Blog post on my home management binder

[Knittin' in the Shade]

I know I've posted my brain files here before in a few threads, but a lot of y'all have asked me for a blog on my binder, so I've finlaly gotten that done: My Home Management Binder

[anthasam]

Great blog post! Thanks!

[abandbunk]

Awesome! Love your binder, love that it is pretty, i have been meaning to do this for quite some time, but perfection and procrastination always gets in the way lol, ty for the motivation, i think i will do this today after i have finished all my chores and the kiddos are in bed.

[annethcz]

Fabulous! I love it. I'm much better at staying organized than I used to be, it's fun to see how other people get it all done.

[artemis33]

Love it! I really love how you made it not only functional but beautiful and fun.

I've been trying to do this forever and I think that might be the missing element. I have everything piled in a box. But I loooooove pretty paper, fun markers, etc and if I incorporate things such as this to the project maybe it will actually get done (and actually be usable!).

Thanks for sharing

[lovemyfamily6]

Wow, what an amazing blog post! Thank you so much for sharing. I'm not sure if anyone else had trouble, but when I tried to open the Brain Files, it tells me it's invalid.

How did you get your pretty paper on the divider sheets? Is it just cut to the right size and then glued on?

[Knittin' in the Shade]

Originally Posted by lovemyfamily6

Wow, what an amazing blog post! Thank you so much for sharing. I'm not sure if anyone else had trouble, but when I tried to open the Brain Files, it tells me it's invalid.

Hmm-Maybe I did the link wrong? Here it is, just in case: littleturtleknits.com/brain_files.zip It's a zip file, so I think if you don't have unzipper program (like winzip) then maybe it won't work?

How did you get your pretty paper on the divider sheets? Is it just cut to the right size and then glued on?

Yep, it's just 12 x 12 scrapping paper cut to size and double-sided sticky taped on (Oh, how I love double sided tape, LOL!)

[lovemyfamily6]

I got it now. Oh my gosh, thank you so so so much!!! This is great. I also have four boys. I work part time and have really been struggling to get organized. This made my day, thank you!

[lovemyfamily6]

Thanks again Theresa. I do have that periodic table in my (compared to yours...embarrassing!) binder. I haven't done anything with it though. I need to go through and personalize and get a better binder going here. I love the basket on the counter idea. I've been trying to find something to do with all the art stuff the kids do. And when dh goes through mail, he always just puts mine somewhere on the counter. It would be nice to have a folder for each family. Are those just manilla file folders? This would be great for my oldest too. He's in kindergarten and the teacher is working with the kids at unpacking their backpack at school and putting papers and things where they belong. It would be nice to mirror that at home and give him the responsibility instead of me unpacking it each day.

Another question, with your recipes or crafts to try, etc, do those go in a sheet protector as well (one per page)? Thanks!

ETA: Do you have a schedule for your day as well or do you just hit the ground running? I get home from work at 12:15, so that's when my at home day begins. I've struggled with finding a schedule because kids put a kink in it. But I'm curious about how you do it since you also have four kiddo's.

[winnie]

Thank you so much for this! I started listing all of the household chores, and plan on using your plastic page holder idea!

Erin

[LianneM]

Thank you! So inspiring I'm finally doing it!

I LOVE the dry-erase marker idea - that is what pushed me over today

Question: on your binder pockets, did you make some kind of extra pockets? It looks like the notecards are in front and the stuff-to-file has its own pocket behind that?

[chrissy]

so great! thank you for sharing that theresa!

[TeaghansMama]

i have a binder too but it's not as pretty as yours
in fact, it's downright neglected
but you've inspired me to get out some scrapbook paper and pretty it up

thanks for the great post!

[Knittin' in the Shade]

I'm so glad y'all are enjoying it, and SO happy that it's inspiring you!!

Originally Posted by lovemyfamily6

Are those just manilla file folders? This would be great for my oldest too. He's in kindergarten and the teacher is working with the kids at unpacking their backpack at school and putting papers and things where they belong. It would be nice to mirror that at home and give him the responsibility instead of me unpacking it each day.

