Tidy Takeaways: April 2025

Clearing space—for spring resets, storytelling sparks, and a fresh take on time itself.

Apr 03, 2025

1×

0:00

-24:16

This month’s theme is Clear—I’m making space—for slower afternoons, spring cleaning wins, and the stories that have been waiting to be told. I’m sharing what happened when I experimented with time (spoiler: it involved a new move I call exer-vising), plus a fourth-grade project that really got me thinking.

We’ve got spring cleaning tools in the Tidy Toolkit, a DC weekend recap, the latest from “Tidy Dad’s Reading Stack”, and yes—some metaphorical (and actual) dirty laundry. Spring is in the air. Let’s get started.

(A proof of dad photo from our trip to Washington D.C.)

What I Learned From Experimenting With Time

Last month, my middle daughter Matilda began a new unit at school on time and money. She’s only in second grade, but it’s a unit I used to teach when I was a third grade teacher—which makes me feel like time is moving faster than ever. One afternoon, she asked me a question that completely stopped me in my tracks:

"If a quarter of a dollar is 25 cents, why is a quarter of an hour only 15 minutes?"

Such a good question—the kind that makes my teacher heart swell.

Fractions are foundational to mathematical understanding, and yet they can feel overwhelming and abstract. Sure, baking is a classic go-to for teaching fractions (and yes, we’ll get there). But Matilda’s question reminded me that we’re constantly navigating slivers—slivers of time, slivers of money, slivers of ourselves.

We can’t do it all. And we can’t be it all for everyone.

Last month, I shared that I was experimenting with time—intentionally leaving space in my afternoons for rest and reset. I wanted to see what would happen as we experimented with the 2:30-5:30pm window: playground visits, books, workouts.

Here are three takeaways I’m carrying into April:

1. I’m a huge fan of “exer-vising”

A new term I’ve coined: part exercising, part supervising. I bring resistance bands to the playground, squeeze in a strength workout, and then jog a few laps around the track. Sometimes the girls join me. Sometimes they scooter past like I’m standing still.

At first, I felt silly. I worried about what other people would think. But then I noticed that most of them were are sitting on benches, scrolling on their phones. I’m outside, moving my body, while the girls play. It’s a pretty cool example of habit stacking.

Tidy Takeaway: Find ways to move your body with your kids around—no gym, no guilt required. Progress over perfection.

2. Meal planning is a necessary evil (and it helps)

This month, I’ve been trying to more intentionally plan my breakfast and lunches. I’m still working with my health coach and focusing on adding more protein to my meals.

I started using a meal-planning notebook (yes, I’ve become that person), and we began aligning our grocery trips with our dinner plan. Revolutionary? No. Helpful? Absolutely.

When we have a plan and stick to it, the dreaded witching hour—the post-park, pre-dinner whine fest—feels gentler. Not gone. But better.

Tidy Takeaway: Sync meal planning with grocery shopping. Use whatever tool works for your brain—a whiteboard, notebook, app, or shared calendar. Bonus if it helps you avoid the 5 p.m. “what’s for dinner” scramble.

3. Everyone likes having a choice

We currently have a lot of variety in our afternoons:

Matilda has a weekly STEM class.
Mabel has a weekly art class.
Both older girls have a weekly gymnastics class.
Emily has a weekly workout class.

Everyone gets a little joy time. And still… the witching hour returns.

Homework + long park hangs + a rushed dinner = an end-of-day crash.

So we made a shift: bedtime moved from 7:00 to 7:30. It’s a small change that feels like a big step into our next season with bigger kids. And they can read in bed until 8:30.

Tidy Takeaway: Give each family member a little autonomy in their afternoons, even if it’s just a small choice. And when routines feel off, try adjusting something tiny—like bedtime.

So this April, the experiment continues. We’re still figuring out new routines—tweaking, shifting, and trying to stack habits that actually stick (like wearing under eye patches while I clean in the morning). Small tweaks and adjustments can lead to lasting change when it comes to setting up routines and developing new habits.

The real power isn’t in hustling or overhauling everything at once—it’s in making small, thoughtful changes that support the rhythms of the season. If you want to read more about this topic, check out Chapters 3 and 4 of my book, Tidy Up Your Life.

Weekend Update: A Family Trip to DC 🚇🌸🛝

We spent the final weekend in March (also a three-day weekend for us!!) in Washington, DC. We drove down early Saturday morning and drove back Monday after lunch, making the most of our time in the city.

