Turning my Daughter into an OCD Freak

I wanted to title this post "Turning my daughter into an anal (as in anal retentive) freak", but was scared of the traffic I would get. O.o 

The thing about being anal retentive/OCD is that I get to raise my kids that way. I am sure they will both love need therapy because of it. 

Like most parents, I suspect, the kiddos give me trouble listening and getting shit done. Especially in the mornings. So with advice from a friend, I made this chore chart for The Good Daughter to use.

It lives on the fridge, below our Family Command Center, so TGD can see it easily and follow it.

I included the simple chores she needs to do everyday. Some "chores" she does everyday already, so there was no fight there and it was an easy way for her to earn her stamps/rewards.

We use stamps that she got from Santa to mark off each chore. If she gets stamps for each chore for the day, she will get one sticker. If she gets 5 stickers, she will get a reward. A reward that she chooses- so far this is going to the park. 

I like to start the chart on Monday to give her a chance to earn her reward by the weekend and to get her into a routine for pre-k in the fall.

So far it seems to be working. There have been no meltdowns in the mornings while trying to get dressed, even if she does still take her sweet ass time. And it is a nice way to settle down at the end of the night, by stamping the chores that she did and talking about doing them again tomorrow.

If you like this chore chart and would like one customized, just shoot me an email - majorwife at gmail dot com - and I will be happy to make one for you.

Week 44 of the Weekly Organization Challenge

This is week 44 of The Good Wife's Weekly Organization Challenge! This week focused on crafts.

I will admit that I like to get my craft on and on.

But I don't have a lot of crafty shit just hanging out. I tend to buy what I need for a project and nothing more. So I end up with odds and ends and a whole lot of tape.

But I keep it all fairly contained within a drawer in our buffet. 

If you have an entire room dedicated to crafting or just a drawer, the first rule is to contain, contain, contain. Keep all of your paints in one spot or container. Same for makers and pens and scissors and the like. Keeping everything together and grouped will make for less mess and easy retrieval when it is time to get your craft on.

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Week 43 of the Weekly Organization Challenge

This is week 43 of The Good Wife's Weekly Organization Challenge! This week focused on creating a personal home inventory.

This by far is the most intensive organization challenge but once you get in a rhythm, it will become easy. And once you get an initial home inventory in place, any time you make a big purchase - like a new couch or tv - you can just add it on. 

click here to download your free copy

Why the hell do you need a home inventory?

It's a good idea to have one in case of anything happening to your house or you stuff. This way you have a record of all your stuff for insurance purposes. You will need to know the value of your stuff and just what stuff you have. 

1. Start with the Home Inventory Log (above) and checklist (see below). 

2. Go room to room and document everything in the room, staring with the big ticket items. Take photos or video and describe each item. 

3. If you have the receipts for the large items, keep them with the log. If you are just staring the Home Inventory project, and don't have the receipts, don't worry. The next time you buy something large - like a new flat screen tv - make a copy of the receipt and include it when you are adding it to your home inventory log. 

4. Make copies of your log and photos. Burn everything onto a CD or DVD and make several copies to store on your computer and external hard drives. 

5. And keep a copy outside of your house, like in your safe deposit box. And remember to keep it updated. 

Now, what do you need to inventory? 

Below are the things you should inventory, listed by room.
 

Living Room 
~Artwork

~Books
~Camera
~Collections
~Couches/recliners 
~DVD player 
~Family room furniture and contents
~Fireplace equipment 
~Game systems (such as Wii, Playstation, Xbox, etc.) 
~Living room furniture and contents 
~Musical instruments
~Piano/organ 
~Television 
~Toys and games

Dining Room

~China

~Crystal/glassware

~Dining room furniture and contents

~Table linens

Bedroom

~Beds

~Bedding

~Bedroom furniture and contents (master and all additional bedrooms)

~Clothing

~Jewelry

Bathroom

~Bathroom(s) furniture and contents

Kitchen

~Appliances

~Cabinets

~Dishes and utensils

~Food in pantry, refrigerator and freezer

~Freezer

~Kitchen furniture and contents

~Pots and pans, and other kitchen equipment

~Refrigerator

 ~Silverware/cutlery

 ~Stove/oven

 ~Tables/chairs

Home office/craft room

~Computer/computer accessories (i.e., printer, scanner, etc.)