Yep, just plain manilla folders, they get replaced relatively often because they boys are brutal on everything (I'm sure you don't know anything about that in your house, LOL! ) A while ago I was telling one of the boy's teachers about my basket o'files, and she LOVED the idea, exactly because of what you said - it reinforces the responsibility thing they do at school.

Another question, with your recipes or crafts to try, etc, do those go in a sheet protector as well (one per page)? Thanks!

Recipes, I've got in a completely seperate binder (that section got way to big in the main binder so I gave it a home all it's own, LOL!) But yes, I put them two to a sheet, back-to-back (so, the front side is one recipe/craft, turn the page and the backside is another recipe/craft) Once we've tried a recipe/craft, if it's a keeper I'll note on it when we tried it and how much we liked it. If it was a dud, int he recycling it goes!

ETA: Do you have a schedule for your day as well or do you just hit the ground running? I get home from work at 12:15, so that's when my at home day begins. I've struggled with finding a schedule because kids put a kink in it. But I'm curious about how you do it since you also have four kiddo's.

I have a "routine" that revolves around the school drop-offs/pick-ups and naps, LOL! Plus, I've got business-related work that needs to get done. Generally, it goes something like this:

wake up, get dressed, get rusty, change diaper, prep breakfast
while the boys are eating breakfast, I unload the dishes from the dishwasher, then prep lunches
after they finish breakfast, I put the breakfast dishes in the washer, then go flip the laundry (there's ALWAYS laundry going in my house, as in yours, I'm sure!)
then it's upstairs to get everyone dressed/make beds, then off to school
usually right after that is when I go do whatever errands we might have, then preschool pickup on M, W, F, and home by lunchtime
prep lunch for littls guys, while they eat lunch I flip another load and bring the dry clothes up to fold at the table
we play for a bit after lunch, usually play doh or blocks, and then they go up for a nap, I do some business work (shipping, invoicing, etc) and then that's when I do whatever the day's brain tasks are, which usually leads me up to them waking up from nap. I get snacks, fold more laundry and usually putz around online a bit, then go to pick up the big guys at school
come home, start dinner prep while they do homework with me in the kitchen
after dinner DH usually does the dishes while I sweep the kitchen, hen one of us takes out the trash/recycling/compost then it's upstairs for me to put laundry away (with the two big boys' help)
while kids are in bathtub, I wipe out the sink and swish toilets/wipe toilets down
then it's down to basement for one last load of laundry in the wash, and relaxing with DH/reading/knitting (and let's face it, usually time on the computer and trying to get design work done, LOL!)

Question: on your binder pockets, did you make some kind of extra pockets? It looks like the notecards are in front and the stuff-to-file has its own pocket behind that?

I didn't add any pockets, the binder has two tiered pockets on the front and back, which totally ROCK!

[lovemyfamily6]

Thank you for being so thorough in answering my questions. My oldest is 6 years old. I had really hoped to have this figured out by now. I'm doing better though, and think I need to place an order for Staples soon!

[mumkenna&lucas]

Awesome! Thanks for posting that!!

[kerc]

Thanks for posting this. I've been intending to do it and your post was just the kick in the pants I needed. I organized my cleaning, dividing it like you did into days. And I even got dh to take on the kitchen day because it fell on thursday which was his day with the kids.

[Knittin' in the Shade]

Originally Posted by kerc

And I even got dh to take on the kitchen day because it fell on thursday which was his day with the kids.

SWEET! That's a nice little bonus, LOL!

[sapphire_chan]

People who've been messy and figured out the hard way what works for them are sooo much better at teaching this stuff. For instance, you took pictures of everything I keep wishing I could see in other tidy people's pictures of their homes.

[Knittin' in the Shade]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

People who've been messy and figured out the hard way what works for them are sooo much better at teaching this stuff. For instance, you took pictures of everything I keep wishing I could see in other tidy people's pictures of their homes.

I've never thought about that before, but you're so right! It's hard to understand how overwhelming it can feel unless you've actually been there, trying to figure it all out!