We stayed at a super accessible Airbnb in Arlington’s Crystal City—walking distance to the Crystal City subway station, surrounded by restaurants, and perfectly set up for families. Right along the Yellow Line, we took the subway straight to L’Enfant Plaza to start our DC adventures.

If you want to tidy up your travel itinerary, check out the latest in “The Tidy Toolkit.”

🗓 Saturday: Planet Word, Smithsonians & Outdoor Play

🚗 Arrive in DC + Planet Word Museum
📍 925 13th St NW, Washington, DC 20005
This free, interactive museum is a must for word lovers and kids of all ages. The girls were obsessed with the speaking wall, the karaoke room, and of course, the joke studio.
⏱ Plan to spend about 2 hours.

🎨 Smithsonian Stops
We walked (and the girls scootered) over to a few favorite Smithsonian museums:

American History: Dorothy’s red slippers + the First Ladies' exhibit
Natural History: The Hope Diamond + the classic Dinosaur wing

⏱ Plan to spend about 1-2 hours per museum

🛝 Afternoon Break! – Franklin Park Playground
📍 1332 I St NW
Just a few blocks from Planet Word—newly renovated green space with plenty of room to run and recharge!

🗓 Sunday: Scooters, Space & Blossoms

We brought foldable scooters, and they were a total lifesaver. DC is super walkable, but little legs tire out quickly. Bonus: you’re allowed to bring scooters in the museums and push them around like strollers! Just make sure the kids aren’t riding them inside—we got friendly reminders from staff at the entrance to each Smithsonian stop.

We did have one hiccup: I forgot to reserve our Air and Space Museum tickets before the trip. Oops. Thankfully, I was able to grab day-of tickets!

Cherry Blossoms + Memorial Tour
We walked/scootered around the Tidal Basin Loop Trail through the blooms (they were at their peak, and all of DC seemed to be out and about) and stopped at:

Jefferson Memorial
MLK Jr. Memorial
FDR Memorial
Lincoln Memorial and more!

We grabbed lunch from the snack stand by the Lincoln Memorial—simple and quick. There aren’t many lunch options around The Mall, and the food trucks are very expensive. We caved and bought three ice creams... the total came to $40 (!!).

🛸 Smithsonian Air & Space Museum
📍 600 Independence Ave SW
The museum features brand new updates, with more on the way through 2025–2026.
🎟 You do need tickets—we snagged same-day ones in the morning for later that afternoon, and explored the Tidal Basin Loop Trail first.

🗓 Monday: Arlington Parks + Drive Home

Before hitting the road, we had a local Arlington adventure:

🛝 Amazon HQ2 Playground
Say what you want about Amazon HQ2, but they built a playground that delivers—the kids had a blast.

⛸ Virginia Highlands Park
Tennis courts, wide open paths, and the girls loved roller skating before the ride home.

📌 Want more DC ideas?
Check out another kid-friendly itinerary from a past trip on thetidydad.com! [Washington DC with kids!]

“Behind the Stories” is my weekly series for my paid subscribers on Substack. This month, I’m sharing a four-part series that ties into April’s theme: Clear—the first step in the decluttering process I outline in Tidy Up Your Life. As readers will see, it’s a process that applies to both physical and mental clutter. The first story drops next Wednesday!

Fourth Grade Courage & Grown-Up Clutter

A few weeks ago, I was standing in the kitchen early in the morning, helping my fourth-grade daughter, Mabel, with a baking assignment before school. The night before, we had gone to the grocery store together to gather ingredients, and now we were working through a series of fraction exercises while prepping the two types of bread she’d bring to class: pumpkin zucchini bread and chocolate chip banana bread.

In the foreground, my tripod was set up with my camera time-lapsing the moment. These quiet, sped-up videos are part of how I share life on Instagram as Tidy Dad.

Later, I uploaded the clip with a caption:

“Mabel’s in 4th grade and in some ways that’s peak childhood. I remember in 4th grade believing that someday I’d be a writer and I’d travel, and go on so many adventures. For a good chunk of my 20s and 30s, I lost that childhood spark. But I’m proudly and boldly rediscovering it.”

When I was in fourth grade, I wrote a letter to the President of the United States. I was furious the national parks might be closed that summer due to budget cuts. And then one day over the summer, a letter arrived—addressed to me, Tyler Moore, from the White House. I wrote to the President. He wrote me back. Anything felt possible.

But as I pressed upload on that video clip/caption, I found myself staring at the screen, thinking about the gap between who I was in fourth grade and who I’d become now. A question popped into my mind: At what point did I stop standing up for myself?

That question stayed with me.

