Even if you’re not moving right now, you can still use this reminder to do a quick check of your main home systems:

• Laundry
• Dishes
• Donation Station
• Launch pad / Entryway (get our printable checklist: kids’ getting dressed to leave the house)
• Clothing Storage
• Holiday Storage
• Return Station
• Menu Planning / Cooking
• Pantry

If any of these systems aren’t working, take a few minutes right now to figure out why.  Are they too complicated?  Do the people that need to use them understand how?  Do you need to type up directions for future reference?

Systems make more time for the things you want to do, so get your home systems in check today!

Organizing a First Aid Box can be a quick project that will save you time when you need it – in an emergency. Check out these common problems we encounter in First Aid Boxes and the 5 minute fix to get yours into tip top shape!

First, click on the picture above for a link to the printable sign for your first aid box.

Problem #1: A cluttered, messy First Aid Box makes it difficult to find the sterile supplies needed quickly.

Problem #2: An unlabeled First Aid Box means that some first aid supplies will end up there, but they will also be put into other containers, drawers and cabinets. If a label doesn’t tell your family that box is for first aid supplies, how will they know?

Problem #3: Having multiples of the same item in a First Aid Box means that items will not get used up before expiring. One tube of anti-itch cream is much better than 4 different brands, strengths and sizes of the same product. This is a recipe for waste, and a lot of useful products will end up in the trash.

Solution: Sterilize, simplify, and separate!

Step 1: Sterilize. Remove everything and disinfect the container. Any once-sterile items which have been compromised (band-aids with open wrappers, open gauze packages, etc.) need to be discarded.

Step 2: Simplify. With everything out of the First Aid Box, group like items together. Discard all expired items. Put all duplicate items into your pantry/supply area. Leave only one of each of the following in the first aid box:
1- Anti-itch cream
1- First aid antibiotic ointment (Bacitracin, Neosporin)
1- Pain relieving spray (for sunburns and bug bites)
1 – First aid liquid (Bactine)
1 – Antihistamine for allergic reactions (such as Benadryl)
1 – Band aids: 1box of latex, 1 box of non-latex (if there are latex allergies in your home)
1 – Pack of gauze pads and roll of paper tape
1 – Box of butterfly closure bandages
1 – Calamine lotion
1 – Insect bite medicine
1 each – Thermometers: Oral, Rectal (for babies), Digital (ear, forehead)

Step 3: Separate. Use plastic Ziploc bags to separate and keep like items together.
1 bag – Gauze pads and roll of paper tape
1 bag – Latex band aids
1 bag – Non-latex band aids (if needed)
1 bag – Butterfly closure bandages

Step 4: Label and Share. It doesn’t matter if the label is printed or hand-written, as long as it is there. The power of a label is amazing for keeping items in their proper homes! Share the First Aid Box with your family so they know what it is and where it is. This will save you valuable time in a true emergency.

Home Ever After Challenge: Take 5 minutes to organize your First Aid Box today!

Before:

After:

This printable list is perfect to hang up

• In the entryway
• In the mud room
• Next to the coat rack
• At the family launch pad
• Next to the coat rack

Laminate before hanging up for extra durability in a high-traffic area.  No laminator?  No problem!  Just print and hang up!

Eliminate the need to remind your child that he forgot to put on his snow pants or isn’t wearing his hat.  Forget the days of telling your little one step-by-step what to put on next.  Your children can refer to this handy list while dressing themselves, which includes both words for older children and pictures for those that can’t read yet.  There are even two extra write-in lines at the bottom of the list so you can add extras specific to your family, like sports gear.

The What Do Kids Wear to Leave the House printable checklist teaches kids to be independent and feel proud when they can get dressed to leave the house without forgetting steps.  Several children who can dress themselves to go means a much more organized morning routine for mom!  Remember to praise your big boys and big girls for getting dressed to leave the house all by themselves!

Get this free printable checklist now:

What Do Kids Wear to Leave the House? (Fall/Winter)

Reader question: How Do I Set Up a Housekeeping Plan? I need a housekeeping plan to get my house clean and clutter free. I also want some kind of housekeeping care plan to keep my house up once it looks the way I want. Do you use spreadsheets or checklists? What do you recommend?

Answer: Decluttering your house is a project all by itself! For great info on clutter busting, check out our Clutter section in the Home and Housekeeping Department. Setting up a Housekeeping Plan for your home is a project that will keep your house cleaning, care and maintenance manageable for you. Designing and creating the plan may take a little time up front, but this is time well spent. By creating a Housekeeping Plan, you are investing a little time now to save you a lot of time in the future.

