Please join me at the Lilybugs Children’s Consignment Sale this weekend to find some great deals on gently used clothes, toys, and baby equipment. All proceeds from the sale benefit local charities and non-profit organizations!

Lilybugs is a quality children’s consignment sale held twice yearly—spring/summer and fall/winter—offering the best in high quality gently used children’s clothing and shoes, maternity clothing, baby equipment, children’s furniture, outdoor toys, books, software, videos, and lots and lots of toys!

Friday, March 9th ~ 7pm to 11pm
Saturday, March 10th ~ 8am to 12pm 

*1/2 off sale all day Saturday*

Grace Christian Center, 1648 Lexington Road, Georgetown, Kentucky, 40324

Bonus: Be one of the first 200 shoppers and receive a “Goody Bag” full of coupons, freebies, and organizing tips from yours truly (among others)!

Join me on Friday at the Westport Road Church of Christ in Louisville, KY for my all-time favorite organizing presentation for the Mom2Mom Kick-Off Event!

What: “Get Organized, Mom!” Seminar
When: Friday, August 26th @ 6:30pm
Where: Westport Road Church of Christ, Louisville, KY [ map ]
Cost: Free!

Being a mom is the single most challenging (and most rewarding) 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week, 365-days-a-year, entire-lifetime experience. Getting some help along the way as your children grow—infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and beyond—is simply the smart thing to do!

I will share plenty of practical tips and ideas including how to:

• keep track of everyone’s schedule,
• manage the influx of household paperwork,
• store clothes, toys, art supplies, and sports gear,
• stay organized as the needs of your family change, and
• cultivate your marriage and personal interests (guilt-free).

Bonus: There will be plenty of door prizes, handouts, and ideas to take home!

I can hardly wait! Hope to see you there!

Unfortunately, it’s quite commonplace to begin to feel totally trapped in the day-to-day mind-numbing monotony that’s also known as motherhood. Nursing, changing diapers, warming bottles, bathing, doing laundry, picking up toys, making dinner, emptying the dishwasher, helping with homework, shopping for groceries, etc., etc., etc. But, it’s extremely important that we not lose sight of our true purpose… raising grounded, well-rounded, healthy children.

As important as it may be to complete your to-do list each day, it is absolutely imperative that you spend most of your time and energy on your children. They must be your primary focus. Goal number one. And, yes, this means that your laundry may pile up and you may be tripping over toys, but your children won’t remember whether or not they wore clean clothes every day… they will remember that you sat down on the floor with them and played cars.

That being said, you do need to find a way to maintain your household while you instill strong Christian values in your children, and here’s how…

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As any parent knows, adding a child to the family can quickly and drastically alter the environment of any home. From infants to teens, kids come with a lot of “stuff.” What are you supposed to do with it all? Here are a few simple tips to help you teach your children how to get organized and stay that way…

• Bins, boxes, and baskets kept on lower shelves make it easy for your child to put away toys. Label storage containers with both pictures (for young children) and printed words (for preschoolers).
• Better yet, have your child draw pictures for the labels. Or, you can cut out the toys’ logos straight from the original boxes, take photos of the toys, or print the logos directly from the manufacturer websites. And, if your storage containers have handles, luggage tags are a quick and easy way to attach the finished labels.
• Before birthdays, Christmas, or other special gift-giving occasions, sit down with your child to sort through toys together. Guide your child through the decision-making process of which toys to keep and which to donate in order to make room for new toys received as gifts. In fact, take your child with you to the donation center.
• As you fold laundry, separate your child’s clothes into complete outfits. Store them individually in gallon-sized zip-top bags. Keep one bagged outfit in the car, just in case. And, when you travel, squeeze any extra air out of the bags to make packing the suitcase a breeze.
• Provide low hooks for your child to hang up sweaters, pajamas, jackets, book bags, etc. Before bedtime, check the weather forecast with your child. Then, have your child select an appropriate outfit to wear the next day.

Woohoo! The Lilybugs Children’s Consignment Sale was a great success! I’m looking forward to picking up my cheque on Wednesday. I made a net profit of $128.80… enough to cover what I spent on Amanda’s summer wardrobe, birthday presents, and advertising (i.e., my [ real neat ] business cards and checklists for the goody bags that were handed out to shoppers)!

My little 2-bedroom apartment is breathing a sigh of relief now that I have eliminated several bins of outgrown clothing and toys. Now, I should be able to find adequate storage space for the belongings that Amanda and I actually use (i.e., camping equipment, art supplies, bicycles).

So, if you haven’t done so already, set aside an hour or two to sort and purge your excess clothing as the seasons change and the weather gets warmer.

THE RULES:

• Grab your calendar now, and schedule an appointment with your wardrobe within the next 2 weeks.
• Invite a trusted friend to join you in weeding out your ‘old’ clothes. She’ll help you remain objective.
• Hold a private fashion show, and
  • TOSS any clothing items that have holes (or if, like me, you’ll never realistically repair or pay someone to repair these items).
  • KEEP only items that actually FLATTER your body type. Get picky and brutal. Rid yourself of all ‘skinny’ clothes; at the moment, they are simply taunting you every time you see them, reminding you that you’re fat, you’re lazy, and you’re not good enough. Nothing is ever worth all that negative self-talk. Besides, when you finally do lose the weight, you can reward yourself with a new wardrobe!
  • DONATE anything that is still in decent shape but that doesn’t make the cut (or you never really wear). I hate to burst your bubble, but honestly… if you haven’t worn an item in the last year, you’re never going to end up wearing it. Schedule an appointment on your calendar to take these items to friends or local charities.
• Put away whatever items you keep (in an organized manner, of course). Need ideas? Sort by color, by length, by clothing type, or even by complete outfits.
• Take inventory of the clothing that you kept.
• Make a shopping list of items that you need to replace in order to fill out your wardrobe for the upcoming season.
• Block off some time on your calendar for a shopping date; and, when the time comes, shop with confidence and a discerning eye.

So, what about you? How do you sort and purge your wardrobe? Please share your tips in the comments below.