Changing to a Positive Mindset

 

I have vowed to make 2021 a year of positivity. 2020 was a hard year for everyone, given the state of the world during the global pandemic and subsequently, the crumbling of the United States government due to the election. During that same time period, the Hawkesworth family was going through their own reckoning. 2020 was the year of legal trouble, daycare problems, virtual learning and an overwhelming amount of negativity. I wasn't sure my family was going to survive to see 2021. As soon as we got to a place where we could move forward from what seemed like endless stress and anxiety, we decided to keep our family the top priority and move into 2021 with the intentions of only being happy. 

Remaining positive is one of the healthiest things you can do for your mind. It is so easy to fall into a trap where you plant yourself as a victim and everything around you is crumbling as you try to live your daily life. I have learned through crippling experience that you have to manifest your own good luck. It is NOT easy, and will take consistent effort each and every day. Here is how I plan to maintain this positive mindset, and hopefully provide you with opportunities to reflect on any negativity in your life and change it for the better. 

1.  Money Isn't Everything

I know that sounds ridiculous. Money rules the world. The more you have, the higher up you are and the more you can do. 

When we moved to Florida in 2017 we drained our life savings buying a house and starting a new life. Bruce had just gotten out of the military in May 2017. I had Madden in February and was not planning on going to work until the new school year in August. We stayed for a few months with my dad to transition from Texas to Florida and allow our paperwork to process. Bruce had a job lined up with good friends of ours at AAT Restoration, and I was prepared for a teaching job at Deltona Middle School. Bruce even moved down to Florida early, staying with his mom, to begin working and keep us from drowning in our bills. 

Do you know how hard it is to get a mortgage when you have a job but you haven't technically started yet?! DMS sent countless letters to state that I was hired, I was starting a certain day, I was being paid a certain amount, etc. It took us double the amount of time to close on a home. When we DID close.....we were BROKE. And boy, do I mean broke. Everything and anything went on a credit card because Bruce's paycheck alone could not cover all of our bills. Our student loan debt is outrageous. When I finally got my first paycheck it just barely covered our mortgage and a trip to the gas pump. Our only saving grace, ironically, was Hurricane Irma. While we were thankful to be safe, and reflected on the fact that Madden and I had survived our first hurricane (Bruce is a FL baby, he didn't blink an eye), and our house had zero damage, we also relished in the benefits of being in a State of Emergency; we were granted FEMA food stamps, we were given forbearance for 1-3 months on most of our loans, and time off of work (no gas $). 

Being in this trap made us money hungry. We hustled to make sure we would stop living penny to penny. After my year in Deltona, I accepted a job in Flagler County at Belle Terre Elementary School.  This meant less money in gas, local daycare and higher pay. I took every opportunity to get extra money, such as tutoring through the school. Bruce found a line cook job after a few months, and worked his way up to Executive Chef in just a few months. He worked that position for 1.5 years before finding another line cook job and again, working his way up to Executive chef. His paycheck fluctuated, causing money stress and constant I-can't-rest mentality. If Bruce misses a day of work, he misses a day of pay. Therefore, Mandy has to be the one to take the day off, and now Bruce can never have time off. I would adore the times he got off early, but the stress of losing an hour or two of pay would bubble to the surface. When he was an Executive Chef it was worse. His last chef job was at a local brewery. He worked 6 days a week, 12 or more hours a day. His paycheck was salary, which was phenomenal, but was only paid out for 40 hours a week. Bruce easily worked 60-70 hour weeks. He had one day off, Monday, which was spent home with Madden for daddy-son bonding time, but also to reduce the cost of daycare. Oh, but Monday was also the day he was required to put in his orders for the restaurant, meaning he never technically had this day off. This cycle triggered Bruce to become depressed, anxious, exhausted and in general, destroy any mental health he had. His PTSD came to the surface and began a journey of bad life choices. We have moved past this time in our life, so no need to elaborate, but take my word for it when I say it got ugly. 

