Articles for Organized Mom Blog
This week’s featured busy mom is Dawn Morris of Moms Inspire Learning.
How do you keep your children’s schedules together ?
It’s not easy. There’s a lot of juggling; but when my husband and I can’t manage, there’s always a friend we can turn to for help. I don’t like to ask for help too often, and when I do, I’m sure to return the favor. Parents need to support each other!
Do you use a particular day planner ?
No, I just use a very simple one that I picked up at an office supply store. I also make a lot of lists, and use sticky notes to remind myself of important events.
Do you own a blackberry?
No, but now that everyone else in my family is texting, I will have to upgrade to a cell phone that makes it easier for me to do so. I’m not in a rush, though, since I’m online much of the time anyway. It’s easier to catch me through email than it is by phone!
What is your most used ‘time saving tip’ when it comes to running your house?
I would have to say that it’s asking for help with daily tasks. My children help out a lot in the kitchen, and my husband does the laundry. Actually, my husband likes to cook as well.
If we all work together, it also saves more time, and makes activities, like cooking, so much more enjoyable.
Do you have a favourite quick meal for your family?
Sometimes, we’ll have tuna or turkey sandwiches if we’re really short on time, and sometimes we’ll even make breakfast items, like eggs or pancakes, for dinner.
I also like the idea of “make your own” taco or salad nights, which can be quick if you already have the ingredients. I recently wrote a post about family salad nights
My favorite quick breakfast is muffins (made ahead of time, of course), and you can find two of my favorite muffin recipes here.
Tell us the truth ? What would we find in your car right now ?
I don’t keep a lot in the passenger area, other than reading materials. You’re bound to find a children’s book or two, because I’m constantly at the library.
As for the trunk, it’s all about the sports equipment. There are fold up chairs, a basketball, a football, my son’s baseball bag, a first aid kit, etc… Oh, and I keep reusable shopping bags in there.
What advice would you give to other moms who feel the pressure of trying to be ‘super mom’?
I’ve been there, and eventually I came to realize that there is no such thing as a perfect mom. We all have our strengths and weaknesses.
I would say the most important thing is not to compare ourselves with anyone else. If we focus on being the best role models we can possibly be for our children, that’s really all we can ever ask of ourselves.
What is your number one goal for the year ? How do you plan to reach it ?
I’ve been working on my blog full-time for almost 7 months now, and I’d like to free up some of that time to work on other projects.
To reach this goal, I will devote certain days to different projects, and keep better track of the time I spend on each.
Dawn Morris is an accountant, a teacher, a parent, and an avid reader who has a passion for children’s literature. She started the blog, Moms Inspire Learning, in order to share her knowledge, and to inspire a love of learning and reading in people of all ages. Dawn also contributes to the free online magazine, Literacy Lava, and is a guest blogger at DreamBox K-2 Math.
You can read Dawn’s Tweets by following her.
Before you go check out This DeClutter and mom organization Resource. Click Here
In the spirit of making sure moms feel supported as they tackle the busy life of motherhood and organizing their family schedules and lives, the Almost Always Organized Mom is happy to introduce another real mom juggling it all and her tips for busy moms.
How do you keep your children’s schedules together ? I only have one child, so keeping his schedule together is pretty easy. He goes to school or summer camp 3 days a week (full day – I run a home-based business and use this time to work). We then have play dates (by ourselves or with other children) on the days that he isn’t in school.
He takes swimming lessons which vary by time and date throughout the year and we love to visit the zoo and play at the park.
Do you use a particular day planner ? I keep track of all of my appointment and my son’s appointments using my calendar in Microsoft Outlook. I set reminders so that I always know when we have to be somewhere.
Do you own a blackberry? No, but I wish I had some kind of “sophisticated” phone – I am leaning toward an iPhone, but haven’t invested in anything yet.
What is you most used ‘time saving tip’ when it comes to running your
house? Involve your children! My son is at the age where he loves to help out – so it keeps him occupied and helps me to get everything done.
Do you have a favourite quick meal for your family? Yes, my favorite meal is a chicken dish:
Take skinless/boneless chicken pieces, sprinklewith salt/pepper to taste.
