The diaper bag dilemma
It is beyond challenging to find a suitable diaper bag when you have twin babies. You want a bag that is light, big and doesn’t take space; sounds like a joke, right? Finding the suitable diaper bag was never easy for me and whenever I settle on one, I later feel that this is not the one and that I have to start searching again to find the perfect bag. You want to go out with milk powder, milk bottles, pacifiers, extra clothes, diapers, wipes, diaper cream, jars, food, and few toys for entertainment enough for two kids. So basically you need a luggage bag to accommodate all this.
I started the maternity journey with a Chico diaper bag; the curvy small one which would can easily hang on the stroller. But few months later I discovered that it is not convenient at all because in order to take all what I need, it gets so cramped and I struggle to get what I need. Because things are on top of each other so when I need the wipes, I might need to empty half the bag to find it. So I decided that I will wash it and keep it aside and look for another bag. I went and bought the biggest diaper bag in the world. At first I was so happy because I could take everything I need. It had so many compartments that made it easier for me to arrange it. It was perfect when I went for house visits because it had everything and anything. But wait this was not the happy ending, the bag was too heavy to go out with; it was a burden on the stroller that it caused a technical problem in its maneuver.
So what to do now? The smallest bag is not enough and the biggest is not convenient. I was left with the only option I haven’t tried yet, the diaper back bag. This one has so many advantages, it is easier when you are on the go, and it is amazing when traveling. It doesn’t take much space and lifts the weight off your shoulder so you don’t feel it is as heavy as the bag on one shoulder feels. I got it but again putting all what I needed inside it was challenging. The day I decide not to take something, is the very same day I need it. Sometimes I used to say no need for extra clothes, on this same day the kids would vomit. Another time I decided not to take the jars, but they refused to eat anything else and I had to run to a supermarket to buy them two jars. So now this is not the ideal solution either.
To cut a long story short I will tell you what I have settled on after so many trials and so many more bags. Now I go out with a small cooler bag that has the milk bottles, the water cups, the milk powder and any food I decide to take. Then in my car there is another bag (one of the old unsuccessful ones) which has an extra flannel, tops and shorts for each kid as well as the diaper change supplies. Now if I am going to a mall or a visit, I only enter with the cooler bag which is more than enough for the food, water and milk. And if I need to change diapers or change clothes I have my emergency kit in the car. I hope you find this post helpful and please feel free to share your insights.
Monday, May 26, 2014
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
My diet failure trials
On my very last serious diet attempt, I used to record most of my feelings about food. I came to realize new things everyday so I thought I will write it down to share it with you <3 <3 <3
- Day 1: Never go to the supermarket while you are hungry because you will end up buying all sorts of food (mostly unhealthy and sweets).
- Day 2: Keep everything healthy at home so as not to be tempted even if you get weak; it is much easier not to find a bar of chocolate than to find one and resist eating it.
- Day 3: Eating healthy is easy and filling, it is just boring. There is nothing exciting about it. I wonder about people who eat healthy all the time, don’t you get bored (I am already thinking of someone and I am sure she knows herself)
- Day 4: Why are we obsessed with our bodies although we know that all the bodies in media is fake. It looks like this either by surgery or by Photoshop!
- Day 5: My problem is not food, my real problem is desserts. I can live very well with healthy portions but how am I supposed to live without chocolates and ice-cream!
- Day 6: Healthy food tastes better than junk so the question now is why we do crave junk? It really isn’t that nice.
- Day 7: Why is junk called comfort food while it is really makes so uncomfortable
- Day 8: Ever wondered who is the wicked person who invented fried food and cheese burgers?
- Day 9: A question for healthy people (again you know yourself) when on a diet and you get hit by emotional eating, what do you do?
- Day 10: Emotional eating and dieting don’t mix and is really challenging.
- Day 11: Great news: dark chocolate is healthy and boosts metabolism, so dark chocolate will be an inescapable part of the fridge (no wait, they say maximum one cube a day).
- Day 12: Mustard is zero calories so I can eat more of that. But what am I going to eat it with? Tuna (not a big fan).
- Day 13: This is so funny, healthy people say “binge on cucumber and broccoli” seriously? This is not the definition of binging
- Day 14: Things you never consider as sweet when you are not on a diet suddenly feels so sugary when on a diet.