Our saving grace was the day he got fired from the local brewery. It's a long story, and I have personal negative feelings so again, no elaboration. But when it happened, we both felt a weight lifted off our shoulders. We knew his mental health needed this, and in that exact moment, we learned that money isn't everything. While making more money seems to make your life easier, it can come at a cost. If the cost is your social and emotional well being, is it really worth it?

2.  Family First 

I know the irony of saying Family First but having it be second on a list. But the order is important. As you just read, Bruce and I fell into the more money trap. This led to our demise as a family. We put money before our own family needs. There always seemed to be something that "needed" our attention. It seemed like we lived a life where we moved from one tough situation to the next. This mentality consumed us and inevitably, our family suffered. 

The COVID-19 lockdown brought us together somewhat. I was working remotely, which was stressful and took some adjustments. I didn't have much time to spend with the boys, but it resulted in constant stress and too much T.V. Bruce and I fell deeper into a depression and our struggle to be emotionally healthy just got worse. 

In late 2020, Bruce was let go from his Executive Chef position at a local brewery. This job was the black hole of his mental health problems. When he went there, the life was sucked from his soul like a Harry Potter dementor. I never saw my husband. I would wake up and he would be dead asleep. He would come home, and I would be dead asleep. Madden saw him on Monday's when he got his only day off. Him being let go showed us that we needed each other, and he made a phone call and was hired again at AAT Restoration. 

3. Find an Outlet

I have found that without a way to channel my emotions, I retained all of my negative energy. I was desperate for an outlet to release stress and increase my positive hormone levels, but fell into an excuse trap. There was always something that I could come up with that held me back from doing anything that wasn't working or taking care of Madden and the house. Being diagnosed with anxiety, I knew exercise would have a positive effect on my mental health but always found an excuse to avoid it. 

Exercise is not my jam. I grew up playing soccer, and eventually played on a travel soccer team while playing 3 sports seasons in high school. It came as a shock to me that when I stopped playing soccer to go to college, I gained weight. I never was a gym person, so going to workout in a gym is challenging to adjust to. How was I supposed to develop an exercise routine when I had no clue what would work for my schedule and my physical needs?

At the beginning of 2021, I decided I wanted to take my positive motivation to the next level. I have always heard wonderful things about yoga. I used to be very flexible, a cheerleader for many years, and thought I could be good at yoga. My two best friends on the planet do yoga and have told me wonders. Following their advice, I have made a major attempt to do yoga 3 mornings each week. I set my alarm for 5:00 a.m., and get my butt out of bed by 5:30. This allows me enough time to find a yoga video on Youtube, complete a 20 minute yoga work out, and have 5 minutes before Bruce and Madden wake up like bulls in a china shop. This starts my day with positive thoughts and de-stresses me before the stress can even begin. I have found that the days I do yoga, I have much more patience and react with a gentle, kind attitude to my students and family. Days I don't do yoga tend to leave me feeling slightly scrambled impatient, meaning I will  have a higher tendency to snap. 

I also began reading more on my Kindle, avoiding the negativity that surrounds social media. My family began doing a hobby called Letterboxing. If you haven't heard of letterboxing, go to my blog post about it. This is a wonderful family hobby that you can do any where, any time, and in a variety of environmental situations. 

4. Write in a Journal

If you don't enjoy writing, this will seem stupid. I was always one of those people that felt stupid writing in a diary. Trust me when I say this is the most beneficial thing you can do when negativity swarms your brain and anxiety is eating you alive. There are major benefits to journaling. Let me explain how I use my notebooks and how they help me in my daily life. 

I am notorious for my purse notebooks. I have a notebook for every scenario. 

• I made a budget notebook that fits inside my purse, to have access to our finances at all times. 
• I have a purse notebook that stays in my purse and allows me to write lists, thoughts, and things I needed to remember. 
• I have a mini notebook I use to make daily checklists at work, notes during meetings and anything that needs a reminder during the day. 

