Bye Bye Christmas Decorations

It’s the first Saturday of the New Year which to me means doing a seasonal or monthly chore. So I’m packing up Christmas. Bye bye tree and ornaments. So long decorations. Hasta la vista  Santa chotchkies.

I have a couple tips for packing and storing your Christmas paraphanelia:

1. Don’t re-pack what you didn’t put out for display. What is the sense of using valuable storage space on something you didn’t use? It doesn’t give you any pleasure staying packed away, so why keep it?
2. Don’t pack what you don’t love. Unless the thought of getting rid of something will literally make you cry, don’t keep it.
3. Dust and clean before packing. You don’t want anything permanently stained.
4. Use the same-sized boxes. Although it’s easy and convenient to use whatever storage boxes you have, using boxes that are the same shape and size will help you utilize your storage space to the max.
5. Label, label, label. Clearly indicated the contents of the box on the outside. I also like to put the year on the box too so I know that the items were used. Every so often, I purge my storage areas. And if a box was labeled a few years ago, obviously I didn’t need or want the contents – so it goes.
6. Cheap packing material: shredded paper. Yep, I grab the paper shredder bin whenever I’m packing items and use the shreds as packing material. Much better for the environment than the styrofoam peanuts – and cheaper!

I use hinged-lid boxes for storage. I get them at Wal-Mart for cheap. They stack quite nicely. And the added bonus – I NEVER LOSE THE LIDS. I also use specialized storage containers for my ornaments and my wrapping paper. I also have a special bag for storing the artificial tree.

Well, time to get de-Christmasing.

Ask The Household Helper

I received lots of great questions when I did the Wal-Mart gift card giveaway. Now, I’m answering!

The first question is from Renee, and may other moms have asked this! “How do you balance working from home, life and the tasks of the home management senerio?” There are a few things that I do in order to balance everything.

First and foremost I plan ahead. Each week I know what I’m doing each day, where we’re going and what we’re eating. And I literally post this on the fridge so everyone knows what is going on. I even pre-plan what my business tasks will be each day.

I have routines. I follow the same pattern each day. And each day I have time for home chores, time for working, and time for family and I do these around the same time every day. My routine has evolved and changed along with my son as he has grown, so I’ve been able to fit time for work and housekeeping around his schedule.

One thing that has helped me balance tremendously is to keep my family involved with home chores. My son cleans with me, cooks with me, does laundry with me. He is learning skills that will help him for the rest of his life. Plus, he loves being a ‘big boy’ helping mommy!

Another way I’ve been able to balance everything is by asking for help! Literally one day I sat dear hubby down and said to him “if I’m going to be able to work from home and raise our son at the same time, I need your help”. And guess what – it worked! Hubby has taken on responsibility of certain home chores.

So to summarize: plan ahead, follow a routine and ask for help.

There were a few more questions just like Renee’s, so I’m going to stick to this topic for a few days and will provide some specific ideas, resources and samples for you!