Organizing Archives - Page 13 of 14

The “Girl Room”, the art of sharing a bedroom

June 4, 2012 by Jules Leave a Comment

Last night we decided it was time to move the girls in a room together

We'd tried this once before when Izzie 1st moved into a 'toddler' bed {aka a trundle-bed with a guard wall on it}. Magdalene, our oldest, would encourage Isabella to get up and run around the room all while she watched from the comfort of her bed singing loudly. Some nights Maggie would run over to Izzie's bed and mess with her. There was very little sleeping going on so the "girl" room didn't last long. We moved Izzie back in the nursery with Benjamin.

Now that my babies are all three on different, overlapping nap schedules it's become really hard for anyone to start or finish their entire nap without someone being woke up. For a few days we tried letting Iz just sleep in Mag's bed and Mag's sleep in the guest bed. Izzie hated it! She wanted to sleep in her bed.

This past weekend we had my parents and niece, Anna and nephew, David here for the weekend! We all had so much fun and Maggie got to have her cousins sleep in her room with her. Last night, when they left, Maggie was so upset! She cried and cried about not having "someone to sleep with" in her room. She often has trouble going to sleep; getting her mind to settle down. If she would just get still for 10 seconds she's pass out. When it's feasible, I lay with her for a few minutes to get her to sleep quickly.

The more I thought about it I realized I've rarely slept in a room by myself and never really liked it. Maggie's never said it but maybe she's scared? Uncomfortable? Uneasy? Lonely? Matt agreed that we could try it. I mean, we were going to try it when we moved anyways; who knows when that's gonna be ;o) I told Maggie this morning as soon as her sleepy, bed-head wandered into my bathroom, "Maggie, guess what!?! We're gonna move Izzie into your room." Maggie, half asleep, "Really?!? Today? Right now?" Me, "Yep, we're gonna have a girl room and a boy room. Are you excited to have Izzie sleep in a room with you?" Maggie, "Yes! {eeeek}"

I called Izzie upstairs to talk to her about it as we moved the beds. "Izzie, do you want Mamma to move your bed into Maggie's room?" "YEAH!!!!!!" {insert Dancing and jumping!} She watched, giggled, and danced as Matt and I moved her trundle-bed into the corner of Maggie's room. Izzie grabbed sheets in an attempt to help make up her bed. She threw her pillow on top and grinned from ear to ear as we told her this was now the "Girl Room"! She and Jamin jumped on the bed, pretended to sleep and wrestled one another after everything had been set up. Awe, the simple things.

The true test came this afternoon when it was...{dun dun dun}...NAP TIME! Jamin was finishing his nap in his bed and we told the girls it was their nap time. Grumbles. Then, we reminded them that we'd moved the bed so they could share a room. Zooooom, up the stairs they flew.

Izzie snuggled down into her bed. I was still unsure about Maggie singing and wiggling herself to sleep while keeping Izzie awake so we laid her down in the guest bed again. Izzie passed out immediately in her own bed in the "Girl Room"...Maggie, I found dancing on the guest bed ~30 min later. I went to tuck her back in and she ask why Izzie wasn't in there with her. She remembered that we said they could "sleep together". She was right, this was kinds defeating the purpose. I reminded her that Izzie was already asleep so she couldn't sing or talk because it would wake her up. I snuck her into her own bed. She grinned as she snuggled down into her covers, gazing across the room at her sleeping little sister. I kissed her goodnight and returned to Jamin in his highchair eating lunch down stairs.

Another 30 minutes passed. No noise. Hmmm, I snuck upstairs to gloat over my accomplishment only to find Maggie sitting up in her bed grinning. As I walked over to scold her she whispered, "I've only been over there twice to check on her. I just gave her kisses." Awe, how can you scold that kind of sweet disobedient child? I told her that Izzie would be fine and she needed to SLEEP with Izzie in her room.

20 minutes later, just now, I went to check on them. I WIN!!!! They were both snooze'n! In their beds. Still tucked in. Now we just pray Izzie wakes up peacefully and wonders out of the room without waking Maggie.

This thought is something new I'm mulling over: God didn't create us to be independent. WE make up the body of Christ therefore we are all incomplete without one another. God's persona is too big to be complete in a single person. Thoughts???

I've had several questions from friends about how/why we do certain things around the Rothacher house. I want to write about them but don't know which one(s) to start with. What do you want to know?
Why do you have that tacky brown sheet covering the wind?
How did you figure out your child's nap schedule? What is your napping schedule?
Why do your children share a room when you have a guest room?
Who made the name canvases for the doors?
How long do your children sleep?
How can you just take them to their bed(s), lay them down, and them go to sleep without getting up {minus the lonely one ;o)}?
Or any other questions not listed?

