Get out of the house faster, part 2.

Bag it up, baby.
This one is a serious time saver. Many of you already do this, so if you do - pat yourself on the back. If you don't - start tomorrow.

Once you get out of the "diaper bag" phase and ease back into having just a purse, you will be elated. This is the same age at which your children slowly begin to be involved in activites. And you also walk back out into the sunlight, from that baby fog you have been living in and have activites. Activities can be anything from swimming lessons to MOPS to going to the beach on a hot summer day. Activites need stuff. They also seem to need the EXACT SAME STUFF each time you do them (That is a hint...).

If you find that each week before swimming lessons you are running around with an empty bag looking for goggles a towel and shampoo, then you are doing it the hard way. Ditto any activity.
Each soccer practice needs shoes, the shirt, sunglasses, water bottle & socks. Spread all over the house, right?

What about the beach? Total nightmare, right? Goggles, a towel, beach toys, the special beach mat and in my case the big beach tent because MOMMY NEEDS SOME SHADE. Toys are in the garage, towel is in the bathroom, goggles are who knows where.

The answer is easy, but may take a mind shift. Here it goes. Keep it packed. Find a bag for each activity and dedicate it ONLY TO ONE ACTIVITY. Yes, I know that the towels get dirty after swimming lessons and that both the beach AND swimming lessons require goggles. After you wash the towel, rather than put it back on the shelf, roll it up and put it in your swimming lesson bag (or if it is summer, right into a beach bag). If you have lessons in the summer, buy two pairs of goggles. Seriously, it won't break the bank, I promise.

You know you own enough water bottles to keep one in your gym bag AND have one in Jr's soccer bag. Same with sunblock - if you don't already have two bottles floating around, buy an extra. Keep one in the beach bag and the other in the soccer bag. That way you won't forget it and you don't have to go looking for it. With this easy solution, the kids can even help. I can just tell Lily to go get her swimming bag and out the door we go.

I have one bag I keep for myself for going to the Y. I keep my magazines and catalogs that I want to read, my waterbottle, my ipod, my gym card and my workout shoes (several times prior to doing this I got to the Y and found I had forgotten them and had to go home or workout in my snow boots! Totally annoying...).

At first thought, you are probably thinking "That is a lot of different bags!", but it is sooooo much easier. If you can, keep the packed bags in your front door closet. If you can't do that or it isn't practical, put them in your childrens closet or downstairs by the laundry (swimming bag).

Let me know your thoughts....