At Home With Mackenzie

Hey Reader! Does the thought of decluttering fill you with dread? When you open your kitchen cabinets, is there an avalanche of stuff every time? I'm going to try to make this process as easy as possible. Here are 10 stress-free, guilt-free items that you can declutter from your kitchen right now: Expired Products - go through all your spices (including those random packets that you have in the back of the cupboard), your pantry items, etc. I bet you have more than one item that is expired....

Hi friend, Have you ever gotten excited about a shiny new cleaning routine, only to abandon it a few weeks later? (🙋♀️ I've definitely been there before). When John’s kids first moved in, I thought I’d cracked the code. I set up chore charts, hung them on the fridge, and thought, Finally—we’ll have some structure. The problem? They never touched them. Not once. I was still the one asking, “Did you do your chores?” every single day. That’s when it hit me: it’s not that cleaning routines fail...

Reader, if you're anything like me, sometimes your significant other drives you more insane than the kids do... The week before school starts:Me: "Shouldn't we start having the kids go to bed earlier?"John (my fiancé): "They'll be fine." John (the day before school starts): "OK, you guys need to go to bed at your school bedtime tonight."Kids: "Why?"John: "Because you start school the following day. And you technically should've started this a week ago." Me: *glares at John* Just to give some...

Reader There’s this quiet voice that shows up when you're folding laundry at 11pm, or picking up toys for the third time that day. It says: “You should be further along by now.” “Other moms have it more together.” “Why can’t you just keep up?” That voice? It’s lying. Because the truth is—you’re not behind. You’re building a life that’s being lived in real time. Not staged. Not edited. Not filtered through a highlight reel. And sometimes? That life is messy. Sometimes it’s unfinished projects,...

If you're exhausted this might be why... Hey Reader, somewhere along the way, being a good mom started to feel like being an exhausted mom. Not because you mind doing the work—packing the lunches, keeping track of field trips, remembering which kid needs clothes for spirit week—but because it feels like if you don't do it, no one else will. It's not just the to-dos. It's the remembering—the mental checklist of a thousand tiny things that keep your home running. And honestly? That’s the...

Reader, do you know how to spot the toxic clutter in your home?**HINT** IT NEVER STARTS WITH WHAT YOU SEE! The toxic clutter is usually what is hidden! Not the piles of stuff you see. It's what is hidden that is taking up storage and not allowing you to have the space to store what you need to store (i.e. the piles of stuff in your desk and counters - granted some of that may be junk mail that you haven't gone through or kids artwork that you know you're not going to keep - then yes get rid...

I know it's cliché, but the days really do fly by, and once the holiday season gets here, they will go by even faster. 🎃🦃🎄 Speaking of the holidays, it's a good idea to start getting your kids to declutter some of their toys, clothes, electronics, etc. since they will be getting more stuff once Christmas rolls around. If you're like me and my family, you also have a bunch of birthdays around this time—even more reason to get rid of stuff to make room for the new items. It is definitely easier...

No, this is not the beginning of a horror story, although, tis' the season 👻 It is about to get scary once you see what food (or what once was food) is lurking in the back of your fridge. That's right Reader, it's time to get that fridge clean and organized! 😱 If you're like me you've been pushing this task off for a little while now, but luckily for you, I have some tips up my sleeve to help that fridge of yours stay organized. And what's even more exciting than that... I got back into...

Reader Well, the school year is now officially in full swing. This is probably one of the most hectic times of the year for parents, as you are trying to get back into routines, and new sports and after-school activities are starting back up. Simple things tend to fall by the wayside during this time. One of those things is probably the pantry. As kids run in and out of the house grabbing snacks here and there, the pantry tends to take a beating. Which leads into the topic of this email......

Reader, are you ready for a declutter challenge!!! This is the first email in my Declutter Challenge email series. I know this isn't the 'typical' time that people declutter, but in my opinion, there's never a bad time to start decluttering, especially in a time of over-consumption. Let the Decluttering Begin... The biggest question is, where to start first? If you haven't decluttered in a while, I suggest starting small but also in an area that you access frequently or that guests would see....