Tami Fox

Decluttering Your Way to Peace – Getting Organized

Posted on February 6, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

Did you declutter a little bit each day last week? Getting rid of the clutter in your house will make it easier for you to do the Home Blessings. It will make it easier for you to homeschool. It will make it easier to cook. Decluttering brings you peace. Decluttering reduces your stress.

What are the things that keep you from decluttering?

You have guilt.

You spent money on something, and you feel guilty giving it away. If it doesn’t work for you. If you don’t have a place for it, let it go.

You also have guilt letting go of things that people have given you.

Turn this around and bless someone else with it.

You tell yourself that you don’t have time to declutter.

Use a timer for 2 minutes and declutter in one area. Once you start decluttering daily, you will see an improvement. You will want to start decluttering more each day. Limit yourself to 15 minutes a day.

You have a hard time deciding what to do with the things that are not trash, but you need to get rid of them.

You get hung up looking for the best place/way to get rid of things. My best advice for you is to find a place for your donations and use it regularly. I use a drive-thru donation place. It makes it very easy on my errand day to drop off donations.

You are holding onto stuff for a yard sale.

Please don’t hold onto stuff until you have time to have a yard sale one day. Yard sales are a big time commitment, and you often do not make much money having one. You can bless someone else with your abundance and not tie up a lot of time preparing for a yard sale.

This week, use your timer and just get rid of stuff that you are not using. Don’t give clutter a foothold on valuable space in your home.

Let me know how many items you release this week!

Zone Missions: The Kitchen

Monday – Declutter and Wipe the Counters

Tuesday – Declutter 1 Kitchen Drawer

Wednesday – Declutter 1 Kitchen Cabinet

Thursday – Declutter food from the Fridge

Friday – Wipe down the Microwave and Stove Top

Menu Plan for Monday – Chicken Pot Pie

Weekly Home Blessing – Wash the Sheets

Daily Routines:

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.
Daily Movement for 15 Minutes

School: Read aloud as a family.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water

Family Fun: Take a nature walk today.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at the Launch Pad that you will need first thing in the morning
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Reading Aloud in Your Homeschool

Posted on February 3, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

Happy Friday!

Do you have a book picked out to read as a family this month? We are going to be reading Sounder by William H. Armstrong. It was on our book list for this year to go along with our study of America and American government.

We enjoy our time together reading. It is a great opportunity to allow each person a time to read aloud. It is fun to use different voices and inflections while reading. It is quite entertaining at times. If you do not read aloud as family on a regular basis, I highly recommend it. It builds strong family ties, better vocabulary, and makes memories.

You can pick a book based on interest level. I usually pick something that goes along with our history study to enhance our lesson time. One year, we read all 9 volumes of the Little House on the Prairie books. I read one per month, and we enjoyed the in depth study of that time period.

One year we read Johnny Tremain as our read aloud while we studied the American Revolution. It was a favorite book, and it drew all of us into the story line. My children were disappointed when they learned it was historical fiction. After that, I had to be more clear about fiction versus non-fiction. I usually let them know when we are reading historical fiction now.

Let me know what you are reading!

Have a great weekend!

Zone Mission: Sweep the front porch.

Weekly Home Blessing: Take out the Trash, Sweep, and Mop

Menu Plan: Pizza and salad

Routines:

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

Have a fun day!

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Loving movement for 15 Minutes

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at your launch pad
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Homeschooling with Younger Children at Home

Posted on February 2, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

Previously I talked a little bit about homeschooling with younger ones in the house who are preschool age or younger. I had several emails asking for ideas for occupying little ones while you are homeschooling older children. Here is a list of several things that I have done based on the age and ability of my children.

Babies:
Move them around the house with you as you do school with the older children.
Have different types of baby equipment in different rooms.
Use naptime to do one-on-one time with older children.
Read a lot to your older children and hold the baby. (One of my favorite memories.)

Toddlers:
Rotate play time with the baby with the older children.
Only let them play with certain toys during school. (Use a box to store them.)
Big blocks to stack in the floor while you read to older children.
Snack time in the high chair beside you while you oversee the other children’s work.
Use afternoon naptime for one-on-one time with older children.

