Do you have a secret trick?

Longwalker

I just sorted all the linens in the house, had way too many that were yellowing with age. I also replaced all the pillows and what I have done is used the empty pillow bags to store the clean bedding. So in the hot press I have a bag for every bed containing a complete clean set of bedding - mattress protector up. On bed change day, I take the bag for the bed, strip and change the bed, hang the bag on the door handle of the hot press, then when the dirty is washed and ironed, in it goes and back on the shelf. So far its working a dream and Ive never been so organised with every bed finally looking smart with matching pillowcases and sheets  

Rosa_Damascena

I wish I had a trick that would conserve all this excess summer heat and distribute it into my winter heating needs....

pigpen

Brie said:

Speaking of organised mothers....

My mom quickly got tired of separating squabbling children accusing each other of taking their juice glass or whatever and colour coded each of us.  Oldest bro was (& still is in our eyes) blue, next was green, then red and finally darling little me being the only girl got saddled with pink.  Breakfast was eaten in the kitchen seated on stools under a "breakfast bar" which looked out the window to the back garden.  Dad (I think, but could've been mom) painted each the top of each stool our individual colour so we knew where to sit, we each had plates and bowls in our colour as well as glasses for milk or juice and mugs for hot chocolate. We even had the right colour Hudson Bay blankets on our beds.  Only problem sometimes was green wasn't always an option for things so Bro2 sometimes had to have things in yellow instead.

Still not a fan of pink some several decades on!! 

I had a set of 4 tupperware plates.. our order was blue, red, green, yellow.. as blue child graduated to a grown up plate it was passed to number 5.. and so on... I have still got the red and yellow of the original set (I had to replace them some years ago) and the original red owner is 29 next month! It is a system which worked for me for 32 years!

I make pack ups while cooking dinner, loading the dishwasher and writing a shopping list.

Uniforms/shoes/bags/etc are got out the night before..

Cereal is all at an accessible height so small people can help themselves.

I boiled 10 eggs for pack ups on a Sunday.. leave in the fridge in shells and get out 2 each day.. don't peel them they go off but last ages in the shell.

I have a pet cool mat under the bottom sheet.. lovel and chilly on days like today when it is 26'C at midnight..

I have a rechargable fan for in the car.. our AC is broken.

Brie

pigpen said:

I boiled 10 eggs for pack ups on a Sunday.. leave in the fridge in shells and get out 2 each day.. don't peel them they go off but last ages in the shell.

I'm always surprised to see hard boiled eggs for sale on the continent.  It makes perfect sense of course as it's a great convenience food.  And they're always dyed lovely colours so there's no confusion with ones that haven't been boiled.

Floss

Brie said:

I'm always surprised to see hard boiled eggs for sale on the continent.  It makes perfect sense of course as it's a great convenience food.  And they're always dyed lovely colours so there's no confusion with ones that haven't been boiled.

Sounds lovely, but I prefer traditional non-coloured egg mayo sarnies! 😂

pigpen

Brie said:

pigpen said:

I boiled 10 eggs for pack ups on a Sunday.. leave in the fridge in shells and get out 2 each day.. don't peel them they go off but last ages in the shell.

I'm always surprised to see hard boiled eggs for sale on the continent.  It makes perfect sense of course as it's a great convenience food.  And they're always dyed lovely colours so there's no confusion with ones that haven't been boiled.

you can buy hard boiled eggs in tesco but not shelled .. usually with the boxed salads. so they are boring and white.. coloured ones sound wonderful.

Longwalker

I also cook hard boiled eggs at the start of the week, if you are boiling one might as well do half a dozen.

I also cook up a pack of chicken drumsticks and freeze them in twos. Ready for lunch boxes. Just grab them in the morning, they are defrosted by lunchtime 

Also during this hot spell, Ive a bowl of chopped salad bits in the fridge, cucumber, scallions, peppers and tomatoes, just grab a handful with a handful of leaves for stuffing into pitta or making up a salad box for said eggs and chicken. Mr L's idea of a lunch is two slices of bread and a slice of ham. Now hes fit to get a decent lunch together 

Cherryfudge

GaleSF63 said:

This is mainly applicable if you live by yourself. If you have to use an iron before you go to work unplug the iron and carry it into another room. Switching it off can be so automatic that you don't remember doing it and it can bug you on the journey but you will remember moving it. I once was about an hour late for work because I had to turn round and go home and check - it was switched off of course. My colleagues - all male - thought it was hilarious but my boss (male) had to do the same thing a few months later.

Sorry to come in late - I'm catching up.

You know that feeling when you can't remember switching the iron off? I once came back from an evening out and the iron was still on from hours before.

Many years and several irons later, I'll always look for an iron that times out and turns itself off when it's not been moved for a while. When I can find one and afford it, it's worth it for safety and peace of mind, not to mention the electricity bill.

Cherryfudge

I have seasonal work assisting Father Christmas to wrap all the things he puts in stockings and it used to take me ages to write all the labels till a helpful elf suggested sticking to one type of paper per stocking and not bothering with labels. As I have a list for each person, I stick a scrap of the paper at the top of each list so it doesn't matter if I get distracted part way through, I still know who gets what.

Floss

I do something similar - each person's gifts are wrapped in the same paper / pattern. As I can have 3 or more Christmases with different bits of my family, it makes it easier to just grab the relevant presents.