Monday Must-Haves

Monday Must-Haves

1)  A Good Supply of Soft, White Washcloths - Thanks to my mom who gave us a stack a year or so ago, we have an abundance of soft, white washcloths.  At first I didn't know what to do with all of these washcloths, they hid out under our bathroom sink with only a few of them being used and washed every week.  Then a lightbulb went on and these have become our "green" and gentle solution for wiping the kids hands and faces down after meals.  I don't know about your kids, but there are many meals where we have faces that look like this:

We used to use paper towels we would wet to wipe them down, but that was not only irritating to their skin, it wasted LOTS of paper towels and didn't even do a very thorough job in cleaning them up.  The white washcloths are much gentler on their skin, can be rinsed and reused for both children (not to mention throughout the day), are washable for infinite uses, and for those messes that really stain - the white can be bleached!  This switchover may have added a tiny bit to my laundry load, but it saves us money from buying paper towels and the peace of knowing we're taking better care of our children's skin and the environment.

2)  A Day Planner - For my 30th birthday (yikes!) this past summer, my Auntie Carla & Uncle Trevor gave me a book by organizer extraordinaire Donna Otto called, "Secrets to Getting More Done in Less Time".  Her main solution to organization seemed to be having and USING a daily planner.  She paraphrases Mark Twain in saying, "Everybody talks about time management but nobody does anything about it."  By using a daybook she encourages you to make maximum use of your time.  Here is an excerpt from the book:

    "Did you know that most people are not able to explain in detail just how they spend their days and weeks?  They just know that they are "busy" with various "activities".  Try to pin these people down though with point-blank questions like, "How many minutes did you spend on the phone yesterday?" or "How many hours did you spend watching TV last week?" (my addition:  "How much time did you spend on Facebook or checking emails yesterday?) and they won't be able to tell you.  They are just winging their daily schedules and handling things as they come."

I can tell you this is how I handle time management most of the time.  I have an idea of our schedule in my head, but plans change and I end up forgetting some things.  Having a day planner where I keep track of our schedule and activities, even mundane daily tasks such as laundry, cleaning, computer work, helps me to see JUST where our time goes.  This has especially been helpful as a stay-at-home mom in helping me reprioritize where I WANT to be spending our time (at home together enjoying this blessed time in our lives) rather than where we sometimes END UP spending our time (running errands, overcommitting to too many playdates and activities).  In the past I haven't had a good daily planner, but I just received one that I am SO excited to use this next year.  Best of all - it was only $1.49 shipped!  It has a monthly and daily calendars for each month, plus space for writing notes and keeping financial records.