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Have Pencil Box. Will Travel.

By Tanya Whitford, CPO® on August 21, 2014 No Comments

Right before packing up for a long flight across the country, I did some school supply shopping. I can’t help it. Many of you would agree that some of these back to school sales are practically giving us coveted office supplies for free! How could you resist? At Target, I came across a soft plastic sliding pencil box for 69 cents (which is the regular price). This was not on my daughter’s classroom list, but I had a different use for them. The airplane.

I have tried keeping crayons in their boxes and putting them in Ziploc baggies. Neither method really works well for kids on an airplane tray table. But these pencil boxes that are light, bendable, and roomy inside are perfect! My daughters each filled their own pencil box with whatever drawing or writing objects they wanted. It went into their bags along with a blank sketch book, work books, and coloring books. On the plane, we pulled out the pencil boxes and removed the inside tray from the cover. You have to give it a little tug to get it out- but it works. You can just slide it open, but I thought pulling it all the way out was the better way to go. Then they each had a great box that easily showed their crayons and pencils without rolling off the tray table or into their laps. They loved them! Why didn’t I think of this before!

As I bent down to pick up the 3rd crayon that the child sitting in front of me dropped on the floor, I wished I had an extra pencil box to give to their parents =)

Categories : Helpful Products, Kids, Travel

From Newlyweds to Expecting

By Tanya Whitford, CPO® on August 4, 2014 No Comments

Before- Newlywed Nook

By the time I celebrated my one year anniversary- I was 4 months pregnant. My life as a newlywed ended before we ever used most of the stuff we got for our wedding. I had so carefully utilized this wonderful built in bookshelf in our small apartment. It had all the things people joining their lives together might have- photo albums, yearbooks, CD collections, games, pictures, and liquor leftover from our wedding.

Once I was pregnant, a lot of things had to change. There was no room in our apartment for a nursery. The crib would have to be at the foot of our bed. The stroller would have to be in our living room. And the wonderful built in shelves would have to become “the baby nook”.

In order to make room for baby, we had to deal with our own stuff. Yearbooks and never looked at photo albums were boxed up to store in the closet. Cds collections were wittled down. Liquor was given to friends. Things we no longer used were given away. It was a lot of work, but soon I had a blank canvas to create the baby nook!

After- Baby Nook

What fun I had! I got an assortment of bins from Target, Lowes, and The Container Store to meet my needs.

I used big pull out cube drawers along the top row for things like sheets, extra toiletries, 6-9 month clothes and 12 month clothes.
Medium pull out drawers for towels and washcloths and breast pump supplies.
Bins for bibs & burp cloths, toys, teethers and blankets.
Small baskets for diapers & wipes and lotions & soaps.
Little drawers for grooming, hair accessories, medical necessities.
Shelf space for pregnancy books, picture books, diaper bags, slings, extra diapers, and wipes.

To complete the nook, we bought a white dresser from IKEA that was the perfect height and size for a changing table and we securely attached a baby changing pad to the top. The drawers were divided with IKEA Skubb boxes which are great inexpensive drawer organizers. I labeled them with things like “short sleeve onesies”, “long sleeve onesies”, and “pjs”.

The baby nook worked out really well. Everything was labeled making it easy for other people to help with the baby. My husband, who was new to the whole world of organizing, had to admit that this really made things a lot easier as we learned to be new parents. We have moved on to a bigger space and a bigger family, but that baby nook proved that small spaces can be highly efficient when properly organized.

Categories : Before & After Photos, Helpful Products, Kids

School Year Paper Purge

By Tanya Whitford, CPO® on June 16, 2014 No Comments

My first year with a child in elementary school is over and all I can say is- what a lot of paper!! My memories of kindergarten include learning to spell “cat” and nap time. Things have really changed since then. I was surprised by the sheer volume of paper that came home. My daughter had a lot of homework which she thankfully enjoys. (Sure hope that lasts for the next 16 years!) And there were tons of flyers for activities and fundraisers all year long. So that you don’t drown in a sea of papers by the time your child reaches third grade, you need to purge. And right after school gets out is a great time to do it!

I purged the school flyers during the year as the activities passed, but stored all her school work in a drawer in my office. We pulled the tower of papers out and set up some sorting space in the living room. We decided on 3 piles: To Keep, Send to Grandma, and Recycle. We talked about how to decide what went where. She liked Presidents and wanted to keep all papers on them. I suggested we keep any home work where she was writing her own sentences. We decided together that we didn’t need to keep basic worksheets or projects that weren’t special. Then the sorting began!

Half way though the pile, after learning what things she liked to keep and didn’t like to keep, I asked her if she wanted me to help her and she did. I pulled out all the homework and scanned them for the pages wher After e she wrote sentences and we let the rest go. She focused on the art work and what she wanted to send to grandma. She even said that this was fun. (She is an organizer’s daughter after all =) The sort pile dwindled and we were done in 45 minutes. We ended up with a small envelope of memories, an envelope to mail to grandma, and a big pile of paper to recycle.