Filed Under: Being a Help-Meet, Homemaker, Organizing, Parenting, The ones about the Rothacher Home

How-To Make Preschool “Centers” at HOME

May 15, 2012 by Jules 7 Comments

Remember you own preK or kindergarten?

I sure do! As a kindergartener I remember hours of fun; moving from one area of the room to the next. Feeling like a grown up being able to find exactly what I needed, being able to put it away on my own, having freedom to travel the room choosing what to do.

Have any of you ever worked at a preschool? Visited a daycare?

I have worked in several as a work-study job and in many others as a substitute teacher. While studying in college to earn my Psychology degree I remember going back and forth between class and subbing. It was amazing to see the things I was learning in class in a tangible way as I watched the children. "Centers" help hone in their creativity. Simplifies so while still having choices they are not overwhelmed. Simple organization goes a long way in making them feel secure and not scattered like their toys. Here are the centers we have INside:

Manipulative Center

We currently have lots of different manipulative: Puzzles, baby toy manipulative, Playdough, etc. These toys and tools enhance children's fine motor skills and helps strengthen their hands, helps with eye-hand coördination, helps improve their writing skills.

Art Center

The art and Playdough supplies are on the top shelves because I don't yet allow my kids to do these things without supervision or at least permission. We do these while the "baby" is napping. There are infinite numbers of how this center developes creativity in children as well as motor skills through working with the Playdough, steering scissors, maneuvering glue, paper and other supplies, and yelling writing utensils.

Music Center

We currently have lots of different instruments that all fit on this shelf {minus the large piano} including record player, piano, 2 microphones, bongos, radio, and 5 maracas. This center may seem like a pointless reason to have unbearable noise but music can "enhance the intellectual development of children, stimulate brain function, and produce gains in test scores." (1)

Block Center

We currently have a set of large Lego blocks {multi colored} and a small set of Jinja blocks {light wooden brown}. These are great for all ages. Just some of the possibilities for learning are: construction, transformation, measurement, spatial relationships, classification. It can even built language skill when they are asked to tell about their creation.

Board Game Center

We currently have LOTS of board games. This shelf only contains the building, matching, and simple games they can do on their own.

Little People Center

We currently have a set a basket of people, a basket of animals, and a few vehicles for the Little People. This center is similar to the dramatic play center but has smaller 'dolls' to play with works as a 3rd person play, pretending what someone else is doing rather than yourself. We often add empty boxes to this play as furniture, buildings, etc.

Vehicle Center

We currently have this center divided into trucks/trains and cars/buses just because we have so many. Our favorite thing to do with our vehicles is

Dramatic Play Center

Currently we have a large kitchen set with tons of food play {lots of variety}. We also have a 'dress up' corner, baby shelf, and lots of baby accessories throughout the playroom. This provides the opportunity for learning rolls for later in life: Parenting, cooking, home maintenance, cleaning, and endless number of other career options that can rotate in and out of this long-term center.

Reading Center

We currently have a single book shelf that houses all of our children's book {except a small basket of "bed time" books and Bibles in the girls bedroom}. I have them sorted according to age-appropriate by height {unfortunately my ~18 month old can almost reach the top shelf}. I have the baby books {ie board books with mainly pictures} on the bottom shelf accessible to all ages but most enticing to the youngest {shortest}. THe middle shelf has more board books that contain more words {needing longer attention span} and are reachable by all kids. The top shelf has "real page" books/paper back books as well as books with pop-ups, or pieces that would be better read by an older child or with help. Having access to books builds a love for reading. They feel more like toys or privilege and not an assignment or chore. This center developes a love of words, encourages motor skills, thinking skills, reading comprehension, as well as the ability to sit still building on attention span. "The number of words one knows as well as the depth of understanding of those words is related to the ability to think."

I couldn't find a simple way to summarize the importance of reading so I've added links to some articles about reading at an early age:
10 Reasons Why You Should Read to Your Kids
What is the importance of reading to a child?
Another article on Ten {more} Important Reasons to Read to Your Child

That may sound complicated but we basically group like things together to help my children know where to find things, where to put them away, and makes it easier to have them play with few things at once cutting down on mass chaos in the playroom.

Do you have a toy "system" that works for you? Please share!!!

Another great read is by Alina Joy over at HC, My Toy System That Keeps Itself Clean!

Return for 5 Days of Organizing & Cleaning TOYS into centers!!!

