The following is a guest post from momAgendaCOMM

As the school year comes to a close, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the amount of paperwork and artwork your child brings home, not including what you’ve collected throughout the year. No matter how much you’d like to keep all of these treasured mementos, by the time they graduate from high school, you’d have an entire room of paper.

Streamlining the paperwork that has inundated you all year doesn’t have to be a scary proposition. What it does take is a little time and an organizational method that works for your family and space.  Here are five ideas for you to use to help you corral your paperwork and reclaim your space.

1. Don’t keep every piece of artwork your child creates, no matter how tempted you are.  While art shows their true personality, it’s best to save the pieces that really sparkle.  Sit down and sort through them to select the pieces you truly love. It’s a difficult job, but one that is a worthwhile endeavor.

2. If you’re having a hard time picking through your kids’ artwork, or want to get rid of paper clutter entirely, make use of a scanner and scan them into a folder on your computer. You can burn the images to a DVD-ROM, thumb-drive, or back them up to one of the great products shared here by Leticia Barr for momAgenda.

3. Create photobooks which is a great way of developing printed scrapbooks of artwork and special recognitions for your kids. There are great companies producing easy to make photobooks, such as Picaboo and Shutterfly. With the click of a mouse, you can make books for the entire family, or per school year, to highlight accomplishments.

4.  Frame really special pieces of artwork. Create a display of abstract pieces and hang them in a beautiful display.  You can also follow this Pinterest example and use wooden pant hangers to hang pieces you love, rotating them through the year:

5. Use momAgenda’s School Years organizer which is one of my personal favorites. There is a folder for each year of your child’s time in school that holds a report card, class picture, as well as writing and art samples.  It’s the perfect organizational piece that easily slips into your bookcase, or can stay on the coffee table as a display piece.

Lisa Frame is an over-achieving Southern gal, freelance writer and community manager. A self-proclaimed arbiter of good taste, Lisa blogs at A Daily Pinch and specializes in social media marketing analysis. Connect with Lisa on Twitter and Facebook.

The following is a guest post from momAgendaCOMM

Technology is a way to help us stay connected, be on time, educate ourselves…and entertain our kids. There are literally thousands and thousands of apps out there that we can install, test out, and fall in love with.

There are certain apps that I use on my devices to stay on track. These include Evernote for taking notes and listing ideas, DocuSign Ink for signing contracts on the go, PayPal for sending and accepting payments, and Google Drive and DropBox for accessing my files that are in the Cloud. Of course there are many, many more that keep me productive.

But what about the kind of apps that are great for kids?

My daughters each got a Kindle Fire for Christmas. They are now ten years-old so they are more interested in tech than they are toys. There are many apps that my kids love to use, or that we use together when we have some family tech time.

I consulted with my daughter Kayla to find out which apps she loves. Here are her top five favorites:

1.     Ruzzle – Ruzzle is an awesome word find game that tests your spelling skills and your speed. I love playing against my kids. I admit that it has been a long time since I was in school. This is a great game to keep my mind sharp and refreshed on words that I may not have used in a while even if my girls beat me sometimes. Their minds are fresh with words that they learn each week in school on their spelling lists, so they can usually swipe them out fast.

2.     BrainPOP Featured Movie – BrainPOP shows your child an animated movie on different subjects related to current events, historical milestones, holidays, and more. After watching, they go through a quiz to see what they learned.

3.     Subway Surfer – Hey, even kids have to blow off steam sometimes. My child’s favorite game on their Kindle Fire is Subway Surfer. They navigate their character around, on top of, and behind incoming trains. It certainly helps you work on your motor skills.

4.     Fish Adventure – Fish Adventure is a fun interactive game that you play to learn how to care for fish and other sea creatures. Kids learn about taking care of sea creatures while watching their fish perform interactive actions which is so much fun for them!

5.     4 Pics 1 Word – 4 Pics 1 Word is a game that gets you thinking by having you guess the word that relates to the 4 images that you are presented with. It really gets kids (and adults) thinking. The photos are easy to guess in the beginning, but it gets harder as the game goes on.

