In 1993 Beanie Babies were all the rage and my mom and I were scooping them up so quick you would think their little stuffed bodies were spun with gold.  The makers of these little bears implemented a marketing ploy so crafty they had people lined up to buy… and one day make a mint.

Well I am not sure about the last part. Fast forward 17 years (oh my has it been that long?) to our last garage sale and my mom decided to pull out the bears and sell them for $1 each.  She thought making $100 bucks would be better than having them take up space. Well hardly any sold!

For 17 years these bears were packed away taking up space until that fateful garage sale day. A few months later I packed about 50 bears into every spare inch of the suitcase I was taking to Haiti. As I met new children there I handed out the bears and saw their faces light up with joy. Which brings me to my point… What do you have in your closets and attics taking up space because they may be worth something one day? Here is a thought… What if the value is worth more by sharing rather than storing? What lessons can you be teaching your family by sharing your excess with those in need?

I remember the yard sale in which we got rid of the stroller. It was sitting in a corner of the garage and I told the hubby we could go ahead and get rid of it. I hadn’t used it in months and we knew we were on the last kid. It was kind of liberating getting rid of the big baby toys.

It’s funny to see such a small person have such big toys and as they grow older the stuff gets smaller, like Lego’s and Barbie shoes for instance. We are constantly changing our organizing systems to go with the life changes. The boys don’t really play with anything but Lego’s anymore and my daughter, well she is becoming her own individual creature of habit instead of following the boys.

One day the Barbie shoes and clothes will be traded in with big girl clothes and shoes, makeup, and real jewelry rather than plastic beads. The boys might trade in the Lego’s for other boy stuff… not really sure what that is yet. I wasn’t a boy so I have no idea. I have a feeling whatever it is could possibly be gross, crawl and/or stink in which I will start closing their bedroom doors but I see change coming in the near future whatever it may be.

As parents we have to be adaptable to our children’s organizing needs so the stuff doesn’t run the house. These little people cause a constant ebb and flow of stuff as soon as they enter the world., some good and annoying (anyone ever stepped on a Lego in the middle of the night?)

What has been your favorite organizing stage? Was there a particular time you just seemed to “get it” and others not so much? What has been the hardest age, toy, etc. to organize?

It’s one of those things that is perpetually on my To Do “someday” list. Scan old photos. My grandmother passed down some family favorites and I have a few small boxes of photos from the pre-digital age. I used to scrapbook when my first son was born but 11 years later I am lucky to even get a picture printed out.

I do love looking back at old photos with the kids even if it is in the format of a slideshow on the TV. I would love to add our old photos to the mix as well. The one thing holding me back is the time and/or cost. I’m not thrilled about the idea of scanning each individual photo. It sounds much better to box them up, ship them off and pay someone else to take care of the daunting task. However it could cost a few hundred dollars never placing it high on the priority list.

My husband and I have gotten in the habit of getting each other “organizing’ type items for the house for birthdays or Christmas so maybe this will have to go on the list.

How many old photos do you think you have stored away? Do you find them getting overlooked when going down memory lane? Have you used a photo scanning service and how did you like it?

The photo above happens to be my all time favorite…my grandparents.

Soccer sign ups are around the corner for us and I have been slightly dreading the crazy nighttime rituals when sports/activities are involved.

I am thinking about something new for my daughter to do. She tried soccer and dance but she wasn’t really excited about either.  Last week we decided to go to the indoor rock-climbing wall.  And everyone loved it!

So now I am thinking one family activity may be the way to go. It builds strength, keeps them active and they can compete a little against each other which definitely motivates them.  With three kids it cuts back on costs and can be an all year activity.

Have any of you thought about giving up multiple activities and traded them in for one family activity? It would surely cut back on the stressful evenings as well! What kind of family friendly activities can you think of?

I had a friend share her TV watching line up with me recently and she had quite a routine with can’t miss shows.  In the same conversation we talked about how overwhelmed she is with her job responsibilities. She can’t seem to get it all done.

The problem: She is doing work while watching TV. She is a stay at home/work at home mom. When the kids go to bed she needs to work but at the same time she doesn’t want to miss her shows.

The solution: Prioritize and track your time. We want our “me” time but more and more moms have work responsibilities at home now.  We have to find that even mix. I told my friend to first track her time for the week in 15 minute increments. EVERYTHING she does for one week, honestly! We often don’t see how much time we are focusing on TV/internet/whatever and letting other things slip through the cracks.

My friend realized that if she chose two nights to dedicate to uninterrupted work she was more focused and got more done than if she had scattered it out every night while watching TV.

So I dare everyone to track your time for a week and see what is slowly eating away at your days and causing frustration.  Prioritize what MUST be done while keeping some adequate me time!