EVERYTHING HAS A HOME!!!

Okay are you ready for the last, most important step of all???

STEP #3: Find a home (a place) for EVERYTHING in your house!!!!

It is so important for your “stuff” to have a home. If you have a home for everything, then when its time to clean up it wont take you so long, it might just take 10 minutes a day to clean up the mess.
I have done this step since the day I got married, and that way my family knows exactly were things go…so when you tell your children to clean up, they don’t feel so overwhelmed and do not even want to try!!
To start this third step you need to start organizing room by room to find homes for your treasures!!!
So let’s set some goals for your rooms…
Make a room-by-room list of what you want to accomplish in the next four weeks. For example, A list for your play room, could include putting all the games in categories, all card games goes on one shelf, board games go on another. By writing down goals for each room, you'll take some of the pressure of accomplishing the tasks all at once. Plus, you'll have the satisfaction of checking off tasks as you complete them. This is a great motivator to keep you going.
One of my favorite organizers is Julie Morgenstern, and she says,” The most important thing is to start small and start in the room you spend your most time, which is the opposite of the way most people approach it," says Julie. A professional organizer for 18 years, she says it takes a day to a day and a half to thoroughly organize a room. But if you "analyze and strategize before you attack," she says, you'll be less overwhelmed. Morgenstern recommends starting with the bathroom so you can practice on a smaller space.

PLEASE do not get overwhelmed!!!
This weekend for your homework… find 5 things that don’t have a home and find them one… and remember my motto… (This is what I tell my children daily, “Put it away in its home!!!”
Have a great and fun weekend!!!

Run your Home like a Business Step #2

All right are you ready for step #2??? This next step, I have been doing since my 3rd child was born, so for almost 7 years, and I feel it works great and helps me not feel so overwhelmed. I started when she was born because just one more child adds more of everything. More laundry, more cleaning, more cooking, more grocery shopping…EVERYTHING!!!

STEP #2: Break up your cleaning. Don’t do it all in one day.

For Example:

Monday: laundry; sort, wash and put away!! Wipe down bathrooms. (Try and do things around the house until you get your laundry done!!)

Tuesday: vacuum and Mop all floors, wipe down bathrooms.

Wednesday: dust ENTIRE house, wipe down bathrooms.

Thursday: laundry day again!!! Sort, wash and put away, wipe down bathrooms.

Friday: wipe down bathrooms!!!

Saturday: DEEP CLEAN BATHROOMS!!

Sunday: this is your cleaning day off. YEA!!!

Little note: MAKE SURE YOUR CHILDREN HAVE CHORES.

My kidos do 5 little chores every morning before they go to school.
***Children’s Saturday jobs: clean there bathrooms, pull weeds, and vacuum downstairs.

2nd Sat. of the month: Dust blinds and fans, clean floor boards.
4th Sat. of the month: wipe down cabinets, doors, couch, and chairs.***

Always remember that giving kids chores can help give them responsibility and a sense of feeling involved and self-worth. Chores should be handled as necessary contributions to the family. For example, if the dishes were never washed, what would happen? Chores are not necessarily to “have fun," but they can create a sense of "family" as well as helping to learn that keeping a household running involves effort and teamwork.

I feel that by breaking up your housework, it helps you feel like you’re not spending all day cleaning, therefore you are then able to get other things accomplished for the day. ***Remember schedule a time for your cleaning…just like you would schedule a meeting with a very important client.
Hopefully this step will help you get that much closer to running your home like a business!!

Stay tuned for Friday’s last Step… #3

Run your Home like a Business

When I was 5 years old, it was a dream of mine to be a stay at home MOM. Well I have gotten to live out my dream, however I decided from the beginning I was going to do it right. So I decided to run my home, just like I would a business.
It is not always easy. I have 4 children who are all in different stages of life…I have a 14 year old beautiful redheaded daughter, who plays the piano, guitar and is now playing golf for her school. This is her 1st year of high school and is taking an A hour class, so yes that means we are up at 5am. Next I have my favorite son, (yes he is my only son) who is 10 years old and in the 5th grade. He is in sports and cub scouts; he leaves for school at 7:45am with his sweetest little sister, who is 6 years old and in the 1st grade. She loves to dance and play with friends, and when she is home, she plays with her little sister, who is 3 who also takes a dance class. She also gets to hang around with mom all day, and play and have fun!!
So as you can see things can be a little chaotic around the Grant household. But if you have a written schedule, you can manage your day a little easier.
Children are in need of structure and stability in their lives to function the best. Creating a daily schedule can help children behave and sleep better. You need to create a schedule that will work for your family. Schedule the things that must happen such as meals, sleep and school time, then work around the remaining free time to fit in everything else. You need to make your schedule function for your family. Be sure to consider the kids' ages when creating a schedule. For example, a 3-month-old won't be able to keep the same schedule as a 3-year-old or a 14-year-old.
I have made up 3 easy steps to help you run your home like a business. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday this week I will give you a step to work on, and why it is important. The first step is...YES OF COURSE…

STEP #1: Make a written schedule of your week. (Here is a little example of my schedule.)

Monday:
5:00am wake up, read scriptures, clean bathrooms, start laundry. MONDAYS ARE WASHING DAYS!!
5:45am wake up kids, read scriptures as family; help get children ready for school. *** Kids do all there chores before school.***
6:10am high school starts
7:10am feed kids breakfast, make lunches, and send the next two little ones to school. (Hopefully happy!!!)
8:00am check emails
8:35am Workout
10:30am shower and get ready for the day.
12:00pm finish laundry, go grocery shopping, work on side business.
2:30pm golf practice.
3:10pm kids get home from school. Help with homework. Make dinner.
5:00pm eat dinner, clean up.
6:00pm family night
6:30pm story time then the two little ones go to bed.
7:30pm son reads and goes to bed.
9:00pm teenager reads and goes to bed.
10:00pm hopefully I’m in bed!!!!

Tuesday:
5:00am same as Monday but NO LAUNDRY!!! YEA!!
8:00am check emails
8:35am mop and vacuum the entire house.
10:00am get showered and ready for day.
11:30am free time to get things done!!!
2:30pm golf practice
3:10pm kids get home, do homework, and make dinner.
4:00pm Scouts.
5:00pm eat dinner, and clean up.
6:30pm same as Monday. (Kids go to bed at the same time every night, except for Friday nights)
7:00pm I have a meeting for my church.
10:00pm hopefully I’m in bed!!!!

***Do you understand were I am going with this… PLAN AND SCHEDULE YOUR DAYS OUT ON PAPER. This is the 1st step; stay tuned for step #2 on Wednesday!!!