Later that day at school, I checked my email history and realized I was coming up on the one-year anniversary of reaching out about an interview for a teaching position at my younger daughter’s school. I remember the moment I hit “send”. The writing had been on the wall—leadership at my then-school of thirteen years had grown weary of Mr. Moore and my “Tidy Dad” persona. I’d had a tumultuous tenure at the school as Dean of Academics, and had personally and professionally recovered in some ways by returning to the classroom. But they knew my book was coming and they knew it included the mental health crisis I’d experienced—one largely stemming from my work at the school. Some people were supportive, others weren’t. The emails and texts I’d received—some sent about me, some sent to me—made that painfully clear.

In Tidy Up Your Life, I outline a four-step decluttering process: Clear. Sort. Assess. Plan. The first step—clear—has been on my mind a lot in 2025. We’re in the thick of maintaining the organization systems that support rhythms at home with our three daughters, and we’re also trying to actually use what we already have in our apartment. But clearing isn’t just about physical stuff—it’s a mental process, too. And that lingering question—When did I stop standing up for myself?—is part of my journey to clear the clutter from my professional life.

In my book, I wrote about a moment years ago when I stood on a New York City sidewalk—a much younger father with two little girls—and finally realized I needed professional help. And as I’ll share in this month’s “Behind the Stories” series, last spring, I had a parallel experience.

I’m returning to my four-step decluttering process—Clear. Sort. Assess. Plan.—trying to make space to tell the story of how I tidied up my professional life while tidying up the final manuscript of my book. It’s a complicated tale, 13 years in the making, and one I’ve been a little scared to fully share. I hope you’ll journey along with me!

The Latest: “The Tidy Times”

My Behind the Stories email series delivers essays, insights, and writer's notebook prompts to get you thinking. It’s exclusive for my paid subscribers on Substack.

Catch up on the March editions:

What My Disaster of a Roommate Taught Me About Mess, Boundaries, and Letting Go - Resentment builds fast when one person is always cleaning up after another!
A Flock of Pigeons Moved In, and Now I’m Questioning Everything - Who knew a couple of pigeons could spark childhood trauma, existential dread, and expose a flaw in my so-called fortress?

Spring Cleaning, But Make It FUN!

Spring cleaning can feel overwhelming. Where do you even start? How do you stay motivated? What if you just want someone to tell you what to do—but in a way that doesn’t make you feel bad about your baseboards?

Become a paid subscriber to The Tidy Times and get instant access to the Tidy Toolkit—a growing collection of resources, including the full Spring Cleaning Guide.

My Spring Cleaning Guide is a no-stress plan to help you clean smarter, not harder. It’s packed with playful strategies, quick wins, and some good, clean fun (literally).

Here’s what’s inside:

🧼 Top 10 Cleaning Tools: The right tools make cleaning faster and easier. I’m sharing my go-to favorites—plus a QR code for direct shopping links.

🎯 Spring Cleaning Bingo: Cleaning doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing. This Bingo board gives you progress-packed mini tasks—one satisfying square at a time.

❌⭕ Tic Tac Clean: Turn cleaning into a challenge with this fast-paced game. Great for couples, roommates, or kids. Win the round, clean the room.

🗂 Declutter This!: A season-by-season breakdown of what to tackle and when—so you can make space without burning out.

🛏 Tidy First, Clean Smart: My golden rule for every season. Tidy the night before so you can clean faster the next day. (Yes, it really works.)

3 Things to Declutter this month

April is a month of movement—spring breaks, weekend getaways, and the urge to freshen up everyday spaces. So before you deep-clean the shower grout or pack the kids’ overnight bags, start with a few small shifts that make a big difference in how your home (and your brain) feels.

1. Bathrooms: Clear the Clutter, Not Just the Counters

The bathroom is one of the easiest places for clutter to build up—and also one of the easiest places to refresh. The goal this month? Keep what you actually use, and let go of what’s expired, half-used, or forgotten.

🧼 Medicine Cabinet: Toss expired medications, prescriptions, and first aid supplies that are past their prime. Then organize a small kit for your park bag and for your car—you’ll thank me later.
🧴 Makeup & Skincare: Toss old makeup and skincare products, and anything you no longer use. Consolidate duplicates and keep only what you love. Also check that your sunscreen isn’t expired!

2. Travel Gear: Lighter Bags = Happier Trips

Whether you’re prepping for a weekend road trip or just dreaming of summer travel, April is the perfect time to declutter what’s hiding in your toiletry bags and travel bins.

