Help your kids keep track of their winter gear

It's that time of year again. Time to keep track of dozens of cold weather accessories. It seems like it takes forever to get to the car because you have to factor in all the mitten search time. Rather than continue to waste time hunting, I opted for this easy solution.

We don't have a mud room I our house, so I'm limited on space to hold things like shoes backpacks and winter accessories. I converted the lower half of our coat closet into our 'mini mudroom'. Along one side and across the back of the closet I added large hooks to the walls for backpacks and kid coats. On the other side, I added this 3-drawer plastic organizer for all their winter gear.

When the kids come in from school, they unload all their gear in the closet and dump their hats, scarves and gloves into the drawers. The drawers are clear so it's easy for even my youngest daughter to figure out where her things belong.

We used this inexpensive system all last winter and it worked great. As an added bonus, when Spring finally did come around, I simply moved the drawers to the basement. A few weeks ago when the weather started turning again, I pulled it back out…all the hats, gloves, and scarves were inside and ready to go. It's simple, inexpensive, and totally kid-friendly. Just thought I'd pass it on.

Remember, you can download these handy labels and many other files on my website: www.meckmom.com.

Simplify the TV for your kids with this handy remote

About a year ago, we added a TV to the toy room in our basement. The kids loved having it, but I hated going up and down the stairs over and over again to help them find a good channel. One afternoon I came down to find my 6 year old watching a steamy soap opera and decided I needed to do something. We almost got rid of the TV; then I found this handy solution.

I bought this universal kid-friendly remote on eBay for around $9. It's called a Weemote and it's made by Phillips. It's designed to allow you to program up to 5 mom-approved channels. The remote has big, colorful, numbered buttons that are very easy for the kids to learn; even my 3 year old can do it. For example, if they want to find the Disney channel, they don't have to remember numbers, they just push the yellow star. There's also a power button, volume control, and a channel changer that will only rotate through the 5 approved channels.

It can be programmed to work with any TV. The set-up was incredibly simple. It took me about 2 minutes. My treadmill is downstairs too, so if want to bypass all the Weemote programming I just grab the original remote or manually push the buttons on the TV. I noticed online that they also make a DVD player version, but I haven't tried it yet. If any of you have, make a comment on this post so I can find out if you like it as much as I like this one. :)

To help my kids keep track of their remote, I stuck some sticky-back velcro on both the back of the remote and the side of the TV. Now it has a place and doesn't get swept into the toy bucket on clean-up day. Sadly, it won't stop the fighting over who gets to hold the remote, but I haven't changed a channel in over a year which makes it a keeper in my book. Just thought I'd pass it on.

End those midnight runs to Walgreens with this simple solution

We've all been there. It's 2 o'clock in the morning and of your kids has a fever. You fumble around the kitchen trying to track down those little plastic thermometer things and your half-empty bottle of Tylenol. After many late night trips to Walgreens, I came up with this simple solution.

I bought this inexpensive 3-drawer organizer at Target for around $7. I divided our medicine stash into 3 sections.

Supplies: This drawer hold all the extra stuff like thermometers, Vapo rub, dispensing syringes, cough drops etc.

Adult Meds: This one holds all the medicines for adults

Kid Meds: This one holds all those boxes of chewable tablets and syrup bottles

This handy box sits on the top shelf of my pantry. Obviously, it's not a revolutionary system, but its simplicity is what makes it work. Now when my daughter comes into my room in the middle of the night I just pull the whole kids meds drawer out of the box, find what I need and slip it back in. It's simple, cheap, and incredibly useful. Just thought I'd pass it on.

Simple bed-in-a-bag solution for guests

Unfortunately, we don't have a guest bedroom in our house, so when we have company I have to be able to put a bed together in a hurry. Rather than stuff my linen closet with the extra sheets, pillows and blankets, I came up with this handy solution.

I created my own bed-in-a-bag by using these giant Ziploc bags available at any superstore. Fancier vacuum-type bags would also work really well, but they were too expensive so I went for the cheaper version.

First, I labeled them with a magic marker according to size (twin, queen/king). Next, I folded the sheets and pillow cases according to size and added them to the bag. For the twin bedding, I was also able to fit in the blanket and pillow. For the queen/king, I fit the sheets and both pillows but used a separate bag for the quilt and duvet. Finally, I added a few dryer sheets to the bags to keep them smelling fresh.

These bags seal so well, that I'm able to stash them in the basement and save the linen closet for my day-to-day towels and sheets. When I have a guest coming over, I just run downstairs, grab one of these bags, and set up the room. It's quick, convenient, and hassle-free. Just thought I'd pass it on.