You could certainly purge your child’s homework yourself, but then you miss the opportunity to teach a very valuable life skill and learn what is important to them. The ability to sort through your papers and belongings and decide what is important to you and what you can let go of is a skill that helps people through all stages of life.

Categories : Before & After Photos, Kids, Paper

Is Organizing Nurture or Nature?

By Tanya Whitford, CPO® on March 24, 2014 No Comments

I was in kindergarten. I had too much energy to rest during nap time and never received a “Best Rester” award. My teacher finally put me to work during nap time- and I loved it. Instead of wasting time napping, I got to fix up her desk! I remember my teacher asking where the paperclips were and I proudly opened the drawer and showed her their new location. I didn’t learn this at home. That was just the way I was- and I was 5. When it was my turn to clean up the living room as an 8th grader, I made a labeled box for each family member, dumped each person’s belongings in their box and put their box on their bed. As a senior in high school I created a great system to manage all the college brochures that were flooding our mail box. I never thought much about my organizing tendencies. It was just the way I was. I think I was just born organized.

Now I have two daughters and it is interesting to see if the organizing gene is nurture or nature. My first daughter broke my water at 12:15am on her due date. Only 5% of babies are born on their due dates. My daughter was punctual from birth! When she was in daycare at 20 months, her teacher, who did not know what I did for a living, told me that she was “so organized.” I beamed with pride. She never broke a toy or threw her crayons all over the floor. She meticulously lined up her stickers in notebooks and grouped similar stickers together. She only drew on paper and tried to keep in the lines. Three years later, my second daughter was born. She decided to come 10 days early when I wasn’t quite ready. She never met a toy she didn’t want to throw across the room or a bunch of craft supplies that should stay in a container. Walls and rugs can be written on and dirty hands are meant to touch everything. Total opposite of her sister. But, she does know that everything has a home and she knows where to find them.

Organizing skills can be nurture, nature, or just not possible. We aren’t all good at the same things. If we were, the world would be a boring place! What comes easy to me doesn’t to someone else and vice-versa. No matter who explains it to me, I’ll never truly understand the stock market. I just glaze over. I can’t draw- anything. And I couldn’t learn to drive a stick shift. We all have our strengths whether we are born with them or we learn them. And we all can get help with areas we aren’t so good at.

My two kids have different organizing strengths, but I like to think I can teach them what they don’t naturally do. Organizing skills can make such a difference your entire life and if you start early, it becomes ingrained. It will be very interesting to see how this develops as my children grow up. Maybe I will come to a different conclusion. Maybe my daughters will one day work with me or they will rebel and never put anything away just to drive me crazy! Stay tuned…. =)

Categories : Kids, My Blog

A Handy Basket

By Tanya Whitford, CPO® on February 10, 2014 No Comments

The handled storage basket from the Container Store is one of my favorite products to use for many things. You would be surprised how handy a simple handle can be when you are trying to utilize space on cabinets above your head and below in cabinets. This picture illustrates how I use them for my daughter’s veggie and fruit pouches that she inhales daily. A quick pull from the cabinet so she can see what she wants and then back up they go. The pouches stay organized, easy to see, and easy to grab.

Here are some other uses for these handled storage baskets which come in both a small and large size.

All kinds of snacks from pouches to bars to cups stay nicely organized in these. Use one for each household member or each type of food product and line them up on the shelf.
Food that doesn’t like to stay put like bags of beans, pasta, and packets.
Bath and beauty products can stay corralled in these baskets and slip right under the sink.
Bath toys for the kids can be dumped in here. You can actually use the basket as a sieve to scoop up the toys after bath time and just let in drain in the empty tub. The holes come in handy!
Vitamins and medicines can be separated (Cold & flu, Indigestion, First Aid etc.) to help get that cabinet full of bottles under control. This is one area where labels on the baskets would be really helpful.
Office products like ink cartridges, post its, boxes of staples and paper clips, tape and bags of rubber bands are just a few of the office products you can store in these.
Craft supplies such as paints, glue guns and refills, and bags of cotton balls and popsicle sticks can be easily grabbed in a moment of inspirtaion. Keep supplies you commonly use together in the same basket.
Cords, cords, and more cords can be separated in these baskets and labeled so that when you are looking for your iPod accessories- you can find them and not hunt through a lot of other cords.
Little kid board books and small toys.

The possibilities are endless. When you need to get a handle on things up high and down low, these are some great and inexpensive baskets to try!