In my budget notebook, I keep track of what bills we need to pay, what day they get paid on, how much income we bring in during the pay period, and how we allot any extra penny. As a family, we developed our own budgeting plan that involves rolling our extra money to pay off our debt. I can't say we use one specific method, but we researched a variety and took specific aspects that worked for our financial situation. As a team, we tag team our budget and communicate about any spending to ensure we don't get stressed about money. Money is a major trigger for anxiety and by documenting everything we need to know, it keeps the anxiety at bay. 

In my other two notebooks, I begin a clean page for each day. I start by writing a to do list, and add everything I can possibly think of that I want to do that day. As the day goes on, I add more if things come to my mind. This helps me keep track of things we need to get done, or need to handle in a timely fashion. It could also be a lists of projects I want to do around the house. I check off things on the list as I get to them. During the day, I begin another clean page if I need to write any reminders to myself, get phone calls that require me to remember information, etc. If anxiety kicks into high gear, I write a brain dump of everything that makes me feel anxious in that moment. When the next day rolls around, I begin with a clean page, and write everything from the previous day checklist that did not get done, then add what I need done for that day. I continue this process every. single. day. 

Writing out my emotions helps me process them better. By expressing my needs and any anxieties I have, I am able to maintain focus what needs to get done during the day. I complete only tasks that I think I can handle. Some days are far more productive than others, and that is okay. You are not considered a failure if you don't complete the tasks on your to-do list every day. 

5.  Identify the Toxic People in Your Life 

There are always going to be people in your life that you don't get along with. Usually, these types of people can be dealt with and ignored. However, some people linger in our lives and spread their negativity deep down into our bone marrow, ruining any chance we have at a positive lifestyle. Take a good look around you. Is there someone in your life that is always one upping you? What about someone who always finds a way to turn your situation into their victimization? Do you constantly find yourself upset by something this person did or said? This is what we call a toxic relationship. You can have a toxic relationship with anyone; friends, coworkers, family members. Their role in your life is to suck your positive energy away like a dementor. 

My entire life, I was always a people pleaser, putting others before myself time and time again. I have always made sure other people's needs are mets before my own because I felt that was the right thing to do. By doing this, I acquired many toxic friendships and relationships because my kindness was always viewed as a weakness. I could list countless people in my life that took advantage of the kind of person I am in order to benefit themselves down the road. 

Naming specific people would ruin the positive vibes I have going for me at the moment. I will let you know that if you have a friend call you sobbing, and you go over to help them with a situation that they feel they can't handle themselves, but down the road you need the same thing from them and they can't help you.....thats a toxic relationship. If you express your feelings to a friend because you are going through something tough and just need a shoulder to cry on, and down the road they use that against you....thats a toxic relationship. If you have a family member that criticizes your parenting and purposely makes food you and your child are allergic to.....that is a toxic relationship. Anyone who uses your Hulu log in information for 3 years, throws a temper tantrum when the password is changed, and accuses you of being a shitty friend......thats a toxic relationship. 

Identifying a toxic person can be hard. Cutting them off can be harder. Think about yourself and your future; if that person is doing nothing to support you in a time when you need it the most, then they don't deserve to watch you be happy. Chances are, they are pushing for you to remain miserable so they can feel better about themselves. 

6. Choose Optimism

This one is definitely not easy. I have been an optimistic person my whole life, thinking of the bright side of situations and hoping things could improve. When tough situations occur, it is hard to see the good. Optimism can seem impossible, but you can start with small steps to help train your brain to reverse its pessimistic tendencies. 

Have you heard of the power of manifestation? As embarrassed as I am to admit this, I learned about it from Tik Tok. You will bring energy to you that you emit into the world. If you are dwelling in constant misery and negativity, you are manifesting negative energy. Surrounding yourself with people and things that bring you joy will increase the positive energy you are putting into the universe, and ultimately bring positive energy back your way. You can even make "requests" to the universe by doing manifestation chants. One method I have attempted is called the 3-6-9 manifestation method. You recite your desire 3 times, your emotions 6 times, and your affirmations 9 times. This is how it worked for me the other day. 

