We have a lot of children's books. Jeremiah and I are each borderline bibliophiles. When we moved to Texas from San Francisco we shipped back 37 boxes of books. Thirty-seven. We've since pared down our personal collection to books that we love and absolutely must own but they still over-fill a wall-sized bookshelf.

We seem to be passing on our love of books to Z. Through a combination of books collected from library sales ($20 for a paper bag full!), used book stores, and gifts, we've filled a bookcase for Z. The great majority of these books are actually age-appropriate for her now - we do have limited space so we tend to not buy books that she isn't yet ready to read. As freeschoolers (we homeschool Z but don't use a curriculum), we want our daughter to have access to a wide variety of books and these books have basically replaced our curriculum purchase. (And yes, we do make heavy use of our local library as well.)

About a month ago, we cleaned our her bookcase and got rid of books she's too old for now or that ended up not holding any of our attention. While we were doing this, we started to try to organize her books. We wanted a way to easily find a few broad categories of books, with a visual cue that made it easy to select a book based on a broad type of book Z or we wanted to read or look at, particularly for narrow-spined paperbacks that can easily get lost on a bookshelf. We had an interesting time figuring out what those categories might be for a five-year-old and the way they use books. Ultimately, we selected categories based not on traditional topic categories but on the kinds of books we'd like for her and us to be able to quickly access when we're looking for something to read together or when she is browsing alone. We ended up with four functional categories to label, with the remaining books left unmarked. This required some discipline, because I've always had a fetish for book organization. But we didn't want to create a system that existed for its own sake, or that built up walls between areas of exploration. The categories we selected are:

• Science books: Nonfiction books dealing with science topics, at varying levels of complexity. Many of the Let's Read and Find Out series here.


• Math books: Fiction and nonfiction that introduces simple math concepts, ranging from counting and numbers to books about addition, multiplication, and money.


• First readers: Z is rapidly learning to read and we identified books she might have the most success with during reading sessions and solo attempts over the next several months.


• Seasonal books: Books that are steeped in a particular season of the year. A lot of the early grade science we currently do revolves around observing and interacting with the natural world, and the seasons play a large and obvious role in that, so we try to keep relevant seasonal books in the mix for our family reading. Geography and the earth-sun relationship are also natural topics to explore in this area.

We know ourselves well enough to know that we won't put them back in the proper section if we tried to divide them by areas of the bookshelves (and what happens when a book is too large to fit in a particular section?) so we decided to put colored stickers on the spine. I wasn't thrilled about the idea of marking a book this way but Jeremiah convinced me it was okay because most of them aren't collectibles.


Notice how well the stickers help identify book categories in narrow paperbacks!


Tiny books were placed in a box of their own and tall books are on top of the shelf with bookends.

The problem now, which you may have noticed in some of the above photos, is that the stickers that we used - simple round stickers from the office supply store are peeling up and then they come off or stick to other books and have the potential to create chaos in our system. We may tape them down or we may seek out stickier stickers. But we're pleased with the overall concept and think it will help Z as she begins to explore books more and more on her own, in addition to the daily reading we do together.


If you have a large collection of children's books, do you organize them in any way? How do you keep them organized, or otherwise make sure that in a large collection, good books get noticed and children have access to what they want to read?

Are you a normal human being? If so, you probably procrastinate in some areas of your life. Putting off stuff you just don’t want to do, stalling when you feel blocked, letting things stack up because you feel overwhelmed. Which of these sounds familiar?

The good news is that procrastination is just a strategy and one that can be easily shifted. And most of the time, the tasks that seem so daunting are much easier once you stop resisting them. But, you have to want to change the resistance pattern before you can really make progress.

As a parent, you have so little time anyway. The things you put off are likely to never get done. My good friend and professional organizer Krista Colvin says: "Now is the new later."

Here are five simple steps to shifting out of procrastination and into action:

1. How does procrastination affect your life? You are not going to be willing to change until become aware of how procrastinating is impacting your life. When you put things off, you tend to get even more overwhelmed. Sometimes relationships are challenged because your friends and family feel frustrated when you don’t follow through. You also have trouble reaching your goals when you are constantly resisting move forward. And resisting something often takes more energy than just doing it anyway! The truth is that procrastination keeps you stuck and hampers your success.


2. What do you really want? Often the things you are putting off are the things you don’t want to be doing anyway? Do the bills sit in piles and don’t get paid on time? Set up an on-line bill pay service. Are you always late for work? Time to rethink how you feel about your job. Putting off calling that friend back? Perhaps it is time to have the real conversation you have been avoiding, like changing the relationship. Procrastination can be a wonderful sign that it is either time to let something go or get some outside help.


3. Who can help you? Sometimes the projects and tasks we are avoiding are the ones that are most challenging for us. Getting some outside help or information can really make a difference! If cleaning out the garage is daunting, ask a friend who is really great at organizing to come and help you. Haven’t filed your taxes? Hire an accountant; it is worth every penny they will save you in penalties.


4. Make a plan: Make a list (right now, don’t put it off!) of all the things you have been putting off. Decide which ones you can let go of, which ones you can delegate and which ones you really want to do accomplish. Now, visit our previous post about goal setting and create your plan of action.


5. Celebrate your success! We bet you feel really great now that you have some things checked off your list! Remember to notice what is different in your life now that you are moving forward rather than stuck in gear. Reflecting on the positive change that happens when you get stuff accomplished will inspire you the next time you feel stuck in a procrastination cycle.

So, go ahead and tell us: What have you been putting off that you are now ready to complete? (I had been putting off writing this post and whew, I feel great now that it is done!)

A few weeks ago I posted a Spring Clean Challenge! Summer is right around the corner; how is spring cleaning going for you? In my household, we have taken small, steady steps to organize clutter and do some deep cleaning.

Consider clearing out your closets and drawers (and chests and boxes) of all the clothes that both you are no longer wearing and your kids have outgrown. For items that are still in good condition, host a clothing swap. Clothing swaps are ecologically smart, economically thrifty and fun as well.

Something that you are sick of wearing or never wore might just be the dream outfit for a friend. A swap is also an opportunity to socialize and chat with people you might not ordinarily see. And you might just find a new “look” that you wouldn’t think to choose in the store!

In my hometown, we have a great group that holds regular clothing swaps.PDX Swap hosts well-organized swaps every month around the Portland, Oregon metro area. Consider doing some research to see if there is anything similar in your area.

If you want to host your own clothing swap, have no fear - it's easier than you might think!

1. Invite at least 10 people/families. Make sure everyone knows that they can bring more than they take or vise versa. Have everyone bring a bag (or two).


2. Organize the clothing into sizes. Small, medium and large usually work for adult sizes. For women’s clothing, make a decision on what numbered sizes go into the categories. For children’s clothing, size by age.


3. Place the clothing on tables, nicely stacked. I have been to swaps where the clothes are on the floor and it is a chaotic mess.


4. Make sure everyone helps sort but waits to take clothing until the set “start time.” Usually the host determines when it is time to grab and bag.


5. Determine ahead of time where the left-over clothing will be donated. At the end of the swap, make sure a couple of people help the host to bag the clothing that was not taken. It is best to go ahead and load it into the car of the person donating it. No reason to have bags of stuff just lying around.


6. Why limit yourself to clothing? Consider swapping shoes, handbags, children’s toys and books!

In these challenging economic times, creating community while supporting your values is a win-win!