Confessions of a Happily Organized Family

No, this is not about me.  I wish it was.  This is the title of the book I just finished. (One more down on my 888 list!)  I saw this book on Cellista’s 888 list and decided to read it.  It was basically a collection of many different ways to keep your home and family organized.  I certainly need help in these areas, hence the reason I decided to read this book.  I feel that I gained some valuable tools to help me in my quest to be more organized.  Most of the tips that she gives were ones that I ended up saying “Duh, why didn’t I think of that?” 

 Here are some of my favorite ideas from this book.  The “three bag” cleaning tool.  When you are cleaning a room, bring three bags and put anything that goes into another room in one bag, garbage in the second bag, and laundry in the third bag.  When you have finished cleaning that room, you can then put away the items in the three bags in their appropriate places.  That way you (or your kids), aren’t constantly running to different rooms and getting side-tracked while you’re cleaning.  I loved her creative storage ideas, (using shower hooks on your closet rod to hang belts, using drawer dividers for socks, underwear, p.j’s, using a shoe bag in the bathroom to hold often-used toiletries, using towel hooks in the bathroom to make it easier for kids to hang their own towels...).  One of my favorite ideas was something she did with her kids in the summer.   Since we homeschool and the public school here is on a year round schedule, I think we will use this year round. She made a sign with the picture of a bee that said, “Sorry, kids, we’re busy as bees, come back later if you please.”  The neighborhood kids knew they couldn’t knock on their door until she took down the sign.  I love this!  We have kids here who ring the doorbell every fifteen minutes to see if the kids can play yet.  It drives me crazy!  I am so going to start using this!   There were many other ideas that I am excited to implement too, but I’ll leave some things for you to discover on your own...

My only problem with this book is that it is apparently the sequel to another book she wrote, Confessions of an Organized Homemaker, and she would frequently mention a tool or method she uses, then tell you that if you want to know about it you have to read her other book.  There were times when that was so frustrating and I felt like she had only written this book to get you to buy her first book.  I did end up getting her first book from the library because I wanted to see what her detailed menu-planing ideas were, and she only hinted at those in this book.  

All-in-all, I thought this was a valuable book for the organizationally challenged, as well as for those who want some creative solutions to every day organizational problems.  We’ll see if I become a more organized person as a result.  Wish me luck.