What are the benefits of a Housekeeping Plan?

Having a plan makes maintaining your home manageable. A regular schedule takes the guess work out of household tasks; you never need to wonder how long it’s been since something was done. Don’t try to clean your whole house in one day! Cleaning is easy if you know exactly what needs to be done and when. A Housekeeping Plan can also be very useful when delegating work to your family.

What Exactly is a Housekeeping Plan?

A Housekeeping Plan is simply a list or schedule that says what tasks you do on certain days. Everyone’s plan will be different, since it is tailored to your specific home and family. We’ve provided a sample to get you started. You’ll need to make small changes to the plan as you go along, until it works just perfectly for your situation. Let’s get started.

How Do I Set Up a Housekeeping Plan?

1. Make a list of all the rooms in your house.

2. Determine frequency. Next to each room, write how many times a week each room needs a regular cleaning (not just picked up, we’re counting on each room getting a quick pick up each day). A regular cleaning can include vacuuming, dusting, washing surfaces, etc. A regular cleaning does NOT include moving furniture, cleaning behind appliances, reorganizing, and other such major tasks. That is a Deep Cleaning, and is done much less frequently.

3. List your tasks. Write down a quick list next to each room of the tasks that need to be done during that room’s regular cleaning.

You now have the information needed to set up your Housekeeping Plan. A Deep Cleaning Plan is something you can set up at another time. Write out the days of the week on paper, then fit each room and its tasks into the schedule. If your kitchen needs to be done every week day, then fill it in for Monday-Friday. If your bathroom only needs cleaning once a week, then place it accordingly. Here is an example of what a Housekeeping Plan might look like:

I’ve Made My Housekeeping Plan. Now What?

Post your Housekeeping Plan in widely visible place. Many people like to use the refrigerator as their command center, but you can choose any location that works for you. It is helpful to keep your family chore chart and your Housekeeping Plan close to each other. This makes it very easy to delegate the work that needs to be done each day to other family members.

Stick to your plan! If you get off schedule, don’t worry – just get right back on the next day. Do a quick pick up every day, but only do regular cleaning according to your schedule. If you stick to the Housekeeping Plan, your house will never get out of control.

Throughout your first few weeks, you may find that changes need to be made to your Housekeeping Plan. Make the changes – you are in control! Gone are the days of not knowing where to start, of feeling controlled by mountains of laundry and piles of dishes, of being the only person who cleans the house! Make the plan work FOR you, to help make your life easier.

Danelle Says: YOU run your house, don’t let IT run YOU!

Cleaning caddy photo courtesy of stock.xchng.

Home Systems: How to Create a Return Station

Problem #2: The basket was supposed to house the items that were waiting to be donated, packed away or garage sale inventory. However, the basket was way too small for the job, and always overflowing and sloppy before I could get the items moved along to their final resting place.Problem #3: Nobody in the family except me knew what this basket was for, and so it just looked like a basket full of junk.

Solutions!
Step 1: I needed a large container, something that kept the junky mess contained and hidden. I scoured the recycle pad at the transfer station and found a perfect container: a large, cardboard moving box. It is tall, very sturdy and perfect… except, it’s brown cardboard, which really isn’t that attractive. Frugal solution: cover the box with gift wrap, which I also found free at the recycle pad!

Step 2: I cleared out all the clutter, putting the items in their homes and throwing the broken chair out with the trash (I told you things just found their way into that spot!). The garage sale items went into bags marked “garage sale” and were taken to the garage to await their fate. The donations were bagged and put into my car for drop-off. And the too-small kid clothes that I wanted to keep were packed into their respective storage boxes, marked with gender and size.

Step 3: Put the word out! I showed my family the new Donation Station and explained its use. If they know the system, they’ll use the system! Any items that we don’t want, don’t like, clothes that don’t fit, etc. go into the Donation Station. Once a month, mom sorts it into garage sale, donation, eBay, pack away for later, etc.

(My husband and I had a big shock when my daughter announced she no longer liked any of her “little kiddish” things, and we had a huge room makeover to do. I believe we would not have been so shocked if she had been able to take things she didn’t like anymore, clothes that were too small, or toys she didn’t want, and have a place to put them – no questions asked. We would have seen the princess items turning up in there and gotten the hint!)

The new Donation Station is perfect. It gives a home to all these transitional items and gives everyone free reign to declutter their rooms at their leisure! And my corner looks nice and tidy. Cost of Donation Station: $0, and a mere 10 minutes to wrap the box!