On My Mind: Family Planner Folder Challenge # 4 {Schedule} and the Benefits of Keeping a Clean and Orderly Home...

Linking up with RHONDA'S 'ON MY MIND' BLOG LINK UP.

This will be part one of a three part series on cleaning.

Part one is about the benefits of having a cleaning schedule and keeping a clean and orderly home.

Part two will be about natural cleaning methods.

Part three will be about cleaning organisation.

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Ok so I am definitely nesting - lots 'on my mind' in this area lately!

At 33.5 weeks pregnant, I still have quite a bit of energy and quite a few things on my 'to do list'.

So far in our Family Planner we've looked at the following kep concepts when getting your planner together:

1.Prioritise

2. Organise

3. Decorate

and that brings us to
# 4... SCHEDULE

One of goals on my current 'to do list' was to revisit my cleaning schedules that I keep in my Family Planner.

The ones that were in there are quite outdated and so I thought it was high time that I really looked at what was working and what wasn't anymore. I think it is important to make a schedule that works for you and your family - not one that other people are doing. Just keep tweaking it until it works for you!

 

{a natural cornflour spray I now use to cut through grease}

Some background first before I go on about cleaning schedules.

I want to be very clear about something.

I have NOT always been a cleaner or an organiser or someone who thought schedules would ever be helpful!

No sireee!

In fact, I grew up in a very loving, cluttered home of two self-confessed hoarders. When I got married, having just turned 21, I found myself very very lost and confused! I didn't know how to 'keep house'. I didn't have the skills that I needed to work a washing machine, to keep papers in order, to make the bed and change the sheets regularly or keep in order a linen closet. My mum, to her credit, had tried to teach me many of these things as a child in the best way she knew how, but I was always fobbing her off telling her I had 'more important things to do'. Wow that really came back to bite me later on! How I wished I'd paid attention to her words. Only six months after getting married, I found out we were expecting our first child and I went from not knowing how to run a home to not knowing how to run and home AND look after a baby!

{Most days I try and have our bed made. Even if the rest of the room has clothes on the floor or is just in need of some love, it at least helps both Brett and I feel like we can still have a place to retreat to together. Having said that, I didn't make the bed today! lol!}

Long story short, I had no choice but to LEARN the necessary skills to look after my home and my family.

Just like any career woman, I decided that THIS role WAS my career and I needed to SKILL up! How does someone with a career do this? They read up! They talk to colleagues! They undertake research projects! They attend work-experience! They do whatever it takes to become the best they can in their field in order to achieve their goals.

Well, my 'skilling up' consisted of reading books on cleaning and organisation.

I was greatly encouraged by the Above Rubies magazines and books on Motherhood by people like Sally Clarkson.

I searched out the scriptures that spoke about being a mama and how much God rules with order in His Kingdom.

My 'collegues' were women who had raised their families who had plenty of advice to offer. I asked them about what kind of budget meals they served and listened well to their stories. I spoke with other mums my own age who were raising their families and I watched and observed and took mental notes. Brett and I would discuss many of the things we saw in other people's families and wonder if and how we could implement these into our own.

My 'research projects' became things like looking up websites such as recipe websites, Fly Lady and Down to Earth and learning about how others live; how basic skills that seem to be long forgotten by the masses are being re-taught; how to bake bread, how to make soap, how to make foods that have medicinal benefits for our family, how to make natural healthier cleaners in my home, how to make delicious, wholesome home-cooked meals with flair.

'Work-experience' was my every-day experience! I tried out (and still do!) recipes that ended up a flop, cleaners that didn't really cut it and organisational projects that I should never have attempted! 

Nothing I share here has come naturally to me. It is the result of persistance and perserverance and I STILL HAVE SO MUCH TO LEARN!
But the satisfaction I have of being able to have (mostly!) a clean, well organised and loving home far outweighs the effort.

{My cleaning caddy with natural vinegar and cornflour sprays along with cloths, plastic bags and a collection of different brushes}

I have never desired to have a spotless home.

We have 6 (almost 7) people residing here and it sure looks like that! There are honest tell tale signs that 4 children live here and I LOVE that because that is OUR life! However, it doesn't stop us from desiring that our home be clean and tidy.

