@wilsomom, lists and charts.
Saw you mention this on another post and did not want to hijack it, but can you go into more detail? My life is so unorganized that I want to pull my hair out. I bought this white board that is fancy, nice and in a frame and is a calendar. That's the start of my organization, but I need help! What kind of lists do you make? What do they contain? Etc etc
@wilsomom
@wilsomom
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They do help keep my sanity, however, because if I'm in a fog from no sleep or something I can just go to my list and do the next thing. It frees me of stress from worrying if that nasty bathtub is ever going to cleaned (it's on the list for next Thursday!) and it keeps the kids from asking me 5 million questions like can I do this or that? ....Uhhh check the schedule!!
I actually have a schedule for every person in the house except my husband (and currently the teenagers) I can show you a copy if you're interested, just for an example. Since it's summer, I don't have any home school activities on it.
I also have the following charts:
1. Kitchen Cleanup checklist for kids - so they know exactly what to do
2. Daily Jobs checklist for kids - other chores not kitchen related
3. Morning Charts & Evening Charts - (make bed, brush teeth, etc.)
4. Choose An Activity List - 15 mins, 30 mins or 60 mins activities to choose from if there's spare time so they don't have to say "I'm bored" or bug me or each other. I just tell them to go choose a 30 minute activity, for example.
5. Reward Charts - I give them a little sticker for anything I'm trying to train at the moment or if they do something exceptionally nice. After 5 stickers they get either a quarter or a piece of candy.
6. Manager Daily Checklist - This is one of my most important items. I literally have everything everyone is supposed to be doing all day long in a checklist format so I can keep up with everything. I keep it on a clipboard. I can write ideas or notes on it throughout the day and refer to it each evening. If I have an appointment or need to do something I can hand it to some other responsible person.
7. Home Management Book - Any family could do this, it's great! I have a 3 ring binder with page protectors. Each day of the week has a list of what that day's duties are. For example, Monday is laundry day. I can go down the list and know that we sort all the laundry, vacuum the laundry room while it's empty, wipe down the washer and dryer, make laundry detergent if it's close to empty, straighten the shelves, etc. (We have a family closet in the laundry room - another topic lol)
There's a list for each day of the week except Sunday. Tuesday is Home Office Day, Wednesday is Kitchen Day, Thursday is Cleaning Day, Friday is Town Day, Saturday is Outdoor Day. This helps me so much!! I list what needs done on each of those days and refer to them every week. If I don't get to everything on the list...no problem, it will be there again next week. Since they're in page protectors I can use a dry erase marker to check things off.
I also put grocery lists, menu plans, important phone numbers, etc in the binder.
Again, I can share if you'd like examples.
I also have my little work station/desk area on a kitchen counter top. It has my schedule, a grocery list I can add to as I think of things, my to do list that I can add to as needed, my clipboard with the manager checklist, my Home Management book, my home school binder, etc.
The refrigerator is Organization Central where all the kids checklist charts go, the Activity List, the Reward Charts, etc. I also print out a calendar each month that goes there.
Oh! Another thing I do is let the kids rotate as my "Kitchen Helper". They call it their special day and that's the day they help me extra with meals and (and anything else I need) and that's their day to check the mail, pick the tv show (they watch half an hour a day), sit by mom during read aloud, go on errands etc. Basically it prevents a lot of bickering because whoever's day it is gets to choose most things.
Gosh, I've totally written a book again! Why do I always do that? If you have questions, please ask. This is probably a lot to digest and I'm not really sure if I really went in to what exactly you were looking for.
@captivated @thehumancrockpot
I especially have a hard time keeping up with the monthly/quarterly/yearly stuff.
Here's another organizing tip...I always put all my appts & bills on the calendar in my smart phone with an alarm to remind me.
Does anyone have more tips? (sorry, don't mean to hijack)
At what child did you feel it necessary to start charting duties?
Growing up, my parents didn't teach me much, just let me wander about my days. So when I got on my own I had NO CLUE how to do anything. It took me forever to figure life out.
Learning things on our own take time, but they get ingrained and you'll teach your children as you don't want them twirling aimlessly in this world we call life.
I don't particularly reward for everyday chores that are required to be a part of the family. However, they do get praise and movie night on Friday!
I'm already seeing the fruit of my efforts with my 19 year old daughter. She knows SO MUCH more than I did at her age and she's doing great with her fiance and little boy. I'm so glad!