It’s never to early to start teaching children the basic principles of organizing. As soon as they can grasp the concepts of what it means to throw something away and give something away you can get them started on their journey to an organized life.

Start by teaching your children where things go when you are giving them away. Explain that there are certain organizations that distribute items to people in need or simply explain why you are giving something to someone. For example… “Aunt Suzy just had a baby and since you are a big girl now maybe we can give some of your baby toys to your new cousin.” Let your children know the reasoning behind the process.

When you are decluttering your child’s room with them always use the 3 box system (Donate, Trash, Keep) for all those toys without a home. Have them make some of the decisions on what they would like to get rid of.

Lastly, never threaten to throw toys away if they don’t get cleaned up. If you threaten to trash everything your children will have ill feelings toward the organizing process and feel as it is more of a punishment rather than a process.

Do you get your children involved in the organizing process?

In this technical day and age full of emails and digital photo sharing there is still something very special about receiving a hand written note. I still like getting the mail to see what goodies are in there but all to often it’s just a bunch of bills!

Make it easy to stay in touch with a loved one by creating a greeting card organizer stocked full of the supplies you need to send out a quick note. You will want to include some of the following:

• Greeting cards (Next time you are at the store stock up on a few cards that you love so you have plenty on hand to choose from)
• Thank you notes
• Personalized stationary
• Return address labels
• Colored Pens
• Stamps

Grandparents enjoy seeing your child’s artwork! Make sure you mail of a few pieces from time to time to share the love.

Since my youngest child is now completely potty trained and we are getting more freedom to roam around, I have been thinking about places I would like to travel with my kids. Besides the regular organizing odds and ends of taking trips I have really been thinking about safety. I think about this especially if I am on an outing alone… 3 kids + my two arms = I’m outnumbered! What can we do to insure our child’s safety or at least a speedy return if something were to happen?

1. Wear bright colored clothing to spot a child in a crowd. Better yet make them all match, the older kids will surely NOT love this, but better safe than sorry!

2. Have children wear Mabel’s Labels My 411 Wristbands and have your cell phone number printed on them so you can be called right away.

3. Snap a picture before you enter a busy place so you have the absolute most updated picture and an accurate description of what child is wearing.

What safety precautions have you taken while traveling with your children?

This week Mabel’s Labels launched their Ultimate Back-to-School Combo so I thought I would share how the company has transformed our school experience.

First of all, I have to mention those lovely backpacks sold online and in catalogs that promote getting your child’s name embroidered across the back. They are adorably cute, but I don’t recommend letting every stranger out there know your child’s name. Instead use a Bag Tag to help identify your child’s back pack in case it gets lost!

Labeling school supplies can be a real pain especially if you have to label each individual crayon and marker like we have to do. No worries, this year we are using the Tag Mates (Skinny-Minis also work) to cut down on time getting supplies ready.

Last but not least, I will never have to worry about losing the extra clothes we keep at school in case of accidents. Having Tag Mates on them has been very helpful in keeping up with the clothing!

What about you, how have your Mabel’s Labels helped out at school?

I quickly learned after my first child was born that much of the cutesy stuff hanging in the closet would hardly get touched. It seemed like between changes and messes and drooling my son lived in onesies until it was time to go outside. Most of the clothes were never worn because he grew out of them so fast. Now 9 years later I am happy that his school has a simple dress code. It helps take the guess work out of what we need. I simply buy what we need for a little over a week, because we rarely go over one week for doing laundry. After having three children clothes can get a little pricey so this guideline has helped us keep clothing under control. Of course we throw in a couple of extra fun outfits and the grandparents and aunts tend to send extras as well but by keeping the clothing we buy to a minimum we really cut out the clutter.

What about you? Do you keep tabs on how much clothing the kids have or do you go all out?