Bruces car broke down at a gas station. He found someone after 10 minutes to jump his car. He told me he would keep me posted. I stated "please let his car work" 3 times. Then I said "we need his car so he can get to work" 6 times (not necessarily an emotion, but still). Then, I said "If he gets his car to work he will be safe and will still get paid" 9 times. He called me back in 5 minutes with a solution that allowed him to remain safe, and still get paid for the day. It's all about the energy you decide you want surrounding you!

Here is a link that describes more about manifestation. 

7. Organize and Declutter

Organizing and decluttering is very on brand for me. I am that friend that would love to come into your home and reorganize your linen closet, it if meant you wouldn't be offended of course.  Making things look prim, proper, and in their place makes me feel a Zen that can't be explained. My anxiety will burn to ashes the second I start an organizing task. 

During the end of 2020, I began a strong love for organizing. I had always been good at it, but struggled to maintain it. I could have dining room table cleaned off every night, but by the next night, they would be cluttered again. The toys could be neatly organized in their baskets, and then destroyed within the hour. I became obsessive about cleaning the house, and even made a cleaning schedule. Bruce thought I was nuts, until we actually started building a routine. We took every day chores that seem daunting and turned them into habits. Our house is never immaculate, but we can honestly say our house is always tidy and clean, even with three dogs, a cat and a toddler. 

With the cleaning schedule, I began finding areas around the house that could be better organized. I ordered more baskets and containers than I thought our house could hold. I gave everything a place to be stored, labeled if possible. When we put laundry away, each sheet, pillowcase and towel has a home. When we use cleaning supplies, we grab it from the basket, and return it to the basket. Putting bins in the refrigerator made us realize how much space we were wasting by tossing things into drawers and bowls. We were able to instantly reduce our clutter. When we come home from work, we don't feel the stress of a messy home. Many of these task have become a habit. Bruce said, and I quote, "Wow, it's nice to be able to find something when you need it." This is how organizing and decluttering saved our mental health. 

Organizing and cleaning can be a dreaded task. If you feel that you don't know where to start, reach out to me privately! I would love to consult with you and discuss how you can start your journey to an organized and decluttered home. If you are interested in seeing my cleaning schedule, I will link a preview down below! If you are interested in having me help you make one, or designing one for you on Canva, send me an email or contact form and I would love to help! You can also reach out to me on Instagram! @amandafromthehawkesnest  I post a ton of cleaning and organizing videos on Instagram and Tik Tok (Follow me @thehawkesnest)

8. You Come First, Because You Matter, Too

I have always fallen victim to putting everyone before myself. I was always pouring from an empty cup, giving every ounce of energy I had to making sure the family had their needs met, even if it meant mine never were. I was the mom that would let Madden sleep for hours on my chest, starving myself all day in refusal to move and wake the sleeping baby because he was sick and hadn't slept much during the night. I am the mom who will always make the sacrifice if it means someone else won't have to. I am the friend that won't want to wake my kid up in the middle of the night to drive you to the airport, but will do it because I love and care about you. The only person I was hurting by putting myself last, was myself. 
Getting into this trap led me into a deep dark depression. I felt so dark, unloved, and truly couldn't fathom daily functional tasks. Eventually, this led to me getting diagnosed with anxiety and panic disorder. One day, I had to make a decision that would inevitably change mine and Madden's life forever. From that day forward, I vowed that I couldn't always be last, and anyone that felt I deserved to be last wasn't deserving of my time and energy. This meant EVERYONE around me. From that day, our family has built a strong, loving foundation that thrives in a positive environment. 
You can't pour from an empty cup. You matter. You deserve to be happy. You come first. 

Organizing Board Games

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find me on tik Tok for organizing videos!

@thehawkesnest

Did anyone else take advantage of Target’s Black Friday deal on board games? When we saw that board games were 50% off we went buck wild in the store. When the deal went live, we stocked our game closet with staple games for kids and adults. Madden lucked out the most. He got some awesome games I remember wanting as a kid, like Mouse Trap. Our best purchase was Catan. If you haven’t played, you are missing out. Catan is originally almost $50, so this was our time to invest and we got it for an actual steal ($24.99). 

