SEPTEMBER Cleaning Tips

It must be September -- back to school for the kids! Doesn’t matter if you’re dealing with a first grader or a high school senior (or whether you yourself are heading back to college), going back to school can be exhilarating -- and stressful. So get organized. Plan ahead. Establish rules. Consider your schedule and your family’s needs, and with a little big of imagination, you can get the school year off to a good start.

School Daze

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Try not to buy any new clothes for your kids without taking stock of what you have on hand. Go through their closets first, then the back-to-school sales.

Take an afternoon -- a rainy one if you can -- and sift through your children’s closets. If they’re interested in what they wear, enlist their help and consider it a joint project. This is a terrific opportunity to show them the benefits of being organized. Come armed with a few large plastic bags and some silly jokes. Let them pick the music to play and let them decide (with your help) what stays and what goes. The more you involve with your children in the process, the more likely they are to cooperate. And if there are any squabbles down the road; well, remind them that the choices were made by both of you!

The first step to an organized closet? Get rid of anything that’s too small or that you know won’t be worn anymore. If repairs are needed, now’s the time to do them. Hem hems, fix zips, sew on buttons and tend to any mending that you can. Then make use of those large plastic bags and get rid of whatever can’t be used. Can’t find a mate to that sock? Get rid of it. Elastic gone on those underpants? Use them as cleaning rags. Be ruthless. If an item of clothing is not up to the task, throw it out. Those torn jeans may be old favorites, but if they’re ripped beyond repair, let your son say farewell to them and put them in the trash. That pink blouse may have been your daughter’s favorite, but if it didn’t fit her last year, it’s not going to fit her now. Donate the blouse to a thrift shop and move on to the next item. This is no time to be sentimental. You’ve got a closet to organize.

Now look into that pared-down closet and see what you’ve got left. At this point, I like to remove everything so I can organize it anew. Take all the clothes out of the closet and put them on the bed. You might find it easier to make separate piles -- one for shirts or blouses, one for pants, one for skirts, sweaters, and so on. Your child’s style will dictate how many different mounds of clothes you have. You don’t have to be precise with categories, just separate clothes into logical groups so they’re easier to put back.

Now comes the fun part. There’s only one rule when it comes to organizing: It has to work for you, and you have to be consistent. (Well, I guess that’s two, but who’s counting?). So, if your daughter wants to organize her closet by colors, let her. If your son wants to organize his clothes by day of the week, let him. Just make sure your child knows that he or she will be responsible for the upkeep of the system, every single day. Take the time to talk to your child. Offer her some choices. Blouses here, tee shirts there, skirts over here and pants down there. If your daughter rarely wears these blue dresses and is keeping them for special occasions, you may want to suggest that she keep them near the back of her closet and bring more frequently worn items to the front. If your son wears mostly tees and sweatshirts, ask him if he’d rather keep these items in baskets. (Do you know a child who likes to hang up his clothes?) Talk about the best ways of organizing you may come up with some nifty ideas that will suit your child well. Be imaginative and flexible. The more realistic you are in planning the closet, the more likely your child is to keep it tidy. And isn’t that what it’s all about?

A few suggestions:

• Make it easy for your child to put his clothes away by installing hooks at easy-to-reach levels.

• Install low bars so that little ones can hang up their own clothes.

• Baskets and buckets are great for holding children’s socks and underwear.

• Let your child select some bright hangers in her favorite colors. Clothes are less likely to end up on the floor that way.

• A baseball-cap holder is great for that Little-League enthusiast.

• Everyone knows that an over-the-door shoe rack is great for shoes. It’s also great for tee shirts, gym clothes, swimsuits and dance gear.

• Use plastic storage bins to hold clothes that aren’t used daily. And make sure to label them well. If your child is too young to read, let him draw pictures so he knows what’s inside.
• Encourage children to make use of all of the racks and shelves in their closets -- the ones they can reach, anyway.

• Give each child a colorful laundry hamper, and let older children know that they’re responsible for bring their laundry down to the laundry room.

One last thing: Now that your children know the work that goes into organizing a closet, you might want to remind them of that old adage Work saved is work done. Encourage your children to keep their closets organized and their clothes clean. Remind them to put away their school clothes when they remove them, not several hours later when the wrinkles have had time to set. Who knows . . . they might even listen!

CLOTHES CALLS

• When hitting those back-to-back school sales, remember to save some money for those new fads that show up the first weeks of school -- those things the kids just can’t do without.

• Read the care labels on new clothes. Make sure you know whether an item has to be hand washed or dry-cleaned before you buy it.

• If your child is having problems with a zipper, try rubbing a pencil over it a few times. The graphite will help the zipper to glide as smooth as ice!

New school shoes causing your child to slip? Score the soles with the tines of a fork.

• If new school clothes are too stiff -- a problem with jeans especially -- break them in by throwing a ½ cup of table salt in with the wash. They’ll come out nice and soft!

JUST FIVE MORE MINUTES

I wish I could give you more time in the morning, but I’m a Queen, not a magician. There are, however, some things you can do to make your mornings less hectic.

The school bus leaves in ten minutes and all across the country kids are screaming, “I can’t find it!” Don’t let this happen to you. Help each child select a designated spot for books, homework and sports equipment -- plus anything else they need to take to school in the morning. Baskets are great, as are bright plastic buckets. Canvas bags hanging on coat racks are good, too.

Designate another safe place for notes from teachers and permission slips that need to be signed. And let your children know, firmly, that the morning of is not the time for signatures.

An over-the-door shoe rack in see-through plastic can be great for holding those small items that kids never seem to be without -- and never seem willing to leave the house without. Label a few pockets for each child and ell them it’s their own little holding bay. These pouches can be used to hold skipping topes, games caps and small toys, not to mention hats, scarves and mittens. Give top pockets to older kids and save the easy-to-reach pouches at the bottom for the little ones.

Television, phones and tablets (electronics) are a great distraction. Keep these off in the morning and you’ll all save time.

If kids wants to agonize over what goes with what (not to mention who’s wearing what), that’s fine. Just remind them that 8:00 in the morning is not the time to be doing it. Save yourself a headache and let the kids select what they want to wear to school, but get them into the habit of setting out their clothes the night before.

WHO’S ON FIRST?

A large family calendar is a must. Keep it displayed in a location that’s prominent and convenient. Older children can be taught to log in their own events; just make sure they tell you first. Use the calendar for school functions, sports events, doctor’s appointments and birthday parties. Keep a bulletin board nearby. You can use that to hold any relevant papers.

A daily visit to your family calendar is not a bad idea. It just takes a minute or so to prevent overlaps that may lead to conflicts.

Get your children in the habit of looking at the calendar, too. Show them how their week is shaping up before they enter into it. Let your children know that four busy days in a row might not be such a good idea, and encourage them to use their calendar to make choices. Everybody needs to be reminded that they don’t have to say yes to everything.

If nothing’s scheduled on a particular day, why not use the calendar for other things? Jot down a knock-knock jokes or an encouraging word about a child’s performance. An organized life doesn’t have to be boring!

Accept the fact that things don’t always run smoothly. Some days are better than others. Take a deep breath and don’t sweat it. Tomorrow offers another chance to get it right.

GET OFF YOUR CHEST

Now that you’re in the mood to get organized, why not extend the project for just a few more minutes and tidy up your medicine chest? This small but important project could mean a lot to your family’s safety.

Remove everything from the cabinet and place the contents onto a large flat surface, such as table. Again, organize the contents into logical groups. Medicines here, bandages there, and so on. Now:

• Toss out anything that doesn’t have a label.

• Get rid of any medicines that have passed their expiration dates.

• Take note of any duplicates you may have but don’t, for heavens sake, combine them. You may have two half-empty bottles of aspirin, but putting them together in the same bottle to save space is a bad idea, especially if they have different expiration dates.

• Blister-pack pills are often separated from their boxes. If you aren’t certain of the medication or if you don’t know the date of expiration, get rid of them. This is no time to be frugal.

• Chances are, you have at least one tensor bandage that’s lost its elasticity. Get rid of it.

Cleaning out a medicine chest is similar to cleaning out a closet, except you don’t have to sew on any buttons!

Unwanted medications can still be dangerous, so make sure to dispose of them safely. Flushing them down the toilet may be satisfying in a dramatic sort of way, but that can be bad for the environment. Don’t just toss pills in the garbage, either. They can be deadly to children and animals. The best way to get rid of medication is to put it in a child-proof container, then in another jar (which you seal), and then safely in the garbage. Don’t take chances.

Despite its name, the medicine cabinet in your bathroom is probably the worst place to store medicines. Not only does it suffer fluctuations in temperature, but it’s damp and steamy, too!

Take this time to clean out the shelves of your medicine chest. Metal shelves can be cleaned with a little bit of baking soda and water. Glass shelves can be cleaned with vinegar. Make sure that surfaces are dry before restocking, and take this opportunity to be a rebel and store anything but your medicines in your medicine chest. That’s right!

Store your medication in a place that is clean, dry and safe from curious youngsters. Save the medicine chest for the cotton balls.

The Last Word, and a Very Important One at That!

Carbon monoxide is a tasteless, odorless killer. It can be released by wood-burning stoves, fireplaces, furnaces, kerosene lamps and gas-fired heaters, and it occurs when these items burn without enough oxygen. When fresh air is restricted, carbon monoxide can build up in your home and cause an irregular heartbeat, headaches and fatigue In very high amounts, it can cause death.

Please, take the following precautions against the silent killer:

• Ensure that adequate air is available in any room that contains a gas-burning appliance.

• Have your furnace, chimneys and flues checked regularly for cracks and leaks.

• Make certain that door and stovepipe connections fit tightly on all old wood-burning stoves.

• Use a range hood and fan with a gas stove.

• Keep a window slightly open when using a space heater that operates on oil, gas or kerosene.

• Never barbeque in a house or closed garage.

• Always make sure the garage door is open when running the car.

The most important thing to do to protect you and your family is to purchase a carbon monoxide detector. It’s not expensive, but it may turn out to be priceless and save lives.