by Tessa | Homemaking
Head over to my Facebook page to access my free planner printable available to my fans!
Last week I shared some of the things that I’ve learned about myself while doing research on how to get my life and home organized before my family welcomes another addition in November. I promised to share with you this week what I’ve learned about home management binders. So I’ll dive right in:
Even though all those free printables and different section ideas are very tempting, I don’t need them all. Some things come more naturally to me than others. I don’t need to organize areas of my life that are already organized. For example: My bill paying and savings plans are second nature to me. They don’t require a section in my binder. I also don’t have any need for a lot of space for appointments because, let’s face it, my schedule on paper is very boring. I made and tried a daily planner. I had used a two-page-per-day planner for years before I had children so I thought this would be the best method for me, but found that it was just not working this time around. Then I read this article about different levels of planners and it became clear to me what the problem was. I was much like her and started off with the “nerd planner” when I really only needed a Week-at-a-glance. I have found it makes more sense for me as my tasks are not usually day dependent because the amount I can do in a day varies so much.
I have since upgraded to a color printer so my weekly pages are color coded into different sections. Keeping the boxes and line space to smaller amounts has meant that I can only add so many tasks to my list, so as not to overwhelm myself. I took a lot of inspiration from the Uncalendar and tweaked this idea to suit my personal and business life. First, I made a list of things I wanted to keep track of: personal to do, blog to do, kids to do, meals, habits I’m working on, people I need to get in touch with, a weekly memory/focus verse and a simple “catch all” area for when I don’t want to pull out the specific list or project sheet for thoughts that pop into my head. That’s a lot of information that I was trying to get out of my head and onto paper!
I also have a very simple list of regular housekeeping tasks, broken down into daily, weekly, and monthly. I put them in a page protector and I just lay it on top of my binder. One side has my brief daily list and a section for each day of the week. On the reverse side I have a 4 week rotation of monthly tasks and I will choose one week at a time to complete. I found it much simpler to make my own lists rather than print or purchase those made by someone else because, others’ lists just don’t suit me. There are certain cleaning tasks that I just don’t care about (at least in this stage of my life) and I do different things on different days than or not as frequently as premade lists tell me.
I’ve been using my weekly calendar for a few weeks and it has been working very well. I leave it open on my counter so I can see it and add to it throughout the day. This method has eliminated the need for me to write out my to do list every evening and transfer everything that I didn’t accomplish to the next day. Planning my day in advance takes just a couple of minutes and having the whole week visible allows me to shuffle tasks around easily.
I am still using a lot of the tips I learned from Planner Perfect when it comes to projects, lists, goals, and having all of my brain’s information available at my fingertips. My mind feels much less cluttered and, surprisingly, my energy levels have increased! It has been great to use this newfound energy to play more with my kids and actually stay (mostly) caught up on my housework.
Do you use a home management binder? I’d love to hear about it or see photos because I’m on a constant quest of tweaking mine to perfection.
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Head over to my Facebook page to access my free planner printable available to my fans!
by Tessa | Resources
It’s the last Friday of the month and I thought it would be a good time to share some of my favorite reads this month. These are some of the best blog posts of September that I have been reading. If you like them and want to see more of what I’m reading through the month, be sure to check out my Facebook Page and Pinterest Boards.
Organizing Files on Your Computer: By Leah at Fabulously Organized Home
I have a ton of files on my computer. Photos, podcasts, ebooks, homeschool printables, volunteer forms, and more. It have is semi-organized but have been trying to figure out something better. I needed a way to go through all my files to figure out what I have and where I should put it all. This post has some great step-by-step instructions on how to organize your computer files. I have a lot of work to do but Leah gave me a starting place and the motivation to get started.
Developing a Vision for Your Family: by Sheila at To Love, Honor, and Vacuum
I can’t even begin to describe how much I love this post. “I want to invite you to dream: to dream about what you want for your family, and what you want for your marriage, and what you want for your home.” Who doesn’t want to dream? And then to include your husband in those dreams is pure bliss. Plus, Sheila has free printable worksheets for your and your husband to pray though and develop an action plan.
