If you know me, you know I’m Type A. Type A with a large dose of all over the place, lol. So the only way to keep me sane is to stay as organized as possible. Fit the crazy into labelled crazy boxes, let’s say. HA. Anyway, here are three of my favourite things to help me keep an organized home with young kids.
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Calendars
Call me calendar crazy but I have incorporated quite a few calendars into our daily routine. I find kids really want to know what’s going on – can you blame them?! And honestly it helps me too. Here’s my set up:
A monthly calendar
I absolutely loathe dry erase monthly calendars because I find things never stay on, plus having to write in the numbers every month feels like a waste of time. I prefer an old fashioned paper calendar like this one, I like the magnetic option since it goes on my fridge. The kids love the little cartoon-y drawings at the top of every month and I know some people like to add the stickers on (I don’t, I give those to the kids to make pretend calendars). And for those who don’t plan on putting it on their fridge, here’s a regular hanging calendar. Every kid (and the dog), has a different colour pen, plus a colour designated for things the whole family does and appointments. I love these pens. This makes my calendar look pretty plus easy to see what I need at a quick glance.
Kids Calendar
I keep this calendar in the big kids’ room. When they eventually go into separate rooms, I’ll buy another one so each big kid has one of their own. I don’t find it comes with enough options so we use this pack of magnets with it. Every morning before the kids get out of bed we change up the date, weather and what we’re doing that day. Here’s a pic of our set up:
Kids weekly calendar
I told you I was calendar crazy!! We also have a weekly calendar for the kids. This is just a quick week at a glance. So on it we include things like, school, when daddy is home from work, soccer, when a grandparent is coming over… that type of thing! I wanted to personalize the options so I bought a laminator and googled various black and white clipart to make my own little icons.
Timers
I really like timers to help my kids understand time. It’s so tricky for them to get the concept, I find these help.
Visual Timer
I use this timer every single day. I love it for independent playtime, it gives the kids a very clear view of how much time is left and has a nice loud beep when the time is up. I also use it when I’m having one on one time with the kids. I’ve even used it when we’re expecting company to stop the “how long until they’re coming??” question.
Phone timer
I use the timer on my phone all the time when we’re out. “Okay guys, we’re going to leave the park in 5 minutes. I’m setting the timer on my phone.” I make sure my ringer is on high so it’s a nice clear sound for when the time is up. Then I have the kids run to the phone to turn it off themselves (that also gets them nice and close so it’s easier to leave!).
Sand Timer
I really like these 30 second sand timers for things like washing hands and brushing teeth. This has come in handy especially since the pandemic and hand washing is even more important.
Clocks
Wake Up Clocks
I looooove our wake up clocks. We have two Gro Clocks and one Little Hippo clock. I like the look of the this one too and would’ve loved it for the wifi option. I use our Hippo clock in the big kids’ room. I have it set so one light colour comes on at 6:30am, that’s when the kids are allowed to turn on a light and “read” books. Then at 7am the clock switches colour and they’re allowed to get out of bed. It also has a rest time option that Bug uses, an alarm goes off when her rest time is done. We have a Gro Clock in the playroom, Big uses that for his rest time. He really likes it because he likes to count how many stars are left to get an idea of how much time is left. I will introduce a Gro Clock to the baby once she turns around 18 months. Here’s a blog post on how I did it with the other kids.
Alarm Clock
When my son moves into his own room in a few months, we’re going to get him this basic alarm clock. He’s starting to tell time so I want to encourage that with a clock that has big, clear numbers. I also wanted one with a USB plug in because he has an old iphone that we play audiobooks on.
Also one of the biggest things that has helped me with young kids… mindset. Accepting that my home just won’t be as organized as I would like it to be. There is no simple product that will make living with young kids EASY. We’re just talking about things that make life EASIER!!!
