I straddle between my desire to go hog wild in the alternative medicine and organic lifestyle to “cure” my kids and the desire to just be a “normal” family.

The longer I am on this journey of parenting the more I am acutely aware of how individualized each journey is.

No two families are alike. No two children respond the same to the same treatment. Two children with identical symptoms may get 2 different mental diagnoses.

The constant stress of meeting my kids’ educational, medical and relational needs is nonstop.

Since the day Job came home, I have been on a mission to provide abundantly everything the kids needed and wanted. I have always hoped that I could overcome any genetic or pre-adoption trauma my kids had and provide them with a “normal life”.

There is no “normal”.

I resent the box my family is put in.

If my kids had Down ’s syndrome, or diabetes, no one would question my pursuit of new treatments. No one would question “if” my kids really had the diagnosis they had. No one would shame me into keeping my kid’s challenges a secret.

Why are mental disorders {ADHD, autism, reactive attachment disorder, bipolar, mood disorders, fetal alcohol syndrome, anxiety, learning disabilities…} seen as a child’s weakness, a mother’s over exaggeration and lack of parental discipline?

I am happy with the crazy treatments I have tried

I saw a medical conference video the weekend that is confirming that the Gluten Free- Casein Free diet does impact mental disorders. In some instances all medication can be stopped.

I saw this when we had Lizzie on the GFCF diet before. She has had a rough last 20 months. She has also been “off” the diet for that same amount of time. So we are trying it again. She wants to.

As much as I dread it, I have to at least try it again to see if she feels better and we can reduce her medication needs. GFCF is so hard. And it is not “normal”

My kid’s lives aren’t normal. Most aren’t. We are all just walking that tight rope between our dreams and realty and trying not to fall.

Step One – Pick your space

To get started, take photos of the space you want organized and e-mail them to me.

To save time, email me a list of what IS working in your space. And another list of what IS NOT working in your space. That way I will be thinking about ideas before I even arrive!

Step Two – Gather supplies

Many spaces do not need any additional organization supplies. If they do, sometimes I will have what we need with me. I will always ask you before adding a new item to your space.

If you have empty boxes, old organization purchases or drawer organizers, let me know when I arrive!

Step Three – Get ready to organize!

My in home organization sessions start at $125 for 2.5 hours. You can add additional hours at $50 an hour on to the length of the session. {Even if you book a 2.5 hour session I can usually stay 4 hours}

I can organize your space by myself, but I usually need you at least for the first 20 minutes and a check in after about an hour and a half to answer questions. We can work twice as fast together!

Optional –

Many times as I organize, customers ask me to paint the space we are in as well. I do that!

And frequently one space leads to another. I am pretty quick and efficient. Your money will go a long way with me. J

{Just last Monday a wife’s office organization led to a husband’s office painting on Wednesday and his own office organization on Friday. One week ~ 2 offices and a freshly painted room! Next month we are doing their kitchen!}

Finishing Touches

I like to clean as I go, so your space will be clean when I finish. If you can provide a vacuum, I like to vacuum before I leave.

Think about where you will want your recycling, donations, shredding piles put when we’re done. I usually suggest putting the donations straight into your trunk!

I am available Monday through Friday from 8am to 3 to help you organize your home.

Contact me at lisa {at} warriormama.com to book a date!

 Isn’t that the key to everything? I mean what happens if you don’t maintain your…  body, car, house, or business?

They start to fall apart! Or in organizational terms, they get cluttered.

Well, unmaintained systems require more work just to get back to “normal” right? That is still where I am in my life.

At least I can see some of my counter tops now! I was helping a friend this week and she said, “In my next home there will be NO horizontal surfaces. That way there can be no piles!”

But when it comes down to it, it’s not the horizontal surfaces that are my problem. It’s my obsession with Facebook or tv or growing my business or life!

I put stuff down instead of putting it away.

Clutter

I want to eliminate 50% of what I have. I am so sick of clutter!

So, I have decided that I am going to spend the 40 days of Lent getting rid of the physical clutter in my life.

