Sanity Savers-How do you simplify family life?

[Julia R]

I am loosing the battle with entropy. I mean seriously loosing my marbles here. Disorder is taking over!

I used to do once a month cooking, but just got a freezer and haven't had the money to stock up on anything since.

I just decided that I am going to coded white socks for everyone. (When I get the money to replace them)

I would like to cook more with my new(sih) crock pot, but don't know how to cook anything except soup and beans in it.

I've known some people with large families who really have some great tips. What are yours? Do you have any ideas that could make our families run smoother. This could be scheduling, organizing, anything you do that saves time, money, energy, and your mind.

[ArmsOfLove]

Well I know it's not very crunchy but, with all that's going on, I've come to :hearts disposable cleaners! Makes cleaning much faster and doesn't increase the laundry load.

I don't do oamc but I do try to double recipes and eat the leftovers for lunches and for dh to take for lunch at work.

We have a bread machine and make a loaf of bread a day. We save TONS of money with our gf breads over what we'd pay to buy that many loaves and we actually enjoy eating it ;)

I just bought a pressure cooker ($39.95 at Walmart for 8 qts) because my friend just got one and cooked dried black beans in 10 minutes!!! :eek I intend to stop buying canned and save that money!

Tonight we're eating lasagna I made in the crockpot. Use the no bake noodles, prepare the other ingredients, and cook for 3.5-4.5 hours in the crock pot. I figure this will make lasagna night use less electricity to prepare and heat up our house much less.

Declutter--honestly, one of the best things I learned from FLYLADY was that you can't organize clutter.

I got the toyroom organized into plastic storage containers that are stowed in the closet and only one comes out at a time (well, one per ds)

Hmmmm :think lemme think some more :) I'll be reading too :tu

[Tex]

Those pressure cookers are all over the thrift shops around here, just FYI, thats where I found both of mine.

Some things that have really helped here (one Mama, one Child) have been:

1. No TV

2. Paring down toys and organizing them into centers/play areas/play sets ie trains are kept in a cabinet and played with (well, encouraged to) on the rug in front of the cabinet, kitchen center with play utensils that stay in that center (sheesh, can you tell I'm a DCP?? lol)

3. Paring down our personal belongings including clothes. We have now 10 weekday outfits, 2 Church outfits, and 2 playclothes outfits for each of us. We also each have a pair of weekday shoes, a pair of Church shoes, and a pair of playshoes. All our stockings are the same color/style. Immediately after laundry I hang up our clothes in outfits including underclothes and stockings all on one hanger so that all I have to do is grab one hanger in the morning. This has helped so much.

HTH

[Mamaka]

We don't have a big family but I know for my own sanity getting rid of clutter is my #1! If you don't use it (or didn't know you even had it) ditch it! And if you have quite a bit of stuff to de-clutter, a garage sale is a great way to get rid of stuff and make some extra cash. (An extreme method for clutter removal is moving - it's amazing how less attached you become to stuff when you're in the midst of packing. :giggle).

Put cleaning supplies where you use them (i.e. a toilet brush in every bathroom, kitchen spray and rags/paper towels in the kitchen, etc)

Everything has a place and goes back there at the end of the day (or at least at once a week ;) ).

Have a "launch pad" by the door or in the hall closet where each member of the family puts the things they'll use the next day, such as jackets, shoes, book bag etc. As part of a bedtime routine things needed for the next day are placed in that person's launch pad. For example, if dc#1 has soccer practice after school they would put their school backpack and soccer stuff in their launch pad. Clean these out seasonally.

Rotate clothes seasonally and get rid of or store off-season clothes.

Have a family calendar in a central location (or if needed personalized calendars for each person).

[RealLifeMama]

I am loosing the battle with entropy.

:giggle
I don't have any ideas.
I just wanted to chime in and say this made me giggle because we use this phrase all the time and I thought we were the only ones.

[ShangriLewis]

http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=entropy&x=15&y=15 They will even pronounce it for you.

:giggle :giggle

(double giggle)

Wash all your socks. Now give each person a code. For the kids do a dot for the first person, 2 dots for the next and so on. Mom can get a M and Dad can get a D. Put these on the big toe on the soul of the foot for each sock.

All my socks go in a dishpan when they come out of the dryer. I just match them all up when I'm sitting around watch tv or talking with kids.

