I have always been one for cleanliness and organization, then I had twins. I knew that my OCD was going to have to take the back burner, just like my over grown roots, pedicures, and unibrow. I gave into messy floors, hand prints, gooey kisses and the occasional crib blowout. However, I refused to stop the art of neatness completely.
I strive to keep the boys as orderly as possible and could single-handedly keep IKEA and The Container Store in business. There is nothing more gratifying than knowing exactly where a much-needed plastic spider or favorite puzzle piece is. This all changed for me when the boys started daycare. The act of knowing where everything and anything is/was goes down the tubes. All the things I worked so hard to keep organized in our house were now leaving the “safe zone”. I worried that the boys wouldn’t come home with their coats, cups, lunch boxes, gloves, hats, snowsuits, boots, etc and that we in return would be new owners of numerous clothing items and maybe even some other child’s much-needed lovey ( a serious issue if your kid has a favorite blanket).
I didn’t want to sew on names to the boys clothes, since, well, I don’t know how to sew. The act of ironing on names seemed less than appealing as well since my iron is still in a box from my bridal shower, four years ago. No way was I going to use a permanent marker either. Keeping the boys clothes in good shape has earned me some awesome hand-me-downs. So my quest to find a suitable alternative began.
When I stumbled upon Name Bubbles I immediately fell in love! These labels are hands down the best personalized name stickers on the planet! They are made with non-toxic, eco-friendly inks and are waterproof. Yes, this means they actually stay on after a trip through the dishwasher and washing machine. They have a great stick to them but don’t leave a grubby residue. There are so many different styles, colors and sizes that you may find yourself ordering them for everything. Great packaging, phenomenal Customer Service and quick delivery. What more can you ask for?
Since discovering Name Bubbles the little dudes have come home with all their stuff. We haven’t even lost a mitten- which to me is a huge accomplishment. We still get a straggler hat or single sock now and again from a nameless, possibly cold-footed little munchkin. No one wants to end up in the Lost and Found people!
Luckily for our readers you don’t have to take my word for my love of Name Bubbles. One lucky VTMamatuer follower will win a Camp Pack of Name Bubbles personalized with their child’s name and favorite colors, that’s nearly a $40 value for FREE!! This is a great opportunity to get ahead of the game for the summer months. You can never be too organized and who doesn’t love to play with fantastic crafty things?!
To enter this amazing giveaway, all you have to do is comment to this post with a quick organizing tip that you use for your kids….it doesn’t get much easier than that! We will be accepting entries until Thursday, March 8th at 5:00 p.m. and announcing the winner on Friday, March 9th….so make sure you check back! From the list of comments a random person will be picked. Good Luck!
-B
We’ll be back later today with our weekly caption contest. Let’s see if she can be beat this week!
And a huge thanks to the fabulous people at Name Bubbles for providing us with the goods for this give away!
mamateurs
These look amazing! I am always on the quest to put my name on the boys stuff and permanent market comes off in the dishwasher!
My organizational tip is to put all toys in clear bins, you can use shoe box ones with lids, or just plain ole $store baskets. Then print a photo of the toy that is designated for that bin, (laminate if you are feeling motivated) and adhere to the said box/bin. Once the kids are old enough it makes clean up much easier. Just say, put the planes in the plane box, legos in the lego box, dinosaurs in the dinosaur box…you get it. It helps with the situation above about helping mom find the beloved puzzle piece and it helps the kids learn how to organize without feeling frustrated or bossed around because if they can read a simple picture, they can do the task. You can go as far as to get big toy bins for stuffed animals etc. Every toy having it’s place = a happy daddy (this mom really could care less, hehe)
So my organizing secret is to buy mini totes with covers and label every tote with which toy goes in it. This seems to work even better in our art closet seeing I have about 20 different containers in there with every art supply possible.
i guess amomandher3men and i were typing at the same time except she got in first
No worries! It’s a good tip! You’ll still be entered in the giveaway! Thanks for sharing your (recycled) tip…jk!
Because my newborn isn’t quite old enough to put his own things in their place, my husband is the one I had to teach about organization, which has been quite the task in itself, and how much easier it makes things. This is especially true when we are trying to come up with some system of getting everyone out the door within 30 minutes of the original time we were shooting for. We have put baskets in the coat closets with extra outfits, burp cloths, pacifiers, toys, etc., so when we are trying to get out the door we don’t have to run around the house trying to find things.
It drives me crazy when I lose cute little socks in the washing machine. So, my organizing tip is to put all of my daughter’s socks in a lingerie bag for washing. It helps to have a couple so one can be dangling from her hamper while the other is in the wash!
I love this one…Ingenious! Especially since those pint-sized socks are surprisingly $$!
i love this idea also i think i am going to do that in my son and daughters room where they own get there own bag because i hate sorting through them all.GREAT TIP THANKS
I do this too!
works great! and keeps tights from snagging too!
We do that too! It really helps!
Brilliant! I was *just* cursing the lost socks this morning- and it’s always the cutest ones that go missing- if the snow isn’t bad I’m headed out TODAY to get lingerie bags. Thanks!
I label everything! Every drawer in my son’s room has a label. This makes his things easy to find and easy to put away (no matter who is doing it). I also buy the large totes to store his clothing he has outgrown and label those with size and season.
Ok, after actually doing the laundry, it can sometimes take needing the laundry basket for the next time to get me to find time to put it away. So, I’ve started presorting the laundry by child. That way, I can unload the dryer and take that basket right to either of my daughter’s room to fold and put away!