Citations
(1) Rausher, 1995 via Isbell & Raines "Creativity and the Arts with Young Children 2nd edition

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Filed Under: Homeschool, Organizing, Parenting, The ones about the Rothacher Home Tagged With: baby dolls, baby toys, board games, development, dramatic play, dress-up, little people, music, organization, preschool centers, puzzles, Vehicles

5 Ways to Organize The Toy Monster

May 8, 2012 by Jules 3 Comments

When my hubs and I started talking about having babies one of the things we discusses was TOYS. Matt mentioned that he would like if our house didn't look like a toys store and would love if the living room wasn't overtaken by toys. I agreed and thought that was a reasonable request. Thus, the "centers" began.

With just Maggie, our 2 bedroom 1 bathroom house was easy to keep clear of too many toys. Over the past 3 years we've double the size of our house and family. Here are a few key things we've set in place to organize and minimize the TOY craziness of life with kids. These tips are to know what toys to keep, which to share, how to maintain a pick-up home quickly while allowing your child to help in the process as well as instilling in them some independence.

We purposely keep very few toys. We purge so often that it's often the 'talk' among relatives if their toy will make the cut {sorry guys!}. We want to keep it simple. Here is the criteria for keeping a toy: educational either physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. There are so many kids in this world that have nothing, we don't need to hoard crazy amounts of toys. Why not share!?
We attempt to be purposeful about toys we have. We generally don't do Happy Meal toys, stuffed things, or small pieces. We enjoy basic things that can be used in a variety of play arenas {ie blocks- used from staking, pretend furniture, to detailed cities layouts; dolls- comfort, pretend friend, to parenting}. I will be sharing more about skill building through centers next week. We don't buy toys. Well, let me explain that one. Relatives and friends will more than likely always provide plenty of toys for our children and we do get our children 1 toy for holidays {mainly Christmas/Birthday...usually}.
We have chosen not to have toys in our children's rooms so they know bedrooms are just for sleeping. Providing your child with a restful environment that is peaceful, dark, quiet, and almost boring is the best way to encourage good sleeping.
We have had many ways to organize the toys. We used to have "adult colored" baskets of toys in the living room but they were easily slipped under the coffee table or off to the corner. When we moved into our current home and had the HUGE blessing of a playroom we still stuck with baskets but they are now there are more of them {as are there more children} and they divided more specifically.
We rotate toys so our children stay interested in what they have and so there aren't too many scattered around the house. We never put all new toys out after a holiday. A couple are places among the other toys, a few older toys as well as the rest of the new toys are put into a closet and rotated out later. Some times our children have been know to be "grounded" from a specific toys for being selfish with it, or for mismanagement such as not it cleaning up when ask or playing with it rough or inappropriately.

Hope these are some practical hints to help you manage the Toy Monster that eeks into everyone's house the moment you find out your pregnant ;o) If you have any awesome ideas, we'd LOVE to hear them.

NOTE: We are about to transition to a new {smaller} home so we'll see what kind of organization comes with that and keep ya update!

Return for 5 Days of Organizing & Cleaning TOYS into centers!!!

Filed Under: Cleaning, Homemaker, Homeschool, Organizing, Parenting, The ones about the Rothacher Home Tagged With: clean, how to, organization, toys

Staging to Sell

May 7, 2012 by Jules 5 Comments

As many of you know, we are moving and having to sell our beautiful home...okay, no more talking about that {tear}. Today I wanna share how I am staging my home to sell it! According to all my reasearch this should get it off the market FAST! Join me over at The Homemaker's Challenge where I'm sharing with all our friends simple staging steps for both the inside and outside of you home!

What was your favorite tip for staging?

I started keeping these glad smell-goods filled when I started "showing" my home. Just say'n 😉

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Filed Under: Homemaker, Organizing, The Ones about Homemaker's Challenge

How I Made (& Use) My Preschooler’s Routine Chore Chart

January 7, 2012 by Jules 2 Comments

This year my goal is to get my house in order! You know what I mean, everyone running on a comfortable routine that keeps things moving, but with room to grow.

One of the things I made last summer was this chart, for lack of a better term, for my oldest daughter {3.5-years-old}. She is always asking, "What are we doing next?" "What are we doing today?" "Can I do _____ now?" She is also a huge help with some things if I have the time to train her how as well as reminder her to do them. I'm praying that, with a little consistency on my part, these tools can help our entire household stay in order this year.

Check out the step-by-step process to making and using this routine chore chart as well as FREE PRINTABLES so you can make one for your home simply and easily. I'm sharing all of this over at the homemaker's challenge. While you're over there, you should check out all the other GREAT new years posts! {Homemaker's Challenge F-R-E-E Recipe eBook coming soon!}