Preschoolers:
Have older children set up pretend store and pretend restaurants for the preschooler.
Counting games.
Sorting games.
Anything that promotes fine motor skills.
Read picture books to the that relate to what your older children are learning.
Age-appropriate crafts.
Salt dough.
Blocks.

Please share with me some of the ways you have occupied younger children while homeschooling older children.

Have a wonderful day!

Zone Mission – Declutter in the Dining Room

Weekly Home Blessing Task: Declutter Paper/Magazines

Menu Plan for Thursday: Chicken and salad

Routines:

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

Play a game with your children

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
15 minutes of loving movement

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at your launch pad
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Decluttering – Getting Orgnanized

Posted on February 1, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

Welcome to a new month! The new habit of the month with The FlyLady is a great one for homeschoolers. She encourages us to declutter for 15 minutes a day this month. I wish she was doing her Super Fling Boogie and keeping track of the pounds decluttered because I decluttered an old, upright piano last Thursday! I think that would put me over the top on pounds decluttered! My husband bought a new piece of furniture after Christmas, and I have been trying to give the piano away for more than a year. Everything finally came together.

Next on my list is to deliver a kitchen table to my daughter. I do declutter smaller items, too. It just feels extra good to get rid of large pieces of furniture that we do not need. Stop for a minute and think about visiting a house that is stuffed with furniture. How does it make you feel? My goal is to have seating for my family. So I carefully decide on the amount of furniture in my house.

My mother recently retired, and she is systematically decluttering her house. My grandparents originally bought the house in 1964. It has been in the family for a while, and there are lots of areas to declutter.

Decluttering can be contagious! Use your timer. Turn on some music. Focus on ONE area for 15 minutes. Once you get into this routine, you will see a big difference in your home.

Have a great day!

Zone Mission – Declutter the Entryway

Weekly Home Blessing Task: Wipe Windows and Mirrors

Menu Plan for Wednesday: spaghetti, garlic bread, and salad

Routines:

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

Get out some art supplies and be creative with your children.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
15 minutes of loving movement

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at your launch pad
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Is your sink shiny? Getting Organized

Posted on January 31, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

How does your sink look?

This month we practiced the habit of shining our sink once a day. I have trained my children to rinse their dishes and put them in the dishwasher. That keeps my sink empty. All of them help with unloading the dishwasher as well. I do resist the temptation to rearrange the dishwasher. We run the dishwasher twice a day anyway. I am not going to be a perfectionist on how the dishwasher is loaded. They have emptied it enough that they know the general area the dishes go in. I don’t stress out about how the dishes are loaded.

Teaching your children how to do dishes is an important life skill. There are many things around the house that you can teach you children to do that will benefit them later in life. In the present, it will benefit you to train your army to help you. Remember that the next time you do something around the house because it is easier for you to do it rather than to teach them to do it.

While I am talking about perfectionism and teaching your children. Think about your laundry. Do you find yourself doing most of the folding even if it is towels because you want things folded a certain way? Teach your children to fold laundry and be willing to accept it if it is not perfect. My two youngest fold the towels and washcloths daily. They know the way to fold them, but I do not go back behind them to refold them if they do not look perfect. Guess what? We will be using those towels and washcloths again really soon.

Have a wonderful day!

Zone Mission: Detail dust and vacuum the Living Room.

Weekly Home Blessings of the Day: Quick Dust and Vacuum

Menu Plan for Tuesday: Taco Tuesday and a side salad

If you need more help with organizing your home and homeschool, you can download The FlyLady’s Homeschool Teacher and Homeschool Student Control Journals for free.

Set your timer for 15 minutes for the Home Assignment and 15 minutes for the School Assignment

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.
Clean out your refrigerator. Toss the science experiments.
Spend 15 minutes loving movement.

