keeping it simple

Organization is not my strong suit, not by a long shot. I consider our house to be in a state of "controlled chaos" most of the time. I keep the chaos at bay every day by making little lists all over the house, or by putting away just enough of our stuff, or organizing things just enough to keep the house dissolving into a complete disaster. Lately, it's been starting to get to me. And the biggest problem is that with all the appointments that happen with a baby, I've missed a few because I don't have a good planning system.

Just this week, Gabe had a playdate in the morning, and another playdate and coffee (for me) on Monday afternoon. On Tuesday we had a doctor's appointment, needed to pick up a prescription at the pharmacy, plus we need to pack for our trip to Florida for Thanksgiving. Wednesday had a music class and lunch scheduled, plus a quilting class for me in the evening. Thursday (today) we have to go to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for a dish we are making for book club tonight, plus we have an afternoon playdate, and a music class in the afternoon. We also need to buy a travel crib sheet for the trip. Phew! And I attempt to keep this all straight in my head! Because I'm insane!

Thankfully, though, Parent Bloggers asked me to test out the Family Matters product line by Day Runner. Day Runner has come out with a color-coded organizational line, that includes:

• an undated erasable wall planner
• a wirebound monthly/weekly appointment book
• erasable door reminders
• activity folders, and
  
• storage cases

I tried out each of the products within our own family, and Josh ended up begging me to let him use the storage cases and erasable door reminders in his office because he was such a big fan of them.

The thing I liked best about using the Family Matters system, is that the information was all in one obvious, clear, easy to access place. The erasable wall planner let me put up all our monthly plans in one place that both Josh and I could see on a daily/weekly basis. With all our information in one spot, there were fewer discussions about where Gabe and I would be on Wednesday afternoon, or whether we had dinner plans on Saturday night. I could also mentally prepare for the week ahead when I saw it all written out in front of me.

Another big hit were the erasable door reminders. These were great! We hung one on the front door, one on the kitchen door, one on the bathroom door, and Josh took one to the office. These little dry erase boards have a spot to hold a pen, so whenever you remember something, you can jot it down as you run out the door. I actually remembered tons more errands that I needed to complete since this list was the last thing I saw as a ran out the door. Plus, they are kind of cute, and seriously convenient. Josh used it in his office to write himself quick phone messages or reminders to himself. He got compliments from his coworkers because people thought they were interesting and functional.











Although I thought I would, I didn't end up using the wirebound appointment book much, mainly because I thought it was rather large. It was the kind of traditional wirebound notebook that the office stores sell, about the size of an 8*11 page. It reminded me a little of the grading notebooks that my teachers used in elementary school. It was color-coded to coordinate with the rest of the set, so if you have a spot to keep a notebook like that, then I think it would be helpful.



The storage cases and folders are also coordinated to go with the rest of the set, and they were easy to use, functional and relatively discrete, so I didn't mind having them visible on my shelves.










I only have one baby, so I color-coordinated everything to be assigned one to myself, one to Josh, one to Gabe, one to the dogs, and one to miscellaneous. The dogs didn't do much this month (shocking), so their colors didn't get used much, and of course, Josh and mine and miscellaneous tended to overlap, so we didn't get as much use out of the system as someone who has more than one kid, or older kids that require lots of appointments and activities.

My one complaint is that I wanted the system to be a little more cute or stylish. It was pretty straight forward and clean, but the style didn't necessarily go with my decorating style. If I had the choice, I would have made it a little more colorful.

All in all, I thought the Family Matters line would be really useful for a family on the go. It was functional, helpful, and had tons of coordinating products that would help you to stay organized. If you're interested, check out the other reviews on Parent Bloggers to hear what everyone else thought.

The good news too, is that I have some leftover products to share with all of you!

Leave me a comment telling me why you need organizational help, and I'll pick a winner at random and ship off one of the products for you to try! This year could be the year we get organized!