~Craft materials

~Electronics

~Home office furniture and contents

~Hobby items

~Sewing machine

~Stereo

~Video equipment 

Laundry room

~Ironing equipment

~Laundry room furniture, appliances and contents

~Washer/dryer

Basement

~Basement furniture and contents

~Dehumidifier

Attic

~Attic furniture and contents

~Christmas (and other holiday) decorations

Outside

~Air conditioner window units / portable heaters

~Lawn furniture

~Lawn games

~Plants and landscaping

Garage

~Automobile equipment

~Bikes

~Garage furniture and contents

~Garden equipment

~Golf clubs

~Grill

~Ladders

~Lawn mower

~Tools

~Sporting goods and equipment

~Workbench

Whole House

~Carpets and rugs

~Ceiling fans

~Curtains and draperies

~Decorative items

~Fixtures

~Furniture

~Hall(s) furniture and contents

~Items in storage (within your home)

~Lamps

~Shelving

Hopefully, you can take a week - or three! - and soon have a complete home inventory system in place.

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Week 42 of the Weekly Organization Challenge

This is week 42 of The Good Wife's Weekly Organization Challenge! This week focused on addresses/contact information.

I got this home address book years ago. It has been a staple in our house since.

I love that it has several different sections - as you can see. Quick reference, contacts, important dates, card list and directions.

I use this several times a year - when sending invitations out for parties, sending holiday cards, etc. This contacts the addresses and contact info for almost everyone we know. It is the long form home address book.

I think it is important to have on hand the address for that aunt that you only see once a year but still need to send thank you cards to occasionally. 

But I still wanted something that contained the information we use the most and that wouldn't necessarily go in a home address book.

When I first got the idea for The Brains of the Operations, aka Household Binder, addresses and contact lists were the first things I thought of and made a template for. To me, they very much are the brains behind the whole operation here. You can see when I talked about our Family Command Center, that I have both a home address book and Brains of the Operation, aka Household Binder. 

I feel like all I do is talk about our contact lists but really, I just love having everything within reach and right where I need it. 

Please tell me I am not totally insane. Right?

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Tiramisu

For Thanksgiving this year, I went Italian. So I needed a dessert that was classic Italian and with enough flavor to oust pumpkin pie as the traditional dessert.

So I made a tiramisu. And it was awesome. I might have eaten 99% of it myself. Screw the rest of my family that didn't want any. That was just more for MMMEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

I don't know why I had waited so long to make this. Lord knows it has been on my list since for-eva. I think maybe I thought it was too labor intensive. It was not. I was able to make this with half a bottle of wine under my belt and a 3 year old "helping". 

 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup heavy cream 

2 large eggs, separated 

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar 

1 cup pound mascarpone

1 cup strong brewed espresso at room temperature 

1 7-ounce package dry ladyfingers

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting or 1/4 bar chocolate for chocolate shavings

  

Directions:
~In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with the 1/3 cup of sugar until light in color. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until they hold soft peaks. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar to the whites and beat until they're firm and glossy. In separate bowl, whip the heavy cream until it is firm. Using a rubber spatula, fold the whipped cream into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the mascarpone and one-third of the beaten egg whites. Gently fold in the remaining egg whites.

~Pour the espresso into a shallow bowl. Quickly dip both sides of half of the ladyfingers in the espresso and line the bottom of an 8-by-10 baking dish. Spoon half of the mascarpone mixture over the ladyfingers and spread it in a smooth, even layer. Repeat until you have two layers of cookies and cream. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

~Just before serving, sift the cocoa powder over the top of the tiramisu or using a vegetable peeler, shave a bar of chocolate over the top. Cut the tiramisu into squares and serve.

recipe modified from: here

Week 41 of the Weekly Organization Challenge

This is week 41 of The Good Wife's Weekly Organization Challenge! This week focused on email and internet passwords, manuals and warranties.

For years I used a different password for every single email address, website and sign-up. And for years I would always have to use the "forgot password" thing-y on every.single.damn.site. Then someone clued my dumbass into a universal password. And it changed my life. I have not used the "forgot password" thing since.

The idea is to use one main password - for example, Pass!w0rd - but then add letters or numbers to it for each website you use. Say you use the online coupon feature for your local Stop and Shop. Your password for that becomes Pass!w0rdSNS. See how easy? I wish someone would have told me sooner about this little trick.

But what do you do if you have a bunch of different passwords already or you get hit by a bus and your significant other needs to log into your online account to pay the gas bill? Well, you use this password tracker, that's what!

Now, what about manuals and warranties? I like to keep my manuals and warranties in my Appliance Binder.

Up next - contact lists and addresses!

You can now get this printable and more in my Etsy Shop! 

The List Pack includes the Website Password Tracker. It is also available in The Good Wife Home Management Pack. You can also get CUSTOMIZED printables too!