Categories : Helpful Products, Kids, Simple and Organized

Try a Co-Op

By Tanya Whitford, CPO® on January 13, 2014 No Comments

The definition of a co-op is “a cooperative society, business, or enterprise”. They are such a good idea- I am surprised more people don’t try them. Over the holidays, I organized a little child-care co-op among some friends. Four families participated. Each family took everyone’s kids for a day- about 4 or 5 hours, and in return, they got 3 free days to either work, catch up on things, or catch a movie. The kids had a blast playing at a different house each day with different toys and activities. The parents had glorious time to themselves knowing their kids were well cared for and having fun- and it didn’t cost anything! Even the one day we had to watch all 7 kids in our co-op was easier than I expected. Suddenly the two week vacation was over and we never had to wonder what to do to occupy the kids.

Here are some other easy ways to try a co-op:

Carpooling– Parents taking turns transporting a group of kids somewhere or co-workers taking turns driving each other is probably the most common type of co-op.
Date Nights– You watch my kids one night and I’ll watch your kids another night. The kids get a play date, and you can save the babysitter money for a nice dinner and movie.
Dinner– You make a double or triple batch of dinner and share with someone else. They do the same thing. The more people involved in this co-op, the less nights you have to cook dinner and the more new foods you will likely get to try.
Chores– You come help me clean out my cabinets and I’ll do the same for you. Chores are more bearable when you do them with someone, and for some reason, it is easier to clean someone else’s house than our own!
Organize– Help me tackle my garage and I’ll help you do the same. Some jobs might be too big or overwhelming to do ourselves, but become possible if we get some help.

There are so many ways a co-op can help make a person’s life a little easier and save money. Gather a few people you know and trust and set a few ground rules. Make sure the give and take is even and enjoy a new way to get things done!

Categories : Kids, My Blog, Time Management

Too Many Toys!

By Tanya Whitford, CPO® on December 17, 2013 No Comments

I saw this interesting fact on the Container Store website. Wow! That is shocking but believable. I have kids and I don’t buy them many toys- but they have a lot anyway. Toys have been passed down from relatives and friends- which is my favorite way to get toys. And of course the birthdays and Christmas that often bring excess. So what do we do?

1. Pre-holiday Purge to Donate- A week or so before a gift receiving holiday or birthday, go through your child’s room WITH them. Not for them. Not when they are at school and can’t see what you are doing. It is extremely important that children learn the concept of letting go of things they no longer use or need. Donating also teaches them to share with children less fortunate than them.

2. Set limits- Sometimes it helps to create a certain amount of space for toys- and that is it. Cubbies, shelves, bins under the bed- whatever you decide is a good amount for toys. If there is no more room to fit new toys that are coming in, then something else has to leave. It is kind of like the one in- one out rule, but this helps kids prioritize what toys are most important to them. They may decide that getting rid of a huge stuffed animal is worth it if now 6 smaller toys fit in that space.

3. Trade- Ever notice that when you take your child to someone else’s house- they absolutely loves playing with all their friend’s toys? Organize a little trade amongst some families. Gather up the toys you want to let go of and come together in one place with all your give-aways. Then shop amongst the toys your friends no longer want. Just this weekend a friend mentioned her daughter wanted the Barbie Dreamhouse for Christmas- and sure enough another mom sitting right next to her was planning to get rid of the Barbie Dreamhouse her daughter no longer played with. Perfect! What a wonderful and green way to shop!

4. Buy less- Ever spend lots of money on a present and then watch your child have more fun playing with the box it came in than the actual toy? Have you watched your kid race through opening presents and they only want to play with one of them? More is overwhelming. Less helps you appreciate the special things you got.

Our children really do not need nearly as many toys as we get them. So buy less toys. Trade or give away the toys they have outgrown. Be selective of the toys that you do buy. Don’t go crazy for the hot new toy which usually turns out to be a flash in the toy hall of fame (or shame). Have more family experiences. Go for a walk together. Play at the park. Kids will remember the fun times they shared more than the toys they played with for 4 minutes.

Happy Holidays! May they be full of fun and loved ones.

Categories : Donating & Recycling, Kids

Organizing the Desk Junk Drawer

By Tanya Whitford, CPO® on December 2, 2013 No Comments

Before

Just for fun, I thought I’d organize the junk drawer in my husband’s desk with my 5 1/2 year old daughter. These are the crazy things organizers do for fun! When a desk drawer is jammed full of seemingly random items, the drawer loses all functionality. Searching for items lost in the drawer just makes it more of a mess- and you probably won’t even find what you thought was in there.

My daughter and I pulled out the desk drawer and put it on the floor. Then we quickly got to work. Here is what you should do:

Empty the drawer putting everything in groups of like items. All the pens together, receipts, coins, etc.
Throw out/recycle any broken or no longer useful items. (Donating useable items if possible of course!)
Purge or at least organize your business card collection into a more useable system- even if that just means putting all the restaurants in one pile and colleagues in another.
Relocate any items that don’t belong in the desk drawer.
Use small baskets, check boxes, extra food storage containers, ziploc bags- whatever you have on hand- to separate and store each grouping of items.
Like a puzzle, fit all the small storage pieces you are using back into the drawer with things used most in the front and things used least in the back.