Here are some of the reasons why I believe it is a blessing to maintain a clean and well organised home and having a schedule which helps me stay on top of it all:

HEALTH BENEFITS:

* It helps to promote and maintain a hygenic environment which helps to reduce sickness

BENEFITS THE NEXT GENERATION:

* Modelling behaviour to our children that encourages cleanliness and orderliness sets them up for when they move out of home...they will be able to look after themselves well and their families too. Helping them take responsiblity at home can help them learn to take responsibility in their future place of employment and in their community too. It teaches our children self-discipline.

{Having watched big Sis do this chore, Zippi at just under 2 wants to get in on the act and have a go at sweeping up!}

BENEFITS TO GENERAL WELL BEING:

* Knowing where to locate that important document in a hurry or where the latest invitation with those important details on it helps to cut down stress! I would rather live in a peaceful rather than chaotic place. I would rather feel like I am in control in my space than feel that my space controls me!

BENEFITS THE EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF YOUR FAMILY:

* Knowing where and how to locate and pay that electricity bill means you are not going to have your power cut! Knowing how to stockpile food neatly saves you in the long run from buying yet another tin of beans just because you couldn't see the three that you already have somewhere in your cupboard! Having things arranged neatly can actually save you money!!!

BENEFITS IN OPENING YOUR HOME:

*Having a clean and orderly home means you can open it without needing to cram things behind lounges or into cupboards so that people can find somewhere to sit. It helps make people feel at home and welcome.

ENABLES YOU TO BE SPONTANEOUS:

* Here's a quick example. I have planned my menu for the upcoming week. We decide to take an impromptu drive out on the weekend. Instead of freaking out that it doesn't fit in with the 'schedule', I go to my recipes folder and find a good easy slow cooker meal. I have a stock cupboard so I open that and pour all the beans and tomatoes and other ingredients in the slow cooker. We set it on a timer that we keep in our kitchen drawers and then we leave the house within minutes of deciding we want to take that drive. We are out for hours. When we open the door, it smells beautifully of our homecooked meal which has (thanks to the timer) turned itself off and is sitting there just waiting to be served up. There is no stress about being tired, having just driven two hours and kids whinging that they are hungry. Dinner is served and we had a wonderful impromptu outing together!

BENEFITS OF BEING A TEAM PLAYER:

*Having schedules can help everyone feel like they are making a worthy contribution to the cause of keeping the family afloat! When our kids complain about not wanting to do a chore, I often remind them that without their input and help, our family wouldn't be the same. We all need to pitch in and make our team work!

BENEFITS YOU IN BEING PRODUCTIVE:

* When you wake up in the morning with goals in your mind of what you want to achieve and how you want to achieve it, you are more likely to get up and get stuck into it! That's not to say we don't all have bleh kind of days but wanting to maintain a clean and orderly home helps to get us moving and keep us focussed on our families. I think it is why Yah speaks about it in His beautiful Word to us in many places. We are encouraged to be 'busy at home' in Titus 2:3 and the woman spoken of in Proverbs 31 was very productive too; buying and selling, working with her hands, being Queen of her castle! Seeing this as part of my career choice has helped me embrace the chores around me and want to actually rule with dominion over my quarters.

IT GIVE ME MORE TIME:

* And the final thing that a clean and tidy home blesses me with is acutally more time to spend with my family! I know, some of you may be thinking that that can't be right but it is! When we wake up in the morning and everyone is working getting their chores done, we all seem to get through the work quickly enough to snuggle on the lounge and have that story together or bake a slice for morning tea, or get out in the garden and dig. There are more opportunities for time together when everyone contributes rather than one person (the mum!) doing ALL the work!

Ultimately, in years to come, my children will remember the picnics we had together with the teddies, the games of backyard cricket, the heart to heart talks, the baking, the laughing, the date nights....all the quality moments. I just don't think you have to sacrifice cleaning and order for the sake of those moments! In fact, you can have them WHILE you are working TOGETHER! Everyday when our kids unpack the dishwasher, I stand at the sink or somewhere nearby in the kitchen and they tell me all sorts of wonderful things! It's not one or the other...it's not talking and sharing or cleaning....we are doing both at the same time AND ENJOYING IT! They chat, I listen, we laugh and discuss and we clean at the same time. In half an hour, I've had some one on one time with each of them (they do a drawer each in the dishwasher each day) and the kitchen is cleaned up ready for us to dirty it again (often within minutes of it being cleared!!!) making muffins or a slice for morning tea.