**Like**
Having kids who are a little bit older, their room organization is pretty much their own responsibility! (And I use the term “organization” VERY lightly! LOL!!) However there are other things in their lives that I still have control over organizing…school supplies being one of them. At the beginning of the year we buy several supplies (enough to get us through the first half or so of the school year. These all get placed in a tote bag according to which child they are going to get used by and one that has general supplies like pens/pencils/etc. That way, if they decide they need paper/index cards/notebooks as they are walking out the door at 6:45am (convienently, when the bus is pulling up to pick them up…grrr) I can grab the bag quickly and get what they need while scurrying them out the door! Its quick, easy and (mostly) stress free! Great tips from everyone so far!
We are almost done with bottles, but to keep things organized over the last year, I repurposed the nifty Enfamil containers and labeled them, nipples, caps, parts. We even have one for pacifiers and medicine! They stack nicely, are dishwasher safe and were free!
When we go to the park, on an airplane, to the pool…etc, I carry a huge tote rather than a bunch of bags (purse, diaper bag..etc). I’ll take a quart bag and put in a new outfit for little man in case he needs a change (he spits up a ton). Instead of digging through the tote, the outfit is right there in one place and then the bag can be used for the dirty one.
These are great I ordered some for my son Zachary for his bottles and was surprised at just how much I would use them for so I need more. My organization tip is lots and lots of bins. Keeping everything in bins helps to see what we have instead of dumping everything into a toy chest. It makes rotating and cleansing toys much easier.
I have been given many hand me down clothes that conveniently came in order by size. SO as an attempt at being organized for when we have baby number two, I have sorted our outgrown clothes by size, labelled the bin with the appropriate age and put it in the basement. It’s not as necessary right now, but it will be a lifesaver when B is a pre schooler and I have a growing newborn on my hands…
I do this, too! It’s really useful, especially when you have 2 boys 2 years apart, born in the same season….and you’re bf’ing and running after a toddler and don’t have time to weed through piles of clothes
These are all such great ideas ladies! I love the beach tote idea for toys and trips as well as the sock bag, extra bag of clothes in a ziploc and recycling and reuse of items. There are so many creative ways to use bins. One of my favorite reused items in our house is the big plastic animal cookie bin. Costco sells the organic ones and we keep lots of the boys blocks and mini cars in them, of course they are labeled
All this talk of organizing makes me want to get more organized!! Thanks for the tips! Keep them coming
I second (or third) the lingerie bag tip for baby socks! I also put Halo Sleepsacks and any other items with velcro into a lingerie bag so they don’t stick to/damage other delicate items in the wash like muslin blankets and baby sweaters.
I use an empty wipe case (the skinny travel ones) for Mum Mums- labeled, because really, any excuse to use my label maker works for me! I also put a medium gift bag in the freezer with a slit on the side/bottom to keep the endless frozen bags of milk easy to grab and this way they are used by date (newest on top means oldest comes out the bottom)
My tip is to keep listening to all of these “pros”! Heading out now to buy bins, lingerie bags, and a large tote. Now if only I had some stickers!
When I was pumping I found it hard to keep track of all the extras I needed not to mention keeping the stuff organized, handy, portable, plus watch the baby and a toddler. So, I put the bottles/nipples, milk storage bags, milk storage bottles, sterilizing bags, valves, etc. and even a pacifier or two in a shower caddy. You know the kind you had in college that you brought to the bathroom and can get at Walmart for $5. It was bright orange, so I could always find it! I’d grab the handle and take it wherever I needed it.
Leahanne that is a great idea!!. I remember the joys of pumping for my twins. As soon as I was somewhat comfortable I would realize I didn’t have the right size containers or bags. I did a lot of yelling from our bedroom to my poor husband to bring me the “goods”. I struggled with tandem nursing for the twins so I was a pretty legit and secretive boob pumper for a few months. Thanks for the tip. I will be adding a shower carryall to my list of things to buy before the Little Miss makes her debut!
OOhhh, I love organizing! What to say….Tip #1 Put Name Bubbles on everything. Tip #2 Create multiple “organized” play-stations around the house – this makes it easier for clean-up and creates diversity for your baby/toddler. Tip #3 Laminate a checklist and attach to diaper bag, like a luggage tag (you’ll never forget anything!).
One tip I plan to use in the very near future is for all the various artwork and papers I have been saving from my daughter. She’s quite the artist! Right now they are stored in a filing cabinet with her name and/or date on each piece. I will take a picture of each project, so they can be preserved without having to keep the bulk of papers (although it will still be hard to throw them out). A memory stick will certainly save some room, and they can be uploaded to a computer and sorted as a backup.
I love this idea because the papers do add up! I saw on HGTV a couple take all the pictures and make a huge poster of them. They framed it and put it on the wall. It was so cute and their kids loved seeing their art as “real” art on the wall.
This is such a good idea – I’m getting a lot of tips! One thing we do – because the kids bring home SO MUCH artwork – is take pix of the best stuff, which we will then make into posters for their rooms or maybe do a collage. Sure does save on mess!
ah, i see someone already had that idea! well, we also use bins with lock-tops (from target/walmart) and each has a certain kind of toy (eg, puzzles, all the cars, all the baby toys, all the musical toys, etc). They all are on shelves behind the baby ‘fence’ that protects our fireplace from little hands. One box comes out at a time, if they want to play with something else, they pick up and then get to choose another box.
I’m right there with you. Apparently I should have kept reading. But it doesn’t negate from the awesome idea that it is!!!