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Week 40 of the Weekly Organization Challenge

This is week 40 of The Good Wife's Weekly Organization Challenge! This week focused on filing system.

Now that we have our mail out of the way, our bills paid and the papers we need to keep in order, we need a way to store all this shit.

The obvious answer is a filing cabinet. We currently have one that lives in The Good Son's room until we can move it downstairs. Its ugly and I have plans on making it pretty, but for now, it just holds all our massive paper collection. 

Don't be like me and hoard every piece of paper you get. Instead have categories that are actually useful.

Some typical home file categories to consider making files for include:

~Medical file for each family member (use these logs to help keep track)
~Home maintenance file, with receipts of major expenditures (use this log to help keep track)
~Real estate documents
~Insurance policies (for each one, noting the years it covered)
~Automobile documents (separate file for each car and use this log to help keep track)
~Credit card documents (NOTE: Not the bills. This should contain the agreement, privacy policies, etc, for each card)
~Banking records (one for each account at each bank)
~Loan documents (one for each loan)
~Investment records (one for each investment, 401(k), IRA, etc)
~Vital documents (such as birth and marriage certificates, will, etc)*
~Personal home inventory (see upcoming post)*
~Tax documents
~Warranties and manuals (see how I keep mine)

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Week 39 of the Weekly Organization Challenge

This is week 39 of The Good Wife's Weekly Organization Challenge! This week focused on receipts/tax documents.

Since I work from home and have hoarder tendencies, I tend to keep a lot of paperwork around. It's not as bad as it used to be but I could stand to let things go. I justify that I need to keep everything b/c I saw Erin Brockovich years ago and we might need something for tax purposes.

But most normal people don't need to keep a ton of paperwork. What do you need to keep or toss or shred? Unless you are keeping things for tax purposes, below is a handy guide.

Toss and/or shred
~Phone bills
~Utility bills
~Credit card statements
As soon as you are finished paying and reconciling, toss or shred. Want to keep track of monthly bills but don't want to end up a paper hoarder like me? Use this bill tracker! 

Keep for one year
~Bank statements
~Pay stubs
~Medical records unless needed for insurance purposes. And hey! I have a way for you to keep track of this too!

Keep for about six years
~Tax records, including copies of returns and supporting documents
~Documents relating to the purchase or sale of a home, or payment for home improvements

Keep longer/forever
~Insurance records should be kept as long as the policy is in effect, plus five more years
~IRA and retirement contribution documents until you withdraw the money, but shred quarterly statements
~Warranty documents for the length of the warranty
~Birth, marriage, divorce, death certificates, Social Security cards, deeds, wills, car titles for as long as you own the car 

At the end of the month, after all the bills have been paid and I have balanced the accounts, I toss and shred all the paperwork. You can also look for community paper shredding events near you. About 3 times a year, along with glass recycling and household hazardous waste collection, our city has a big event where you can drop off all your paper and they will shred it for you for free.

With this system, you hopefully won't end up dead under a pile of papers, like I might.

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Week 38 of the Weekly Organization Challenge

This is week 38 of The Good Wife's Weekly Organization Challenge! This week focused on bill paying.

There are two main ways to set up bill paying - the old fashioned way with stone tablets paper checks and using the internet that Al Gore invented. There are pros and cons to both.

Online
Pros - faster, usually, since accounts can be credited the same day, especially if using the account website (Capital One, for example) versus your bank's online bill pay option
Cons - for us poors, you might need a day or two to make sure you have enough cash in your account to cover the bills
Pro - some banks, like my awesome one, offer rewards for using the online bill pay
Con - it is easy to forget when a bill is due and/or record the transaction in your register

Paper checks
Pro - a paper trail is created should you ever need to verify a payment or fight an unfair charge
Con - you have to make sure you always have checks on hand and stamps
Pro - some accounts, like medical bills, still usually only accept paper checks
Con - some poor account representative will have to try and decipher your serial killer handwriting

I do about 90% of bill paying online. I have alerts set up on my computer and smartphone to remind me to pay bills on time. I also have my bill checklist to help remember as well as a daily planner. My bank offers a mobile banking app, so I can pay bills anywhere, anytime. And I get those rewards I mentioned above. All and all, it's pretty sweet.

For the other 10% of bills, ones that need actual checks in the mail, I like to sit down once a week, usually on Thursday since that's shitty TV night, and write all the checks and enter the transactions into the register. Then I stamp them bitches and put them in the outgoing mail slot for a trip to the mailbox on Friday morning.

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