Do I believe in sacrificing my relationship with my family for the sake of a clean home? NO WAY! But I do think you can have both or at least aim for both :)

If something has to miss out, it will ALWAYS be the house.

It will never trump relationships.

{Special times our family has recently enjoyed together}

Ok, so now onto schedules.

So like I said earlier in the post, I have been looking at what works already and what needs to be tweaked in our daily and weekly chore schedule.

For me, the idea of a schedule is something to AIM for, something that helps to KEEP me on TRACK. It is not a thing that I measure my worth from! If I don't get any of these things done, I don't think, "Oh I am such a bad wife!" Nope! I just use it the next day as a GUIDE to help me know where to begin again.

The new schedule I came up with looks a little like this:

Morning Reminders for Me:

* As soon as children are awake, put on first load of washing* Swish toilet with bicarb + vinegar spray

* Wipe down ensuite vanity

* When showering, spray with vinegar and wipe down tiles & grout

* Make our bed

* General pick up in our bedroom

* Swish second toilet & wipe down vanity

* Put on second load of washing

* Hang out first load of washing

* Toaster away

* Wipe down bench top & stove top

Morning Reminders for the Children:

* Morning chore charts for bedrooms

* Fridge chore charts

* Clean your zone

Our children have two separate photo charts for chores:

One is for morning chores in their bedrooms that consist of making the bed, toys away in their proper boxes, books in their boxes, brushing teeth, pj's away. This photo poster is laminated near in the hallway of their bedroom where they can easily see what they need to do.

The other is for daily chores that get rotated on a weekly basis. I've posted about them HERE BEFORE. I've added more to the charts though since then and they are working even better for us now. The chores currently on this chart are:

Top drawer of the dishwasher, bottom drawer of the dishwasher, cutlery drawer of the dishwasher, sweeping the floor, putting away the cerals + milks after brekky, emptying both the regular bin and the recycling daily, dusting, collecting the eggs and emptying the compost. 

Meal time chores are: placemats, cutlery, drinks (Zippi now goes and sets her placemat out every night getting it from the cupboard. This is her 'chore' and she loves to help!)

Then just once weekly the kids have to do one of these:

Empty all the rest of the household bins, clean the double glass doors (with the vinegar spray!), clean the bathroom thoroughly.

This might seem like a lot, but honestly, since the load is shared between us all the jobs get done SO quickly! And it means that we are all working at the same time. While the kiddos are doing their Morning Chores, I'm doing mine too.

Ok then we have...

Afternoon Reminders for Me:

* Mill wheat for bread making (this one I am yet to accomplish but it is still a goal on my list!)

* Before cooking dinner, make sure dish rack is empty

* Fill sink and wash pots & utensils as I go

* Wipe down bench & stove top

Afternoon Reminders for the Children:

* Dinner table chores done before dinner is ready to be served

* Make sure all bookwork is away

* Make sure your zone is tidy

(At the beginning of the week, the three big kids are given a zone: loungeroom, learning room or backroom. While we try to collectively clean these areas, if there is a need to a quick tidy up, each of them knows which area they need to do a once-over of).

Before Bed Reminders for Me:

* Check menu for next day, get out meat if necessary, put bread on (again the bread stuff has been put on hold for the moment but something I desperately want to get back into)

Other Jobs that Need to be Done Daily by Me (or as close to!):

* Write up homeschool diary

* folding washing

* putting away folded washing

*airing bathmat

* tidy top of TV cabinet (which attracts stuff like a magnet!!!)

Other Jobs that Need to be Done Weekly-Fortnightly by Me:

*Deep clean of bathrooms

*Vacuum all rooms

* Change and wash bed linen

* tidy sewing table

*bicarb grout treatment both showers

* sweep out laundry

* clean oven

* wipe over top of range hood with cornflour spray

I printed off my chart, laminated a copy and stuck it up on the fridge.

There is also one in the Family Planner.

If you would like one, I uploaded a blank version of it HERE FOR YOU to print off. Here is the link to MY SCHEDULE but that probably won't be of much use. I just included it in case anyone got stuck and needed some ideas.

