Around here, summer’s the time I take to get organized.  I try to work on everything from my pantry to my files to my homeschool room. 

I don’t know about you, but by the end of a long school year, I’ve let a lot of things slide in the area of organization.  A pile of school papers that need to be filed here, a stack of coupons to be clipped there. 

I know this won’t cover everything – it probably won’t even be the tip of the iceberg – but here are some things I’ll be organizing this summer.  Please share your tips!!  I’m always looking for great ideas to pull myself or my house together.

Homeschool Room

            -Go through all of ‘06/07 schoolwork.  Keep a select few samples, pitch the rest.

            -Go through all book shelves.  Pull out things to sell, pitch & give away.  Organize the rest by subject.

            -Go through all supplies (art, writing, manipulatives, etc.)  Pitch the old, organize the good and make a list of things to buy at the back-to-school sales.

            -Start gathering next year’s curriculum, planning sheets, notebooks and such.

Pantry

            -Get everything organized (yet again) with like items.  Put older cans and boxes in front so I’ll use them first.

            -Make a “permanent” grocery list of items that I buy frequently.  I’ll keep copies of this list on a clipboard (with pen attached) in my pantry.  As I notice I’m running low on something, I can quickly check it off on the list.  Organize the list in the order of the aisles at my grocery store so I don’t miss something and have to backtrack.

            -Print off several copies of a weekly menu planner to keep in the pantry, too.

            -Organize my coupons and figure out some good way to use them before they expire!  (I’m so bad at this one – any suggestions would be appreciated!!)

Kitchen

            -Reorganize all my spices so that I can actually find them without having to unload every bottle from my cabinet.

            -Organize the plastic containers so that all the bowls and lids don’t fall out on me every time I open the cabinet. 

            -Buy plastic shoeboxes to organize the smaller containers in my refrigerator.

            -Clip only the recipes I actually use from the mountain of cookbooks I own and put them into a notebook.  Pitch or give away the rest of the books.

Office

            -Set up a better system for in/out/to do mail and paperwork.

            -Go through file cabinets and purge everything I can. 

            -Organize manuals/warranties alphabetically.

            -Go through all magazines.  Rip out and file important stuff.  Give the rest to friends, family, nursing homes…

            -Figure out some way to organize all the pens, pencils, paper clips, staples and hundreds of other little things in the office space.

Clothes & Toys

            -I usually do these twice a year when we switch out clothes for the fall/winter and spring/summer seasons.  We go through everything and decide what needs to be stored for another sibling, what can be given away and what needs to be pitched.  I don’t do yard sales.  (Oh, but I do shop them!!)  First reason, we live to far off the yard sale path.  Second, everything I would put back for a yard sale would find its way back into the life of one of my family members before I could sell it!!  

Basement

            -Try to find LOTS of cheap, but sturdy shelving.  Everything down there needs to be organized.  In fact, I may just pretend none of that is even there this summer!

Computer

            -Download all pictures onto disks to have a hard copy in case of a computer crash.  Make extra disks to give to my parents, so there is an extra copy in case I lose mine or something happens to it.

            -Download all important files onto disks for the same reasons.

Pictures

            -Organize all loose pictures into photo boxes in chronological order.

            -Buy some frames to display more pictures.

Okay.  I think I’ll stop.  If I organize just a few of these things this summer, I’ll be doing really well.  It is summer, I want to play, too!

Cindy West (On Our Journey Westward) is a homeschooling mom of three who enjoys encouraging and inspiring other homeschoolers.

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