Aim for Love, Not Perfection: by Sue at Stories of and Unschooling Family
What excited me about Sue’s blog is that she’s a “been there, done that” unschooling mom. She has unschooled her children into adulthood and, as a perused her blog, I became even more confident in the decisions we have made in regard to our own children’s education. It is great to see the perspective of someone who is further along in this journey who is willing to give us the opportunity to learn from her own adventures. This post is one where she talks about how her ultimate goal is that her children know they are loved by her and by God, and that they have a love of learning.
Clutter Free Forever: Vintage tips for an organized home: by Ruth at Living Well, Spending Less
Decluttering. Downsizing. Simplifying. I have spend the last couple years of my life doing just that. I purged a lot of stuff a few years ago before my littlest Biscuit was born (we needed the room) and then we downsized out home about a year ago and I had to purge even more. Let me tell you a little secret: once you get over the initial hurdle of beginning this process, it feels great! I live in one of the older homes that Ruth talks about and it has been a mixed blessing. Some days I dream of having a more modern home (or maybe just one with all it’s baseboards in tact!) and possibly even larger, but most days I remind myself that a smaller home is a good thing. It’s easier to keep clean and it forced my family to draw close to each other. There is no room to withdraw and hide. Less stuff + less space = More love to go around.
Creamy Rice Pudding: on All Recipes
We eat rice frequently and, for unknown reasons, have been having a lot of leftovers lately. What better way to use leftover dinner than to make desert from it? This recipe has been a huge hit with me and my boys. I like it with a handful of raisins and C likes it best with approximately a cup of cinnamon. The Biscuit will usually eat whatever is set in front of him but he has a strange habit of pouring his milk into his pudding. Hot or cold, this is one yummy dish!
by Tessa | Faith
Welcome to this week’s Word on Wednesday post. Join me for a brief reflection on a piece of scripture and how we can apply it to our daily lives.
I read a lot. The Bible, blogs, articles online and in hard copy, books, text books, and nearly anything I can get my hands on. Mostly non-fiction at this point in my life. I always have enjoyed reading. I love how it relaxes me and works out my brain muscles all at the same time. I love learning new things through my reading and feel like I’ll never be able to read enough to fill up my mind.
It seems that King Solomon had this thirst for information as well, in spite of the wisdom he was granted from God. Apparently it is a natural human tendency. We want answers. Well, this verse holds the answer. You can seek all the knowledge and information in the world but there is really only one final result of this quest: the number one thing we can learn to do is to fear God and keep His commandments. That is the purpose of life. Such a simple conclusion, and yet, such a complex command. So we need to read God’s word to find His commands so that we can fulfill our duty.
by Tessa | Homemaking
Do you every get overwhelmed when you read all those wonderful and amazing blog posts written by people who are already at the destination of organization? Me too.
If you follow my Pinterest boards, you’ve likely noticed my recent stint of pinning a bunch of links related to organization. I’ve been scrambling to get my house and mind and family all in order before the baby comes. Creating rhythms and routines and setting up a reasonable housekeeping schedule is tough when you’re dealing with unpredictable mealtimes (my husband’s schedule is not consistent right now), unpredictable children (because kids are like that), and unpredictable health (fatigue, morning sickness, other pain and injuries). I don’t have it all figured out.
I know that everyone says to not compare yourself to others but let me tell you a few things that I’ve learned about people (and myself) through doing all this research:
Many people have way higher housekeeping standards than I do. Some even clean their baseboards and windows weekly! (Did you know that no one will notice if you clean them once per year? Or never?) Unfortunately, this means that when people tell you to lower your standards when you’re finding it hard to keep up on housekeeping, that doesn’t apply to me. My standards have already been lowered enough.
Many people feed their children way more than I do. Lately we have peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast, yogurt or oatmeal with fruit and cheese n crackers for snack/lunch, and then simple, homemade dinners (that can be made in 30 min or less). We also drink a lot of milk during the day which fills their tummies with lots of long-lasting protein. The only thing I (currently) plan is dinner and my children often make their own sandwiches for breakfast.