Before I sign off for now, please allow me to say one more thing.
If you happen to pop into my home (like say right now!) you might see cushions scattered on the floor by a two year old making an obstacle course, you might see crumbs on the floor unswept yet, grubby fingerprints on the glass doors and a messy learning room. Like I said, relationships always trump the schedule and this morning that included listening to a paper puppet play by Liji, watching Ethi shoot hoops outside and spending time brushing Stass' hair. What I'm trying to say is don't come by and expect to see a spotless home because quite frankly there is not one here! However, please drop by, take us as we are and share in our lives. We are works in progress on a fabulous journey with our Maker that is ever changing us! 

So that's it for today.

More to come soon,

Oh and want to play along with updating your own cleaning schedules or showing how your Family Planner is going? Then just fill in your details into the Linky Box and link to your post about it.

Family Planner Folder Challenge # 3 {Decorate!}

So our first challenge with our Family Planner (or recipe planner or whatever-tickles-your-fancy-kind-planner) was to PRIORITISE. Next up came the challenge to ORGANISE what you had going into your folders. I popped up the EMERGENCY CONTACT SHEETS for people to download and print off into their folders if they wanted to. The last little post I did on this was just an aside on PASSING ON THE LEGACY of planning which may help our little ones when they grow up and have a home of their own.
This brings us to the third challenge...DECORATE!

Now please feel free if you are not this way inclined at all, but if you are, now's the time to go ahead and decorate your folder!
Here's how mine is looking...

I made up some party bunting (out of scrapbooking papers of course!) which actually matches the birthing banner I made recently. I really like these colours and patterns so that's what I did! It matches some of the decor in our backroom where this folder lives. Hmmmm slightly embarrased to admit that but anyhoo, I obviously like these kinds of colours and patterns right now.
Apart from decorating your front cover, if you have tabs that you are doing you, you could add some stickers or ribbons or whatever you like to separate out your sections. My tags are handmade red and cream card with little lettering stickers on them.
Are you keen to join in?
Just share what you are working on to decorate your folder and fill in the linky box below with your blog post deets. Would totally love to see what you are working on!
More another time,
Happy decorating!

Family Planner Folder Challenge #2 Passing on the Legacy

I'm ashamed to say that as a little girl, my lovely mum would try to get me in the kitchen to teach me to cook, or show me how to clean things and make things but I always made up an excuse...I was too tired, or too busy studying, or playing...

Little did I know that I was going to be a young bride (at 21) and would need to learn these skills to be able to run a little household of my own. I also didn't know that within 6 months of us being married I would fall pregnant and need to look after a little one as well! There was no time really to learn the skills that I needed - I should have learnt them already!

However, I am a firm believer that it's never too late to learn!

Over the last 10 + years of our marriage, I've been trying to refine my skills as a wife and mother. I've learnt how Brett likes things done and have had many teachers along the way - my mother, my husband!, the internet, many friends and others too. I'm learning how to keep our little castle running as efficiently as possible so that I have more time to spend with my treasures inside my castle (my fam!)

As I learn, I also try to pass these tools onto my little charges.

We spend time each day doing chores and they are all able to (except our 2 year old who can do some of these things but not all yet)
put on a load of washing,
 sweep the floors,
to do all the dinner table chores
(laying out placemats,
setting the table,
getting drinks for others,
clearing and rinsing their plates
 along with stacking and
unloading the dishwasher),
they know how to bake basic things (under supervision),
they know how to tend to our chooks,
how to look after our compost,
how to make their beds,
tidy their rooms (sometimes still with help)
how to empty the bins regularly and
how to clean the bathroom.

These are all jobs that I've helped them learn over the years BUT they are jobs I had to learn first myself!

I love seeing them grow in these things because I know that when they are older they will be able to care for themselves if I am no longer around and also that our sons will be able to be a blessing to their wives and our daughters will be wives with skills to bless their entire family!

Perhaps I'm digressing....what's new hey lol!...
But the point is that one of the skills I had to learn was about how to stay on top of the paper monster that threatened to eat up my whole house at the beginning of my marriage! One of the ways I've managed that beast is through the use of the Family Planner.
And so I felt it was time to pass on the baton to my eldest daughter and to get her involved in sprucing it up!
We sat togther early one morning while some of the house was still slowing waking and we made tags for the folder.
While we were doing that I was just talking and passing on to her some of the reasons why I've found the Family Planner helpful. I didn't tell her she should have one when she grows up or anything like that! I just showed her what was in it and why it is a helpful aid to me.
She really enjoyed being apart of it and said later on to me that she would 'have something like that' when she has her own house to run.
Here are some snaps of her getting into it...
(The tags on the right were the old ones that needed replacing).