- Day 15: Wow I started to crave yogurt as a dessert, I am definitely sick (But I put strawberry jam on it whether you like it or not healthy people)
- Day 16: When not on a diet you just eat everything and anything but now that am on a diet I question every single calorie.
- Day 17: Why was I not that picky earlier so I could have saved myself from gaining all those kilos?
- Day 18: I can’t keep ice cream nor chocolate out of my head, it is in my genes. Even my daughter adores them.
- Day 19: Dark chocolate tastes bitter while not on diet but too sweet when on a diet. (I wonder how much I have harmed my body).
- Day 20: Never appreciated veggies that much, I always tend to choose carbs but now veggies are my best friends when I am on a diet
- Day 21: Why don’t I eat healthy all the time, I love the taste of the healthy food. I could have saved myself all the pain and sadness I feel.
- Day 22: No diet; no rules. Now diet: New rules
- Day 23: I hate those people who eat everything and complain that they can’t put on weight
- Day 24: I stood on my new digital balance and it read 0 kilos. Great I disappeared.
- WAIT FOR MORE… TO BE CONTINUED… By the way I guess that I already gained whatever I lost during those 3 weeks because my clothes just feel the same. But I will keep trying to be a better healthier person.
On my very last serious diet attempt, I used to record most of my feelings about food. I came to realize new things everyday so I thought I will write it down to share it with you <3 <3 <3
- Day 1: Never go to the supermarket while you are hungry because you will end up buying all sorts of food (mostly unhealthy and sweets).
- Day 2: Keep everything healthy at home so as not to be tempted even if you get weak; it is much easier not to find a bar of chocolate than to find one and resist eating it.
- Day 3: Eating healthy is easy and filling, it is just boring. There is nothing exciting about it. I wonder about people who eat healthy all the time, don’t you get bored (I am already thinking of someone and I am sure she knows herself)
- Day 4: Why are we obsessed with our bodies although we know that all the bodies in media is fake. It looks like this either by surgery or by Photoshop!
- Day 5: My problem is not food, my real problem is desserts. I can live very well with healthy portions but how am I supposed to live without chocolates and ice-cream!
- Day 6: Healthy food tastes better than junk so the question now is why we do crave junk? It really isn’t that nice.
- Day 7: Why is junk called comfort food while it is really makes so uncomfortable
- Day 8: Ever wondered who is the wicked person who invented fried food and cheese burgers?
- Day 9: A question for healthy people (again you know yourself) when on a diet and you get hit by emotional eating, what do you do?
- Day 10: Emotional eating and dieting don’t mix and is really challenging.
- Day 11: Great news: dark chocolate is healthy and boosts metabolism, so dark chocolate will be an inescapable part of the fridge (no wait, they say maximum one cube a day).
- Day 12: Mustard is zero calories so I can eat more of that. But what am I going to eat it with? Tuna (not a big fan).
- Day 13: This is so funny, healthy people say “binge on cucumber and broccoli” seriously? This is not the definition of binging
- Day 14: Things you never consider as sweet when you are not on a diet suddenly feels so sugary when on a diet.
- Day 15: Wow I started to crave yogurt as a dessert, I am definitely sick (But I put strawberry jam on it whether you like it or not healthy people)
- Day 16: When not on a diet you just eat everything and anything but now that am on a diet I question every single calorie.
- Day 17: Why was I not that picky earlier so I could have saved myself from gaining all those kilos?
- Day 18: I can’t keep ice cream nor chocolate out of my head, it is in my genes. Even my daughter adores them.
- Day 19: Dark chocolate tastes bitter while not on diet but too sweet when on a diet. (I wonder how much I have harmed my body).
- Day 20: Never appreciated veggies that much, I always tend to choose carbs but now veggies are my best friends when I am on a diet
- Day 21: Why don’t I eat healthy all the time, I love the taste of the healthy food. I could have saved myself all the pain and sadness I feel.
- Day 22: No diet; no rules. Now diet: New rules
- Day 23: I hate those people who eat everything and complain that they can’t put on weight
- Day 24: I stood on my new digital balance and it read 0 kilos. Great I disappeared.
- WAIT FOR MORE… TO BE CONTINUED… By the way I guess that I already gained whatever I lost during those 3 weeks because my clothes just feel the same. But I will keep trying to be a better healthier person.
Monday, May 12, 2014
Are we emotionally what we eat?
Being a mother is a lot of stress; unfortunately it is a common practice that we tend to cure that by eating. I am one of those people who has let go to emotional year after year; I am almost 20 kilos overweight. Whenever I try to lose weight I go back to that emotional eating habit the moment I am faced with a stressful situation. Many times it happens that as soon as we feel upset, we go to the fridge and grab a piece of chocolate or feel like eating an ice cream. The way we seem to correlate between sadness, depression and eating is a common practice. Not only do we think about eating but also tend to be more attracted to sweets and comfort foods which it works out temporarily.
To find out that this is not an individual case but rather something that has clear biological and psychological reason, I did a lot of research. It is very essential that one knows and understands the mechanism of emotional eating in order to be able to fight it. With this post I intend to help myself and you to overcome this horrible habit. Emotional eating is a vicious cycle, you feel depressed, you eat, and you gain weight and consequently feel more depressed and so on. Emotional eating is defined to be “the practice of eating large quantities of comfort food (junk food) in response to feelings instead of hunger”.
It is a chosen drug for escaping from all our bad situations and tension. This is not a mere illusion; it has its biological rationale behind it. It is due to the fact that when one eats, the chemicals we gain from food not only affect the appetite but also our brains so the connection between food and mood becomes a bit complex and hard to separate. When we eat, hormones like serotonin, endorphins and dopamine are affected. These are the very same chemicals which affect the mood. They are even sometimes put into anti-depressant medicines.
Emotional eating is not a serious illness; it is a normal common experience in our lives and becomes serious only when we let go to it. Since I am sure that no one would want to have eating as her only resolution or ultimate problem solver. I collected some tips for us and will try to share more in the future =)
1- Hinder yourself from eating if you don’t feel that you are starving. Don’t listen to your body if you feel you just want to eat something. Hunger pain only stays for like 10 minutes.
2- You can always do things like net surfing, reading a book, calling a friend or even go out for a drink when you feel like eating.
3- Do sports and exercises on a regular basis. Not only is sporting healthy in itself; but it puts one in a good mood. Research proved that sporting helps release the happiness hormone in our bodies.
Being a mother is a lot of stress; unfortunately it is a common practice that we tend to cure that by eating. I am one of those people who has let go to emotional year after year; I am almost 20 kilos overweight. Whenever I try to lose weight I go back to that emotional eating habit the moment I am faced with a stressful situation. Many times it happens that as soon as we feel upset, we go to the fridge and grab a piece of chocolate or feel like eating an ice cream. The way we seem to correlate between sadness, depression and eating is a common practice. Not only do we think about eating but also tend to be more attracted to sweets and comfort foods which it works out temporarily.
To find out that this is not an individual case but rather something that has clear biological and psychological reason, I did a lot of research. It is very essential that one knows and understands the mechanism of emotional eating in order to be able to fight it. With this post I intend to help myself and you to overcome this horrible habit. Emotional eating is a vicious cycle, you feel depressed, you eat, and you gain weight and consequently feel more depressed and so on. Emotional eating is defined to be “the practice of eating large quantities of comfort food (junk food) in response to feelings instead of hunger”.
It is a chosen drug for escaping from all our bad situations and tension. This is not a mere illusion; it has its biological rationale behind it. It is due to the fact that when one eats, the chemicals we gain from food not only affect the appetite but also our brains so the connection between food and mood becomes a bit complex and hard to separate. When we eat, hormones like serotonin, endorphins and dopamine are affected. These are the very same chemicals which affect the mood. They are even sometimes put into anti-depressant medicines.
Emotional eating is not a serious illness; it is a normal common experience in our lives and becomes serious only when we let go to it. Since I am sure that no one would want to have eating as her only resolution or ultimate problem solver. I collected some tips for us and will try to share more in the future =)
1- Hinder yourself from eating if you don’t feel that you are starving. Don’t listen to your body if you feel you just want to eat something. Hunger pain only stays for like 10 minutes.
2- You can always do things like net surfing, reading a book, calling a friend or even go out for a drink when you feel like eating.
3- Do sports and exercises on a regular basis. Not only is sporting healthy in itself; but it puts one in a good mood. Research proved that sporting helps release the happiness hormone in our bodies.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Tips for the perfect cookies:
1- Have all ingredients at room temperature for more glamorous perfect cookies, unless otherwise specified in your recipe.
2- Read the recipe perfect before starting and get all your ingredients ready in front of you before starting
3- Using fresh ingredients is very helpful, sometimes we use old flour, or baking powder or things that are about to expire. These affect the quality of baked products.
4- Measure the ingredients carefully, don’t think that by putting 2 eggs instead of 1 you are having a richer recipe. On the contrary, this can damage the whole recipe. This is a common mistake that I used to do in cakes.
5- Soften the butter by leaving it in room temperature for few hours before baking. It is better than melting it in the microwave and also better than doing it over the oven. Using soft melted butter by room temperature gives the best texture.
6- Freeze the dough for some time before you bake it. It helps the dough keep in shape and it makes working easier with soft cookie dough. They say that it improves the flavor but I never tried that so not sure of this point.
7- It is very important to preheat the oven 10 to 15 minutes before you begin baking cookies. This is usually consistent unless a recipe specifically calls for you to start with a cold oven.
8- All cookies need to be of uniform size and thickness so they all get cooked perfectly at the same time exactly.
9- Leave room between cookies, thumb rule is 2 inches because when they are cooked, they melt and expand so you don’t want them to stick to each other. If the recipe is for bigger cookies, adjust the space accordingly but 2 inch space is the space for normal sized ones.
10- Be sure not to overcook them because it takes a few seconds between a very well cooked crispy cookie of perfect texture and those which are slightly burnt and a bit hard to bite. First time I baked cookies they were as hard as a brick because I left 5 minutes more than the recipe. They say set the timer 3-4 minutes less than the time specified in the recipe.
Freezing tips:
a- If you want to freeze them for an occasion or a trip, you should freeze baked cookies in airtight freezer containers, freezer bags, or aluminum foil.
b- If you want to freeze the dough itself, this is pretty easy just beware because the dough absorb any odd odors present in the freezer so it has to be perfectly sealed and wrapped.
1- Have all ingredients at room temperature for more glamorous perfect cookies, unless otherwise specified in your recipe.
2- Read the recipe perfect before starting and get all your ingredients ready in front of you before starting
3- Using fresh ingredients is very helpful, sometimes we use old flour, or baking powder or things that are about to expire. These affect the quality of baked products.
4- Measure the ingredients carefully, don’t think that by putting 2 eggs instead of 1 you are having a richer recipe. On the contrary, this can damage the whole recipe. This is a common mistake that I used to do in cakes.
5- Soften the butter by leaving it in room temperature for few hours before baking. It is better than melting it in the microwave and also better than doing it over the oven. Using soft melted butter by room temperature gives the best texture.
6- Freeze the dough for some time before you bake it. It helps the dough keep in shape and it makes working easier with soft cookie dough. They say that it improves the flavor but I never tried that so not sure of this point.
7- It is very important to preheat the oven 10 to 15 minutes before you begin baking cookies. This is usually consistent unless a recipe specifically calls for you to start with a cold oven.
8- All cookies need to be of uniform size and thickness so they all get cooked perfectly at the same time exactly.
9- Leave room between cookies, thumb rule is 2 inches because when they are cooked, they melt and expand so you don’t want them to stick to each other. If the recipe is for bigger cookies, adjust the space accordingly but 2 inch space is the space for normal sized ones.
10- Be sure not to overcook them because it takes a few seconds between a very well cooked crispy cookie of perfect texture and those which are slightly burnt and a bit hard to bite. First time I baked cookies they were as hard as a brick because I left 5 minutes more than the recipe. They say set the timer 3-4 minutes less than the time specified in the recipe.
Freezing tips:
a- If you want to freeze them for an occasion or a trip, you should freeze baked cookies in airtight freezer containers, freezer bags, or aluminum foil.
b- If you want to freeze the dough itself, this is pretty easy just beware because the dough absorb any odd odors present in the freezer so it has to be perfectly sealed and wrapped.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Don’t forget to have fun
More often than not we tend to only talk about the burdens of having kids and look at the kids as mere responsibility. While it is true that they are a huge responsibility (no doubt about that) and yes they pose some pressure on their parents but we tend to forget to celebrate the fun part of having kids. Which I believe is a reason why we scare mom-to-be from the motherhood experience. When I gave birth I used to feed the kids, change their diapers, shower them and put them to sleep so my mom always told me “don’t act like a robot, a mother is not supposed to only feed and shower her kids, you are meant to spend time with them, be close to them, talk to them, sing to them and so on” she says.
It is true I guess I only started to enjoy having my twins only recently. I spend more time with them, I try to talk, laugh, sing and play. It is so nice how they get happy from the simplest silliest acts you do. It only shows how you mean the world to them. They really appreciate being with you and spending time with you. Ideas like the reading alphabet books, singing the nursery rhymes, bed time stories and coloring are ones of many examples of how to spend time with your kids (Am talking about my kids’ age; two year old). Of course each age has its own ways of engagement and interaction. The point remains to be to try to spend time with them in a way that suits their age.
A couple of weeks ago I introduced the coloring crayons to my babies and they are loving it. They are still two years so they just take it and play round with it or just draw lines on blank paper. Today I sat with them on their table and kept drawing them things they asked for like a boy, a house, a car, a tree, a flower, a fish, a star and so on. Then I colored it with them, it made me feel I am in a very different world, for a moment I felt that I am disconnected from the pressuring life we are living in. I also felt great joy seeing them excited and happy with the coloring experience that I chose few papers that I will share with them when they grow old to cherish the memory of it. I guess we spent more than an hour like this and I am definitely going to repeat it soon but I felt it was so rewarding to the three of us, that’s why I felt like sharing it.
For every mother who is only keen on doing the mom tasks, I encourage you to think out of the box in order to spend more fun time with your kids. Make them a simple toy with your own hands, build them a house with Lego, hold their dolls and try to make an act with them. Very simple silly things will translate into big happy moments and unforgettable memories.
More often than not we tend to only talk about the burdens of having kids and look at the kids as mere responsibility. While it is true that they are a huge responsibility (no doubt about that) and yes they pose some pressure on their parents but we tend to forget to celebrate the fun part of having kids. Which I believe is a reason why we scare mom-to-be from the motherhood experience. When I gave birth I used to feed the kids, change their diapers, shower them and put them to sleep so my mom always told me “don’t act like a robot, a mother is not supposed to only feed and shower her kids, you are meant to spend time with them, be close to them, talk to them, sing to them and so on” she says.
It is true I guess I only started to enjoy having my twins only recently. I spend more time with them, I try to talk, laugh, sing and play. It is so nice how they get happy from the simplest silliest acts you do. It only shows how you mean the world to them. They really appreciate being with you and spending time with you. Ideas like the reading alphabet books, singing the nursery rhymes, bed time stories and coloring are ones of many examples of how to spend time with your kids (Am talking about my kids’ age; two year old). Of course each age has its own ways of engagement and interaction. The point remains to be to try to spend time with them in a way that suits their age.
A couple of weeks ago I introduced the coloring crayons to my babies and they are loving it. They are still two years so they just take it and play round with it or just draw lines on blank paper. Today I sat with them on their table and kept drawing them things they asked for like a boy, a house, a car, a tree, a flower, a fish, a star and so on. Then I colored it with them, it made me feel I am in a very different world, for a moment I felt that I am disconnected from the pressuring life we are living in. I also felt great joy seeing them excited and happy with the coloring experience that I chose few papers that I will share with them when they grow old to cherish the memory of it. I guess we spent more than an hour like this and I am definitely going to repeat it soon but I felt it was so rewarding to the three of us, that’s why I felt like sharing it.
For every mother who is only keen on doing the mom tasks, I encourage you to think out of the box in order to spend more fun time with your kids. Make them a simple toy with your own hands, build them a house with Lego, hold their dolls and try to make an act with them. Very simple silly things will translate into big happy moments and unforgettable memories.
Sunday, April 27, 2014
The nanny video is killing me
Yesterday I saw a horrible 2 minute video about a nanny with a one year old baby alone. The mother left her a hidden camera to see how she treats z baby. Guess what? She slaps a one year old on his face every time he cries. I still feel so bad. I cud barely sleep. I cried & wished I cud slap z nanny just z way she did to that poor baby. I want to tell u all, nothing deserves leaving a young baby with a nanny. Don’t go after money & leave a baby who can’t talk to b treated like that. He will be destroyed & he will never be able to tell u.
It’s very important to be beside your kids first few years. If you really have to go work, leave him with a mother or a mother in law. They will never hurt him like this.
I still feel shaky as of me writing this post. I feel horrible about it. I held myself for months to watch that video but yesterday I couldn’t. I wish I never saw it because it just assured me of how sick, filthy, fake, cruel, harsh, crazy, evil nannies could be. I had two experiences with Egyptian nannies where I was staying at home with them but both were bad ones. One was a liar & the other one had a psychological disturbance. I stayed two month with each & guess what. I was in doubt of what they do z moment I go to the bathroom. I never left them at home with the kids for a minute but I am telling u again don’t ever believe them. They don’t love your kids as theirs. It’s merely a lie. They don’t love you also; they feel jealous of every single breath you take.
I left my work & decided to put my career aside not because I don’t need it, nobody does. I did it because nothing is worth leaving my kids behind. Nothing is worth not sharing these few years with them. I get bored sometimes & get depressed that am home alone (especially that am currently not in my home town so my mother is not around). But I know I am doing the right thing.
Seeing a video like that or hearing horrible stories from other mothers assure me every day that I am right & I will take this responsibility as long as I can. No matter how tired & exhausted I get, I will cherish that I took care of my own gifts & saved them from a bad treatment. Hope ur not leaving your kid now with s nanny alone as of u reading this post!!
Yesterday I saw a horrible 2 minute video about a nanny with a one year old baby alone. The mother left her a hidden camera to see how she treats z baby. Guess what? She slaps a one year old on his face every time he cries. I still feel so bad. I cud barely sleep. I cried & wished I cud slap z nanny just z way she did to that poor baby. I want to tell u all, nothing deserves leaving a young baby with a nanny. Don’t go after money & leave a baby who can’t talk to b treated like that. He will be destroyed & he will never be able to tell u.
It’s very important to be beside your kids first few years. If you really have to go work, leave him with a mother or a mother in law. They will never hurt him like this.
I still feel shaky as of me writing this post. I feel horrible about it. I held myself for months to watch that video but yesterday I couldn’t. I wish I never saw it because it just assured me of how sick, filthy, fake, cruel, harsh, crazy, evil nannies could be. I had two experiences with Egyptian nannies where I was staying at home with them but both were bad ones. One was a liar & the other one had a psychological disturbance. I stayed two month with each & guess what. I was in doubt of what they do z moment I go to the bathroom. I never left them at home with the kids for a minute but I am telling u again don’t ever believe them. They don’t love your kids as theirs. It’s merely a lie. They don’t love you also; they feel jealous of every single breath you take.
I left my work & decided to put my career aside not because I don’t need it, nobody does. I did it because nothing is worth leaving my kids behind. Nothing is worth not sharing these few years with them. I get bored sometimes & get depressed that am home alone (especially that am currently not in my home town so my mother is not around). But I know I am doing the right thing.
Seeing a video like that or hearing horrible stories from other mothers assure me every day that I am right & I will take this responsibility as long as I can. No matter how tired & exhausted I get, I will cherish that I took care of my own gifts & saved them from a bad treatment. Hope ur not leaving your kid now with s nanny alone as of u reading this post!!
Saturday, April 26, 2014
De-clutter your life
While for many people this is a punishment; for me arranging things is beyond my passion. I enjoy it so much to the extent that I want to create this profession in life, where I go de-clutter people’s rooms and drawers and get paid by hour. I can safely say it is one of my hobbies when I get bogged down; it makes me happy and more relaxed. Ever since I was young, my happiest day was when I tell my mother “today I will arrange these drawers or these shelves”. She used to act like "you don’t need to" but I know she loves it also. Although she is super clean, de-cluttering the house was for her overwhelming.