Not everyone needs as much sleep as I do. I look at some of the evening and morning routines of other bloggers and I know for a fact that I could not survive with that little of sleep. Some people can thrive off of 6 hours of sleep. I’m not one of them. I need at least 8.5 hours. I need to go to bed at (at least) 10:30pm and need to sleep until 7am. My children also sleep until 7am. I have no morning solo quiet time. My sleep is also interrupted several times through the night so I’m still tired during the day. I can often be found napping on the couch in the early afternoon while my children watch an episode or two of Transformers Rescue Bots or Magic School Bus. I’m okay with that. This is where I am at right now. Plus this is actually getting us into a good rhythm for when the baby comes and I’ll be needing a daily nap even more.
Everyone has a different perception of organized. Some people love to have open cabinets with everything on display; some people love to have lots of wall decor and knick knacks; some people prefer a minimalist view with lots of empty space and everything hidden behind cupboard doors. This was helpful to find out because I grew up in a home with a lot of knick knacks on display but I haven’t unpacked any of mine since moving 11 months ago. I don’t need to feel guilty about it because my personal style leans more towards minimalism and white space. I also learned why my kids’ book and toy shelf in the living room drives me nuts, even when it is tidied up. I need to get something with doors I can close so I don’t see all that stuff.
I know that I’m not the only one comparing and learning about this sort of stuff otherwise those blogs wouldn’t have so much traffic. Please leave a comment because I’d love to hear what lessons you have learned about yourself while on your journey to organization.
Also, subscribe to my weekly blog post roundup because I will share next week what I’ve learned about setting up a home management binder through this journey. (You can subscribe by filling in the simple form on the right.)
by Tessa | Book Notes
Title: The Art of Strewing
Author: Aadel Bussinger
Publication Date: 2013
Price: $2.99
Place Acquired: Homeschooling Omnibus 2013
About the author: Aadel is a homeschooling mom of 3 children and married to her high school sweetheart, a “career army man.” Her children have always been homeschooled and her unschooling journey began in 2008 when her family moved into an RV during a military move. You can find Aadel blogging at These Temporary Tents, on Facebook or on Twitter and a few more places.
Describe: After introducing herself and giving a brief explanation of what unschooling is, Aadel explains what strewing it. She explains that it isn’t just something useful for unschoolers but that it is a technique that any parent can learn to introduce new ideas to our children. It is such a simple idea and, yet, there are still some basic questions to answer about it. Questions like: Where do I strew? What can I strew? How do I strew on a budget? What should I avoid when strewing? Aadel answers all of these questions and a few more in her book. She also talks about developing proper expectations (or lack thereof) toward strewing and how to accept the journey your child can take you on if you allow him/her.
Analyze: I loved the layout of this book. It was very simple to follow and Aadel wasted no time in jumping right into the nitty gritty. The book flowed so smoothly from topic to topic that I hardly noticed the chapter changes. It covered all the bases in how to strew in various life areas: physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, and relational. I loved the line, “We strew to get involved, to relate to them, and join them on this grand adventure!” Who can argue with that kind of logic? Using her own experiences and that of other homeschoolers, Aadel walks you through the practicalities of applying the concept of strewing to your family, no matter the circumstances you are currently in.
Evaluate: Although she calls it an instruction manual, I felt like it was more a manual of encouragement to relax and follow the natural path of parenting. Aadel has an uncanny way of delivering all the facts, answering your questions, and telling you that you’re already on the right path, all in a book that can be read in one evening. I especially appreciated her viewpoints on strewing attitude and atmosphere. I know that I can always use the reminder that my children learn more by what I do, and how I live, than by what I say.
Recommendation: Though this book is written with unschoolers in mind, I believe it is something that could be appreciated by anyone with children. As parents, we want to open all the possible doors for our children that we can and strewing is one way to do that. Strewing is something that encourages a parent to get to know their child and get involved in their child’s world. It is about showing your children the proverbial doors and letting them decide whether or not to walk through them. As an added bonus, the parents often rekindle a love of learning in themselves as well.
I’ve been using my weekly calendar for a few weeks and it has been working very well. I leave it open on my counter so I can see it and add to it throughout the day. This method has eliminated the need for me to write out my to do list every evening and transfer everything that I didn’t accomplish to the next day. Planning my day in advance takes just a couple of minutes and having the whole week visible allows me to shuffle tasks around easily.