After

My daughter enjoyed sorting things and figuring out what would be best to store each category. In less than 10 minutes, we had a beautiful looking desk drawer, my daughter learned some valuable organizing skills while having fun with mommy, and my husband got a desk drawer he can actually find things in!

Categories : Before & After Photos, Kids, Simple and Organized

Bathroom Pile-Up

By Tanya Whitford, CPO® on September 9, 2013 No Comments

The more people that share a bathroom, the more chaotic the space can be. I share a bathroom with 2 little girls so there is a lot of stuff just for the bathtub! On a trip to Target, I came across a product I didn’t know I needed until I saw it. It was a Room Essential 3 Tier Basket Stand which fit perfectly in the tiny space between my bathtub and sink. I moved all kid related items to the basket stand. The top basket holds everything I need to wash their hair and comb out tangles- all in easy reach and easy to see. The middle basket holds rubber duckies and toys. The bottom basket holds all the foam letters to play with. Since the baskets are plastic and have holes, I can dump even wet toys in there and they will dry out. All the baskets are re-moveable with the top one also having a handle. It works so well for my kids stuff and leaves the bathtub shelves for my stuff. It is about 2 feet tall, 7 1/2″ wide, and 12 1/2″ deep and cost just under $25.

Something like this would be perfect for college students, especially with the top handled basket to easily cart toiletries to the bathroom. It could also work for arts and crafts and small toys. In the kitchen for a grab & go snack tower or fruits and vegetables. In the living room to hold TV remotes, DVDs, video games, or magazines. The possibilities are endless! You can certainly find something similar at other stores. Look for something that stores vertically rather than horizontally, has a small footprint but lots of storage that gives you flexibility to fit your needs.

One of my favorite things about this basket stand is that my kids know how to put all their stuff away. I was amazed to watch my 2 year old put everything back after her bath in the right baskets. She loves doing it and it really helps me out!

Categories : Helpful Products, Kids

Packing Tips for Families

By Tanya Whitford, CPO® on August 11, 2013 No Comments

I hate packing. I am a Professional Organizer. I have a packing list. I get excited when The Container Store has their travel sale. I help clients pack. But I still hate packing. I am not sure how something that should take an hour or two stretches itself out and takes me an entire day to do. My husband packs in 7 minutes. Then I realized what it was. Kids.

Now I have to pack for 3 people at very different stages of life and it can be overwhelming. How many snacks would we go through if we got stranded on the runway for 4 hours again? Is the tablet fully charged? Are the liquids and computer easy to pull from our carry-ons? How light can we travel to avoid paying baggage fees? Should we buy diapers and wipes on the other end to avoid packing them?

Here are 4 things that can be very helpful for packing with kids.

1. Ziploc Bags rule. Not just the quart size to put your carry-on liquids in, but all sizes. Anything that might leak or could break- stick it in a Ziploc. I even double Ziploc the baby bottles and sippy cups. Changing altitudes can leave you with leaking containers so wrap them in a paper towel to help even more. I carry a few extras at all times because they always come in handy, from dividing up snacks to sealing up a dirty diaper.

2. Eagle Creek Pack-It cubes are great to pack several people in one bag. I know that all my clothes are in the black ones, the baby’s are the flower ones, and the toddler has purple ones. That makes it easy to find each person’s clothes at our destination without tearing apart the whole suitcase.

3. Label some things with a Sharpie and blue painter’s tape. When it is time to re-pack and return home, it is easy to match things back up. Any empty cases or bubble wrap would tell me what needed to go in them with easy to see blue tape. I didn’t think it was necessary to label things until I forgot the night light plugged in at the hotel. Next trip, I labeled a small bubble wrap baggie “night light” and won’t forget it again. Use the same bags and labels every time you pack for things like phone chargers, baby monitor, etc.

4. Let spouses and kids pack and then adjust. After my husband takes his 7 minutes to pack, I make some adjustments. There are 3 levels of luggage. First are the carry-on items that you need handy and will be under the seat like snacks and things to occupy your kids. Then it is the extra electronics, baby Bjorn and back-up clothes and diapers that might be in the overhead bin in case you do need them. Last there are the clothes and items that can be checked- hopefully for free. Once you know what your spouse and kids want to bring, you can adjust them to be in the proper bags based on when they will be needed.

After all effort of packing, there is some sense of accomplishment when you realize that the extra planning and effort paid off. I do love to unpack though. I don’t care how long the travel day has been. When I get home, I can unpack those suitcases, put them back in the garage and have laundry going in 10 minutes. Hopefully one day I will actually like packing too- but I doubt it!

Categories : Kids, Travel

Tags : kids, packing, travel