Deck Your Halls With Organization & Style

The Holidays are here and can be overwhelming before “decking of the halls” even officially begins! One of the most stressful parts of the holiday season is the additional amount of “information” we are responsible for on top of our daily routine.

We pile additional shopping lists, decorating ideas, holiday card lists, gift ideas, additional meal preparation, party planning, event hosting, travel arrangements, preparation for house guests and much more on top of our daily work-life balance. All of this can feel like piling another “full time job” on top of our existing “full time job” and we simply don’t have the additional hours in the day to keep up.

Keeping track of all of this additional information in an organized manner is THE KEY to maintaining a sense of “peace and calm” in this season of “hustle and bustle.” One way to keep all of this extra information pulled together is in a “Holiday Planning Handbook.”

The Purple Martin & Co., founded by Lori Martin, has created a holiday planning handbook to meet all of your holiday “information management” needs. These handbooks can be customized to meet your specific planning needs or you can pick from a menu of “common holiday planning tabs” to include in your planner. These handbooks are decorated with gorgeous specialty paper and personalized with a name or monogram of your choice. To tame all of that holiday planning “paper” the handbooks include multiple types of pockets, sheet protectors & photo pages to keep your information & ideas contained.

After all, it is impossible to stay on budget or keep track of what we have already done in our holiday planning, let alone remember whom we have already purchased gifts for, if we don’t keep our holiday information organized.

A plan of action before each holiday season does take some effort, but organizing your “plans & ideas” in a “Holiday Planning Handbook” will have the payoff of a much smoother season, a well balanced budget and the ability to know where you left off for next year!

What’s in Lori’s personal “Holiday Planning Handbook?” ~ (Yours can be customized to meet your specific planning needs) …

• A family needs assessment
• A detailed budget (groceries, family gifts, teacher gifts, neighbors & friends)
• A detailed gift list (I shop for impact, think local & stay In budget)
• Meal plans for family gatherings are established weeks ahead of time to give myself time to shop the sales (& clip those coupons)
• A pre-planned grocery list
• Contacts for my holiday card list
• Magazine clippings for gift & decorating ideas
• A record of all receipts to accurately track against my budget. Receipts are also important for exchanges, broken items, missing parts, etc.
• A gift log so I can avoid repeats next year & add to collections I have started for my children & godchildren
• A section for Christmas morning to store user manuals for the “new gifts & toys”
• Packing lists for holiday travel
• I also savor the memories by keeping one holiday card I have sent throughout the years plus one photo of the children with Santa and store it in my binder to cherish for years to come.

Holiday Planning Handbooks start at $40. For your “Holiday Planning Handbook” contact Lori Martin with The Purple Martin & Co. at (704) 724-9108 or thepurplemartin@bellsouth.net.

Holiday Gift Pick #2 ~ Stylish Semikolon Magazine File

My 2nd Gift Pick for this holiday season is the super cool SemiKolon magazine file!

Very stylish, practical & perfect for housing your "family handbook" or other "mommy papers" these magazine files come in a variety of colors and make a fantastic gift! They even have a spot for you to label the contents (personalize them with your giftee's monogram for that special touch)

Shop at papertwist.com or swing by their Charlotte store behind SouthPark Mall. Sasha & Laura are the store owners and are fabulous to work with!

I purchased 2 from these wonderful ladies and intended to give them as gifts .... I couldn't part with them so I'm headed back to buy more. Mine are currently housing my "take out menu handbook" & "holiday handbook!" I keep them beside my pc so these items are close at hand.

A Purple Martin "Holiday Pick" ~ # 1 Semikolon Letter Tray

So, what is on my "list to give" this holiday season? Item number one is incredibly practical, yet SO stylish. Who wouldn't want a stylish way to tame their mommy paper! When my children's bookbags are emptied at the end of each school day, my kids know that the contents of their folders need to be placed in their individual letter trays. I also have one for my "mommy mail" until I have a chance to sort through it at the end of the day.

Before us moms have a chance to sort through all of our paper (the chaos of dinner, bath & bedtime always comes first), it needs a resting place until we can sort through it and put it away in its proper place.

