Since organizing the markers, sharpies and colored pencils by color I haven't had one marker pile problem. With an 8 year old artist living in my house it was driving me crazy. There is something theraputic about keeping them all color organized.
The real spark of genius is Math Bath. Bryn can drag out doing her 12 problem math homework for a very very long time. On Math Bath nights it's amazing how fast it gets done and without any help or tears from mom.
I'd love to know of other mommy genius ideas.