What do you need to know when you move out? If you’re the parent of a teen who’s looking at college in the next few years or simply a parent who wants the kids to know how to survive in the wilds of real life, you know that the kids need to know a few things. But what are the essentials of household management? Once you’ve been doing it for a while it’s hard to extract exactly what it is that you do to manage the house. In my humble opinion, here are a few of the basics: Houses need … Continue reading →

I like organizing things. Oh woe is me. The attribute that is the delight of my husband is sometimes more of a trial, since I won’t rest until I feel like our household is organized. And trust me, organization never comes. I moved from my parents house into a home with my husband. He comes from a family where one key organizer did all of the household management tasks, and many of these tasks were done invisibly. I come from a family where two people did the management and integrated the kids into the management of the household. Yes, sometimes … Continue reading →

The bulging inbox: it’s a problem that’s oh so familiar to all parents. What are your strategies for managing the inflow of information and appointments in your life? Yesterday I mentioned some of my weekly and monthly strategies for budgeting and shopping. Here are a few more tips that I use to keep my inbox flowing. Filing systems. I have files for paper, and I must admit to being a bit of a piler. I stack forms and sort them into the files every few weeks. I also have filing systems for objects. For example, in the basement cupboard I … Continue reading →