My mommy paper paper temporairly resides in these adorable letter trays from Semikolon! They are very resasonably priced ( < $15) and can be found at
www.shoppapertwist.com. I have 3 ~ lime, pink & orange .... a splash of color on my desk makes paperwork SO much more fun!

Mom Tip ~ What to Do with the Kid's "Fall Artwork?"

Mom Tip ~ No idea what to do with all of the "fall art" making its way home from school? I like to laminate the "fall art" by using placemat sized laminating sheets. We are sure to laminate a piece of "art" from each child and they get to use them at the dinner table! My kids get a kick out of that! They also make great (and economical!) gifts for grandparents!

Another favorite solution is to actually WEAR the "colored macaroni necklace!" I paired mine with a white t-shirt & a pair of stylish jeans! Wear with some fun flats to dress it up a bit. My kids are SUPER proud & when I wore mine today I got so many compliments! Just be sure to store it in a cardboard jewelery box ~ they are fragile.

Also, Happy Fall!

I'm "Micro" He's "Macro" & then there's the "Dog" ....

I just had an enlightening conversation with my husband, Andy. After 15 years together (5 dating & 10 married) we have finally come to the conclusion that I focus on the "MICRO" details of our family while he is responsible for the "MACRO" details .... the bigger picture. Perhaps wer're a bit slow on the take ... you may have figured this out years earlier than us in your relationship.

What was enlightening about this mundane fact is that we finally concluded that NEITHER of our roles is more important than the other and BOTH are INCREDIBLY stressful.

I would describe myself as the "Chief Operating Officer" of the household ~ the one responsible for the details ... all things mundane yet CRITICAL of the bottom line. We can't function without the details. Kids have to make it to school on time ... social structures for my 3rd grade daughter are AS important (if not more so) to her as her grades are .... my 5 year old must learn to read in this critical time period of elementary school .... AND my 2 year old needs to feel secure in her routine of having MILK while we rock at night WITH 5 different stuffed animals in our rocking chair before bed.

In harmonic contrast, my husband has always been the "Chief Executive Officer" .... the one with the mainstream "job" .... responsible for the "MAJOR" decisions that impact the BIG picture of our household, retirement, savings, overall livelihood! VERY BIG & HEAVY stuff!

What was SO amazing about our conclusion tonight is that there really is NO meshing of the 2 roles. For YEARS we have been trying to have each other understand the importance of our reason for BEING .... almost like our sense of "purpose" depended on it ....

I wanted him to understand HOW important it is for my daughter to have GOOD friends, to have a self esteem, to know that her opinion matters .... while he wanted me to understand that interest on a credit card is worse than charging the item for "convenience" in the first place. We're BOTH right ... there is NO winner ... just a lot of co-parenting & shared responsibility going on.

I'm SO thankful that we both care so passionately about our precious family to argue about the MICRO and the MACRO. At the end of our conversation we came out respecting our roles and appreciating the heavy responsibilities we each bear .... and appreciative that we are able to have confidence that we are each treasuring our responsibilities (whether mundane like my daily carpool gig ~ or globally important like my husband's job).

It underscores the even more important role of our family handbook. He has the safety of knowing that the "road map" of the mundane responsibilities that I take such pride in are documented in a place that he can reference in a pinch.

He has safety in knowing that I am "all over" the Halloween party I am in charge of tomorrow for the kindergarten class .... but that he could figure it out if he had to. Likewise, if I had to understand in a split second the financial web he is in charge of for our family's future, I do know who to call and how to be on top of the "macro plan" in a New York Minute.

That leads us to the DOG ... our CRAZY, precious new family mascot "Hemingway" ~ he is a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel who has us all wrapped around his 4 little paws. He has thrown us for a loop ~ both "MICRO" speaking & "MACRO" speaking. He was expensive (i.e. NOT in the financial plan) .... purchased to appease my 8 year old (who we promised at age ONE that we would buy her a dog by the time she was 7 .... what were we thinking???) So ironically enough HE IS the common denominator tying this all together .... he is the "wrench in the works" that makes us laugh and cry each time we realize that adding him to our family was a CRAZY decision we made together ....