What are some of apps that you and your children enjoy?

Kris writes about her love of gadgets, social media, technology, and anything else that crosses her mind on the blog Little Tech Girl. She is also the owner of Little TechGirl Media. Connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.

As the seasons change to spring and we’re occupied with spring cleaning to purge our homes of unwanted items, it’s also important to take a look at the technology in our lives and to spend some time cleaning up our tech lives. Anecdotal evidence demonstrates that many valuable hours are often wasted because of slow computers. Psychological research also documents the negative influences of clutter – digital or otherwise – in our life.

Despite this research, few users take time to proactively clean out their computers. By removing digital clutter, you’re able to recover lost hours in your day thanks to a machine that will run more efficiently. Here are 6 other practices you should incorporate on a regular basis to keep your digital life running smoothly:

1. Scan for viruses.  BitDefender QuickScan is a free online virus scanner that looks for malware such as Trojan horses, viruses, worms, and spyware that installs itself with the intent of damaging your computer while you use it.  Running QuickScan helps determine what viruses your computer has and will fix them for free.

2. Install a program to declutter and remove and errors to keep your PC running at its optimal speed.  Programs like ChicaLogic’s Chica-PC Fix offer a free scan through their website.

3. Secure your computer against viruses and hackers.  AVG offers free trials of their Anti-Virus program to protect your computer against viruses and spyware while you’re browsing online or on social networking sites.  While you’re on the AVG site, get a 30 day trial of their Internet Security to keep your personal information safe from hackers and spammers.

4. Change your passwords monthly. These days site hacking seems to be happening all the time on major ecommerce and online banking institutions. Make it a practice to change your passwords every month to safeguard your personal data. If you’re worried about remembering your constantly changing passwords, a site like MasterLock Vault allows you to save passwords, user names, combination codes and other important documents for easy access online. Accounts are free and easy to set up using only an email account. Once your account is set up, you can also use templates to store data or digital copies of important documents such as passports, wills, and tax returns that you want to keep secure.

5. Back up your data to the cloud. Let’s be honest. We often don’t think about backing up our machines until it’s too late. It’s time to be proactive and begin backing up to the cloud to avoid risking loss of files, including precious photos and videos of your growing children. Services like Carbonite and Mozy are popular services that will automatically backup your files to the cloud on a regular basis.

6. Use apps and online tools to manage receipts and family finances. Since the IRS allows you to keep electronic receipts as long as they are kept in a way that correct taxes can be determined, relying on tech tools can help you declutter your paper life. Mint.com is a personal finance tool that aggregates your financial accounts in one place, making it easy to set and keep to budgets, identify money saving ideas while tracking spending and purchases in real time. Mint is available online, has a free iPhone and Android smartphone app, and interactive iPad and Android Tablet apps.

Leticia Barr is the Founder of Tech Savvy Mama, a site that assists parents in navigating the ever-changing world of technology. Connect with Leticia on Twitter and Facebook.

Warmer weather and flowers in bloom are the first signs that spring has finally come to the northeast. After shoveling snow and enduring some cold winter months, it is a wonderful feeling to set up the patio furniture and start enjoying time outdoors.

Spring is also the perfect time to get organized and clean out some of the clutter not only in our homes, but also in our tech lives. It is the time of year when we feel the urge to organize every bedroom closet, kitchen cabinet, garage drawer and yes – that massive inbox of unwanted old emails. Maybe it’s the warm weather that gives us the cleaning bug, but regardless of the kind of energy it provides, it truly is the best time to get organized.

Using the right resource to aid in this process is an absolute must, so choosing a product from momAgenda is essential. Especially since the school year is also coming to a close and summer activities are merely weeks away, we need the right products to help us along the way.

Aside from the tons of amazing planners to choose from at momAgenda, another product that should be in the purse of every busy mom is the momEssentials.

As moms, we are always in need of some important information right at our fingertips. From various dates, birthdays, events, medical records, and even website or password information, you never know when you might have to look something up. I can’t tell you how many times I sit at the doctor’s office and search aimlessly through my bag to find insurance, pharmacy and other health information. All of this can be added and kept in momEssentials for easy reference.