There really is a spiritual component to clutter. While I want to PURGE it all, it will be hard. Ridiculously hard to get rid of stuff that I don’t need and don’t want, but I might need someday.

Clutter gives me a false sense of abundance and security. While I desire emptiness, I quickly fill empty shelves and time. – Why?

Think about joining me:

 Cleaning our homes from Clutter ~ a 40 day journey (begins February 22, 2012)

Blogs

Along the lines of maintenance, I apologize that most of my blog links are empty.

 {And now that I played around, I broke a bunch of the links Sorry Ashley!}

I am having Ashley, from Dream Up Studios create a new blog at organize365.net I am loving blogging, but want to separate my Warrior MAMA posts from my organization posts.

I am also creating web pages for both or my e-books.

And…. I am creating a new website to connect them all lisawoodruff.net

I did update my about page and professional organization pages. I hope to have all the new sites up and ready by March, 1.

What about you? How do you feel about clutter?

There is not much that does not get highlighted in our house anymore.

Bills

As each bill gets opened, I highlight the due date and amount before filing in my bills file.

Mail

All mail gets opened, shredded, and acted on immediately if possible. Items that need to be replied to -or saved -get highlighted and put in the Sunday folder.

To Be Filed

I am writing a paper organization e-book to be released February 10^th. I have eliminated most of my old files. Alas, some items have to be filed.

IRA’s 401K’s and the like I keep for 1 year. I have started highlighting the policy holder’s name and date on each packet we receive.

I have one big catchall for filing that I do quarterly. The highlighting has freed me from the dread I used to have when I tackled the filing mess!

Kid’s School Papers

I will be sharing soon how I store the kid’s academic papers and their IEP binders. The rest of the papers either get pitched or read.

Newsletters, requests for $5 for a recorder, parent meeting notes, fundraisers, district information and the rest get a quick read through and I highlight any dates I need to write down.

I am working on a betted home – school flow. Leave suggestions below!

This week on Organize 365 I shared highlighting color tips:

Yellow is easily accessible and will not show as highlighted when copied. I like yellow for anything that I might need to copy in the future for a friend or an appeal!

Blue is my new favorite. I like that you can still read what you highlight. I find the other colors {except green} to be too dark to read through quickly.

But yellow, can be too light to see in dim lighting, or when my eyes are tired. Blue is easily recognizable and easy to read through!

Green is great for money! I highlight all my kid’s doctor’s appointments in green because they cost big money!

Just this year I realized that I could save countless minutes by highlighting many other papers.

I have a ton of receipts. I have multiple home businesses and medical bills out the ying yang.                     

Home Business Receipts

For tax purposes I need to categorize and file my receipts for deductions and keep them in case I am audited. I have one file I use to toss these receipts in and then dread pulling them all out to make the spread sheets.

Now, I highlight the date, total and write the deduction category right on the receipt before filing. This has saved me huge amounts of time in making my spreadsheets this year.

Medical Deductions

To deduct your medical co-pays and the like, you need to be spending over 7% of your total income on medical expenses.

Unfortunately we have qualified for this deduction for the past 6 years!

We deduct the following:

• ·         doctor visits {including therapies and counseling}
• ·         medications
• ·         prescribed supplements
• ·         IEP testing
• ·         Mileage to IEP meetings, doctor visits, pharmacies
• ·         Our son’s school used to qualify as a medical deduction. I heard it will not this year as the Obama Health Care Law took that deduction away. I am not sure if that is true or not.

What other tax deductions have you found?

Org Junkie has set aside the month of February for all of us clutter bugs to link up one project that we will start AND finish in 29 days.

Mine is the storage room.

I organize my storage room about every year at this time. After the holidays I can’t even fit everything back in our nice big basement storage.

These poor boxes can’t even make it in!

Christmas Boxes left out in the cold.

Because these boxes never got put away.

A blocked Storage Entry Way

And I don’t even have the Christmas tree, outside lights and snowmen in here yet!