Right after we got all of our board games, it was all we wanted to do! We had competitions and currently have a stats board of who wins which game. Catan is our favorite game to play together and with others. If you have never played, it is a cross between Monopoly and Risk; you are strategizing to get build settlements and gather resources. Bruce and I both have really good problem solving skills and that plays to your benefit when strategizing in games like Catan and Battleship. We get very into games like this, to the point where we may or may not argue.

Madden really enjoys board games and for this, I am thankful. Board games help teach and reinforce important life skills. Following directions, first and foremost, is the easiest thing to practice when playing board games with your family. We reinforce counting as we play games like Trouble, and Pop the Pig. There is always the good lesson of "You don't always win" when playing games as well. Madden is an only child so he only has Bruce and I to learn from. Madden also has a Sensory Processing Disorder, so many of the games double as OT activities and self-regulation strategies.

Now that our closet was fully stocked with board games, my anxiety kicked in each time we would play a new game. Some games don’t go back into the box as well as when they first game out. The boxes begin to rip, especially if you have a barbarian toddler that Hulk Smashes everything in his path. Have you ever tried to get the game Mouse Trap to go back inside the box? It is literally impossible. There can't be a single person on the planet that can keep Mouse Trap clean and organized. If you can do it, kudos to you. It is already a challenge to put together. Our box was always bulging or we were trying to find a method to making sure all the pieces were flat before putting it away. It was a nightmare, and ultimately it ended in a ripped box. Hungry Hungry Hippos is another one! The hippos are super cute until you are trying to get them to get into their place and in that box. The balls have a special storage area under the board, but the second that sucker comes loose, you are chasing red and yellow balls for the rest of your life. We currently are missing 4!

This is our game closet in its natural habitat. My anxiety was at an all time high when I took this picture. Game pieces, puzzles, baggies and other items have gathered on the shelves and on the floor. At one point, Connect Four had been placed wrong-side-up and little red tokens tinked all over the ground. Each time we go to grab a game, the tower of boxes tumbles down on top of you and you spend 5 minutes trying to keep the boxes in some sort of organized fashion. The bottom of the closet is random cleaning storage that I can’t seem to fit anywhere else, such as the mop and the air filters for the HVAC. I have a twitch just thinking about it.  

   

Searching for a Solution

I knew there had to be a solution for this board game debacle. Ripped board game boxes and missing pieces have been an issue for decades, so surely there is a product out there that will ease my anxiety. While scouring the internet for a viable solution, I came across something that instantly sparked my attention. I found these amazing zipper pouches that were designed for protecting and organizing documents. As a teacher, I was instantly intrigued. I had never seen something like it before. How cool would it be to take home important paperwork and not have the last few remaining drops of your coffee in your cup spill over it? How many times had I graded papers and brought them back to look like my toddler had played trashketball with them? I did a deep dive into the descriptions and reviews and realized that this was the product I was searching for. This was my board game saviour.

Let me introduce to you the Sunee Zipper Pouches. They are made from a durable PVC mesh that is strong and waterproof. The original size is 9x13, and is meant for storing and traveling with documents. computer-sized paper fits PERFECTLY! When I saw these, I ran to the closet and began measuring the board games we had. Would they fit in a 9x13 sized bag? Some games are super awkward-shaped, like Pop the Pig (that guy has a chef had and a pot-belly) or Mouse Trap (sure, the game board isn't too big but the pieces?!). Back to deep diving, and I see THEY COME IN VARIOUS SIZES. Bigger, smaller, tiny.... There is even a portfolio sized bag! (Where are my teachers at? This is perfect for anchor charts!!!). This is it ya'll. This was my saving grace. I added them to my Amazon cart, and patiently waited for them to be delivered.

Organizing the Games

When my bags got here, I had the day off work and had the house to myself. Madden was at daycare, Bruce was at work....just me and the fur-babes. I put on some Machine Gun Kelly and got to organizing. Cleaning and reorganizing is my Zen. If I could make a career out of organizing and cleaning, I would. It makes me SO HAPPY. This day, I could jam to my favorite album, drink my coffee, and solve my game board problem without any interruption.