School: Ask your children what interests them. Pick up some library books on the topic.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Write up a menu plan for the next 7 days. Check your pantry and freezer and make a grocery list. This habit will save you time and money. Try out some new recipes with the slow cooker. It will save you time once you start back to your school schedule.

Family Fun: Take your children for a walk.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at the Launch Pad that you will need first thing in the morning
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Showing Love

Posted on January 30, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

As we approach February, it’s hard to ignore the stuff in the store for Valentine’s Day. This year think about how you can show love without giving people stuff. We can spend time with our loved ones. We can do something for them. Our time is the best present of all.

My husband and I do not go out on Valentine’s Day on a date. I plan a special family meal. I use the pretty plates and glassware. I bake cookies. Sometimes, we make each other Valentine’s Card or write letters to one another. One year, my husband and I wrote things we love about each other and gave that as gifts. (Yes, I do appreciate chocolate, too, but I still have the letters and not the chocolate.)

You can do this with your spouse and your children. You can plan ahead and make cards for grandparents and special people in your life with your children. Remember those who lost a spouse this year and send them a note or plan a visit and take them cookies or candy.

You can spread love throughout the month, and it does not have to be a commercialized holiday. Love is something to celebrate all year long!

Tell me how you can show love.

Zone Missions: The Living Room, Entryway, Dining Room, and Front Porch

Monday – Declutter the Living Room

Tuesday – Detail dust and vacuum the Living Room

Wednesday – Declutter the Entryway

Thursday – Declutter the Dining Room

Friday – Sweep the Front Porch

Menu Plan for Monday – Hamburgers with a side salad

Weekly Home Blessing – Wash the Sheets

Daily Routines:

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.
Daily Movement for 15 Minutes

School: Read aloud as a family.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water

Family Fun: Take a nature walk today.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at the Launch Pad that you will need first thing in the morning
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Make it Fun – Getting Organized

Posted on January 27, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

Happy Friday!

Have you been making your daily tasks and routines fun? You can create all kinds of games to make cleaning fun.

For instance, it’s Friday, and your house might have more than one area that needs to be straightened up. Write down the names of these areas on pieces of paper. Draw out one at a time, and have a game of Freeze Tag. Whatever area you call out, everyone goes to that room and does a 15 minute Room Rescue. If you beat the clock, then you get to play until the timer goes off.

Get a drink of water and draw another slip of paper. Repeat the game until you have 4 areas decluttered and straightened. By having these rooms picked up, you are ready for an enjoyable weekend without worrying about these areas.

Doing your Home Blessings will go much faster if your rooms are picked up and maintained.

You can change the game around from week to week. You can have a Clue Game and have them guess the room that they are going to rescue. I have a game spinner app on my phone, and I spin the wheel. I have set up the pieces of the wheel to reflect the 5 Zones of the house.

You can make it fun! Send me your best game ideas!

Have a great weekend!

Zone Mission: Clean under your bed

Weekly Home Blessing: Take out the Trash, Sweep, and Mop

Menu Plan: Rotisserie Pizza and salad

Routines:

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

Have a fun day!

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Loving movement for 15 Minutes

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at your launch pad
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Why did you decide to homeschool? Getting Organized

Posted on January 26, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

Let’s make today’s post more interactive. Tell me why you decided to homeschool.

In 1998 and 1999, I had 3 children. Our daughter went to public school. Our second child went to preschool. I missed them when they were gone, and I never enjoyed the time of re-acclimation that happened each day when they got home from school. I started reading about homeschooling, and I talked to my husband about homeschooling. We both liked the idea, but we did not know anyone who homeschooled.

In 2000, I was pregnant with baby #4, and in August I sent my two oldest children to school. It did not go well for my son from day 1 in kindergarten. He was a hand-on learner. He liked to ask questions. He played hard like most boys. He did not fit the mold they had for him. I did not want to medicate him to get him through the day. As a family, we made the decision to homeschool him.

Our daughter did not want to be homeschooled at that time, and I wanted to focus on getting him started off in kindergarten. I also had a toddler to care for as well, and I was 5 months pregnant. Within six weeks of our homeschool journey beginning, our daughter asked to be homeschooled as well. So we set up our homeschool to accommodate all of our children. I felt like I got my children back. I truly missed them when they were at school.