Today I decided to tell you some tips on how you can de-clutter your house. You can arrange it the way you want. Maybe you do it room by room, maybe you do all drawers in one day and all the shelves in another, all the bathrooms in one day. No matter how you divide the house, everyone does it the way she wants. Just keep in mind that you need two boxes where ever you are; one box for trash and one box for giveaways or donations.
1- Take the decision: Usually if everything is in place, you can take this decision once in every couple of years. But if you can’t keep things in place then you might to do regular de-cluttering activities.
2- Prepare two boxes one for garbage and one for donations: This way when you approach any place to de-clutter you will have the things you will keep which will go back to the drawer or shelf, the things you will throw away and the things that are in a good shape but not needed.
3- Start filtering out everything one by one: Get rid of the habit of collecting stuff. If there are cosmetics, ensure you throw away the expired ones. If these are pens try them, you will find many of them are not suitable for use already. If these are accessories, I can assure you that you are not using maybe half of them.
4- Clean the shelves and drawers: These drawers and shelves more often than not collect dust due to the presence of many small scattered items in them. So in order to ensure the de-cluttering process is done properly, you need to totally empty them, clean those in the suitable way then re arrange the items you decided to keep.
5- Put something that help you better with the arrangement: These can include drawer separators, plastic baskets, plastic boxes, jars, empty cups or even colored buckets. The purpose is to arrange the stuff / items in a way that makes it easier to quickly find anything even if you are in a hurry. The way you separate things not only makes it look neater but also manageable. Lastly whenever you want to clean this drawer or shelf any time soon, you will only need to move out a couple of plastic containers, clean and take them back rather than having items scattered all over.
6- Maintain that for as long as you can: Never let things pile up again. This is easier than you think. Leave one piece of paper on the eating table and you will find the table turned into an office by the end of that week.
7- Clean regularly
While for many people this is a punishment; for me arranging things is beyond my passion. I enjoy it so much to the extent that I want to create this profession in life, where I go de-clutter people’s rooms and drawers and get paid by hour. I can safely say it is one of my hobbies when I get bogged down; it makes me happy and more relaxed. Ever since I was young, my happiest day was when I tell my mother “today I will arrange these drawers or these shelves”. She used to act like "you don’t need to" but I know she loves it also. Although she is super clean, de-cluttering the house was for her overwhelming.
Today I decided to tell you some tips on how you can de-clutter your house. You can arrange it the way you want. Maybe you do it room by room, maybe you do all drawers in one day and all the shelves in another, all the bathrooms in one day. No matter how you divide the house, everyone does it the way she wants. Just keep in mind that you need two boxes where ever you are; one box for trash and one box for giveaways or donations.
1- Take the decision: Usually if everything is in place, you can take this decision once in every couple of years. But if you can’t keep things in place then you might to do regular de-cluttering activities.
2- Prepare two boxes one for garbage and one for donations: This way when you approach any place to de-clutter you will have the things you will keep which will go back to the drawer or shelf, the things you will throw away and the things that are in a good shape but not needed.
3- Start filtering out everything one by one: Get rid of the habit of collecting stuff. If there are cosmetics, ensure you throw away the expired ones. If these are pens try them, you will find many of them are not suitable for use already. If these are accessories, I can assure you that you are not using maybe half of them.
4- Clean the shelves and drawers: These drawers and shelves more often than not collect dust due to the presence of many small scattered items in them. So in order to ensure the de-cluttering process is done properly, you need to totally empty them, clean those in the suitable way then re arrange the items you decided to keep.
5- Put something that help you better with the arrangement: These can include drawer separators, plastic baskets, plastic boxes, jars, empty cups or even colored buckets. The purpose is to arrange the stuff / items in a way that makes it easier to quickly find anything even if you are in a hurry. The way you separate things not only makes it look neater but also manageable. Lastly whenever you want to clean this drawer or shelf any time soon, you will only need to move out a couple of plastic containers, clean and take them back rather than having items scattered all over.
6- Maintain that for as long as you can: Never let things pile up again. This is easier than you think. Leave one piece of paper on the eating table and you will find the table turned into an office by the end of that week.
7- Clean regularly
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