It's hard to believe, but we are mere weeks (days for some parts of the country!) away from returning to the early morning scrambling to get kids ready for school.

One of the biggest time-wasters of those precious pre-dawn hours involves the all-important "Choosing of the Clothes". However, we've found some craft ideas that when combined with a little pre-planning can make this year wardrobe worry-free for your kids!

One super-simple tactic to try out before the buses even start rolling requires- absolutely nothing! Just ask your child to create a kid out of the clothes they plan on wearing the next day somewhere in their room. If it's the sort of room where neatness reigns, this should take care of the problem, and it can be a fun project for kids to style and pose their "clothing kids" differently every night.

However, if your child isn't diligent about keeping their room picked up, a "clothing kid" on the floor may just add to the madness. If that's the case, try taking the organizing upward! Keep an eye out at thrift stores or garage sales for a sturdy coat tree, or make your own using pine boards from the lumberyard. In addition to assisting with assembly, painting a wooden clothing holder to suit their fancy will give the child a sense of ownership. Every evening, the clothing tree should be decorated with the next day's outfit, including socks, underwear and a belt hung from the hooks.

If the bedroom lackings the floor space necessary for a clothing tree, a closet will do the trick and provide the additional perk of allowing the child to plan their wardrobe for the entire week. Hanging organizers can hold six day's worth of clothing and larger ones (not the shoe organizers, which will quickly become too cramped to hold an entire outfit) have enough space to allow labels (quickly and easily created with felt letters glued onto a felt rectangle label and then sewn onto the organizer) to be attached to the side or on the top, hanging down in the openings.

And if closet space is also problematic, here's the last (and greatest!) idea: large felt tags that fit OVER the hangers. The genius part of this idea is that it can actually SAVES space by getting pants out of the drawer and sharing the same place as the shirts! Supplies required are minimal: just a large enough piece of felt (suggested size is 18 x12") for each day of the week, strong hangers, and perhaps some clothes pins to make sure the pants stay on the hangers until they are needed. Cut the top corners off the felt rectangle, cut a hole in the top for the hanger to fit through, slice two X's in the bottom to hold socks and underwear and embellish as desired. (This would be an excellent place to practice some sewing skills! Buttons and rickrack would be adorable!)

With just a little planning, getting dressed in the morning can be a painless process for everyone and get the day off to a great start!

Fight the young prince/princess attitudes that can develop in younger siblings when it comes time for work!

Often, the last of the litter is overlooked in lieu of larger, stronger siblings when it's time to tackle chores. Not only can this lead to a learned helplessness in the child, it can also fuel sibling rivalry. Nearly every job has a component perfect for the younger set:

• They can fold the smaller items like hand towels, wash clothes, underwear and sock at laundry time and be shown how to sort the dirty laundry
• Once the knives and other dangers are removed, they can empty and put away the silverware from the dishwasher
• They might not be big enough to run the lawn mower, but they can sweep the grass and debris off the walkways and porch afterwards
• They can empty the smaller wastebaskets into the garbage on trash day
• Setting the table (starting with just adding the napkins, then working up to the silveware, then the plates, and finally the glasses) is a great job for younger kids

Have each family member tackle his or her task list at the same time.

The family members who do their chores together perhaps get to spend more time together afterwards. Assign everyone his or her task(s) and then get to it. Pick a day of the week and time suitable for everyone and then have at it. Chances are the chores will be finished more quickly and doing so will be more fun. Celebrate afterwards with a reward that can be enjoyed by all, such as fresh cut watermelon or a trip to the pool.

Even young family members can take part in the family chores scenario. My toddler loves to Swiffer, so I put a new sheet on the Swiffer and let him hit the hardwood floors while I vacuum or do the windows in the same room so I can keep an eye on him.

• Are all those Happy Meal toys, random boxes, broken hair accessories and outgrown clothing items taking up valuable real estate? Make one day each month a clean-up and give-away day. If it is broken, throw it away. Otherwise donate it. Donating usable items to benefit others will not only keep the floors clear, but will instill in your child the joy of helping others.
• Involve your child in the organization process. Mine decided the best way to keep her clothes in order was to separate them by color. Not only did this make getting dressed each day a little more efficient, she insists on hanging up her clothes herself because only she knows their proper place. This idea works just as well for toys and other items. If you let your child take some ownership and have some input, they are more likely do their part in keeping things neat.
• I am a big believer in clear, plastic bins. Clearly labeled and stacked, they hold tons of stuff while keeping everything easily accessible.
• Last, but certainly not least, is the five minute cleanup. This is done each night before bed and is non-negotiable. For younger children, you may have to help, but setting a timer and putting things away for five minutes each night goes a long way to preventing out-of-control messes. We turn on the music to make it seem less like a chore and more like fun.

Pack the following day's meals the night before.

Always plan ahead when it comes to meals. The few extra minutes you spend doing that will save you oodles of time when you really need it, like in the morning when you're trying to get yourself and your kids out the door. When you finish making a meal, pack a few servings of it for lunch the following day. Add the fruit, drink and or any other snacks the night before so in the AM rush you and your children can just grab and go. Also try making big dishes such as soups and casseroles on the weekends or whenever you have more free time and freeze them or put them in microwave-ready containers for easy preparation when time is short. These options are not only time savers, they're less expensive and healthy to boot!

As anyone with children knows, dirty diapers smell worse than anything in the entire world. No kidding, once my dog ate cat poo and then threw it up, and even that did not compare to what it smelled like when my son starting consuming solids on a regular basis.