Since our beginning year of homeschooling, we have not looked back. This has been an amazing journey. I have been able to tailor their education to meet their needs. My two oldest have jobs they love.

Email me and tell me your story.

Have a wonderful day!

Zone Mission – Declutter 1 dresser drawer

Weekly Home Blessing Task: Declutter Paper/Magazines

Menu Plan for Thursday: Chicken and salad

Routines:

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

Play a game with your children

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
15 minutes of loving movement

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at your launch pad
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Quiet Time – Getting Organized

Posted on January 25, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

Do you have a regular time of quiet in your home? Children need a time of quiet in their lives each day, and adults do, too. As children age out of nap time, you can still train them to have quiet time each day for 15 to 30 minutes.

This time can be used as a reading time for them, or they can listen quietly to music. Up until age 10, you can institute afternoon quiet time. As they get closer to the teen years, it’s a little harder to encourage.

For 15 minutes after lunch, I use this time for quiet reading for myself that does not have anything to do with school work. The boys use it for fun reading time.

If you have young ones, this gives you a short amount of quiet in the house for them to fall asleep for nap time.

This is a time of refreshment for you before you start your afternoon routines. Try it and let me know how it goes. If you have not done something like this before, you may need to set a timer. This will help you keep track of it. You just tell the children that they need to read quietly for 15 minutes.

Have a great day!

Zone Mission – Declutter shoes for 15 minutes

Weekly Home Blessing Task: Wipe Windows and Mirrors

Menu Plan for Wednesday: spaghetti, garlic bread, and salad

Routines:

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

Get out some art supplies and be creative with your children.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
15 minutes of loving movement

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at your launch pad
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Maintaining – Getting Organized

Posted on January 24, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

How to you get to the point of just maintaining your home?

This was a question I was asked recently. For many of us, when we start decluttering, we are wading through years of stuff. How do we get through all of it and get to the “maintenance” part?

Consistency. Consistency. Consistency.

Every time you bring something into the house, you need to get rid of 1 to 2 items.

Every month, I work in the same Zones as you do. I still declutter.

Why do I still have to declutter?

In my house, we have 6 people. That is 6 times the opportunity to bring stuff into the house. That is 6 times the opportunity for the clutter to accumulate.

By systematically decluttering, I do not let the clutter take over my home. I only spend a few minutes a day decluttering. When I first started, I would spend the entire 15 minutes decluttering. Now, it goes much faster.

Today, I will declutter something from my closet. I will open the door, and I will quickly scan through my hanging clothes. If I see something that I don’t wear anymore, I will pull it out and put it in my donate box. If I see something that does not fit me, I give it away. I want to feel good in the clothes I wear, and I do not want to hang onto clothes that do not make me feel good.

Clothing is a big source of clutter in many homes. Work in small steps to reduce the amount of clothes you have for yourself and for your children. Do not empty closets and drawers and make a big mess. Just do it in small steps and be consistent. You can even declutter clothing when you are folding laundry.

Remember, decluttering is just for a few minutes each day.

Please email me if you have questions.

Zone Mission: Declutter in your closet.

Weekly Home Blessings of the Day: Quick Dust and Vacuum

Menu Plan for Tuesday: Taco Tuesday and a side salad

If you need more help with organizing your home and homeschool, you can download The FlyLady’s Homeschool Teacher and Homeschool Student Control Journals for free.

Set your timer for 15 minutes for the Home Assignment and 15 minutes for the School Assignment

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.
Clean out your refrigerator. Toss the science experiments.
Spend 15 minutes loving movement.

School: Ask your children what interests them. Pick up some library books on the topic.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Write up a menu plan for the next 7 days. Check your pantry and freezer and make a grocery list. This habit will save you time and money. Try out some new recipes with the slow cooker. It will save you time once you start back to your school schedule.

Family Fun: Take your children for a walk.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at the Launch Pad that you will need first thing in the morning
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour