Wrapping a present requires lots of small parts – scissors, tape, ribbon, bags, tissue paper, and the wrapping paper itself. If everyone in your house has gifts to wrap, it won’t be long until these wrapping tools have scattered to the four corners of your house. Setting up a gift wrapping station in a designated …
Make Room for the Feast
December 10, 2012With the holidays come elaborate meals, both the ones you prepare yourself and the leftovers you bring home from work and school potlucks. Throughout the season, take the time to regularly clean out your fridge and make room for the next delicacies. Give yourself a recurring reminder each Thursday, and you won’t end up trying …
Holiday Card Organization
December 3, 2012The first step to tackling your annual holiday card sendoff – make a list. Whether you make a file on your computer or get a designated Address Book that you keep with your decorations, keeping the addresses from year to year will help the smooth out the process.
Shop Online – Save Time
November 26, 2012Last year, a record 226 million people shopped on Black Friday, crowding even the stores that opened Thanksgiving night. The smart shoppers found their deals online, saving gas, time, and their sanity. Take advantage of our Cyber Week Sale – we’re extending Black Friday discounts throughout the week. See Cyber Week Deals Here >
Make Time For Family Traditions
November 19, 2012In the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it’s all too easy to crowd your schedule with school events and holiday party preparations. As you make your plans, make sure to include some unstructured time for your family to have fun and create new traditions. Your spontaneous gingerbread house might end up looking like …
Create A Holiday Organization List
November 12, 2012The secret to success is learning from your past experiences. With that in mind, it’s helpful to create a master list for organizing your holiday season. As you go through the holidays, keep track of tasks and schedules and note what went well. If cramming all the holiday decorating into the day after Thanksgiving left …
Holiday Traveling
November 5, 2012As you get ready to head off to visit family or take a resort vacation this holiday season, it helps to be prepared for travel surprises. According to the Better Business Bureau, many different aspects of holiday travel can have hidden fees attached, from airline pet fees to GPS usage fees in your rental car. …
Daylight Saving Time Ends November 4, 2012
October 29, 2012Don’t forget to “Fall Back” this weekend. Winter is on its way with shorter days and longer nights. It’s time to adjust our clocks to fit Mother Nature’s schedule. We suggest turning all your clocks back before you go to bed, but after your children fall asleep. It will give you one more hour of …
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Oct 22-30 is Red Ribbon Week
October 22, 2012Red Ribbon Week was invented to get your kids talking about a serious topic, and they certainly will talk. The question is will you be the one to provide a parental perspective? Red Ribbon Week automatically breaks the ice—it’s its own conversation starter. Take advantage of it and let your kids know what you see …
Read As A Family
October 15, 2012Want your children to develop a love of reading? Read with them. Even children who are too young to speak or struggle to read can benefit from having stories read to them. It helps them develop language and improve their comprehension skills. Besides that, it’s a lot of fun.
Whistle While You Work
October 8, 2012There are a lot of people who believe the Seven Dwarfs were onto something—whistling while they worked. Music has a strong effect on us. It can lift our spirits, get us dancing to the beat, or even cause serious reflection. So is music a good way to improve your work and your outlook? Sure it …
Celebrate National Book Month
October 1, 2012It’s National Book Month. Treat yourself with a new book and rediscover your love for reading. You may even consider cracking open that old favorite and reading it to a child. See if they love it as much as you do. You’ll be surprised how little it takes to open minds, broaden understanding, and encourage …
Autumn Onset – Chores
September 24, 2012Getting your home ready for the winter takes some time, with several small things that can add up quickly. Putting these tasks on your calendar in advance can help you get them done in order, letting you enjoy autumn without paying for it with an emergency chore weekend when winter weather hits. Here are some …
Paperwork Organization
September 17, 2012With the start of school, suddenly we have to dig out required documents and paperwork again, searching through our filing systems for birth certificates and immunization records. If your filing system makes this a challenge, start simple. Add some colored file folders to your cabinet, and use a specific color for each category. For example, …
Scheduling Family Dinner
September 3, 2012With all the distractions of today’s busy families, it can be difficult to schedule time for family dinner. But if possible, set aside a half-hour together as a family for eating and talking about the day. As you do, remember to keep it positive – if it turns into an airing of grievances, your kids …
Study Space
August 27, 2012With so many aspects of life interconnected and crisscrossed with distractions, making a dedicated study space can help you focus on learning. Select a well-lit quiet corner of your home, then stock it with everything you need for studying – pencils, notepads, highlighters, etc. If you don’t have space at your home, you can put …
Healthy Lunch
August 20, 2012If you’re thinking of eating healthier and saving money, lunch is a great place to start. The site Accounting Principals surveyed 1,000 people and found that each year, the average American spends $1,092 on morning coffee and $1,924 on going out to lunch. That’s more than $3,000 – think of the groceries that you could …
Locker Organization
August 13, 2012With so many students crammed into today’s schools, there’s a premium on limited locker space, even when doubled up. So instead of piling up books and digging through them for each class, think magnetic. Putting a Magnetic Bin on the inside of the locker door gives you a space to store small things like pens, …
Note-Taking
August 6, 2012In the age of Google and smart phones, we have seemingly limitless information at our fingertips. But when it’s test time and the phone goes away, then we have to rely on what we have stored in our own brains. Taking notes during class lectures not only helps you prepare your brain through further study, …
Battery Back-Up
July 30, 2012Whether you’re going out for a full day of school or heading home for the weekend, keeping the batteries charged in your devices can make all the difference in your day. But rather than carrying around a coiled charger cord, there are several other options for keeping things powered. Using battery pack cases can more than …