I started by removing everything and organized it into 3 different piles; board games, puzzles, and learning materials. 

Then, I began sorting the board games into the proper sized bag. I made sure to place the instructions pamphlet facing out so that we could easily read the name of the game. I considered cutting the name off the box, but I think a vinyl sticker would be easier (and a fun new project). Many of mine were in the 9x13 or 10x14 sized bags. The smaller bags were perfect for games with cards or many pieces. The long, skinny bags were the best size for card games like Phase 10 and Skip Bo. Bigger card games, like Cards Against Humanity fit very well in the smaller red bags. Awkward games like Pop the Pig needed a larger bag than expected, due to how wide the pig is. 

After all of the games had a home, I needed to find an organization system in the closet! I got these awesome trapezoidal baskets designed for closets. They are shorter in the front of the basket for shorties like me that have to stand on tip-toes, carry a step-stool, or tilt the basket so that the contents fall out. 

 

I kept everything organized according to the pile they were placed in. I turned the baskets in order to fit two on one shelf. This tapered look works perfectly for finding a game and putting it back neatly. The board games were on the bottom shelf in the bigger basket, organized from left to right in size order. The games on the left are not in bags. Jumanji is a wooden, foldable game board, Mandalorian Monopoly has a "special" box according to my husband, and Catan has so many pieces that we want to get a few more of the smaller bags to keep it organized.

The next shelf up has two smaller baskets. The basket on the left has remaining board games that were smaller, organized from back to front in size order. The left basket has all of the puzzles, and are organized from size of bag from left to right. Learning materials were purged, and left in their containers for easy grab-and-go.

Testing the Theory

Now, I had everything in its place and I felt so great about how it looked. But, is it effective? Is this organization system going to work? Is my family going to follow the rules with the bags and keep them in their spot? Time to test it out. 

I decided to order pizza from our favorite place and have a family game night. We order from Anthony's pizza, a family run place that makes pizza just like they do in Italy. We always get the Margherita pizza made with Mozzarella de Bufalo (fresh mozzarella made with Buffalo milk). For anyone who is lactose-intolerant, has a dairy allergy, or is avoiding dairy for any other reason.....try this cheese. It will change your life. 

As I finish bribing my family with pizza, garlic knots, and zeppoli, I ask which games we should play. We start with Pop the Pig, which was a pretty simple gig. All the pieces store inside Mr. Pig, and the retrieve-and-replace system worked well. Next, we move on to Candy Land. This was a big trickier with the cards. But, after Madden was sent back to Gumdrop Land and Bruce was sent back to Mr. Mint, I was able to swoop in with a win. Putting the game back was much easier than the box. Plop in the cards, zipper away. Put back in the basket. So far, so good. 

The last game was a true test. Mouse Trap. I shivered a bit (not a cold shiver, an anxiety shiver....anyone get those?) We got all the pieces out and Bruce set it all up. He's a professional. This was a very serious game; we all kept stealing and losing the cheese pieces. I got sent to the trap SIX TIMES. It was super intense. The competition was on. In the end, Madden got his cheese wheel first. We rewarded him with extra zeppoli. 

On to the clean up. We put the game board in first. Then, we put Scuba Steve, the mice, the silver ball and the rubber band inside a smaller zipper bag. We got all of the trap parts inside the bag, tossed in the small bag with the mice, and zipped it all the way up. Madden walked it to the closet, stood on his stool, and put it in the basket. 

IT WORKED. At this point in time, I am ecstatic. Not only is my closet clean and organized, but my family is following the system. We aren't losing pieces, we aren't frustrated with boxes, the closet has more space......overall a major success. 

