Tips to help you and your children move towards Simple and Organized Living!

1. Outdoor Toys - Organize outside toys by keeping a large plastic tub or crate on the porch/deck or in the garage. Go through and throw away toys that are broken and give away or sell toys that have been outgrown or are no longer in use.

2. Snacks - Keep children's dishes and snacks on low shelves so they can access them.

3. Baskets - Keep baskets or crates for toys in each room to avoid scattered toys everywhere.

4. Videos - Label all video movies and turn them so that kids can easily find the movie they are looking for. Go through and do away with those that you no longer watch.

5. Make a Sandwich Center - Simply put lunch meat, pre-sliced tomatoes, lettuce and what ever else your children eat on sandwiches in a plastic container and label it "Sandwich Center" and teach them to make their own sandwich. All they have to do is open the fridge and grab the "Sandwich Center" which contains everything they need to put the sandwich together and return the container to the fridge when finished.

6. Chore Time - Give children appropriate chores for their ages. It is so easy for us as parents to do it ourselves to save time and arguments but this is not doing our children any good in the long run. Give them a choice of chores, trade chores among each other in order to combat boredom make it a fun process and they will want to do the chores. When they do a good job let them know and likewise if they do a bad job because they are in a hurry let them know that also and have them do it better next time.

7. The Night Before - A great way to relieve morning stress is to do what you can the night before. Children can take a bath, lay their clothes out for the next day, have parents sign notes, get their backpacks, jackets and books together and have ready at an accessible place.

8. Donate Toys - Have children go through toys and donate them or help them have a yard sale and earn extra money.

9. Pick Up Time - Have kids use 5 - 10 minutes daily to pick up their room and this will save alot of time when room cleaning day rolls around because they have stayed somewhat ahead of the mess.

10. Backpacks - Have kids clean out their backpacks and launder or wipe them clean once a week. Throw away all papers that are no longer any good and only return the items needed for the week or next day.  Angela Billings