The Christmas Tree

I have just returned home from teaching and all this teaching stuff has to go somewhere.

"School Stuff"

Agh! The freezer is a mess!

Freezer Before

I have a lot of work to do. Here’s my plan.

First

There is an organizational system in there if I can just get to it! I need to create at least 2 new zones – one for school stuff and one for organization containers.

Second

 I need to purge some old zones that are now just clutter collectors – the holiday boxes, freezer, craft areas and pictures.

Last

 I will purge and straighten the zones that are still working – paint, electric storage and kitty stuff.

Anyone else want to join in the 29 day organization challenge?

I spend so much wasted time rereading school newsletters, application forms, mail, books, and receipts.

Often I will reread a line twice telling my overworked brain to “remember” this. –It doesn’t work!

Books

I read a lot of books. Not fun novels, academic and analytical books. I have a few favorites I have read 10 times or more. These books are like a lifeline to me when my kids are spiraling out of control.

I am well aware that I am not in the traditional parenting realm!

Since some of my favorites are highlighted to death, I can “reread” the book in an hour or two just by reading the highlighted sentences.

This helps me in 4 ways. First, it reaffirms that I am not crazy. {stop it!} What my kids and I am experiencing is real.

Second, it brings my researched knowledge to the front of my brain so I can add more and sift through what the next best treatment steps could be.

Third, I am able to reread complete chapters that hone in on the current symptom that needs to be addressed without reworking my whole parenting model.

Finally, easily accessing this knowledge makes me a great advocate for my kids. I am able to easily converse with specialists about symptoms, things we have tried and all the pharmaceutical medicines available to us.

Emails, articles and websites

I print most of what I read on the web that I may need later. I have a big pile “to read”. Most of this information is not changing so if I don’t get to it until the summer, that’s ok.

As I read, I highlight. I keep any papers I think I might want to reference again. By the time I have read a highlighted paper the 3^rd time, I have done one of the following:

1. 1.       Acted on the information and incorporated it into our life.
2. 2.       I know about the information and do not feel it fits our family dynamic.
3. 3.       I know have this knowledge “memorized”.

Tomorrow I will share how my highlighting has moved beyond my special needs research and into my daily home life.

My "on the phone" to do list

This Monday morning grab a post it note, legal pad or index card and make a list of 3-5 routine items you need to get done.

Nothing fancy, just your nagging daily to do’s on paper.

Now, the next time you find yourself chatting on the phone with a friend, or waiting on hold for the insurance company (ok, maybe that’s just me!) glance at your list.

You can easily fold laundry, roll sleeping bags or even clean a toilet while talking on the phone.

I love catching up with friends on the phone. It’s even better when I hang up and realize I just cleaned the kitchen floor!

Now go make that list!

My father was extremely organized, good at purging and felt
every item should have a space of its own.

My mother was an artist.

Dad would surprise mom by “organizing” her crafts. AKA –
throwing them away.

I observed these interactions and learned how to “organize”
my mom’s stuff without throwing any of the bits and pieces of her crafts away.

So this week, I helped Jennifer of Rock Candy
Beads get a handle on her jewelry making supplies.

After rearrange how she used the space, I took home her
powders and frit and created this…

Jennifer's frits and powders

She is in heaven!

Every powder and frit has a home and can be easily used when
creativity strikes.

And boy is she creative!

waverly beads

Iris blue beadssplendor beads

I have blogged extensively here about my kid’s NAET
treatments.

After helping Dr. Pitman write his book that will be
published this fall, I decided to do the basic 15 NAET treatments too. Today is
the metals treatment. I don’t know why these treatments get me so worked up,
but they do.

Here are two others who have blogged about NAET ~ the metal
treatment had them worked up too!

Extinguishing
Eczema ~ Metals treatment # 9

And
My Kitchen Sink ~ NAET treatments 6-10

I will be blogging a whole series on my NAET experience in
the early fall to coincide with the release of Dr. Pitman’s book.

Oh – AND I will not be able to use the computer or PHONE
today! Agh!!