Anyway, I know it's not like an essential life-skill or anything, but it was still a precious opportunity to pass on some of my life's legacy to her.
Hopefully someday these small lessons will have real-life meaning in her home.

More another time.

PS: I'll draw the winner of the WALL DECALS {STICKERS} TOMORROW. Click on that link and enter yourself in to win it.

Family Planner Folder Challenge #2 Emergency Contact List

Edited to add:
The linky box has now been added!
Scroll down to sign up :)

So I am in the throws of getting on top of my FAMILY PLANNER FOLDER and have gotten to the part where I need to update our Emergency Contact List. I tape mine on the inside cover of my folder. I thought others might like to have one too. You could print this off and just fill in your own details if you like.

Why have an emergency contact list? Well, I think it not only helps mama to be organised and know where to find things quickly but it also helps our children. Think about what a person is asked when on the phone dialing for an ambulance when they are flustered and often can't think straight. Firstly they need to remember the number they have to dial to get the ambulance! Then they are asked what the address is, where the nearest cross street is, etc and that can all be written down in the folder, easily accessible for anyone to read (young or old) who needs to ring for help in an emergency. Hopefully that will never happen, but if it does I want my kiddos to be prepared and to know how to act quickly.

HERE'S THE LINK FOR THE 'IN CASE OF EMERGENCY' SHEET FOR AUSTRALIAN RESIDENTS

HERE'S THE LINK FOR THE 'IN CASE OF EMERGENCY' SHEET FOR AMERICAN RESIDENTS

{well I had a go at converting it from my American friends ;) }

If anyone out there actually finds these sheets that I upload helpful, I'd love to hear from you.

And if you think they are rubbish, well that's ok too - maybe you could still let me know why :)

I've made some of my tags for my folder too.

How are you going with your Planner?

More soon,

Love



Family Planner Folder Challenge # 2

Hi everyone :)

I haven't forgotten about our family planner challenge - in fact, I'm beginning work slowly on my second folder at the moment.

My first folder is purely my Recipe Planner.

It went from looking like this - a folder with a stackload of recipes in and out of plastic sleeves with no order whatsoever........... to...

this - a culled down version of recipes that we trust and love with easy to find sections and some colourful tabs...

the quality of these snaps are pretty ordinary but you get the idea ;)

Each tabs is simply attached with double sided tape onto the plastic sleeve...

You can check out other photos and a post about it HERE.

The first challenge was to PRIORITISE.

For me, that meant VERY QUICKLY getting my recipes under control again for the remainder of this, our 5th prgnancy. I needed to be more organised with it and I tell you, just doing the little that I did has made the world of difference; especially with my back being as bad as it has been for as long as this! Thank you to those who posted in the link up; it's great to see how everyone works around a similar challenge in different ways! I hope you'll join in for Challenge 2 as well :) It's not too late to join in either; just pick up at any point and play along if you get a spare minute ;)

Ok, so challenge number two is: ORGANISE. Once you know what you want need to do first, it's time to get organised! For my recipe planner, this has meant organising sections, organising recipes by type and organising the tabs.

For my second planner which is my Family Planner (with all our in-case-of-an-emergency-info, a place for our library book slips, a place for take-out menus, our son's asthma plan, a place to store the weekly Torah portion reading sheet, a place to house current invitations, cleaning schedules, etc).

 You can read ALONG HERE about other sections I suggest might be useful in a family planner.

Oh and just a side note here...

When my family planner WAS up to date and I was actually USING it, we never had library overdue notices. I do normally write the date on the calendar but that's because I can locate the date easily on the slip which I know I can find in the folder. Well, let's just say yesterday I got library over-due notices just because I couldn't locate the slip and therefore had no idea of the date they were due back. NOT GOOD! 20 children's books all overdue by a week or so. Hmmmm. See, just a little example of how if I HAD been orgnaised and actually USED my Family Planner, that wouldn't have happened!

I really need to get this folder to date and back in working order once again !!!!!!!!!!! 

Ok, so back to Organising the Planner.

