Thanksgiving is meant to be a time of remembrance, family and thanks, not a holiday

of stress and chaos. Here are 9 easy ways to stay organized for an enjoyable, stress-free Thanksgiving Day:

1. LEAVE COOKING AND CLEANING BEHIND. These days, many people opt to go out for Thanksgiving, instead of cooking and cleaning at home. If you're an extremely busy person, this may also work for you. If you don't want to miss the feeling of being at home, perhaps you might have the main course at a restaurant, and later have pie and coffee at home. In addition, lots of supermarkets and restaurants offer fully cooked Thanksgiving dinners. You simply pick everything up and place it on your table ready to be served, and if you must add a personal touch, make one special dish of your own.

2. PREPARE FOR TRAVELING. If you're traveling this Thanksgiving, be sure to make your packing list well ahead of time. Check items off as you're putting them into your luggage. Bring this list with you and use it to repack when you're ready to return home. By the way, I usually suggest that you travel a few days before Thanksgiving and come back a few days after the Thanksgiving rush. Otherwise, you're going to spend a lot of time in airports, on the road, in line, etc.

3. LET'S TALK TURKEY. First, determine how much room you have in your freezer and refrigerator, and how many people you will be serving. Then, order your turkey. If you need more storage space, perhaps a neighbor or relative can help you out. Rather than defrosting a frozen turkey in water on Thanksgiving Day, defrost it a few days ahead in your refrigerator instead. This saves tons of time!

4. INVITE GUESTS IN A SNAP. If you haven't already sent out invitations, you may consider simply calling possible guests instead. You won't have to spend a ton of time writing and mailing, and you usually get an RSVP immediately.

5. CHECK YOUR INVENTORY. Check your supply of chairs, tables, dishes, glasses, pots, pans, serving plates and utensils. Arrange to buy, rent or borrow anything you don't have.

6. PLAN YOUR MEAL. Plan your meal from appetizers to dessert on a piece of paper. Make a list of all ingredients needed. Bring your list when you go shopping and check items off as you put them in your cart.

7. COOK AHEAD. Make any meals that you can well ahead of time, and freeze them. On Thanksgiving Day, just defrost, heat and serve. You will save tons of time, plus you'll be able to join in the festivities without being stuck in the kitchen.

8. GET READY THE NIGHT BEFORE. You'll be happy you took care of a few things the night before. Set the table. Get the good silverware out of storage. Lay out your wardrobe--and your kids' wardrobes.

9. DON'T FORGET THE IMPORTANT STUFF. Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to be thankful for health, family, friends and all that life has to offer. Some people choose to say grace. Others prefer to simply have a moment of silence before dinner and football. Still others like to make time to read a Thanksgiving Story or a poem. Make a list of the things you want to do to make the day a special one and reference your list so you don't forget them.

{Originally submitted to The Mommies Network Blog by CharlotteMommies}

Let's face it, where there are kids clutter is sure to follow. Kids are natural born hoarders whose rooms are notorious for being a cluttered mess.  At times you may have even wondered if a tornado just ripped through there or if perhaps the place was possibly burglarized while you were loading the dryer. One never knows. As much as you'd like to, you will never completely eliminate the clutter. But, there are a few things that you can do to get it under control and make life much easier for everyone.  Avoid the impulse to tackle this project all on your own, instead use this as an opportunity to teach your child responsibility and the basics of organization. The time you invest now will pay huge dividends in the long run.

Step One: Clear The Clutter!
The very first step towards bringing calm and order to the chaos is getting rid of the clutter. Start by sorting through everything in the room and remove as much as possible that doesn't NEED to be there starting with the floor. Well...you do NEED the floor, but you get what I mean.
I find that using three large bags or boxes marked donate, trash, and keepers works well for making quick work of this step. Just grab the item and toss it right into it's new home. Yeah, we can see a floor again!

Step Two: Stow The Stuff
Now that you've cleared the clutter, step two involves organizing and storing what's left using kid friendly storage items such as bins, bookshelves, clear containers, cubbies, hooks, etc. Every item will need a place to call "home." The key here is finding an easy system that's right for your child and will motivate them to be and stay organized.
If you find that even after the big purge your child still has too many toys and books or you just want to limit the amount of stuff in your child's room in general, rotate them. Just pop a few of them into a box and stash them away. After about a month or so, pull them down and trade them out. Rinse and repeat. They'll get a real hoot out of re-discovering their "new" old toys.

Step Three: Maintain Order (No, really)
Ok, so now that the hard part of clearing the clutter and stowing the stuff is out of the way, it's time to set some simple ground rules to help make staying tidy and organized a part of each day. In addition to the usual "put it away when you're done," I find that having a "Morning Pick-up
Routine" and an "Evening Pick-up Routine" really helps us a lot.
This will help them to stay ahead of any messes that would have otherwise accumulated during the week making it one large project to tackle over the weekend. That's no fun! Speaking of "staying ahead of messes," here's a tip inside of a tip. Set up a "Donation Station" in a place where everyone has access. Whatever works best for your family, a hall closet, laundry room, garage, etc. Whenever family members come across something that they no longer want or use, it goes into the "Donation Box." When the box is full, drop it off at your local donation center.
Your family will benefit in 3 ways:
1.) You enjoy a less cluttered home
2.) You help other families
3.) You get a tax deduction (be sure to ask for a receipt)
Everyone's a winner!
Don't worry if your child's bedroom doesn't exactly look like a page torn from the latest Pottery Barn Kids catalog. (A girl can always dream right?)  That's not the goal. What's important is that they learn to be responsible for their own things. A valuable lesson that will serve them well for years to come.

