went to the dentist, I coupon and did something with buttons!

So how do I take that chaos and get it to where everyone has a "landing zone" for their papers? All it takes is some corkboard and some mailboxes! I also used some fabric and used my reorganization time to redecorate my mudroom and laundry room! I found some laundry themed decor at a garage sale $10 and bought a gallon of bright sunshine yellow paint! The room was so dark it needed brightening. I used primary colors for my boards but you can use whatever fits your theme, decor..etc. Just make sure it fits you and that you make it easy to use for your family.

You want to find a cork board that fits your space, my space was divided by a bathroom door while Peggy had a nice large open space. She was able to find a large corkboard at a hardware store, I found little squares of corkboard on clearance at Jo-Ann Fabrics. We both covered our corkboards with fabric to match our decor. She just bought a yard of a fun fabric, I bought 4 fat quarters in the same color family. To cover your corkboards just lay the fabric down with the wrong side up and the right side laying on the floor/table depending on your workspace. I stapled mine for added security but you can glue around the edges. For the larger boards I suggest getting some help, to keep the fabric tight.

The next step is finding mailboxes that work for your family, there are lots of options, Peggy and I both found some on clearance at Jo-Ann fabrics in a fun locker style, but there are simpler ones or more complex ones depending on what you are looking for, you can even go super mom and craft your own out of scrapbooking supplies and cereal boxes. I like my locker style ones because they are metal and I have a magnetic clip stuck to each one for little slips of paper that get lost in a mailbox, but that could be easily remedied with a cereal box if you use a binder clip stuck on the edge.  I have one mailbox for each person.

Next, hang your board and mailboxes in a configuration that works for your space and family, I have parents on top and kiddos underneath, low enough for my 5yo. Peggy put all her girls along the bottom while the parents stacked up on the side. We both have key hangers and a calendar. The calendar is pretty key and mine is not pictured, having the calendar gives you a landing zone for those little reminders you get and you can highlight big important things. It also lets you see who is where when trying to plan some family time. I use google calendar as well but it doesn't have anywhere for those little business cards.

The Wilke Family board they have handy post-its, and a white board, everything this busy family needs to stay organized!

Now is the toughest part yet, go through every paper pile in your house, if it belongs to someone put it in their mailbox, then you can file your receipts, throw the junk away and recycle the papers that are outdated. It took me days to do this but the end result is so worth it. Now I come home and sort the mail into the mailboxes. The kids sort their mail into the boxes, things like lunch calendars and reading logs they keep along with practice schedules. I have somewhere to hang my keys and the corkboard serves as a brag board for A papers and awards as well as dry cleaning slips and other reminders. Our calendar is easy as well, we simply come in and pin the reminder card up write our info into the appropriate day. At the beginning of the month I go through and update our google calendar and make sure all appointments have been written onto the calendar and that their are no conflicts. It only takes me about 30 min a month to go through and tidy up and do the calendar check.
Good Luck!

Our mailboxes, see the little clip to keep small slips, they are color coded, boys have blue, girls have red.

Our corkboard helps us keep the clutter off the counter and fridge. The ziplocks have little items like a spare eyeglass screw.