Posts tagged under Resolutions. Show all posts.
With the new year comes new resolutions, and for moms, that often includes something about organization. By the time January rolls around, I am usually itching to do a little purging due to Christmas overload, trying to find a place for all the new things that arrived from the North Pole and the general pile-up of cold weather gear around the house. But January also brings ski season and with two kids racing and one in ski lessons on Saturday and Sunday (plus the hockey games and practices), we’re pretty much not home on the weekend again until March Break, which means no day-long organizing sessions. So I have to fit it in during the week, which is tough to do after work, driving kids to afterschool programs and all the other nighttime duties required to keep things under control around here.
But I can’t wait until spring (clutter causes me pain, it really does). So I have come up with a simple plan—before I go to bed every night, I resolve to spend 20 minutes attacking one clutter-filled spot in the house. It might be under the bathroom sink, a shelf full of sweaters or one box of toys in the basement, but whatever it is, it’s something I can start and finish in 20 minutes so I get that sense of satisfaction from completing an organizing job. So far I am three for three the last three nights and I think by the end of January, I will have made a lot of progress.
Exciting stuff, I know (well, sadly, it actually is for me…). What are your resolutions for 2010?
My other New Year’s resolution this year was to stop buying food at Starbucks. It’s expensive, it’s not tasty and rumour has it that most of it is shipped frozen to the individual stores from some big bakery somewhere. But since my family morning routine often doesn’t permit me to eat at home before I drop the kids off at school, picking up breakfast along with my coffee had become a bad habit.
Over the holidays, I had tried the Quick Date-Apple-Cinnamon Oatmeal recipe from The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone (Rodale Books) and inspired by that recipe, I’ve got a variation now (Apple-Fig-Walnut) that I can whip up when I get to the office, no cooking required. All the ingredients can be stored in our little office kitchen so I have no more excuses to eat a bad breakfast. Here’s how it works:
Bring a kettle of water to boil. In the meantime, place half an apple, cubed, a few tablespoons of chopped walnuts, three dried figs, chopped, and one cup of quick-cooking oatmeal in a bowl. Pour just enough boiling water over them to cover. Place a plate over the bowl and let stand until water is absorbed. Drizzle with maple syrup, take back to your desk and enjoy starting the morning off right.
What do you eat for breakfast?
I have the exact same breakfast every morning: Bran Buds with a sprinkle of On Track on top (I like the one with the dried strawberries) and a splash of soy milk. Oh, and coffee. :)
But this looks AMAZING. I have to try it.
I’ve already made it through a month with my New Year’s resolution of a daily 20-minute purge and I did pretty well, I must say. Some of you have been wondering what spots have been the victim of my nightly routine and I am proud to tell you there have been many. At home, I have attacked daughter #2’s bookshelf, two of daughter #1’s drawers, 4 kitchen drawers, one toy shelf in the basement, my makeup case, my husband’s sweater shelf, one bathroom cabinet, my son’s desk and entire bookshelf (thank you, out-of-town hockey tournament for that excellent purging opportunity), and my dining room, which was turning into a bit of a storage room itself. As we’re at our cottage every weekend at this time of year for skiing, up there I have also managed to get at the freezer, the pantry, the sideboard and the toybox, to round out the list.
February is here and I think I might have run out of spots for the moment. Perhaps I will take it easy for a few weeks until it’s time to start with the seasonal switch. Skis for soccer cleats, sweaters for shorts…March and April will need ample time for more 20-minute purges.
How have you been doing with your New Year’s resolutions?
I got a bit of attention from the Christmas Wish list I posted last week so I thought in the spirit of sharing and making lists, I would share a little about my New Year’s resolution outlook for 2012.
These are the things I think about every day/week/month of the year—not just in the New Year. I know these are small things I can do to take care of myself that will result in more energy, clarity and maybe even balance. Some will just make me a nicer person to live with.
Maybe this year I’ll pick one item per week and see if any of them stick as I move into each week. I’ll let you know how it goes.
What are your resolutions this year—did you make any?
Comments
One drawer a day would be a great way to attack this as well. This weekend I did the pantry and a desk at our ski chalet. Tonight my daughter’s top drawer, tomorrow the basement toy shelf.
I’ve been focussed on drawers… Desk drawers, kitchen drawers, kids’ drawers. I’ve already got a big box it the garage labelled and ready for that good will drop off. When I am tackling clutter, I use the 12 month rule. If we haven’t touched it in over 4 seasons, it’s gone. Sadly, I must confess that I engage in the occasional “date stickering” for items in my closet. If I check back and see a year’s gone by and I haven’t removed the sticker because I used the item, then so long to that item! This system works well on those mysterious boxes full of stuff we store and forget about too. The things I do for kicks, eh?