Other Uses for The Zipper Bags

Now, what else can I use these bags for?! They are magical, and I want to use them EVERYWHERE. Let me remind you that these bags are waterproof. When reading that in a product description, I'm sure you react the same way I do, and think, "SUUUUUUUUURE it is." Ya'll. I printed pictures of my students in color for a Christmas craft. I placed them inside the 9x13 size back and placed it on the counter as I finish getting ready. As I am rushing to get my toddler dressed and out the door on time, I set down my coffee cup with no lid. Madden stood up on his stool, grabbed his lunchbox and swung around to get down. In the process, my coffee cup goes flying and coffee spills everywhere. The only thing on the counter at the moment was my pictures! I start panicking and get the mess cleaned up and am preparing to be 15 minutes late so that I can reprint the pictures. I open the zipper pouch and am shocked. Like, jaw-dropped open shocked. Not a single drop of coffee on my pictures. They were dry as a desert. This was when my brain began to think of every possible use for these bags around my house. 

• I reorganized our family documents to be in zipper pouches. I have an organizer for these documents, however, we are in central Florida and are prone to hurricanes. Having the documents in a water safe bag would be extremely ideal. All of our tax information from previous years can be sealed into 1 bag! I put the zipper pouches inside hanging green folders and now everything is even more organized than before.

• There is a 9x13 bag in my school backpack for special documents I don’t want ruined. I have a tendency to overfill my backpack and my papers tend to get crinkled corners or accidently smushed by something else. This zipper bag helps prevent that! My bad habit at school is also hoarding every coffee cup I own in my classroom then bringing them home to be washed all at once. When this happens, I tend to get residual coffee spills on things.

• Have you ever saved a critical receipt, and found out the hard way it got water stains, or the sun lightened the font and it was unreadable? I keep one of the pouches in our home office to organize receipts. We just redid our floors in the master bedroom and we kept the receipt inside a zipper pouch, and were able to quickly locate it when we had extra flooring to return.

• I have used the portfolio bag to hold anchor charts. When 3:45 hits at work, I usually am out the door. I have a tendency to bring stuff home and work on it during TV time or after bedtime for Madden, and this bag has reduced the number of errors I have to correct on my anchor charts.

My Recommendation

To get my closet looking the way it did, I needed an order of 9x13 bags, and a variety pack. The 11 x 16 sized bags are GREAT for bigger boards and bulkier games. My suggestion is to measure your games, specifically the board itself. Don't forget to add about 1-2 inches to make up for the bulk of certain games. If you are interested in any of these products, the links below will take you to the products mentioned above! Happy Organizing!

• Sunee 21 Pack Zipper Pouch, 7 Sizes

• Sunee 9x13 Zipper Pouches

• Sunee 19x25 Art Portfolio 

*The above links are affiliate links in which I may earn a small commission*

Organizing your Linen Closet

 

The linen closet can be a dreaded place when it comes to putting laundry away. In our house, it has always been a place where we knew we could do better, but never put effort into maintaining a decent organization system. We showed improvement over the years, but it was never like the pictures you see on Pinterest. 

Our house is NOT Pinterest perfect by any means. There are some areas where I strive to be Pinterest level organized. I have caught myself feeling bad that my home didn’t look like my Pinterest boards. Don’t fall down that trap! Your home, just like mine, is amazing just the way it is, and with a few tips and tricks, you will feel that Pinerest proudness. My boards and pins are such an inspiration for the house we have now, and the house we are planning to build in the future. I hope my posts help you feel better about not having a Pinterest perfect house and learning to use your space effectively by maximizing your organization!

Now, onto an area that needed a ton of work. Our linen closet is right next to our guest bathroom. This is a picture of the location. The door in front is the bathroom, and the accordian door on the left hand side is the linen closet. It was a VERY hard angle to get a before picture.

Here is the before picture of my linen closet.

We have a running rule in my friend group that you don’t judge a friend by their linen closet. It is NOT easy to keep organized. One skill I did not acquire before turning 30 was how to fold a fitted sheet. It was something I knew I probably should learn, but was unsuccessful at each attempt. In turn, when I had to fold and put away a fitted sheet, I had mastered a fold-and-roll technique so it wasn’t just a blob on the shelf, but it had some rhyme and reason to the unkempt madness. 

