My Jars (for Jen)

I've owed this post to my friend Jen for a while. She's one of the few people I know who's as much of an organizational geek as I am. I couldn't believe it the first time I saw her kitchen cabinets. Every cabinet, heck, even the fridge, was sorted into zones by use and labeled. It was amazing. It was something I would do. But shamefully, hadn't.

Was it kitchen-cabinet envy that sent me on my quest for the perfect storage jars? No, I don't think it was. As I said, it was something I'd do anyway, left to my own devices (anyone who's seen my linen and medicine cabinets can attest to that). But perhaps the idea that someone else would appreciate my efforts helped motivate me. Actually, the real impetus was that I started buying more whole foods in bulk (see the Momnivore for more on our family's lifestyle changes). Unfortunately, those stupid, flimsy little bags you use at the bulk bins turn into squishy little green bean bags in the pantry, hard to store and even harder to see or remember what was in them. I'm not a big fan of wasting food, so I went in search of a new storage solution.

I wanted something clear that had an airtight seal. There are dozens of types of plastic containers available, and for a while I was seriously considering OXO's Pop containers, which are not only super-cute, but they use them for the entire professional pantry on Iron Chef America, which is pretty impressive (even if I assume that OXO generously donated all those containers to ICA). Ultimately, there were two reasons I didn't go with the Pop containers. First, they aren't inexpensive. They're reasonably priced and I'm not saying they aren't worth their cost, but I couldn't afford to do a whole pantry one $10+ container at a time. More importantly, though, they're plastic. It seems like every season we discover a new chemical leaking out of our plastics, so who knows if 3 years after I buy hundreds of dollars of these containers, currently deemed food-safe, we'll learn that they aren't safe for food at all? No, I knew I wanted good, old fashioned glass. You know, glass. Really hot sand. I'm comfortable with that.

This is where it got complicated. I knew exactly what I wanted: hermetically sealed jars. Think of a Mason canning jar, but with a rubber gasket and that wire & bail that holds the lid on tight. I know it's something completely foreign to most people, but I grew up in Northern New England and seriously, ancient stuff that works never goes out of style there. Apparently, however, it does everywhere else - except Europe! It took hours of online searches to wade through the over-priced, tiny, decorative (read: useless) little jars and find proper food jars, but finally I found just what I wanted at GlassWarehouse.org: 2-quart, square glass food storage jars with hermetically sealing lids by Italian glass maker Fido. I love the Internet, but I have to confess this search was a long one with a lot of wrong turns, so I ordered 6 cases. The worst part was the shipping cost (ok, and the fact that they arrived in two 50-lb boxes - lucky my DH was home), but the jars themselves were less than $ 4.50 each since I bought enough to break the wholesale minimum. I've opted not to label them since I can see the contents and going label-free allows me to change their contents whenever I want. One unexpected perk is that recently we had an informal party and I was able to grab several of the jars with snacks in them and simply put them out on the buffet, since they're so simple and pretty.

It took about six months of searching and researching, but these jars are exactly what I wanted, and I love them! Here are my honest, unretouched before (l) and after (r) pantry pictures. Of course, I also use my new jars to keep baking yeast fresh in the fridge, and to keep the dog's treats crunchy, and to... well, you get the idea.

Ta-Da!

Organize Now!

That's not me yelling at you; that's the title of the latest organization book I picked up. I'm a total lit junkie, so I read all the time, but I don't often find a book I like well enough to give it the ol' college try. Organize Now! by Jennifer Ford Berry may be one of those books.

The first thing that caught my eye is that the book is spiral-bound, which implies quick reference and interaction to me. Sure enough, there are checklists for each week, along with space for notes. And, although there are 52 weeks of topics, the author invites the reader to use them as she feels best. Good - that means I can skip stuff I don't like! Oh, did I say that out loud? I meant I can skip over areas in which I'm already perfectly organized. The book is a compact 6" x 8" or so, so I can bring it with me if I like, and has hard covers to endure the trip. This author obviously has a real life and thought of some of this stuff! Actually, she's a professional organizer in the NY state and has kids and everything. See? She is real after all. Here's her website, Organize This Life.

This week I'm trying Week 1: Organize Your Mind. Ha! Oh, sorry, was that out loud again? Actually, it was really easy to incorporate the weekly goals into my usual weekly planning (I use a Franklin-Covey paper planner, not a PDA or computer program). I just added the goals to my tasks or appointments or on my Compass Card as needed. Most of the goals for this week are very useful and practical - basic, "square one" stuff that I should be doing all the time. Some people may find it redundant, but I needed the reminders. For example, one of the goals is to get 7 hours of sleep a night. No, I don't, but I am keeping track of it this week and actively working on getting more and better sleep. Two of the more challenging goals are to well, make goals, and to eliminate negative "energy drainers" in my life, including unhealthy relationships and clutter and unfinished projects. I kind of feel like if I could do all that in a week, I would be the one writing the book, but I appreciate the direction she's taking, starting with taking care of the reader herself before worrying about where to file receipts. That's nice.

