I Like to Be Organized (But I'm Not OCD)

Being organized really makes the day go more smoothly. The important thing for me to remember is that once I've spent hours (or days) organizing, I still have to spend time maintaining. It seems like once it's straightened up, it should stay that way. That is never the case. My goal is to train my children "Everything has a place, and everything in its place." This was my Nana Hickman's favorite motto. There was never anything out of place in her house. Never. Of course, she was an old lady with no littlies running around making messes faster than they can be cleaned up. That, naturally, is the real reason you make toddlers help you clean up their messes, so they can't be making more disasters faster than you can run behind the little tornado. But I digress.

This is the bookcase literally at my left hand as we school. Up top is Hannah's microscope from Grandparents White, counting cubes, 12x12 scrapbook paper and my Cricut cutter.

Top shelf: Calvert school boxes with markers and Unifix cubes, Fiskars  paper trimmer, moon sand ( I really don't want that out without supervision), laminator, and behind that, the super long stapler for making books,  three hole punch

Second shelf: envelopes, dominoes, pattern blocks, Crayola dry erase board, white cardstock, laminating sheets, Tall Stacker, Lauri alphabet puzzles

Third shelf: paint, Cricut cartridges, card games, Kumon small workbooks, chalk pastels, watercolors in a tube, Fit a Space, stickers, Do-A-Dot markers, Bible storybooks, triangular crayons, crayon tower, clay, counting bears, sorting bowls, sharpies in the green bag that should be higher up

Fourth shelf: magnetic letters, Elinore's school books (mostly Evan-Moor and ABeka), finger paint, and the red bin full of pens, pencils, markers, scissors, glue, erasers, oil pastels, and other odd goodies we can't school without

Fifth shelf: Hannah's 7th grade Calvert textbooks, and few miscellaneous workbooks, Crayola Tadoodles toy, and the ABeka language cards in the wrong place.

Sixth shelf: Bibles, pencil sharpener, the loose crayons in a container that are currently in use

Bottom shelf: reference books, Model Magic, scraps of scrapbook paper, Elinore's copious amounts of finished school work/projects

This is the "after" picture. I just reorganized yesterday. There is no "before" picture because it was just too embarrassing. I don't actively scrapbook at present. I just don't have time or space. However, I strongly prefer cardstock to construction paper. Construction paper deteriorates faster, the glued-on things seem to fall off easily, and the color selection is more limited.  I do have both, though. One day I hope to get back to paper crafting.

I know a lot of Tot Schoolers have chosen the Scotch laminator, but I wanted the ability to laminate 12x12 scrapbook pages. I used a 50% off coupon at AC Moore, and got the 13" Purple Cow one that came with a starter set of laminating pouches. Jeff made me buy some refills . I only wanted one box, but he insisted on two, and he was right! I'm already on my second box.