I Don't Do Toy Rotation. I Sort by Category Instead.
Toy rotation sounds perfect on paper. I don't do it, and here's the category system with kid-owned cleanup that holds up with three kids.
Topic
Family Life
Time Blindness: My Son Loses Forty Minutes and Doesn't Feel It
Time blindness isn't defiance and it isn't laziness. It's a brain that runs on 'now' and 'not now.' What it looks like day to day, and what finally helped.
Where to Start With Checklists, Age 2 Through Teen
Checklists never worked in my house, but that's not a universal law. Age-by-age checklist ideas and formats worth trying, from toddler picture boards to teen apps.
Checklists Have Never Worked in My House. Here's What Does.
I've abandoned every checklist I've ever tried. Chores, mornings, evenings. Here's what gets things done instead, across three very different kids.
I Meal Plan in the Notes App, Including Parties and Camping
Weekly dinners live in my Notes app, along with a decade of Christmas party menus and camping grocery lists I mix and match every year.
Where the Kids' Art Goes: A Magnetic Wall and Three Piles
A magnetic wall near the powder room, a three-pile triage system, and repurposing the keepers into things we use: a salt bowl, a desk coaster, a Christmas ornament.
Routine Charts Fell Apart in My House. Yours Might Be Different.
I've tried routine charts more times than I can count, and they fell apart every time. If a chart might work for your kid, here's what tends to make the difference.
After-School Restraint Collapse: Why She's Fine at School and Falls Apart in the Car
She held it together all day, then slammed her door over snack dishes and forty minutes of TV. What after-school restraint collapse is, and what's helped in our house.
Our Family Command Center Is Two Trays and a Skylight Calendar
No color-coded wall, no matching bins: inbox/outbox trays, a shared digital calendar, and one bin per kid. Plus a fuller list if you're building yours from zero.
Sensory Bin Ideas by Age, and the Craft Buckets We Used Instead
I never had a house built for dedicated sensory bins: craft buckets and toys already sorted by category did the job. If bins by age are more your style, here's where to start.
A Back-to-School Checklist That Works for Any Kid
A back-to-school prep checklist that works whether your kid is neurodivergent or not. What to start now, what to do the night before, and how to build in decompression time after.