🧳 Toiletry Bag Refresh: Toss old travel-size bottles and leaky containers. Group what’s left into ready-to-go kits for future trips.
🧸 Kids’ Travel Entertainment: Dried-out markers? Torn sticker books? Broken toys? Let them go—and make space for fresh travel toy options before your next journey.

3. Tech: Tidy Up the Digital Clutter

Tech clutter often goes unnoticed, but it can weigh us down just as much as physical mess. A little digital decluttering goes a long way.

📱 Device Clean-Up: Delete unused apps, clear out old screenshots, and tidy up your home screen. (I back up photos and videos with Google Photos—I love having access across all my devices!)
🔌 Cord Control: Untangle the mess. Sort out chargers, toss broken cords, and create a simple system that helps you find what you need when you need it.

Maintenance Department

Spring has sprung, and so has Quarter 2 (April–June)! As we step into this new season, it’s the perfect time to reset our spaces so they support us—keeping things comfortable, functional, and running smoothly. Whether you live in an apartment, a house, a castle, or somewhere in between, these spring maintenance tasks are a great place to start. Bonus: they spell out Tidy Dad! 🤣

Tidy up outdoor spaces (pots/plants, furniture, grilling supplies, etc.)
Inspect windows for condensation, fix seals to avoid moisture damage
Dust, clean, and test air conditioner and fans (warm temps are coming)
Yearly fireplace or wood stove check, schedule the maintenance cleaning
Deep clean outdoor furniture by scrubbing off dirt, pollen, and mildew
Assess for pests, inspect for ants, termites, or other common summer pests
Declutter and clean your freezer (get it ready for all that summer ice cream)

Airing My Own Dirty Laundry

(The One Where Tidy Dad Gets Sick)

Dear Tidy Dad: “I’m sorry you’ve been sick. But I would love to hear about how you manage to recover in your tiny NYC apartment. I bet this would make a great story!”

DEAR Queen of Quarantine Curiosity: I don’t get sick often. I clean regularly, wash my hands, get lots of fresh air, and have been trying to eat right. But I also spend my weekdays surrounded by sneezy, wheezy, walking germ factories disguised as fifth graders. So eventually… it caught up to me.

At the tail end of March, the flu smacked me across the face. I woke up on a Saturday with a migraine and attempted the classic parent move: "resting" on the couch in the middle of the action. Double eye mask on, hope in my heart—only to find myself surrounded by the morning chaos. The baby dolls were all crying, the breakfast selection was under protest, and suddenly, I was the most popular person in the room.

I rallied. Sort of. Just enough to do something wildly impractical: unload the entire pantry and start assembling furniture to make a new art paper station. That project drained every ounce of energy I had left.

By some miracle, the girls had a movie event at school, so we walked them over. I chatted with a coworker on the sidewalk—trying to maintain my distance—and then completely fell apart, both mentally and physically, on the six-block walk home.

Now, we don’t have nearby family to tag in, and in a NYC apartment, there’s no such thing as a “sick wing.” Unlike the doctor’s office of my childhood—with a separate entrance for the flu patients—every room in our apartment is a glorified hallway that connects to the next. Our bedroom connects to the girls’ bedroom, but it is what it is.

So Emily took the kids to the other end of the apartment while I set up headquarters in our bedroom. I slept for two days straight. The girls crafted little “get well soon” cards and activities for me. They even delivered applesauce cups like tiny room service fairies. I read an entire book. And I somehow—accidentally, but also very purposefully—watched an entire season of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. (It’s the one where Erika Jayne learns her husband may have stolen money from orphans. Iconic.)

On Monday, just as I finally began to feel like a human again, I took my first sick day of the school year. Not because I was still at my worst—but because I’ve learned that the “almost better” day is actually the magic recovery day.

So naturally, I spent it at the laundromat. Because what better place to restore your health than surrounded by 5x load washing machines and the soothing hum of dryers?

In summary: I was really sick. But miraculously, no one else in the family caught it. We’ve had those full-family-fever-trap weekends before, and trust me—they’re brutal. Maybe that’s why people flee to the suburbs? For the luxury of a sick wing and a laundry room that doesn’t require quarters.

Tidy Talks: Conversations Worth A Listen

The Dude Therapist Podcast: Tidy Your Life w/ Tyler Moore (The Tidy Dad)

In March, I also launched Tidy Tidbits: A bite-sized The Tidy Times AUDIO STORY, published every Saturday, sharing tools, tricks, and tiny triumphs to make life tidier in five minutes or less. If you missed an episode, here are the Tidy Tidbits from March:

“A Steamy-Clean Love Story” - My Obsession with the Ultimate Cleaning Tool - A Powered Steam Cleaner!

