a new series!
to show a peek into my daily life (and the systems I adore), and to give a gentle reminder that you - and all the tiny, behind-the-scenes work you do - are so important and appreciated.
10 tiny, behind-the scenes things I did for my family + household this month, in no particular order:
1) Updated our shared Google Calendar with family and friend birthdays
Something I’ve always wanted to do, but never got around to doing. Inspired by my favorite book of this year, I’m trying to prioritize more acts of kindness, more investment of community - like remembering birthdays.
Speaking of, I also wrote down KK’s teachers’ birthdays, saved their “favorite things” answers to my Google Keep, and was able to surprise them with their favorite Starbucks drinks on one of their birthdays! It was so much fun.
Similarly, I made a spreadsheet with all our loved ones’ addresses. Ready for you, Christmas cards and birthday surprises!
2) Ordered my nephew’s birthday gift, sent my SIL a birthday treat, grabbed a first birthday gift.
I’m in charge of gifts at our house - and while I love doing gifts now that we do Decide Once gifts, it does take a significant amount of work.
See this post on our Split Responsibilities - I'm in charge of gift-giving.
Here’s my Decide Once gift formula for my nephews - a magazine subscription, an art supply/activity and/or something to do together. For fun mail all year long and for fun things to do!
I grabbed these stinky crayons and I grabbed this gross but fun jelly bean game - have you heard of it? He’s going to love it. Along with a Highlights magazine subscription, of course!
See this post for how I gift a magazine subscription.
Here’s the five things I keep on hand for my simplified gift wrap.
Here’s 7 things I keep on hand for kids’ birthdays.
And Joey’s future BFF is turning one! Grabbed my go-to first birthday gift - these amazing stacking rainbow buckets - for “One is buckets of fun! Happy birthday, Ezra!” These buckets are the best - they’re one of KK’s favorite toys for under $20 and they’re one of the only toys we bring in the Airstream.
These rainbow buckets prove to be one of our go-to toys year after year: for stacking, for nesting, for “smoothie” making, for water play, for bath play, for sand play, for outdoor play, for beach play, for river play, for imaginative play. Basically for all play.
(They’re also my go-to gift for one year olds. But I also love them for many ages when paired with one of the 7 things we keep on hand for birthday gifts.)
Want gift ideas for other ages? See KK’s favorite toys for under $20 - a very popular gift guide! Or see the 7 things we keep on hand for birthday gifts.
My yearly list reminds me of birthdays and birthday gifts. And my Decide Once gifts limit my choices of what I give - I enjoy gift giving so much more now.
3) Filed insurance papers
I have 10 easy household systems I can’t live without - one of which is my easy filing system for papers we want to hold onto. (But papers that aren’t super important or super sensitive, mind you.)
We have new insurance, which always requires some admin work. I have these colorful file folders, and these basic cardboard filing boxes. (I personally love the basic cardboard filing boxes because they fit anywhere.) And in there I filed our insurance papers I needed to keep.
In the 10 easy household systems I can’t live without post, I also explain my easyyyy system for dealing with mail and incoming papers. Like insurance packets.
4) Restocked our shampoo
While most of our toiletries are set to our Amazon Subscribe and Save Order, some things that we don’t use as often (like shampoo) I just buy as needed.
That said, I do love Subscribe and Save to lessen my mental load, and to automate a large portion of our household. See more about that here.
PS it’s not cheap, but my thick horse hair loves this shampoo. I swim 2-4 times a week year-round, so investing in a goooood hydrating shampoo really helps (and this inexpensive hair oil!), I’m convinced.
5) Reevaluated our Halloween tradition
Because while we normally order specialty tamales from a restaurant for Halloween, this year I just couldn’t justify the price. Other priorities in our budget rank much higher than tamales, especially when the tamales’ prices skyrocketed this year (understandably so).
