Taming the procrastinating, ADD, mess cat within me.

(To read the introductory post, click here.)

It is week two of Operation Clean and Organize and this week I’ve been working on a menu board. Some moms prefer to make a monthly menu but that doesn’t work for me. Planning one week ahead is all I can handle right now!

I looked at various styles of menu boards to see what appealed to me. I previously had a dry erase board but over time the erase ability of the board deteriorated. I thought of using a magnetic board because I really liked this one but it was too big and I wanted it to be weekly not monthly.

source

I decided to make my own smaller magnetic weekly menu. I spent a total of about $20 for a magnetic board the right size to fit on my fridge, a pack of Avery Printable Magnetic Sheets, and “Days of the Week” magnets that I found at Target in the Back to School seasonal section. (You can find similar products at Amazon – Board Dudes Magnetic Board, Board Dudes Days of the Week Magnets and Avery Magnet Sheets.)

Next I sat down and made a master list of all the meals, side dishes and veggies I normally cook. In a Word document I made four columns of labels and typed up the list of foods. I wanted to keep track of days when I had appointments so I would know to plan easy or slow-cooker meals on those days. I also wanted to mark days when I had to pack the kids’ lunches for school.

I color coded the labels: main dish – blue, sides – orange, veggies – green, appointments – purple, and school lunches – red. I made sure to have a number of blank labels to fill in later as I tried new recipes. Next, I printed and cut out the labels. Lastly, I arranged the meals on my board along with a shrunken down copy of Bella’s school lunch menu.

Here’s what it looks like.

Click on the photo for a larger view.

The first week using it has been great. We’ll see how it stands the test of time. 🙂

That’s it for this week. Next week I’ll be working on organizing my pantry and making master shopping lists. Share your own ideas in the comments and happy organizing!

POSTSCRIPT:
In the spirit of full disclosure, I must admit that this organizing business is getting fun. Who knew? But you must make sure that your motherly duties are attended to first. Otherwise you will have to find out that your earlier statement of “he should be able to eat his yogurt alone without making too much mess while I make a quick post” was not only false but stupid thinking. So be forewarned. Wait until the kids are asleep. (And this was after I cleaned off his hair and face.)

UPDATE (May 2014): I have since updated my menu board. The new version can be found here.

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, GoodReads, Letterboxd or Instagram  😉

PPS – This post may contain affiliate links.

I’ve discussed in a number of previous posts (like here and here) about my battle with keeping a clean and organized house. I’m naturally messy and the amount of work I have to do to clean up and organize our house is overwhelming. However, it’s a project I want to undertake because it’s important to me.
I think there is some truth to the saying “cleanliness is next to godliness.” Someone once told me that a person’s exterior life reflects their interior life. I don’t know if that is true but I do know that after awhile I get tired, frustrated and grouchy with all the piles of papers and junk and disorganized areas of the house. A house with little kids will never look like a museum – and never should – but I could definitely use a little more order in my life and I know the difference it makes.
When I do clean up an area and have it organized it makes my life run a little bit smoother. (Who can’t use that?!) I am more at peace and feel that I am better accomplishing my mission in life – to raise a happy family and make our home a little taste of heaven on earth as we work towards entering our eternal home. It is my small way of showing God that I love him – to put aside my natural messy tendencies and find the orderly and creative woman I know is lurking in there somewhere.
So I’ve decided to start “Operation Clean and Organize.” Every week (or two) I’ll post what I am working on and how it is progressing. To start things off, I sat down and made a list of all the chores I need to do each day and those I can do once a week. I used the Family Chore Chart from iheartorganizing to organize my list. (I still haven’t figured out the quarterly or annual jobs. I’m barely getting the basics down.) Here is what I have so far. View image. As the weeks go by, I’ll tweak it as needed. (And although, prayer time isn’t a “chore” I wrote it down as a reminder that it can’t be skipped. 😉
There is a small wall in my kitchen that is covered by the swing door that leads into the family room. I hung up the chart on that wall after I put it in a $1.99 Ikea frame that I had. I can use a dry erase marker to check off the list as I complete my work. I also hung up a clipboard that holds our Family Home To-Do List. I went through each room in the house and wrote down everything I wanted to do in there – from cleaning out closets to dusting tops of book shelves – as well as other projects I’d like to work on – from organizing the photos to updating my recipe binder to finishing the baby books. It may take years to complete my list but at least I can work on one thing at a time instead of doing ten projects at once and finishing none!


I also hung up in my kitchen a small board next to the counter where I cook and prepare food. I use it to keep notes and jot down things I need to remember. Above it I hung up (using removable Command hooks) a clip board for the recipes I’ll be cooking that week. I can read the recipe off the clipboard as I’m fixing it. So far it has worked great.



Next project – Making a weekly menu.
Are you working on organizing your home? Is your home already organized? Share your stories and tips in the comment section. Thanks!

UPDATE: (9/9/11) Misty at Misty’s Mornings Blog has some creative ideas in her post Creating An Autumn Rhythm {four steps to a cleaning schedule}. I love making lists but not because I’m super organized. Sadly, the opposite. If I don’t write things down, I completely forget those same things! Anyway, Misty has some great ideas and advice, so head over and check it out.