Organized Outside

Month of May: 1
Simple Mama: 0

Whew! I think the month of May is busier than the holidays. With all the end of school hoopla and to-do lists we were barely able to keep our heads above water. Anyone else?

So we skipped our Simple in '16 project in May but we will double up in June. Not to worry-the kiddos can help you with the first project up on our list. :) We've got this!

First up: outside toys and our cars (Also known as my home away from home because I feel like I am in my car driving all my people to all the places, yes? Yes.). Let's start with our cars. These are quick and simple tasks I do to keep my car from looking like a garbage can threw up in there.

3 Ways I Keep My Mom-mobile Clean:

1. Every time I stop to get gas, I clean all the trash out of my car. This is an easy habit to get into and it is simple to keep my car clean because I'm not letting the trash pile up for long periods of time. Just say NO to car trash.

2. No snacking in the car. Yeah right. I'm totally kidding. I said we would never let the kids snack in the car but then I got a reality check.
Good intentions: 0
Give them all the snacks for heaven's sake: 1
Just brush those goldfish cracker crumbs out of the carseat every month or so and that will make a big difference. My favorite thing to use is baby wipes (I actually keep a package in my car even though my babies aren't babies-tear). I also use baby wipes to give the inside of my car a quick dusting.

3. I make everyone take all their goodies into the house every time we get back home from somewhere. We don't leave backpacks, shoes, toys, water bottles, mail, etc in the car. Ever. "Take it inside, people." {That's my impression of me talking to my people. Helpful, right?}  ;)

Now that all the toys from in your car are safely out (insert winky emoji here), time to go through the outside toys. Bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and jump ropes...oh my. We keep our outside toys organized in tubs on the 2 lower levels of a shelving unit out in our garage similar to this one. The kids can easily get to everything they need without help AND put it away independently. #momwin

Our rule is that once those tubs start overflowing, then we know it's time to give some stuff away. We don't need 20 different kind of balls...or a dozen open packages of bubbles. That's why I love my tubs. :) I also really love those outside toy storage bins that some of my other organizing mamas use out on their back patios. Genius. They even make some that function as a bench too. Double genius.

 

So gather your troops, put on some fun music, and get to organizing those outside toys and cleaning out your car. You can even throw on your swimsuits and give the ol' mom-mobile a nice bath while you're at it!!

Next up: Pretty Pantries :)