“Mixing, Measuring, and Manifesting” - The Art of Baking, Gifting, and Keeping Birthdays Joyfully Tidy(ish)

“What Lies Beneath (and Needs a Good Scrub)” - Teaching the Three Branches of Cleaning—No Textbook Required

“Screens in the Car Make You Throw Up (and Other Travel Truths I Swear By)” - The Road Rules We Swear By (No Van Required)

Hot Off The Press

“How Professional Cleaners Deal With Their Own Mess: What they prioritize, what they let go of and what they hire someone else to do.” - Washington Post

I wouldn’t call myself a professional cleaner—but living with three walking tornadoes has definitely given me plenty of practice. 😅 In this article, I’m lumped in with some real pros (flattered!) as we spill tips and secrets for how we deal with messes at home.

“How to Clean Out Your Closet Without Trashing The Planet” - GQ.com

Tidy Dad actually started with a tour of my closet—and trust me, it was a quick one. Just 14 inches wide and 6.5 feet tall, but packed with intention. I stick to four core colors—navy, olive, tan, and burgundy—and believe that less really can be more.

Tidy Dad's Reading Stack

Welcome to Tidy Dad’s Reading Stack—a mix of reviews, library finds, articles, and books I can’t stop thinking about! These are the titles that have caught my attention and might just earn a spot on your bookshelf, too!

Everyone is Lying to You by Jo Piazza pulls back the curtain on influencer culture while celebrating the prowess, ingenuity, and sharp strategy of the women behind the accounts—even when they’re cunning, cutthroat, and a little bit deceptive. I devoured it in two days! And then Emily did the same. It’s coming out in July, and is available for PREORDER now. Give your future self the gift of an incredible summer beach read!
(As of press time, I’m currently reading The Sicilian Inheritance, also by Jo Piazza. It’s a gripping, funny deep dive into family history—with a satisfying swirl of murder mystery intrigue. Just released in paperback!)
A Better Share by Dr. Morgan Cutlip is a must-read if you’re ready to tackle the mental load conversation with your partner or spouse. Coming April 8th, this book offers a refreshing take on the mental load and the invisible work that happens both inside and outside the home. It’s insightful, honest, and incredibly validating—for both women and men. I’ll be going LIVE with Dr. Morgan on Instagram on April 7th to talk all about it—I hope you’ll join us!
I’ve been loving the Blood Sugar Balance Cookbook by Meredith Mann (@thepeachiespoon)! Her breakfast recipes have totally changed my mornings—and helped me finally embrace cottage cheese. They’re so good. Meredith was also kind enough to send me her protein powder—both the vanilla and chocolate are amazing. Highly recommend!

April Joy Plotting

In Tidy Up Your Life, I talk about joy plotting—taking a few minutes to anticipate moments of joy in the week or month ahead. It’s a simple practice worth trying!

Here’s what’s on my joy plotting list for April:

We cancelled our Spring Break plans: In the fall I booked an Airbnb in Medellín, Colombia, but something about the trip just felt off. We had trouble finding good flights, and we realized that after our Spain adventure in February, maybe we just needed a slower break. So we’ll be in NYC a few days, and then in Pennsylvania.

Foray into fiction: I’ve been toying with an idea for a new summer thriller series called The Messy Meddler — a delightfully unhinged story about pigeons... and how they slowly destroy a neighborhood. Yes, pigeons. The ultimate villains. I've started outlining a few chapters, and it feels like The Birds meets Desperate Housewives, with a healthy dash of feather-fueled chaos. Who knows where it will go, but I think it could be a fun summer project. We’ll see! Stay tuned.
Triathlon season is calling: I’m signing up for summer races, on the hunt for a new bike, and setting a goal to complete one triathlon each month in June through September. The one in Cape May, New Jersey might be my favorite: you jump off the back of a boat (nearly 20 feet!) into the ocean and then swim to shore. I’ve also got my eye on a Pennsylvania course. Long story short: I’m chasing that summer-endorphin joy, one swim-bike-run at a time.

Thanks for reading!

🧺 If you enjoyed this free newsletter and want MORE—check out my book Tidy Up Your Life — and consider becoming a paid subscriber on Substack! It’s just $5/month or $50/year and helps keep the tidying (and storytelling) going.

Remember that it’s always free and appreciated when you leave a comment, tap the like button, and share this with a friend who’s one junk drawer away from greatness.

The Tidy Times