Best Friends Notebook

Set aside a special notebook or address book for all the close friends of your children. This is a valuable tool when you need to contact them in the case of an emergency. List your children's friends' name, address, telephone number, mobile number and email address. List their parents names and any siblings too. This information comes in handy for sleep-overs too, list any important information ie: medications and allergies etc.

- R. Laklem.

Birthday and Anniversary Box

Have a box containing assorted wrapping papers and cards (you can make these yourself if you wish), scissors, sticky-tape, ribbons and stickers. Buy a small gift whenever you doing your regular grocery shopping, or whenever you spot a nice gift in a shop. Place it in the 'birthday box' for those on-the-spot birthday gifts for your children's friends; or the unexpected birthday of a guest. This works for Christmas also.

- R Laklem.

Collect-A-Bins

Instead of running from room to room whilst in the middle of cleaning, have a container in each room to 'collect' any stray items. Remember to take the items with you to return them to their proper place when you've finished cleaning that room.

- R. Laklem.

Container-ise

To eliminate clutter: Contain everything, I mean everything, in baskets, boxes, containers, bins. Don't forget to label. As the old adage goes - A place for everything, and everything in its place.

- R. Laklem.