I had a pretty good handle on folding our towels. This isn’t all of our towels (it was doggy-tubby day yesterday). Normally we can fit 3 rows of towels across. They tend to look pretty neat. I added the baskets to control the chaos of dish towels and cleaning rags. I have a ton of microfiber cloths we use for cleaning on a daily basis, so having them loose or just folding on the shelf wasn’t working. The baskets looked cute, but it is a tight fit to have 3 across the top. When I go to reach the baskets I have to use a step stool, or I stand on my tippy toes and tilt the basket and cross my fingers that everything inside doesn’t topple down on top of me. 

Sheets, blankets and comforters can be such a hassle, especially when you are only five feet tall. If I don’t have Bruce to help me, or a chair to stand on, I tend to tuck and roll and shove that thing onto a shelf and hope for the best. Not the best method, but effective when you are in a hurry or have a toddler climbing into the dryer for fun. 

Organizing Tools

I knew the baskets I had in the closet already were not going to be enough to tackle this job. I scoured the internet for a solution and found these baskets here. 

These baskets are trapezoidal; taller in the back, shorter in the front and tapered on the sides. They are designed for closet organization. When I found them, I knew I had struck gold. The tapered front makes it so easier to grab what I need while keeping everything neat, without needing to tip the whole basket down. 

How I Organized the Chaos

I started by taking everything out of the closet and putting it on the dining room table. This was helpful so I could see what needed to be sorted and folded. 

I started with one section at a time. The pillow cases were super simple to begin with. I found a folding method and sorted them by color.My folding technique: fold in half horizontally, fold in half vertically, then fold in thirds. We have primarily grey sheet sets, so this grey ombre with a touch of color is a snapshot of our personalities.

 

Madden needs a blanket for nap-time at school, and he has a few crib sheets that were used in his previous classroom for the mats. He hasn’t used the crib sheets in a while so I decided to purge those. His blankets were simple to fold and set to the side. We added his weighted blanket in later, after it got a good clean. 

To keep things simple, we separate sheets based on room. Madden gets his own area for sheets and Bruce and I get our own as well. This makes it easier for Bruce to figure out where to put them away or grab from when changing sheets. It’s aesthetically pleasing as well when you look at your linen closet! I refolded the sheets and sorted them based on whose bed they go on. 

Folding a Fitted Sheet

Now, I had to take an hour-long Professional Development break here. I could no longer move forward without learning how to fold a fitted sheet. I was determined; today was the day I was going to be an adult that could check this skill off her bucket list. I had pinned a few posts that I immediately tried to decipher. I instantly got frustrated when it didn’t look like what was described in the blog post. I am a visual learner, so I switched to Youtube. Then I found this angel who saved my agony. It was like something clicked in my brain as she went through the steps. She filled in all the little gaps everyone else was leaving out. In the teacher world, this was perfectly explicit direct instruction and modeling. She deserves a gold star. Check her video out here for an awesome tutorial! Here was my first attempt, not perfect, but I eventually improved!

Check out my Instagram and Tik Tok to watch me model how to fold a fitted sheet!

Back to the Chaos

Now that I knew how to fold a fitted sheet, I was able to fold and organize the rest of the sheets, and tackle the blankets as well. I organized each item into its own basket and started placing them on shelves. 

I am so content with the final result! I may play around with the organization of the comforter and blankets. For now, the basket is keeping everything together and providing a space to keep them neat. 

Tips and Tricks for Folding and Organizing

• Do your folding on a flat surface, especially when folding your fitted sheets. I have limited space for folding, so for a big job like this, I used the dining room table. 

• Play around with folding techniques. There are so many ways you can fold a towel or blanket to fit your linen closet measurements. I have seen the hotel folding method and tried it out. It is a great method, it just didn’t work with our bath towels and linen space. I fold my towels into thirds, then into thirds again. This has been my tried and true method for 7 years!

• Use baskets you have around the house before going to buy more. If you are trying to stay on a budget and can’t drop a ton of money on new organizing bins, that’s okay! I bet you have something around the house that will be perfect. Check out Marshall's and Homegoods before you buy something pricey! I have found so many amazing baskets and organizing bins at Homegoods for dirt cheap!