Round toits, lists and let’s get organized!

I have a distinct memory of when I was 8 and my eldest cousin was 15 being given a ‘Round toit’.  He was given it for Christmas from his parents and he placed it on his bedroom door along with the stickers of the time, and various other statements of youth.  It was divided up into segments, each depicting a chore: vacuuming, cleaning up bedroom, doing the dishes, taking a shower (!!) – I think you get the idea, and there was an arrow affixed to the center that would point to the said task that you were getting ’round toit’.  The idea still makes me smile.  Apart from running his own business and being terribly organized he seems to do well multi-tasking…. may be he could pass it down to his godson and his brother.  I have a feeling living in a world of testosterone, I shall be dishing out many of these ’round toits’ over the coming years.

Feel free to print off as many as you need and dish out to family members as required.

What I always need is something for lists….I hate them, but I need them…. for shopping, for getting organized for day trips, for holidays (?!) and sometimes just to remind myself to put socks on in the morning.  I have for years used scraps of bits of paper held together by a clip and stuck on the fridge.  No harm in that – it reuses bits of scrap paper that otherwise would have just ended up in either the drawing box or into the recycle bin directly.  But wouldn’t it be nice to have a nice piece of note paper to scribble those much needed memory joggers on?  Well I thought so, so did a bit of digging, and I know I have only scratched the surface… but here are a few of my favourites.

One for the Brits out there, but also available for shipping here to the US is Organised Mum.  I have had this on my fridge for a while and it has just run out…darn.  It has room to plan your family meals and write that list of goodies needed from the super market.  The only problem I had was my writing was often a little too big for the spaces and I often write out my list in order of the store layout… but for £5.00 it has been worth it.  They also do this great family magnetic organizer below.

You should also check out their new range: made by me, I love the calendar children can create themselves.  Don’t be put off that it is from the UK- postage is fair, quick and products are excellent. I can vouch for that…oh and both my boys have the baby’s first year calendar. Marvellous.

I have also grown to love Mom Agenda. Oh girls they have some beau-ti-ful goodies. Diaries, planners, cool grocery lists (see the one below) it’s a steal at $7.95.

I love, love, love this all in one planner.  It has everything AND it looks great… oh did I forget to mention that it is 15% off at the mo too…. they have many more great items that you should check out and lots on sale too, in some cases up to 50%.  Now they don’t come cheap, cheap, but I think you will agree that these little lovelies will make heads turn when you whip then out of your bag to check to see if your little angel is free for a play date on Thursday!

So what little tips do you have or use to stay organized when your world is getting a little crazy?  I’m always up for new ideas.