I make big batches of food so there are always leftovers because I can't do OAMC because I don't like the recipes. If I make spaghetti I make extra noodles and don't put sauce on them. I can use those for a salad. If I make Chili I fill up the crockpot. I can always put some in the freezer if we don't finish it or get bored of it. Leftover chili can be served on the side or put over potatoes. I keep healthy snacks. If I'm tired we can always snack for dinner. I have a bowl of salad and lots of veggies cut up. I keep lots of bread on hand. We like to eat salads and veggie sandwhiches. I think those are pretty healthy and it's easy for all of us to make.

Dishpans are easy for kids to carry. They can fit in shelves and under beds. My kids keep books and books on tape under their beds for reading in their room. Otherwise books stay on the shelves.

I try to clean a couple of times a day. I keep lots of baskets around. A cheap laundry basket is great to toss stuff in. Then you can just go around the house at the end of the day and put stuff away. I throw socks, toys and trash in mine :)

I try to wash the boys clothes all at once. That way if I can't hang it up for a few days I can just leave the basket in their room and not worry about it.

[Julia R]

Wow, that's quite a definition! :giggle Did you catch all that? :think :doh :/ A little wordy maybe? :shrug
And I thought I was a smart...um... rear-end.

I like the dishpan idea.

If I were to put a basket of clothes in the girl's room, the clothes would not stay in the basket. Before the end of they day, they'd have all been worn and would have ended up under beds or back in the laundry- after a brief trying on. In a nutshell- entropy.

[Tex]

Another idea is to have trashcans in each room. Our home is small small so in some rooms we just have a shopping bag hanging on the inside doorknob for garbage. I also have a 'thrift store' box in the pantry to round up all the stuff we are no longer using.

[aahree]

A great, easy crock-pot meal (assuming you eat meat) is roast. All you do is line the bottom with potatoes and carrots (cut into large chunks) and put the roast on top. Then, sprinkle a packet of dry onion soup mix on top and add a little water (about a cup, I think? I just guess!) Then, cook on low all day. Yum! Plus, depending on how many people you have in your family and how big your roast is, you can wind up with lunch meat for several days afterwards! :tu

[GrumpyMom]

One thing that has really helped me is having zones or stations in my kitchen. I have a baking zone (all of my mixing bowls, staple ingredients, measuring cups, mixer, spoons/spatulas in one cabinet or two cabinets next to/on top of each other), a cooking zone (pots, spoons, etc), food prep zone (cutting board, knives, spices - this is near the baking zone so I can reach measuring cups and spoons), breakfast zone (bowls and cereal in same or near cabinet, toaster, coffee pot). If you break down the actual jobs of meal preparation and eating, you can create zones. Some kitchens do double and triple duty as office or homework station so make those into zones, too.

Can you do any meal prep the night before while the kids are asleep? I usually just want to crash, but on the nights I do it I am so glad the next day and it really pays off. Just washing and chopping veggies and then storing them in the fridge helps a lot. If I'm making a stew or casserole I set out any canned or packaged goods I need.

I have found that I get overwhelmed with planning meals for the week. Too much goes to waste because we like lots of fresh ingredients and I can't keep up with it. So I plan about 3 meals at a time. Ditto to "overmaking" or doubling recipes for leftovers and lunches. Soups are cheap, generally healthy, and make great leftovers.

[Garnet]

ok here's mine, but i don't use it to much now, as i'm not teh one home

get rid of all clothes that are too small as soon as they come out of the dryer. i keep a bag or box on teh enclosed porch when its full it goes to goodwill. or i list in on freecycle www.freecycle.com

each child got a different color permanent marker stripe on their clothes tag or sock bottom. purple for teh girl, blue for ds #1, green for ds#2.

I dump all the laundry on the floor and have teh kids help fold during family movies or such, and they put or help put clothes away

each child has only 10 outfits, or less, and four sets of church clothes, and three pairs of shoes. one dress, one tennis, one sandals. in teh winter its two tennies, and one dress and boots.

organize your kitchen cabinets, food and dishes. get rid of any dishes you don't use atleast once every month. why have coffee cups if you don't drink coffee?

get rid of junk, books, movies, etc. if you haven't read it, or watched it recently its gone.

keep a basket in teh closet, when teh kids junk starts piling up hand it to them so they can transport their stuff to their room. have them get in teh habit of glancing around for any stuff they left behind before they go to bed.

if you're like me the husband is the hardest to retrain......