Rachel was the first in our family to take home the golden-tailed "McElroy Donkey Champ" trophy this Christmas! I love traditions, but many of the ones we enjoyed while our kids were growing up were celebrated throughout December. Now that our time together is limited, we needed a new tradition. Spoons is a lively (and potentially dangerous) card game where each loss gives you a letter to spell out the word donkey. Rachel will "proudly" display her success until next Christmas when round two determines a new champ.
One of our long-standing traditions is "Grandparents' Soup Night" which takes place a day or two after Christmas. Our parents are also good friends which makes for a delightful evening with the family. This year, I got a big new soup pot for the event. A week after Christmas it was still sitting on my stovetop-- clean, but homeless.
Most of us probably had a thing or two come into our homes over the holidays that we don't have room for, or an assigned home for. In today's Timely Tips I address how to end homelessness (at least for our stuff). After a little purging and reorganizing, my new pot found a home under the stove!
TIMELY TIPS - End Homelessness- Plan ahead. Before buying something new, think about and decide where you will store it. If you need to wait to make the purchase, and first check things out at home, so be it!
- Purge. Use the "in with the new and out with the old" motto. A lot of clutter is caused by hanging on to the old one, the broken one, the one there's nothing wrong with, but now you have two. If it's worth passing on, share the old with someone who doesn't have one. If you're not going to use it, and no one else wants it, just let it go.
- Containerize. Walk through your house and look for homeless items. Are there keys, coupons, stacks of magazines, etc.? Find practical and/or decorative ways of containerizing things like a key hook next to the door, a file or envelope in the car for your coupons, a basket or magazine rack placed next to your favorite chair. Place things close to where they'll be used whenever possible.
- Toss. Take another walk through the house with a garbage bag and locate homeless items that simply haven't made it to the trash or recycle.
- Maintain. Don't put it down-- put it away! Maybe it's not a homeless issue after all. If that's the case, commit to a ten-minute tidy at the end of each day, so things will find their way home.
Wise Words Wise words from Peter Walsh on how to "lighten up" this new year. |
