Sorting the Paperwork

Another area that needs to be tackled to get our home organised and clutter free is dealing with the mirade of paperwork. So lets get started shall we?

First things first you must get yourself a family calender. Have a  weekly calender (one which only shows 7 days) which every household member will enter their weekly schedule. This helps me and husband to plan around one another so we able to stay active within the community as well as spend as much time together as possible. So if on Friday you have an islamic course to attend, it is ntoed on the calender and your husband/kids will be able to plan around it. We may have been gievn the go ahead from our significant other weeks before but this is one way to ensure eveeryone knows how the week is planned out.

Now on to the paperwork.

1. Purchase or make an in-tray. Place bills that need to be paid, letters to send out, Calls to be made etc and sit down once a week to sort through. If your husband deals with bills and you have no idea what is going on as far as bills to be paid, maybe creat an in-tray for him to place bills into. He may find this a welcome addition, (obviously discuss this with him first)
2. The business desk rule of 'don't touch paperwork more than once' is good to apply within yoru home to. Once you sit down aim to deal with it staright away so it is not placed within the in-box. There will at times be paperwork that needs to be followed up at a later date, for this have a follow up tray or box. Aim to sit down weekly or bi-weekly to get through it.
3. Put all receipts into an envelope and sort through them every month or few months.
4. Have a filing system: one place for all your paperwork with subdivisions: this can be a cardboard box and some cardboard A4 folders: one for cars (tax, insurance, mot, log books etc); one for tax: P45s, P60s, tax forms, letters etc; and one for utility bills (gas electric, phone etc).
5. If I have said it beofre i'll say it agian. Your diary, diary diary! Make a habit of marking events in a journal or diary. If your not the type of person to keep diaries, most mobile phones can be programmed to inform you of events on a certain date, i.e. before a birthday.

I do hope that inshaAllah if you cannot utilise all tips that at least one or two will come in handy. Have a happy Islamic home.

Organising your home

Creating some sort of organisation from the chaos can prove problematic for many mothers, especially with a large family. With all that is going on in our lives, who wants to spend hours a day on housework, in fact who has the time to? If you feel yourself drowning in an ocean of un-ironed clothes and lego, there are a few things you can do to help make your lives that little bit easier inshaAllah.

My top ten tips don't involve pre-planning or making lists everysingle night, rather it is just a few simple changes you could make to making your home run that little bit smoother and clutter free.

My General Handy Tips

1. Observe where different  things accumulate within the home and design your home around that rather than trying to fit your family and their habits into your vision of the perfect home. For example if you notice the kids leave things on the floor after their bath, the why not leave a smal laundry or wicker basket for them to throw things into. Or if your young ones always use the dining table for their arts and crafts and you find yourself always clearign away paper and pens before dinner, why not find a corner to store some art supplies, maybe a small box or a kitchen cupboard.
2. Have a place for your house keys. (Not viewable from outside!). always place your keys here when you return home and this wil soon become habit.
3. Keep a bottle of cleaner and a cloth in your bathroom, and everyday have a quick wipe-round of the sink. This would only take a couple of minutes and would ensure your bathroom is never in 'that' state. I would suggest using an eco cleaner or home made one to minimise the exposure to dangerous toxins found in commercial cleaners.
4. Keep a wicker basket in every room (or the rooms the family soends the majority of time). Use it as a place to throw in toys and any other bits collected throughout the day. Every so often you can collect it and return it to it's rightful place. Thusi really helps if you have children who are 'never finished' playing with their toys, even though their attention may be elsewhere.
5. Keep in mind that a load of washing needs to be done everyday if you want to stay on top of it all. Miss a day and you have extra washing to do the following. Maybe oick a time most convenient to throw a load in, maybe before breakfast when everyone else is either still sleeping / reading Quran or washing up for the day.
6. Don't iron unless it is a must. Many items don't need ironing such as bedsheets, some children clothing, pj's or knitwear.#
7. Odd socks is forever a problem in many homes (especially mine). Train everyone to fold their socks into the pair as soon as it is removed and before it is put into the dirty laundry basket.

Another area we could all feel frustrated is tackling that dreaded paperwork. Click HERE for some tips on organising household paperwork.

The Qur'an protected.

Imam al Qurtubi has reported an event from the court of 'Abbasi Khalifah, al-Ma'mun. He was used to patronizing occasional debates from on intellectual issues at his court where all scholars were welcome. It so happened that a jew came to attend one of these debates. By his looks, dress and manners, he seemed to be an elegant person. Then, his address during the debate was eloquent and intellectually bright. When the meeting was over, al-Ma'mun called for him to become a muslim in which he case he could hope to have the best possible treatment from him. He (the Jew) said that he was not willing to leave the religion of his forefathers, which was his religion too. The matter ended there. that person went away.

Then, after a year, the same person returned as a Muslim and made a very distinct contribution in the court meeting on the subject of Islamic jurisprudence. after the session was over al-Ma'mun called for him and asked if he was the same person who had come last year, he said: "Yes. I am." al-Ma'mun asked: "At that time you refused to accept Islam. Tell me what made you accept Islam now." He said: "When I came back from here, I decided to do some research on contemporary religions. I am a scribe. I write books and sell them. They bring good price. This time I wanted to make a test. First, I wrote three manuscripts of the Torah in which I made additions and deletions on my own. I took these manuscripts to the Synagogue. The jews found them interesting and bought them. Then, I did the same things with the Injil. I wrote three manuscripts, complete with my additions and deletions, and took them to the Church where the Christians were pleased with these and brought them from me. After that, I tried the same thing with the Qur'an. I wrote three good looking manuscripts of the Qur'an, of course with the usual additions and deletions of my own. When I went out to sell them, I faced a problem. Every buyer I went to would take the manuscript, look into it to determine if it was correct or not, and when he would notice additions or deletions made into it, he would thrwo it back to me. From this episode, I learnt my lesson that this Book is protected, and protected by Allah ta'ala Himself; therefore I embraced Islam."

Al-Qur'an the last and final revelation from the Lord of the heavens and the earth, The One who we will all stand before to be judged, and Who we shoudl all seek forgiveness from on a daily basis, has been protected. Alhamdulillah for this miracle, 1400 years later and we still have the same Quran that was recited to us, word for word, despite a thousand of efforts made by enemies.

Indeed it was We who sent down the message [the Qur'an], and indeed, we will be it's guardian. (al-Hijr, 15:9)