1. Gather + Jot 

Once you have gathered your essential supplies (folder, plastic sleeves, labels of some kind; either homemade or store bought sticker ones, a good marker) it is time to jot down  the sections YOU need to have that will best help YOUR family stay on top of things!

2. Spread Out!

Make some room on the floor or a table and make some visible sections from your plastic sleeves. Perhaps you are like me and are giving your folder a makeover. Section out what has worked and put those sections into piles.

3. Order

How are you going to know where to find which section? You could either go alphabetically or you could order things in order of importance.

For instance, in our planner (when I actually used it and wasn't lazy at maintaining it!!!) I used to have things listed in order of importance; emergency contacts right at the front then Liji's asthma plan and dietary needs for the kids so that no one had to flick very far before coming to that info in case of needing to urgently locate it. This time round, I'm thinking of taping the emergency contact list on the inside of the cover and then organising things alphabetically so I can find things a bit quicker.

I'm really excited about being able to have our planner up and running again.

I used to have it out on the bench on a recipe stand but found it was getting in the way. So it now lives in a cupboard next to my other two folders; the recipe planner and the contacts folder.

Hmmmm I wonder if I've let if go a bit because of it being kind of out-of-sight...will be thinking about this more too as I go along this week.

So the challenge is to really get in there, roll your sleeves up and begin organising your sections and ordering them. Have you done that already? Maybe you could spare a sec to take some snaps to share with us and inspire everyone else! Would love to see what you are working on or what you have completed!

If you are keen to play along, just post about this in your blog, link back to here and then fill in your details below in the Linky box :)

Happy Organising and Folder Planning!

Hmmmm....having a little trouble with my Linky Tool so check back in later to sign up :)

More to come

Love,

What's Cooking, Menu Planning + A Free Menu Planning Record

I haven't been posting our menus lately but thought I'd get back into the swing of it. I'd love to hear what's on the menu this week at your place!

I'm still practicing out lots of slow cooker recipes in preparation for the time after bubby's arrival when we will eat alot of these kinds of easy meals!

Here's this weeks menu beginning with yesterday (our shopping day and  menu planning day). When I menu plan, I keep a record of what we eat from week to week on a Weekly Menu Record sheet. I do this so that I don't forget what we tried out (and worked!) and which combo's worked on which days. Otherwise what used to happen was I'd try a new recipe out, it would work BUT because it was just written down in a recipe book or a magazine, I'd forget that we'd tried it out and that it was good! So when I menu plan now, I write it out on this THIS SHEET HERE and then write down next to the meal, where I can locate the recipe for future reference. For example I'd write down...Pumpkin + Lentil Curry page 113 of my slow cooker book.

Once I've  written down the menu on the WEEKLY MENU RECORD SHEET I then write up the weekly menu on our white board. This is so that Brett or I can see the menu easily without having to go through the folder and find a sheet of paper! Nothing like that during rush hour!!! lol

The Weekly Menu Record Sheet then gets filed away into the Recipe Planner Folder for future reference.

I then write out our shopping list straight after I've menu planned so I can go through each recipe and write down what we need for each meal.

All that shared, here's our menu for this week!

Friday:
Cauliflower herbed cous cous and garlic chicken (not actually using cous cous but uses cauliflower instead. So yummy!)

Shabbat (Saturday) lunch:
Spanish steak with bread rolls

Shabbat (Saturday) dinner:
Pumpkin, Spinach + lentil curry with Risoni and roasted cashews (slow cooker)

Sunday:
Baked penne + kumara spinach lasagne

Monday:
Ginger Beef Stew (slow cooker)

Tuesday:
Herbed Barley Risotto (slow cooker)

Wednesday:
Vegie Soup with dumplings on top (maybe I'll do this in the slow cooker or maybe in the big pot will just see on the day!)

Thursday:
Red beans + rice


So what's cooking at your place this week?

More to come another time,

Family Planner Folder Challenge # 1

Ok, so here we go with the Family Planner Folder Challenge!

This first challenge for us is to PRIORITISE.

1. Work out how many folders you will need.
As I said in the LAST POST, I am having 3 folders; one as our regular family planner, one for our recipes and the other as our contact address book.

2. Work out (if you have more than one folder) which one needs to be updated first.
The one that I need to update and have organised at the most urgently at the moment is my Recipe Planner. As this pregnancy progresses in particular I really need to have it all in order. I'm finding that weekly menu planning is taking longer than it should just simply because the recipes are all out of whack.