To combat this, and to make life easier in general, the Diaper Genie was born. For those of you unfamiliar with this contraption, it's made out of plastic and has a bucket at the top in which you put the used diaper. You then pull a lever (depending on the model) and it removes the diaper from sight, locking it away in a waste bag for disposal later. Diaper Genies require actual Diaper Genie bags, however, that may be in short supply when you really need a new one.

I have something similar that one can use with any plastic bags. Right now we're using regular old garbage bags in there and it seems to be working out all right. Except for one thing: The unbelievable, undeniable smell that counts as some sort of bio-terrorism in my book (or at least should). Regardless of carrying the odor away in the immediate, once you pull the bag out of the Genie to change it the smell is upon you--it's like that line from Michael Jackson's Thriller where Vincent Price discusses "the funk of 40,000 years." The new Diaper Genies are supposed to be even better at whisking away the smell, but I haven't used one to know whether or not when you pull out the full bag the smell might kill you.

Do you use a disposal system, and, if so, does it really work?

Diaper pic by Photocapy.

Time Magazine recently interviewed an editor-at-large from popular magazine Psychology Today. The topic? Children, and whether or not we're turning our kids into wimps. Hara Estroff Marano, the interviewee, had much to say on the subject of children, and how we raise them. Marano, who is also a grandmother and author of a new book titled A Nation of Wimps: The High Cost of Invasive Parenting, says we are turning our kids into wimps. She says we need to let our kids have bad experiences as it's the only way they learn.

Marano pointed out her research on the college campus, noting that her colleagues commented that many of the students they were treating lacked coping skills. Says Marano, "...they have no idea how to manage the vicissitudes of life." Why has this happened? Well, according to Marano we're worried about our kids being successful. We push them too hard to achieve, and we worry more about branding than experience, focusing on sending them to the best schools, etc., when perhaps the brand name of Harvard or Yale is not what they need. Access to information through the Internet makes everything fleeting and transitional and ultimately obsolete before we can even understand it fully.

Marano also argues, along with much of our nation, that our children are being over-medicated and that play time is not valued as it should be. And, shocker, she feels we're too involved in every aspect of our children's lives. So how to deal? Well, according to Marano, we need to step back, let kids prove their competence, let them play, and make sure we eat together five times a week. I don't know if doing these things will save our kids from being wimps, or if they're wimps in the first place, but she does provide an interesting perspective.

Your thoughts? Do you think we overprotect our children and undervalue their ability? Or is that what it takes to get through this crazy modern world?

Pic by summitcheese.

This year I've been thinking about free gifts that aren't cheap cop outs for Father's Day. What could I get my husband, who is an unbelievably amazing father to our son and, somehow even, to our unborn daughter, that won't break the bank or make him feel like he's getting the shaft--after all, it seems Mother's Day dwarfs Father's Day on most counts (which is unfair).

So what can we do for dear old dad? One thing I've always found fun and sweet is to go through all the old photographs and put together a collection of dad, mom and the kids through the years. I try to turn up long lost friends as well. That's totally free, and as much fun to create as it is for dad to peruse. Another idea? Head to the park for a picnic. Ok, yes, you may wish to go to the grocery to pick up a few of dad's favorite treats, but you were going to eat anyway, right? Take everyone to a nice shady spot, lay everything out and promise to provide clean up duty so dad can just relax and enjoy.

Another idea is to take over dad's tasks and chores for a week. If dad normally takes out the trash or does the laundry or mows the lawn, give him a break from those things for a few days to let him know how much you appreciate his contributions to the household duties. Take the kids off his hands and out of the house for the day so he can watch television, sleep or lounge around and do whatever he wants without having to supervise.

What dads--and moms--really want is for someone to take over their day jobs, their household duties and their finances for about a week so they can just hang out. If you're in a position to do so, I highly recommend it. Of course, that's a fairy tale, but it sure sounds good, doesn't it?

I think what dads really want doesn't cost a thing, and that is simply to be told they're good fathers and good husbands. Laugh if you will about how much time and effort a dad contributes to the household chores or minding the kids, but many dads these days put in as much as moms, only they don't ever get to bask in the warmth of that like moms do. Moms are celebrated for their mom-dom year-round, while dads get relegated to one day without having to mow the lawn or do some other stereotypical manly thing.

So, tell dad that you love him, that he's doing a great job and that you appreciate him for everything he is and does. Have the kids tell him too (if they can speak, that is). They can make their own cards or try to be on their best behavior for the day, or two, if you're lucky. Maybe they can walk the dogs or take out the trash or polish the silver--whatever it is dad does. This year I'm going to see if I can make it through the day without micromanaging my husband as he vacuums! He'll appreciate that more than any gold watch.

Pic of mower by todbaker.

Got kids? If you do, chances are you have clutter too. Many parents, myself included, follow the old 'forest for the trees' principle--if you concentrate on the kids' stuff, you can't see what a mess your whole house actually is! Well, now perhaps it needn't be that way. An interesting article from the San Mateo Daily Journal helps put matters into perspective.

Kids, they say, seem to have the most stuff. Between what they bring home with them from school or the yard or wherever else, along with all the gear necessary to raise a wee one (not to mention the things the child simply HAS to have because everyone else in his or her class has one), it's more stuff than a parent can ever imagine having had as a child.

Conversely, the kids usually get the smallest rooms in the house, save the bathroom. All that stuff in such a small place is going to make clutter, or spill out everywhere else and clutter that space too. If you're like me and live in a small space to begin with, the tips in the article, such as using clear (labeled!) plastic bins and making sure you get furniture that serves more than one purpose (see: my pack and play is a bed and a place to play) might be just what you're looking for--amid all the clutter, that is!

Pic of what would look like my fridge if it were covered with baby stuff instead by Wm Jas.