Simple Living: Playroom

The playroom in our house was starting to feel overwhelming.  Our toy bins were not doing the trick and cleaning up had become a big chore.  My kids weren't sure where to put things and often would tear the room apart looking for a certain toy.  I decided to purchase a cube organizer and get down to organizing/purging the playroom.  

I recently discover Dawn at The Minimal Mom and she had a great tip when it came to decluttering your closet.  Dawn asked the question, "Which items are your favourite?"  This helps us to make easy decisions as to what belongs in our closets.  I decided to try to apply this question to our playroom with our kids.  All my other efforts to declutter had been met with resistance, but this question worked beautifully. My kids quickly found their favourite toys and I sorted them into the bins.  I made a quarantine box (another tip from Dawn!). I told the kids that if they noticed a favourite toy was missing to let me know and I would get it out of the box.  We agreed that I could get donate the contents of the box after a few months.  The 'favourites' idea worked really well for our dress-up clothes.  The kids kept less than half of their dress-up clothes.

The other tip that Dawn gave was to make bins the "bad guys".  I told my kids that everything they kept (with the exception of a few larger items) had to fit in 9 bins for the organizer.  The bins set the limit and I didn't have to be the bad guy.  This idea will really help when we receive a new toy or gift.  The kids will need to make decisions about what can stay and what has to go.

Before:

During:

After:

The result is that the playroom no longer makes me feel overwhelmed.  The kids can clean up in less than 10 minutes with very little direction from me or their Dad.  They also know where to find their toys so there aren't as many toy explosions as there once were.  We have been so happy with the result.

Happy simplifying!

Wardrobe Wednesday- Summer Outfits

 I was aiming to have a capsule wardrobe this summer, but I am having trouble maintaining a smaller capsule wardrobe with this pregnancy.  I have had to purchase a few items because a lot of what I owned didn't fit anymore or it didn't feel good on me.  I will get back to capsule wardrobes after Baby is born, I am sure.  Until then, I am going to wear whatever feels comfortable.  I wanted to share a few of my summer outfits with you.  I found some great items at Mama Bear Maternity and Motherhood Maternity.  I am also wearing a few items that I have had in previous pregnancies or that I swiped from my husband's side of the closet.

Happy Wednesday, friends!

Motherhood Monday: Back to School Prep

My oldest daughter returns to in person learning this year.  I have a lot of feelings surrounding this.  I am happy that she will get to see her friends again and be around children her own age.  I am excited to not have to be the 'teacher's assistant' this year and I am happy that I won't be trying to troubleshoot when Zoom suddenly crashes on my computer.  I will miss having her home all the time.  She has basically been home since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March of 2020.  I am also fearful with the lack of restrictions that the provincial government has in place.  I worry about her health because she has asthma.  I am angry that there aren't better protocols in place for children her age until a vaccine becomes available to them.  My anxiety is running high and I am working on trying to find a way to balance my fears with what I am hoping is a calculated risk.

In preparation for my daughter going back to school, I am trying to make the transition as smooth as possible.  Here are the ways that we are preparing for back to school:

• Going to bed on time and getting up early.  To be honest, this one will be hardest on me.  I love to sleep, especially at 32 weeks pregnant.  Getting back into proper bedtime routines and getting up at regular times will help smooth the transition so that we are used to the routine before it hits again.
• Meal prep.    I plan to make some muffins and easy meals to have in the freezer for when the frenzy starts.  Having lunch kit items ready to go and planning some easy meal items will help us all feel prepared.
• Get the entryway ready.  We have a tiny entrance to our home and it always looks a little different depending on the season.  I want to get the entryway organized so that it is easy for us to find the things that we need as we head to school in the morning.
• Put together the backpack and school supplies.  I need to label all of my daughter's school supplies and get it all packed up in her backpack.  We are doing our shopping this week, so I hope that I can still get everything I need!

What do you do to prepare for back to school?  I would love to hear your ideas!