This is the very product every busy mom needs to have. Important information stays safe all in one place. It even comes in mini-size, perfect for when you’re on the go!

And for less than the cost of a Starbuck’s coffee, you could own your very own momEssentials and start organizing all of that important information today.

Heather is the Leader of the Council of Media Moms and owner of the popular mom blog Theta Mom®. She also owns her own business at Theta Mom® Media. Connect with Heather on Twitter and Facebook.

At momAgenda® we place high value on honest feedback from our customers, especially when it comes from women who are living with chaotic schedules, kids, jobs, and other responsibilities. Much of this communication comes to us through our amazing and growing online community via Facebook and Twitter. We place strong value in building these relationships online through social media.

I am so excited to announce the 2013 Team of COMM: Council of Media Moms, a group of influential bloggers led by our Brand Ambassador, Heather Reinhard, better known online as Theta Mom. The COMM Team will continue to provide us with important insight into the needs and wants of the momAgenda® community as well as maintain a professional online presence for the brand. These engaging, talented and influential bloggers will work closely together to market momAgenda® to a wide audience of women and moms.

Get to know Heather Reinhard and the entire momAgenda COMM Team – check out their full bios here.

This is a shot from their back room where they store all this gorgeous leather…

Here is more leather…

Here is a shot of the leather after is has been hand-cut; ready to be turned into a wallet, photo frame, or maybe a luggage tag.

This is a view of part of the factory, where products are handmade and then stored until they are ready to be shipped to a customer.

I went to a small, all-girls school growing up, and they most definitely taught me to “Lean In” and grab my seat at the table. I learned that I could do anything I wanted to do, as well as a man if not better. It was a highly charged atmosphere in which everyone competed with each other to be on the honor roll and a varsity athlete and the star of the school play. And I was a classic overachiever, internally driven to reach my potential at every activity and in every class.

I learned something else in high school though: I learned how to think for myself. And when an extraordinarily successful woman gets up on her platform and says she wants more women to be successful on her terms, I have to stop and question that. Because what if her terms are not the same as my terms?

I, for example, don’t view working a 60- or 80-hour workweek or making a boatload of money as “success.” Maybe it’s success for some people, but it wouldn’t be for me.

I have been leaning in my entire life. I was driven to go to the best college I could, to get the best job I could, to get promoted and be taken seriously and reach my potential. But I never did so at the cost of my personal life. Because for me, reaching my potential is about so much more than getting a good job. It’s about feeling fulfilled, being there for my kids, having joy and pleasure in my life each day, and being healthy, both physically and mentally.

I started my own company. I don’t make even close to what my husband makes. But I have the freedom to work and play and work out and do what I want to do, when I want to do it. If I want to work on my blog posts at midnight while my kids are sleeping, I can. If I want to do a conference call while sitting on the sidelines of a lacrosse field where my kid is practicing, I can. If I want to go for a run in the middle of the day to clear my head, I can (and I do these things and more, all the time).

I’m not as successful as many people in terms of financial compensation, but I have designed my life around my most important values and needs. I have the freedom to live my life the way I choose to. That’s the most important thing to me right now.

I couldn’t have said it better than Ariana Huffington did recently in the Wall St. Journal:

“The world needs women to redefine success beyond money and power. We need a third metric, based on our well-being, our health, our ability to unplug and recharge and renew ourselves, and to find joy in both our job and the rest of our life. Ultimately, success is not about money or position, but about living the life you want, not just the life you settle for.”

I don’t want to lean in to the world that Sandberg inhabits. I like my freedom and being able to live the life I want, even if I don’t make millions of dollars doing it. Maybe someone needs to write that book.

He asked, “What do you think is the key factor that influences popularity for girls?” There are many factors of course, but the most important one is not surprising: it’s being pretty.

Then he asked us, “What about boys?” The answer, again, is unsurprising: for boys, popularity is all about athletic talent.