Divide into single serving or dual serving sizes and place on a large piece of aluminum foil.
Add 1 clove of crushed garlic to each “package”.
Add tomatoes, mushrooms, sliced onions. Add chopped fresh rosemary.
Fold up the aluminum foil to make a leak-proof package. Leave some room for steam to accumulate inside of
the package.
Bake on a cookie tray at 350 for 1-1.5 hours. Serve over
rice. The chicken and vegetables cook in their own juices, so there is no added fat required. It is delicious and healthy!!
Tell us the truth ? What would we find in your car right now ? Oh my -
a bit of everything – some extra clothing for my son, toys, papers, snacks and water bottles – my car is always in some state of dis-array! I believe I have a bunch of old clothes in my trunk that need to be taken to goodwill too!
What advice would you give to other moms who feel the pressure of trying
to be ‘super mom’? Set priorities and let everything else go. You will drive yourself crazy if you try to do it all – so don’t try. In my house, I have “let go” of the idea of having everything neat and orderly all of the time. I can’t keep up with it and run my business and take care of my family – so I do the important things (laundry, cooking, and having some fun) and let go of the clutter. Does it bother me? yes, but I have learned to accept that I just can’t do it all.
What is your number one goal for the year ? How do you plan to reach it
? That’s a really good question. I can’t say that I have one main goal for the year. I have lots of small goals. I try not to set any goals that are too large or too daunting – but rather set many smaller goals
that I can reach in a short time. That way I am always getting small doses of accomplishment throughout the year rather than striving for one main goal. This way if I miss a few along the way, it isn’t upsetting because I have also accomplished many!
Dr. Masucci is a mom to one beautiful boy and a small-business owner. She lives in Pennsylvania just north of Pittsburgh where she operates a maternity and breastfeeding boutique (A Mother’s Boutique ) and writes about parenting and breastfeeding on her blog Mommy News and Views.
It’s September and here that means back to school has arrived. So have the newsletters, teacher notes, dance registrations, band forms, lunch program and picture day forms.
I am lost in a pool of paper and determined to not be as ‘unorganized’ as I was last year. or to drown under the pile.
So this busy mom has dusted off her mom time management skills and has managed to get through the first week of school with everything under control.
My family time management control center is back up and running… complete with;
1) a LARGE desktop calendar – stuck onto the cork board with double sided tape. The little ’30 day family calendars have never had enough space to write down all of our schedules.
2) the large envelopes (on the corkboard) are used for teacher notes, school forms ect.
3) my ticket (the small blue paper). Graciously handed to me by a local RCMP officer who felt I did not come to a full and complete stop at the four way intersection this week. Read More→
This evening I get to start my back to school shopping. It seems all three of my children have grown more then 1.5 inches this summer which means even after pulling out the stored clothing totes I will find myself shopping for more then school supplies, shoes, and jackets for September.
Of course trying to balance what I need to purchase against my budget is always a juggle. This year I decided to purchase some back to school basics online. Of course I also did some local shopping. It is important to support our local merchants !
My biggest obstacle this upcoming school year will be scheduling. My oldest son is heading into Jr High so I will have two schools worth of events to keep track of.
I purchased a large ‘desk calender and plan to reorganize my ‘family control center’ next week. I have also started moving around every-one’s bedrooms – bringing my office upstairs (right next to the family control center. Hopefully the changes when they are all done will help keep us more organized and save time.
I have to admit I am counting the days down until school starts. No more hot cranky kids at the end of the day and I am craving the morning routines.
The recent heat wave here in my valley has created havoc for my children’s sleep routines and moods. Everything has been turned upside down from keeping up on laundry to getting kids to sleep at night. Needless to say I have been thinking I better fix this before school starts (and I am looking forward to school starting ;)
This morning found me up an hour early and my day seems off to a great start. While getting caught up with some emails I stumbled across a great little contest I though I wold share.
Organize 1 2 3 is offering a back to school contest giving away their books:
Three Steps to Decluttering
Three Steps to Organizing Your Child’s Room
Three Steps to Organizing Your Kitchen
Three Steps to Planning Dinner (ebook)
Hassle Free Dinners (ebook)
