“Mothers can feel like life is running on a never-ending loop. Just when one problem or responsibility is overcome, another trips us up. But help is on the way: Barbara Reich has all the strategies for staying ahead of the curve?and she’s wrapped them up into four easy steps that can be applied to any organizing project: 1. purge, 2. design, 3. organize, and 4. maintain.The keys to Barbara’s success are simplicity and consistency. Room by room, she takes readers through the most problematic areas in the home? from the tornado-struck play area to the packed basement or storage unit. Barbara shows readers how to approach organizing in manageable bites? many of which can be dealt with in two hours or less.”
- When it comes time to clean out the toy bin, keep only what your child plays with? educational toys ?exist to make you feel guilty.?
- Throw away those kitchen gadgets you never use. A streamlined kitchen can mean the difference between another night of take-out and a healthy family meal.
- Your child doesn?t need to attend six birthday parties in one weekend. To avoid social overload, Barbara preaches the power of No?and there’s no need to follow it up with a why.
- Having trouble parting with your child’s artwork from three years ago? Scan or digitally photograph everything and create a gallery on your computer.
- Combining the humor of a sympathetic friend and the no-nonsense advice of a true type-A personality, Reich offers clever, appealing solutions that are genuinely achievable for everyone.
I did add more hooks for hanging coats, bags, and sports equipment as part of the DESIGN step.
Organize: Each child has their own locker, bucket/bin on wheels for shoes, basket above (with their name on the red tag) for mittens, sports gloves, hats, dance shoes, etc. I even have a basket made from recycled newspapers, for our “recycle.” My kids use to use this basket for whatever they tossed on the bench. Speaking of bench….there really is one!
The last step as you know is Maintain…..I am still working on this one. The secret I learned is I have to stay on top of my kids so they learn the expectation. Even when I am bone tired from work, have been at the field for a game, kids have homework and it is now 8 pm….they still need to be held accountable and hang up their coats, bags, equipment, put away shoes, hats, gloves, in their designated place.
I have to keep in mind my own secret…..A happy mom, makes happy kids! Don’t quote me on that, but I tend to yell a lot less when I am happy! Now, which is my next project…my pantry, my closet, the basement? All I know is I will have Secrets of an Organized Mom, right next to me as I start it!
Connect: Barbara Reich formed Resourceful Consultants, LLC in 1999. She and her husband live in Manhattan with their twins. Barbara has appeared on the Today show and has been featured in The New York Times, New York Post, and Real Simple, among other publications.
You can connect with her online at her website, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. On her website, you can sign up for her newsletter that contains all kinds of types to stay organized!
Buy It: You can purchase Secrets of an Organized Mom online at Amazon for $25.00 ($16.02 Prime members and $10.67 Kindle version).