I don't anticipate doing everything in the whole book, and I won't bore you to tears with tales from my sock drawer, but I will let you know my overall opinion of this book over time. There are SO many resources out there that it's a relief to find a really good one. I'm hoping this is one of them!

Namaste'

How-To for Moms

Have you ever noticed how many practical guides aren't very practical if you have kids? My kiddos are 6 and 3, not too little, but certainly not independent. We're pretty much out of the sticking-things-in-the-socket stage, but not quite to the put-'em-to-work stage. Maybe I'm the only person out there with children, but I kind of doubt that. Still, every book I read on home organization, or every how-to guide seems to be ignore the fact that there are children in the world. I'm not the kind of person who has a messy home and simply chalks it up to having kids; that's not what I'm talking about at all. I think most people who have visited my home would call it fairly neat & tidy most of the time, even though my youngest still makes finger paint out of peanut butter sandwiches smooshed into a paste with her chocolate milk. So this isn't an excuse session, it's an observation, and perhaps, recognition of a niche that someone should fill, please. I would, but I'm still scraping play-doh out of the carpet.

Here's an example of what I mean: Unclutter Your Life in One Week! by Erin Doland. I loved the angle she took with this home organization book. Basically, you are to organize areas based on your daily routine and common activities. Clever, no? Instead of cleaning the pantry first simply because it's the biggest mess or something, you start with your closet, assuming that you start your DAY by getting dressed. I hadn't seen this approach before, and it made sense to me. Unfortunately, the author has (or had, at the time of writing) no children, so she hardly mentions them at all. It's obvious that she doesn't realize that most moms have to organize their own things, and each of the children's' things, as well as all the public spaces of the home. Wait until she finds out that action figures outnumber Barbie outfits in some homes 3 to 1. Oh, and for the record, the only way you could honestly Unclutter Your Life in One Week! following this book is if you had no friends, family, or possessions in your already immaculate minimalist condo. I'm guessing no one like that is reading this or is considering this book, but if you are, you can do it! *** Update 2/25/10 See the comment from the author below - not only is she now a mom (congratulations!) but a family organization book may be on the way! Thanks for the reply, Erin!

Another example: dog training. Many behavioral problems pets have can be easily fixed with some simple training and patience. I'm perfectly capable of understanding these training techniques and the logic behind them. However, I'm NOT capable of leaving the house 48 times an hour to condition my dog to ignore it, since my children can't ignore it, and every time I grab the keys they want to come too, "Mummy, you goin' out? K'I come? K'I come, Mummy? Where we going?". I'm also apparently not capable of walking the dog while pushing the jogging stroller without destroying the alignment of the $300 stroller. Of course, consistency is key when training a pet. Consistency? Kids? At the same time? HA! That's a good one. I'm lucky to impose a basic schedule on the family for dinner and bedtime most days, and even that has some flexibility built in. It's not a lack of desire or planning on my part, it's the modern American family lifestyle. Dinner is at 5:30 (insanely early) so that the kids can have their baths and be ready to unwind quietly for an hour before they go to sleep at 8. That's reasonable. Except on Mondays we have Cub Scouts until almost 8, and other days we have to pick up the dog at daycare across town at 4, and sometimes Daddy's home for dinner and that changes everything. Life happens. Point being, I'd love to follow the training guides to a T and create the perfectly healthy, happy, stable pet, but that's simply not practical. I'll work with him when I can, and we'll just have to offer up love and patience in the meantime.

Don't you have this problem too? You start something, anything, only to have a kid, or two or three, pop up and ask to help, or get in some sort of fix where they need a hand? My husband got in big trouble not too long ago by complaining that he was "working, not babysitting" when he was cleaning the garage and the kids were outside. While his choice of words were regrettable (no worries, he's recovering nicely), I can certainly sympathize with his frustration. I need a How-To Guide to Everything for Moms. I need real tasks, like snaking the lint trap on the dryer, broken down into real step-by-step guides, INCLUDING all the interruptions and mom-points.

It might read like this: Open dryer door, remove lint screen. Trade something with your toddler for the dryer brush. Insert dryer brush into lint screen slot. Use tug-of-war with toddler over dryer brush to loosen residue on the sides of the slot. Send child to kitchen for cookie. Frantically wiggle dryer brush in slot to find bottom vent and further insert brush before child returns.

Alternately, the steps could all be broken down into 5 minute increments. Or age-appropriate "helping" could be listed with each task. I'm sure there are many ways to make it work. After all, many of us make a ton of tasks work every day without even trying. Did you feed everyone today? Clothe everyone? Clean the house? Pack everything and get everyone where they need to be? Oh, and remembered to feed Fido, too? Sure you did, and all while keeping them all safe and happy. So it CAN be done. I just need to figure out how to take it to the next level. Time to start that How-To for Moms research!