1. Baskets!
One basket sits by the kitchen table, holding our meal-time books.
One basket sits behind a stuffed chair, holding blocks.
One basket snuggles up to the couch, holding library books.
Baskets are an amazing invention: they look good, and they are easy to put things into. (An essential quality if we want little ones to help clean up!)
2. Speed!
Though I don’t use much the Fly Lady’s program, my favorite pointer is this: Work fast. She talks about all of the fun we can have when our work is done! I think about this a lot when I’m scrubbing toilets…
3. Leave the clothespins on the clothes line!
Every summer we pick loads and loads of blueberries from an amazing farm out in the mountains. I always bring my mental notebook and scribble down everything they do because they have farm life down to a science! This past year, I noticed that all of their clothespins were still on the line – one, every 12 inches or so -Â just waiting for the next load of laundry. The farmer said he just had to do it this way after watching his grandmother faithfully take each pin out of the bag, put it on the line, and take it down again for 45 years. He said they wear out more quickly, but the time saved is priceless.