I am struggling with this concept as I raise my own boys. My oldest, Andrew, has no interest in sports. His extracurricular interests lie in the arts – specifically, the theater. Meanwhile, my 13-year-old son Matthew is a gifted athlete. He has been blessed with natural agility, strength, and speed, and these gifts have helped him excel in football, lacrosse, and wrestling, among other sports.

Matthew reaps the benefits of being a “jock.” His athleticism has helped smooth the potentially difficult road of middle school. He is constantly surrounded by friends, and possesses that easy confidence that comes from being well-liked and successful from an early age.

Popularity per se is not important to me, but what is important is the value that society places on certain inherent traits in our boys. When society values sports participation above all other qualities, what happens to the smart boys? The artsy ones? The funny ones? And what are the long-term effects of our boys feeling undervalued because their interests and/or abilities lie in areas other than sports?

I’ve come to realize that participation in the arts gives kids many of the same benefits of participating in sports. Andrew, for example, tried out for his first school play as a sophomore, and he got a lead role. It was clear in his very first performance he had found his niche. Since then he has never had a day without a rehearsal or an audition. It changed his life by giving him a community in his school of over 3,000 kids, by instilling in him a sense of teamwork, and by giving him confidence that he can excel at something other than academics.

The theater crowd isn’t like the athletic crowd, however. They are not the “cool kids.” They don’t walk around the school with a confident swagger. And these brave, gifted, and talented kids are definitely not getting calls from college recruiters, even though the commitment of time and effort and heart and soul is no less than that of the athletes.

For the sake of my “artsy” kids, I wish society placed as high a value on skills like drawing, painting, singing, dancing, and acting, as we do skills like running, throwing, and catching. For now, all we can do as parents is to love our kids and value their contributions, whatever they are.

When I started momAgenda, I already had 4 kids, the youngest of which was 1 year old at the time. I was reluctant to reenter the work force because I knew I would lose the flexibility to put being a mom first. That’s why I decided to start my own business; I knew if I was the boss, no one could tell me where and when to be at any given time. No one could tell me I had to travel to a business meeting on my child’s birthday (something which happened to a friend of mine and which I never forgot).

I did a lot of research at that time and learned that many college-educated women like me had dropped out of the work force to raise children (these of course were the fortunate women who had that option financially). The reason was not because they didn’t want to work, but because the workplace is so unfriendly to the needs of moms. And in many cases, it feels like an either/or proposition.

I noted at that time that the only way these moms would really come back into the workforce in large numbers was if the workplace adapted to meet our needs. By giving greater flexibility. Day care options. And yes, telecommuting options.

I have dear friends who work full-time for large companies, who are killing themselves with guilt. They are helping support their families, but their kids give them grief and they often feel judged for their choices. And other friends who chose the other extreme, to put their professional talents and ambitions on the back burner temporarily while raising children. They pay a price too, in terms of their own financial independence and career dreams.

There needs to be a middle ground. A grey area where moms who want to work can do so with the flexibility to feel they are making a contribution at work and giving enough to their children as well. And the companies that are friendly to the needs of families, the ones that are flexible about working from home for example, are the ones that will benefit from the extraordinary talents of the women in this generation of moms.

But it’s never going to happen unless important women in business and government start speaking out about our needs. Powerful, visible women like Marissa Mayer need to be out there championing our cause, not setting us back to the stone age.

Why shop our 10 for $10 Flash Sale? Here are 10 good reasons:

1. A momAgenda or myAgenda for $10 (regular price $43). Need I say more?

2. These planners (except Mini Daily and Home Office) run through December 2013. Lots of organizing bang for your buck.

3. When you are organized you breathe more easily.

4. When you are organized you are happier.

5. When you are organized you are nicer to your kids/husband/dog.

6. Because one of your New Year’s Resolutions was to get organized.

7. Because when you are organized you will have more time to work out… or in my case, veg out.

8. Because when you are organized you can spend your time worrying about more important things, like when you are going to catch up on all the shows you’ve recorded on your dvr.

9. Because when you are organized you feel less stressed out.

10. I repeat, a momAgenda or myAgenda for $10! Come on!!!

Check out our Flash Sale now because it ends tomorrow (Thursday, 2/28)!!!