How do you do...?

I've got a new idea. Every Thursday will be a post titled, "How do you do...?" As a larger family we often get questions that begin with these four words, for example, How do you do naps? potty-training? eating out? dinner time? grocery shopping? You get the idea. Sometimes I have a nugget of wisdom, sometimes I have a very poor way of doing stuff and need your bright ideas.

So, let's get started. "How do you do all the kid's paperwork clutter?"

Well, for a long time we dealt with this:

And this:

Do you have these stacks on your countertops? They are usually filled with the important papers the kids bring home in the Monday folder, like permission slips and tests that need to be signed and that appointment slip from the orthodontist that needs to be added to the calendar and the numbers off of your sisters paint can that you need so you can buy a gallon for your bedroom. You know, all those important things that can't be thrown away or lost but don't have a specific place to be kept.

Well, I got sick of it! I discovered a solution that has been working perfectly for our family for a few years now. I bought a hanging file box/crate/thingamajig and some hanging file folders. A file was created for each family member, even the little ones and babies, and files were made for Miscellaneous, coupons, bills, etc. It looks like this:

Yes, you're right, it is not the most beautiful thing in the world. It will win NO style awards and my "cute" friends, the ones who do everything with flair and have creativity oozing out of every pore, would definately have found something pink, decoupaged, and bedazzled. Alas, no flair here. But organization...YES! No more lost permission slips. No more piles on every countertop. No more stuffed papers in drawers. When a kid asks where the owners manual is to his new Nintendo DS, my answer is...have you checked your file? When it's the night before the overnight field trip and we suddenly need the packing list that was sent home two weeks earlier from school, no more panicked shuffling through piles of paper, I simply say, "Let's check your file."

If you have a burning question for the "how do you do...?" Thursday post, leave a comment and I'll try to answer it next Thursday.

Changing the subject, lately I've begun to notice that everytime I needed a new toothbrush, my supply was gone. I stock up on toothbrushes almost EVERY time I go to the store and yet there is never one in the closet. So I went on a mission to find out what was going on. This is what I found in the bathroom drawers. Do you think it was pleasant to be in my house on this particular afternoon? I.think.NOT! At least the mystery was solved. I know where all the toothbrushes were going, but now I wanted to know why. I still don't know. Do you think they thought these were a "use once and throw away" product?

By the way, I know that some of you are counting. Aren't you? I'll save you the trouble. There are thirty-eight brushes. 38.

38!

Oh dear, that's all I have to say about that.