Life with Dylan

Category: organization

  • How my phone is saving the trees

    I can recycle with the best of them and I refuse to use plastic bags – however, when it comes to organization I love my paper. The feel of the paper. The colored pens. The post-it notes!
    I thrive on making lists and crossing things off as I complete them. I searched and searched for an organizer that was made of recycled paper, but oddly enough most of them were covered in …. get this, Plastic!

    I have been a loyal customer to MomAgenda for many years now and nothing could make me stray. Until now.

    I had tried going electronic and it scared me. About three months ago I started using both my phone and my paper calender. I figured I could ease myself into it – wrong. All this did was create mass confusion and chaos in my life.

    So I took the plunge. I have used nothing but my phone for the past two months and I couldn’t be happier. Everything in one place and no paper waste.

    See all those dots?
    Those are my appointments and important reminders.

    I’m happy, the trees are happy, all is good in my universe.

    So tell me, do you use a paper organizer or your phone to keep track of your appointments?

  • My obsession with organization meets LEGO

    Yes, LEGO is my son’s thing – but organization is mine. Aside from stepping on little pieces of plastic and coming to an abrupt halt midstream when I’m vacuuming, I have no problem with LEGO.
    Well, wait … maybe one little problem … organization.

    The majority of his LEGO pieces are nicely organized in plastic bins by color, but these tiny ones always seem to end up in a mish-mash of tiny containers and baggies. There has to be a better way to store the smaller LEGO pieces that will be easy enough for my son to keep up and satisfy my desire for organization.

    These are not the average LEGO pieces – these are the teenie-tiny ones. The ones that are so hard to find when needed for the finishing touch on your LEGO masterpiece.

    (more…)

  • First Day of School

    Well, it’s official. My little boy is all grown up and a big 3rd grader. I think this is the first year he is actually bigger than the backpack! He was so excited to start school that he just walked (or should I say ran) to the car this morning.

    When he got home from school I asked him what is favorite thing was about 3rd grade. His response … I get a real math book! Not the kind you tear the pages out of. And even cooler, I get my very own planner!

    Such a proud mom!

  • MomAgenda Rocks!

    Life with Dylan can be quite chaotic at times and on top of all his activities, I have my schooling and a business to run. I tried using my phone to organize everything, but I’m old fashioned and love my paper. Give me some post-it notes, colored pens, page tabs, and anything else to keep all the balls in the air at one time and I am a happy mom. I have been using my MomAgenda for almost 5 years now and would never switch to anything else. Day Runners and Day Planners are so ordinary. I want something designed for a mom who lives a crazy life.

    My personal MomAgenda

    If you have not heard of MomAgenda or tried their products, I encourage you to check them out. Recently, MomAgenda launched a factory outlet and the prices are unbelievable!

  • Communication

    “Mom, I need to talk to you” … just like that. So grown up. Of course I am thinking he has done something wrong and is finally ready to fess up. Wow, was I in for a shocker! Just minutes before Dylan said these seven little words I had asked him to clean up the Wii, his Nerf guns and get his book to read before bed. Oh, and I told him I was going to finish filling out his Otter Log. (Otter Logs are filled out weekly to track how many minutes he reads)

    So we sit on the couch and sensing that he was nervous, I told him he could tell me anything he wanted. He takes a deep breath and ‘lays into me’ … “Mom, you don’t have to be so mean to me when you tell me to clean up. You make me feel like a slob and it hurts my feelings. All you have to say is clean up the Wii. You don’t need to say Clean up the Wii, and the remotes, and the games. Just say the Wii. And I know the bullets go with the Nerf gun. Oh, and you don’t need to tell me you are filling out my Otter Log either. Just do it and put it in my homework folder.”

    Once I was able to get a word in I let him know that I understood and that I was sorry I made him feel like a “slob”, but that sometimes he doesn’t pick up and needs to be told each little thing. He informed me that his teacher called him a slob one time because his desk was messy and that it hurt his feelings. I said, “Maybe you need to work on that and make sure your desk stays clean” … He agreed.

    Communication at it’s finest.

    Now let’s read …

  • The Schedule

    Those of you who know me well, know I am a very organized person. Everything has its place and more often than not this place has a label. Now don’t get me wrong, just because everything has a place does not mean the house is always clean and perfect. I like my Mom Agenda, can’t stand having appts and bills all computerized, LOVE post-it notes, and make lists and schedules for everything! When Dylan was 3 years old I started labeling his toy bins, then we moved to organization, some might even go as far as to call it a bit obsessive.

    When Dylan started telling me he had to go “organize” his toys rather than clean up his room I knew I was in for trouble. After being off school and work for 2 weeks I sat down with Dylan and told him we needed to have a better schedule so we wouldn’t be late for things or forget to do something.  About 10 minutes later he came to me with his very own schedule and asked if he could put it on the fridge. What have I created?