Quick House Cleaning Tip and School Update

This post is kind of random, but I just wanted to get something up since it's been a while. (I'm almost done with the t-shirt costumes!)

One of the best house cleaning tips I have ever received was to focus on one area in the house at a time.  Countless times I have found myself picking up a couple of things, immediately taking them to the other room where they belong, putting them away and repeating that over and over again without making much progress in the area I was trying to clean.   But using a bunch of bins / baskets / bags to place items that don't belong makes cleaning up one area a whole lot faster!

I [had -- before we moved] a bunch of plastic bins, one for each room in our house.  I would go to an area (usually the living room) and place items that belonged in different rooms in their own bin. 

It really helped me clear the area quickly so I could do the vacuuming, dusting, straightening, etc that I needed to do. After that I would have the kids take their things to their room, and I would take the other items to their respective rooms and put them away.

It's such a simple thing but it has really made a big difference to me, especially with small children who often leave their things strewn all over the place!


And now for a quick school update -- We were on the waiting list for our neighborhood school, and because they had fewer students in a higher grade, they had an extra teacher and ended up adding a whole new kindergarten class. So, my son is now going to that school!

I was really enjoying doing the K12 method (it's so fun when they send all the books and materials and supplies for all the standard subjects including art, science and music). But it was difficult to keep my son interested for long. After the first week he was getting comfortable and not giving it the same attention he did at the beginning. It was also a challenge with my daughter, being smaller, needing so much attention and care (i.e. diapers/toilet training, frequent snacks, water, cuddling, anything).

So we were excited when we were notified that he got in this year. Although it is bittersweet since I'm still a little apprehensive about how he will behave in school (so far so good, mostly), what his teachers will be like, and how the school functions. I'm not totally convinced standard public school is the best thing for children, but I think it's what my son and I both need right now. He needs the social interaction and the reminder that he does actually have to follow some rules (he doesn't like mine), and I need the time apart so I can have some one-on-one time with my daughter, miss my son and learn to appreciate him more.

Here's to a great year!