Our dog ... the crazy decision that Andy & I BOTH made from a MACRO and MICRO perspective together .... a common denominator we can both agree was fatally flawed but pricelessly adorable and equally loved. How funny that a four legged friend can come to symbolize something so "micro" and "macro" to a marriage 15 years in the making .....

All the best to you and yours!
Lori

Customized Family Handbook ~ Budget Friendly in Time for the Holidays!

We are excited to officially launch the "budget friendly" customized family handbook line! This fashionable and VERY customized family handbook takes the most common five tabs that mom's need in a pinch and puts them in a fashion binder designed by Carolina Pad & Co.

The five tabs that are most common amongst moms are as follows:
Emergency Information
Medical Contacts
School Contacts
Family Contacts (neighbors, babysitters, in town & out of town family)
General Family Routine

These 1 inch fashion binders are very popular and the cost is much more budget friendly at $70.00.

This makes a GREAT Holiday Gift and if you don't have time to obtain the information needed for the handbook, we can wrap up the "shell" (binder, tabs, monogram pouch etc.,) and include the $70 gift card towards personalizing the entire binder for your loved one or friend.

A sample photo is attached.

Setting "Great" (age appropriate) Expectations

I learned a wonderful lesson from a client today. Setting expectations from the outset is VERY important ... even critical. Delays happen ... life gets in the way of meeting deadlines... but setting expectations from the very beginning allows everyone to plan accordingly and hence, avoid frustration.

The same can be said for parenting our children. Setting expectations at the BEGINNING of the school year (or even just the beginning of the DAY) is the BEST way to ensure everyone understands the household rules & responsibilities.

Last night an amazing 3rd grade teacher at my daughter's school said that she is teaching our children to "begin with the end in mind." She wants them to begin their work, begin their day, begin their friendships, begin their family relationships, begin all things with the END result in mind. WOW! I was blown away with her wisdom! If we all lived our lives this way, world peace would be within reach!

Well, at the end of today I would have settled for peace in my own home. Unfortunately, chaos ensued in my house today! The volume at our home was at its worst from 4pm to 8pm. You probably know this time of day well .... when the kids are tired, mom is tired, everyone is hungry, and frustrated ... just to name a few. All of the children need their own down time but end up competing for your attention while you struggle to fix dinner.

At 4pm today the volume at our home was SO loud that I am surprised my neighbors didn't call to find out what all of the screaming was about! In case any of my wonderful neighbors are reading this, the volume can be summed up as follows .... Molly grabbed a toy from Charlie, who grabbed it back, who then in turn ran away from Molly .... who then ran through the house screaming bloody murder trying to get it back .... then the puppy (who was supposed to be on a walk with Emma who did not follow through with her responsibility) joined the chaos by chasing them both all over the house and ended up having an accident in Charlie's room ... Charlie then began to scream again because of the mess on his carpet .... ughhhh.

Needless to say, the start to our school year has been rough and tonight I have decided to adopt the lessons learned from both my client and our 3rd grade teacher .... 1. "Set Expectations" .... and 2. "Begin With The End In Mind."

Tonight the family rules will be unearthed from our family handbook and posted on our fridge as a reminder of our "expectations." I will probably take the time to laminate them and post them in other places around the house. Our rules are pretty basic, but a refresher is definitely needed to "re-set those expectations."

(rules directly from the Martin Family Handbook)
1. Treat Others As You Want to Be Treated
* No Hitting, No Grabbing, No Kicking
* Use Kind Words
* Use your words when your feelings are hurt, not your actions
* ALWAYS tell the truth, even when you think it will get you into trouble

2. Treat Our Possessions with Respect* Do not jump or climb on furniture
* Clean up when you are through playing

3. Have Fun
* Families are special, enjoy your time with each other
* Laugh Every Day
* Encourage Each Other and Celebrate the Good Times

My children will wake up with a visual reminder of our family rules & expectations. Their day will begin anew as we start with "a peaceful end in mind." Then tomorrow we will review them after a peaceful family dinner (that I prepare in advance while the baby is sleeping). My promise to myself .... to wake up tomorrow morning with the "the end of a peaceful day" in mind.

I’ll let you know how it goes .... All the best!
Lori Martin