All Child’s Play

Spring is the perfect time of year to rejuvenate your home and organize the clutter that has developed during the cold and stale winter months.

It’s that time of year when we all get the itch to jump in and get the house cleaned and organized.  I usually like to start my spring cleaning in April because here in Colorado it’s just starting to get nice enough to start popping out the windows and giving them a thorough cleaning.  I also like to wash the window screens so this is a good time of the year to undertake that awful task.

It’s also a good time to start tossing out and decluttering all the stuff that tends to build up in the house during the winter. I’ve really been itching to get into the grandkid’s playroom and organize all of the toys and what-nots that have been collecting in piles and boxes from Christmas, Valentines, Birthdays and now Easter.  I’m one of those who is ruthless about organizing and keeping things in their place, but somehow or other this room has gotten away from me.

One thing that will really help you out with your spring cleaning is to invest in the right tools for organizing your home. If you don’t already have closet organizers, files for different documents and enough shelving, then spring is a good time to make that investment so that you can really dig in and take back your rooms. Having the right tools on hand to organize will make the job go a lot easier.

The rooms that many  parents have the most difficult time organizing are the kid’s rooms and the playrooms.  Having the right toy organizers and kids bookshelves are important to keeping these clutter gathering rooms under control and should be a part of your spring cleaning agenda.

At Christmas our son bought one of these sling bookshelves for his son Colton’s room and they absolutely love it.  When I first saw it looked a little smaller than I had imagined, but it’s worked out perfectly for them and holds a lot more books than I thought it would.  I’ve decided it’s the perfect solution for organizing  all of the books and coloring books that have been collecting in the “grandkid room” here at our house.

Here’s what I really like about this sling bookshelf by Kidkraft:

1. They Are Very Kid Friendly…your kids can easily place the books into the shelves by themselves and organize them the way they like them.
2. Promotes Family Reading
3. Little Hands Can reach books themselves and can put the books easily in and out of the shelves
4. Books can be displayed with the covers forward, rather than spine forwards on bookshelves.  Kids like to see the covers of their books and when you store them on bookshelves they can only view the spine of the book, if even that due to the height of old fashioned bookshelves.
5. Gives kids a sense of ownership that the books are actually theirs (personalize it with your child’s name or family name too!)
6. Space saving…they take very little floor space so they easily fit into any room in your home
7. Won’t tip over and hurt the kids .  This is my favorite feature.  When I was about 7 or 8 years old I actually pulled a bookshelve over onto myself while trying to reach a book on one of the upper shelves.  These are safe and lightweight and kids can reach the books from any one of the several sling bookshelves.
8. The Soft canvas shelves protect your kid’s books and keep them from getting worn and tattered.

Enter the sling. The little Mister will be able to take out one book at a time, and can properly return it to help us keep the playroom organized. Once tidy we’re hoping the books will stay tidy, and they won’t fall out.  Our former kids book shelf, which has been a box and the floor has been a mess and I’m looking forward the having this charming little sling bookshelf for the books to call home.

Spring cleaning is a major undertaking, but once done it feels so good to move into summer with a clean and organized home.  There are a lot of other toy organizers to help you get your kid’s rooms and playrooms organized this spring including  toy boxes,  toy caddies and  toy lockers.  With new outdoor toys moving in this summer and taking over your backyard, at least you’ll have the pleasure of knowing your indoor toys are organized and in their place in your home.

Oh, and if you’re looking for a good general spring cleaning checklist, here’s one I like to follow.

Woman’s Day Magazine…Your Ultimate Spring Cleaning Checklist

Unless you forgot to pay the electric/cable bill..or as the old saying goes “you’ve been living under a rock”, you have seen a lot of news lately about Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.

(you can watch the full first  episode of Food Revolution here)

Seems that a lot of people are offended by a “Brit” coming into the U.S. to tell us how to eat and how we need to change our school lunch programs.  Check out what LettuceEatKale has to say about his invasion into the United States schools.

As one of the most overweight countries in the world, we need to stop the madness and start teaching our kids healthy eating habits in their early years.  Weight issues begin in youth…and we adults are responsible for teaching our children how to eat properly.  Most importantly…that includes us being able to depend upon our school system  to cut out the pizza and french fries and “get with it”.

For the past 30+ years I’ve been fit and trim, but that wasn’t always the case.  In my younger years I “leaned” towards the chubby side due to an extremely high intake of school vending machine  potato chips and Kraut Burger Wednesday school lunches.  Getting rid of that “chub” I acquired during my school years took a lot of determination and effort.

Fortunately I was able to pass on my newly acquired healthier eating habits to our kids with the family time dinners I prepared, and the packed lunches I sent with them to school everyday.  Our kids never had to fight weight issues…and there’s no doubt in my mind it was all because they didn’t eat the unhealthy/fattening crap that was being served at school.  Those same eating habits carried over onto our nightly family dinner table.  To this day our kids still prefer to eat lighter and healthier food (and no…we’re not vegetarians and yes we do still stock cookies and chips in the cabinet, but a can of tuna or some fresh snap peas still trump a cookie when anyone wants a snack in our house-except for hubby).

I say “Hooray” for Jamie Oliver.  He’s bringing attention and awareness to an issue that many parents never even knew existed.  I mean really, were you aware that deep fried french fries qualify for the mandatory vegetable category of school lunches?  They’re not serving steamed brocolli or cauliflower because the french fries are easier and less expensive.

Jamie Oliver has got my 100% support!!

Things won’t change quickly from a 6 week television episode, but the reality is that he has sparked a lot of controversy which in turn may spill over to a parental revolt against our current school lunch programs.  Parents have the right to fight for their children’s health and I think that Jamie Oliver will have a lot of parents uniting to create better school lunch programs for the health and welfare of our children.

Jamie Oliver and Food Revolution are certainly “stirring the Pot!  What about You?