My Car .... My mini home

  

Organizing my car.

Martha is here again. She is out with her Special Spring issue magazine of The Best of Martha Stewart Living - ORGANIZING. I love her organizing ideas. She has the solutions for everybody and for all kinds of lifestyles. The book is available on stands until 4/30/2012 (that is what the print on the cover page reads), so if you need one get it before its too late. I got mine at Vons for $10. (It says $10.95 CAN). It's available on amazon.com as well.

 

 

This issue has some of the most wonderful ideas. The ideas are on her website as well, but I like to have them handy for inspiration.

Today I would like to share a few of her car organization ideas that I have incorporated or am  in the process of doing them.

I love my car. It's a van and it is a little home as my husband calls it. He calls it our second home.  So I like to keep my car organized and manageable too.

 

Here are a few things I found very interesting:

I am currently using this system for our important car documents. I have had it for the last whole year, and I am adding it up here to share as I find it very helpful and Martha suggests it too.

Important documents folder: Jokingly we sometimes call it the 'Cop folder'.. as  here are all the documents we might need when getting pulled over or in case of an accident.

 

This image is from Martha's site, I will upload mine soon.

 

       Things I have in my folder-

1. My contact information with phone number in case the folder gets lost.
2. Registration
3. Insurance details
4. Copies of driver license of me and my husband. Remember it does NOT replace the actual driver license card, but we just leave a copy in there for emergency. Just in case if we have to leave without our wallet in an emergency. For identity security reasons you may choose not to if you think is unsafe.
5. A few, that is 4/5 small notes with insurance details and contact information that you might need to exchange in case of an accident. In a hurry you can hand over one and on the other one you can quickly write down the other person's necessary details.
6. Emergency contact numbers. (I didn't keep this until I read Martha's book, now I will add this too.)
7. A few dollars in smaller bills in a small envelope.
8. Leave a pen in there too.

 

• Personal storage : The next idea I like was the use of a hanging shoe organizers one for each kid. 

 

I don't have this one yet, but I like the idea so much that I plan to get one in my car too. I will upload my picture when I set mine up.

My 8 year old is learning how to make paper airplanes, so I have millions (exaggerating mom ;) ) of them all over my car, as he carries them to fly them in the park. I have tried giving him a bag, but he doesn't want that as they get scrunched in there. This way he can neatly fold them and store a few in his organizer.

How do you organize your car? Share your lovely ideas with us.

Medication Log

Hi all,

It's that time of the year again. Flu season out there. We all know how bad it feels when the kid is in bed with fever and cough. When the kids or any adult fall sick they totally depend on us as caregivers.

With every medicine I give my kids I  make sure I keep a record of it.

Here is what I do when its time for taking care of a sick child or an adult. I don't wish to keep things in my head trying to remember what time I gave which medicine, I prefer to keep records and logs out of my head and on the paper.. :).  
It helps me be more accurate and less stressed.

Medication Log  -  download here

How do I use it, you ask?

I keep a copy of this in my Household Binder and also a laminated sheet that I use with a marker each time, so later I just erase and reuse.

 In the comments section I usually write down the temperature at the time of the medication. You may jot down any special note that you may feel necessary to have as reference to for the next dosage time.

This sheet specially comes in very handy when you need to leave a child with a babysitter or any other caregiver. You prepare the sheet with the medicine name and the time it has to be given, stick it on the refrigerator or anywhere you like to have it handy. This way your loved one is taken care of with on time medicines.

This is not just a fever or flu log, you can use it to log any other medications too.

Feel free and get the printable here and start using. If you think you need more columns, leave me a comment and I could customize it for you.

Let me know how it helped you.

Love Els.

Field Trip Checklist

 Today I was on a field trip with my kids.

  

 

 They both are in different grades, but both these classes go together on field trips.

As I was getting ready setting up things for them last evening I realized that I needed a checklist for these days. 

Even after being on a couple of field trips I am still a nervous parent.   Being a responsible parent that I am, I want to be sure I know all the basics of the field trip day.

  

After some of my personal experiences and a little research this is what I came up with.

  

Before the field trip day:

1. Check if the field trip permission slip has been turned in with all the necessary information and documents.
2. Be sure if there is money required to be paid for the trip.
3. Remember to find out what is the mode of transportation. Are the kids walking to the destination, going on a bus, going by private auto driven by another parent/adult, or are they expected to be driven by you.
4. Inform the teacher about allergies if any, peanut and/or others.
5. The route to the destination.
6. How many stops are there in the whole trip, basically an itinerary.
7. Weather forecast expected for the day.
8. Know for sure whether the child needs to buy lunch or bring packed lunch. Arrange for as needed.
9. Teacher's cell phone number.
10. Clothing advice, like wearing school spirit shirts/jackets, or the preferred color, etc.
11. Departure and arrival times.
12. If you are the designated driver, get correct parking information and its charges.
 

Field trip day:

    This is how I prepare for the field trip day.