Originally posted on FrederickMommies.com

I realized about a month ago that my two kids were playing in the family room more and more. I’m fairly certain this is because there was no empty space on the floor of the playroom. So they were taking toys from the playroom into the family room. And I noticed that the toys they were playing with were always the same. Most of the things in the playroom sat untouched. So why did we have a playroom filled with toys that neither child ever used? A playroom that was so packed with old toys that there was no room to actually play?

To give you a good visual of what I'm talking about, this is what our playroom looked like about a month ago:


I set up a plan and executed it, and this is what the playroom looks like today:
 


The first step of my plan was to remove all the old toys that were no longer used. I thought this would have to be a covert mission, but the kids actually didn't seem to mind me taking away all those old toys. [Note to self: I should have done this months ago!]

Once the room only contained toys the kids actually play with, I set to work determining how I could organize everything. I came up with five "zones" for the room. Here's what they are.

Dolls and Figures Zone
This zone includes the dollhouse, pirate ship and all the little dolls, figures, Zhu Zhu pets, Transformers and anything that goes with little dolls and figures. My daughter and her friends have been spending a lot of time in this area. And I must say the dollhouse is getting a lot more use now.


Projects Zone
This zone was set up to include arts and crafts, school-related stuff and any other "project" types of things. We have a small table and chairs, workbooks and coloring books (in the red containers on the shelf), and science kits (on the bottom shelf). You can see the markers, crayons and other arts and crafts items in the picture above. They are on the top shelf in the previous zone but right next to the table, so it works. I am determined to keep the top of this table clear so they can actually use it!


Building/Construction Zone
This zone is all about building stuff. We have a train table that is now used as a Lego table, with the Legos stored underneath. We have Zoobs, wooden blocks, and other building and construction stuff. There's plenty of floor space to build on as well. You can see my son was working on a Lego project on the floor when I took this picture.


Pretend Play Zone
This is another one of my daughter's favorite areas. We have a small kitchen and all the stuff that goes with it. We also have doctor kits, a magic kit, baby dolls and stuffed animals here, so she and her friends can play all sorts of pretend activities.


Games and Puzzles Zone
This zone is where we've stored all our board games, Beyblades and Pokemon cards, and all sorts of puzzles and games. The book shelf is here too. That is one thing I have not purged yet. I need to remove the baby and toddler books and bring some of their age-appropriate books down from their bedrooms where they usually read.


I will say this was a huge project but I'm so happy with the results. Just removing all the old stuff (and there was a lot of old stuff) made a big difference. If you have a playroom, I highly recommend reassessing it and taking out all the stuff your kids don't play with anymore. And putting like things together in "zones" to make it easier for them to find the toys they do want to play, and know where to put them when they're done.

Now let's just hope they manage to keep it cleaned up so it never looks like that "before" picture again!

Submitted by Julie, member of TriangleMommies.  Originally published on Just Playin' Around, July 5, 2011

'Spring Ahead. Fall Back.' That little saying always helps us remember whether we should set the clock ahead or back one hour. Similar little sayings, are also great for helping you to get and stay organized. Here are just a few:

1. A HOME FOR EVERYTHING AND EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE. Every item you have, no matter what it is, should have a designated home. For instance, the home for your magazines might be your magazine holder, which is located on your bookshelf. Or your home for your extra file folders and labels, might be the top shelf of your office supplies cabinet. If an item doesn't have a specific home, it's considered to be 'homeless.' Something that is homeless, tends to get lost. Designate a specific home for all of your stuff. Then, be sure that everything taken, gets returned to its home when done being used.

2. DON'T PUT IT DOWN. PUT IT AWAY. When you remove something from its home, the best thing to do when you're done using it, is to put it away. Yes, sometimes it seems easier to just place it on the kitchen table until later, or to put it on your desk until tomorrow. Unfortunately, this often results in many items being out of place, which can leave your home or office in disarray. Never mind the fact that it presents a bad example for other family members, or staff members. Don't give clutter a chance to form. Put it away now. You'll find it when you need it, and your environment will remain clutter-free.

3. FILE, DON'T PILE. It is very easy to get overwhelmed with paper. Our paper volume increases on a daily basis. Between lists, mail, bills, school papers, documentation, warranties, etc., it's often seen as a pain to take the time to handle those papers immediately. However, if those papers begin to transform themselves into piles--and they usually do--it's going to be even more of a pain to get them under control. Piles tend to get taller and taller, until even the idea of dismantling them seems colossal. This results in lots of piles, and even more stress. If you DON'T need a piece of paper, get rid of it immediately. Either recycle it, or give it to the appropriate party. If you DO need a piece of paper, file it right now. Don't put it down, even for a minute. Either place it in your filing cabinet, your Tickler file, your bill paying system, etc. If you take the time to file it now, it won't stand a chance of growing into a huge pile.

4. QUALITY OVER QUANTITY. Clutter and chaos go hand in hand. The more things you have, the easier it is for clutter to form and grow. Always remember to place your emphasis on quality over quantity. In other words, it's not important to have a lot of things, many of which you never use. It's more beneficial to have fewer things, all of which you use and/or enjoy. Simplify your life and you will get and stay organized!

5. FIND EVERYTHING YOU NEED WHEN YOU NEED IT, GET EVERYTHING DONE WHEN IT'S DUE. Many people think that getting organized is about being neat and tidy. On the contrary, a person who is not very neat or tidy, can be very organized. Being organized actually entails 'finding everything you need when you need it, and getting everything done when it's due.' If you can master these two things, you are well on your way to being organized.

Post submitted by Maria Garcia
{Originally submitted to CharlotteMommies}