So I went to find a festive, easy Halloween dinner that would be loved by adults and kids alike: mummy hot dogs or mummy pigs in a blanket! I even ordered candy eyeballs as a treat. All that to say - if a tradition no longer works in this current season, it’s totally okay to skip it this year or let it go completely.
In that same spirit, I planned easyyyyy dinners for the night we had Trunk or Treat at KK’s school and the night we have a Halloween party. Any bit helps to eat at home.
See this week’s menu plan here.
To everyone in charge of feeding loved ones - and navigating prices, budgets, holiday festivities, evening schedules, and family preferences, to boot - you are so appreciated.
6) Purged our house some more
When Joey arrived, I felt my bandwidth drop - and I noticed my house completely overwhelmed me. So I’ve been slowly decluttering the whole house. At this point I’ve donated, like, thirty percent of our belongings - allllllll things that no longer serve us well, and would better serve someone else. And oh my gosh, do I feel so much calm at home now.
And all that to say - while I love the feeling of a good declutter, decluttering is still work.
And three other things that really helped my overwhelm was leaving the house every single morning for a Morning Outing, deciding ahead of time what each day’s Morning Outing will be, and assigning household errands and appointments (like donations!) to Mondays and/or Tuesdays only, if at all possible.
Read alllll about our weekly Morning Outings - and why this really helps me as a sahm with two littles - here.
7) Cleaned out our bathroom drawers and cabinets
Woo buddy. Talk about a behind-the-scenes task. But also satisfying task that pays off big time.
Took everything out, decluttered what we no longer needed, gave everything a goooood scrub. Wiped down the huge lazy susans under the sinks, wiped down these drawer organizers in the top drawer, wiped down these larger adhesive containers + these shorter adhesive containers on the inside of cabinets. Ta da!
And while this may sound mundane (maybe even frivolous), I’ve learned that taking care of my home makes me feel so much gratitude and contentment towards our space.
8) Ordered Christmas gifts as things went on sale
I finish all my shopping by December 1st. But also? I figure out by November 1st all our Christmas gifts. I figure out what we’re giving KK, what we’re asking from my parents, what we’re giving teachers, what we’re giving each other, what we’re giving friends, everything.
I’ve learned these two self-imposed deadlines help me savor this time of year so much more. I’m also more likely to really enjoy gift giving, pick really intentional gifts, and stay under budget. Win, win!
So right now, I’m carefully looking at our Christmas budget, peeking through what we really need, and crafting a Christmas plan from there. To everyone else in charge of holidays - the gifts, the traditions, the priorities, the schedules, the coordination, the budgets - you are so incredibly appreciated.
Here’s what I’m buying this year!
9) Replenished our first aid boxes
Hi, hello. I’m here to say making sure you have plenty of first aid things takes significant amount of brain power. If you are in charge of this task, you are so appreciated.
But also. If you’re looking at me like, “What first aid things?” Listen to your Big Sister Haley and corral some first aid things. It takes a significant amount of work to set up, but we’ve reaped the benefits over and over since creating our first aid boxes. I thank Past Haley for our first aid boxes multiple upon multiple times a year - especially with our adventurous, active, accident-prone crew (dogs included).
Making (or buying) a good first aid kit is one of my 10 easy things you can do right now for emergency preparedness.
10) Went to the dentist
Because taking care of myself takes care of my family.
Read here how I use months of the year to better prioritize preventative health appointments. This small tweak changed everything for me and now I know that, say, September (and March) is for the dentist, April is for the eye doctor, and so on.
Also my dentist swears by this floss, so I stocked up - I’m trying to floss more to take care of my grumpy gums. And because taking care of myself takes care of my family.
Anyway. Make the appointment. You matter.
This definitely is not an all-inclusive list of everything I did this week. There are dishes that were done, kids that were comforted, dogs that were let out to potty - just to name a few more.
But all that to say - I hope you know how appreciated and important you are for all the tiny, behind-the-scenes work you do. I see you, and I’m right there with you.
(See past posts here!)
Sending hugs.
xo, h
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