1. Review with the child the SAFETY RULES. No talking to strangers, stay with the group at all times, explain the 'buddy system', no running, inform your chaperon/teacher if you need to use the restroom or have any other concerns.
2. Wear school spirit shirts/jackets or any preferred color etc.
3. Clothes according to the weather forecast like jacket, hat and others.
4. Name tag and a slip with phone numbers (home, parent cell), a few dollars in $1 bills in case of an emergency (God Forbid) in a zip bag/wallet for them to keep in their pockets.
5. Lunch- If buying, give cash mostly in smaller denominations. For pack lunch with healthy foods like granola bars, grapes, crackers, sandwiches, trail mixes, water bottle, juice box  (if you prefer, as I usually prefer water over juice, I sometimes pack juice fro them as I know they are super excited about the trip and one juice box would not do much harm.)
6. Don't forget a LOVE note in the lunch bag.. I love you, Enjoy your day, You are the best.
7. Forks, spoons and napkins in the lunch bag.
8. Hand sanitizer/sanitizing wipes, wet wipes.
9. Check for if the child needs any medications and prepare accordingly. Inform the teacher too.
10. A few band aids in a zip bag, either in their pant pockets (if it can stay there.. that is) or in their lunch bag.
11. Camera only if the child is old enough and is permitted .
12. Car seats if needed.
13. Comfortable shoes.
14. NO extra and unnecessary things like toys, that can distract the child from the group or instructions.
15. A little note pad to take notes, only if the child is old enough to manage without getting distracted and left behind from the group.
16. If you are driving make sure to carry cash in case fro parking or other needs, they don't accept debit or credit card everywhere.
17. If you will be there at lunch time, pack a lunch for yourself too.

Most of all lots of love and hugs for all the hours they are going to be out there.  

These are the things I do when it’s field trip time. Leave a comment on what you thing about it. Did I miss something? Let me know.

How do you prepare for field trips?  Share your thoughts with all of us.

 

Love Els

Tuesday Tip

Laundry by Room

Just like the 10 minute Monday blog, every Tuesdays, I plan to bring a household and organizational tip for all. Some of them would be newer ones that I myself might have just started to use and some probably would be from my mom's and grandma’s experiences that I learned from them over the years.

That is what life is about a wonderful blend of the new and the old.

Today's Tuesday tip is the dreaded laundry. When I do laundry I always try to do them by the rooms. I plan to do each room at one time and do not mix the clothes from all the laundry baskets in one load.

This is how I do it every week. I do one room a day. This maintains a structure in my home management everyday.

Mondays I do my kids room, so after I am done with them I just carry the whole load from the dryer straight to their room.

Tuesdays I do my DH's clothes and bring them to our room.

Wednesdays I just do my clothes.

Thursdays - no laundry day... yay!!   :o)

Fridays I do the whites

And on alternate weekends it's the beddings and towels.

 This way I don’t have to sort clothes by person to put them away. The whole load goes to the room it belongs. I also make sure I fold them right away as I bring them out of the dryer.

Share your Tuesday tips with your organizing and managing your life tips.

Happy Tuesday !

10 minute Monday

Starting today, I am planning to bring a 10 minute Monday blog for you. Here I plan to blog about tasks that would involve 10 minutes to do them, but would bring a big change in few days. The key to this system is from the story "The Hare and the Tortoise”... mean slow and steady wins the race. If you maintain a consistency in your process you will definitely progress.

Simple things like cleaning up a junk drawer, rearranging a linen closet, trashing away a broken shoe, a pot with broken handle etc. All these small things take a few minutes but surely bring in too much peace of a cleaner and stress free space.

I am too in the process of getting my home into a clutter diet. All the extra weight is getting shredded off aka purged. Last week I showed you my big garage purge. I am on a roll to getting my home fit and in shape.

I use my 10 minute Monday rule to devote just 10 minutes on a task. If it needs more I give it only 5 more minutes to finish. If I know it would take more than that I save it for some other time.

A 10 minute Monday should not take more than 10 minutes. This way I keep myself motivated to spare just 10 minutes and see an immediate result. This keeps me charged up to pick up another 10 minute task. Its like taking baby steps to more organized home.

Today I used utilized my 10 minute Monday rule to organize my kids school paperwork. I trash away all the unneeded paper everyday.. at least I try to. But still over time many more get collected. So today I sorted them in magazine holders I got from Ikea. I categorized them
as:

1) papers for mom to sign (that include trip slips, reading diaries and like) 
2) assessed school work from teacher
3) unfinished work to turn in
4) projects and to-study test papers


It took me 10 - 15 minutes to sort them and rearrange them, but it is going to save a lot of my time the next time I have to find a paper that I have to sign.

 Try it and let me know what you think about this.

Purge.. Purge.. Purge.. !!

The mantra to Managing is Purge.. Purge...Purge.

The purging process helps limit the excess and control the clutter.

Organizing is to put away all your stuff so as to make them easily accessible. So it’s important to only just have that much as much your space will allow. Every space can only hold a limited amount... everything else ends up lying around and adding to clutter.

Today was my day of cleaning out my garage. Our garage stored 3 car seats of my kids. 1 infant car seat, 2 convertible car seat, 2 large baby swings, 1 large stroller... the travel system kind.... I have no idea why did I even keep them for sooo long. My kids have been out of them so many years ago.

Well it’s probably the 'mommy thing' going on... just a little hard to accept the fact that my kids are no babies anymore.

So finally today I took on the task that I had been pushing off for too long. When my kids were at school, I pulled out my gloves and got onto the job.

 Other than the car seats there were a few boxes of paint which I just let them be for my DH, as he would check them and decide which ones he wants to keep and which ones to purge.

Here's a look at the big purge:

 

As soon as I was done with that I decided that I had to get rid of them right away, before they start eating up another empty spot in my garage... on temporary basis (which very soon turns into permanent spot.. : o) very often.)

So before I picked up the kids from school, I put all the car seats and stroller into my van and drove them to The Salvation Army . First I thought that I could go later... but then I didn’t want push the purging process onto later. Now all of it is done and the garage is a much better emptier garage.

I am on the roll...more purging to come soon....



Bye