Keeping My Family Organized During COVID

It goes without saying that we are in unprecedented times with COVID. It was clear to me at the very beginning of this pandemic that our family needed to get more organized. To be fair, it was something that was always on my mind, even before the pandemic, but with the hustle and bustle of life, always fell to the wayside.

Things like planning our days, meals, and chores became even more important once we all went remote. In this blog I’ll show the top 3 ways our family now uses these 3×5 index card sleeves to get organized!

School Schedule and Remote Learning

When our kids moved to remote learning earlier this year, there was no daily schedule or structure for our kids, which made remote learning a challenge. Not only because the kids didn’t know what to do, but also because at the same time, we had to work.

So, we did two things. First, we built out a schedule with the 3×5 index card sleeves. We used two 10-slot sleeves to reflect a full day’s schedule. We sat down with the kids and built the schedule together. They really enjoyed being part of the planning process.

Once we had the schedule figured out, we programmed an Alexa routine to sound off at each new time slot during the day. This was great because the kids had the 3×5 index card holder on the wall to look at plus Alexa reinforcing the schedule!

We also changed up the schedule every 2 weeks and updated the 3×5 index cards and Alexa accordingly. Having a routine is great but it’s equally important to add variety in your kids’ day!

This year, the kids have a schedule but we still use these sleeves to help make it easily accessible to them. It’s also been very useful in keeping track of specialized classes. If you’re like me, I can never keep it straight. What day is music again? What day is PE? In my next post I’ll talk about more ways we’re using these index card sleeves for remote learning.

Chore Charts, Chores, and More Chores!

With everyone at home, our dishes were piling up, trash was getting full faster, and in general, our  house was getting messier, faster. It was important for us to get chores in check. A chore chart for the kids made sense and a good general practice to allow our kids earn allowance and or rewards.

First, we needed to make the chore chart easily accessible. A wall-hanging chore chart using the 3×5 index card sleeve was a perfect solution. We sat down with the kids and picked age-appropriate chores with them, like making their bed, cleaning their room, helping with dishes, etc. By using index cards, we were able to easily swap out chores.

Family Dinner Planning

Let me start by saying that I always wanted to be one of those amazing parents who has the whole week of meals prepped and planned. It always sounded like a good idea, but then I never got around to it. That changed with us all being at home and eating out less!

I wanted to stop rolling the dice at dinnertime every day. So, we started planning our family dinners for the week. Every week, we sit down with the kids and pick some new recipes we want to try. Once we pick the recipes, we print (or write) the recipes on 3×5 index cards. In parallel, we add the needed ingredients to our grocery list.

We hang our recipe cards in the 3×5 index card sleeve on the wall in our kitchen, so it’s easy for the family to see what’s for dinner. What I love is I don’t need to wonder what’s for dinner, or search for that one recipe i found online somewhere on some site. Everything I need is right there and easily accessible.

Cooking as a family has been so much fun!

We hope these tips helped you. In our next blog, we’ll show how you can use these index card sleeves for remote learning!