Are you doing a Recipe Planner too or are you starting out on your Family Planner?

3. Make a list of some sections for your folder. 
Once you've chosen what you are going to work on, you'll need to divide it up into sections that will work for you best.

For my Recipe Planner, I'm going to divide it into the following sections:

 Entrees

Mains

Vegetarian

Soups

Easy Shabbat (sabbath) Meals

Slow cooker

Desserts

Baking
Weekly Meal Planner

If some of the recipes happen to overlap (for instance, we use quite a few slow cooker recipes for our easy shabbat meals) then I'll have a reference page in there. So under 'Easy Shabbat Meals', I'll have the name of the recipe such as 'slow cooker oriental chicken' and then I'll simply have 'see slow cooker section'.

4. Make or buy some dividers.

This is important to do straight up so that you can move things into sections as you go. There's nothing worse than sorting out papers, sorting sections out, then having to go to bed or getting distracted and then messing up your piles! Very frustrating!!! The dividers can be as crafty or as simple as you like. Here are what mine look like...

I've been working on my tabs for the past couple of weeks (while the kids are golf clinic) so it might take you one or two or several weeks to make or source your tabs. Stationers also sell dividers quite cheaply so you could buy some instead of making them. They don't have to be flash - just something that quickly and clearly helps you to find what you are looking for; that is the goal of this after all!

Ok, so say you are not doing a Recipe Planner at this stage and are wanting to kick things off with your Family Planner instead. You will still do the same steps as listed above, except obviously your sections will be different! Again, do what works for you but here are some things you might like to include depending on your family's needs....

Emergency Contact List

(this has important mobile phone numbers, nearest cross street, posions info line, anything that you or your loved ones might need to know in an emergency - including an evacuation plan and meeting place on your property in case of a fire)

Babysitting Instructions

(Any special instructions that a grandparent or other person may need to know if they are watching your child/children)

Weekly Schedule

(If you are in a busy family season, then you might need one of these! We don't use it at present because the only thing we have on is the golf clinic really and we all know the day and time that we need to be there for that. However, in other seasons of our life, I have used a weekly schedule to help me know where each person needs to be at which time etc).

Cleaning Schedule

(a list of areas to reularly clean in your home, chores for your children if you need reminding (lol!), a list of spring cleaning chores that only get done every so often - just so you don't forget those random jobs!)

Basic Menu Ideas

(especially handy if you are not having a separate Recipe Planner)

Your Shopping List

(I would HIGHLY recommend taking the time to type out a grocery list which goes aisle by aisle. This saves so much time and hassle running back and forth forgetting what you need to get from which place! More on this another time. I recently updated ours and here's what it currently looks like - CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK. I just write any extras that I might need that week in the margin).

Library Book Returns

(a special place to keep library book receipts so you know which books have been borrowed and when they are to be returned)

Supplies List

(where emergency supplies are kept and what to grab in case of a fire/evacuation/other natural disaster)

Current Important Forms

(they may be to sign or mail off but either way, most of us have forms that we get in the mail that need to be filled out and kept until we file them or fill them out! Having a place for them means you know where to look immediately for them instead of the paper moster eating them up!)

Menus

(Take out menus all kept in one place)

Coupons

(A place to store vouchers/coupons/discounts,etc)

Reward Charts and Coupons

(We used to keep ours in the Family Planner but no longer do. It has a new home where I can access it more easily - however we did have it in here for a time and it seemed to work well).

There are probably alot of basic things that I am leaving off right now but that's all I can think of!

Remember, it has to suit YOUR family so just start with something basic that you can add to as your family grows.

I've started with my Recipe Planner tonight and honestly, even after just taping the dividers in, sorting some recipes into groups and then putting them in plastic sleeves...I feel more organised! It's just a start though - I have lots of recipes to still sort through, cull and photocopy so they are all in one central place - my Recipe Planner!

So, how are you feeling about it? Are you up for the challenge?

Remember you don't need to rush anything! This might take you one night to knock over or 3 months and that's totally fine! The whole idea is just to have a folder that is well organised so that when you need something, you can locate it quickly and efficiently!

If you are up for it, jus make up your own post describing how you are going to PRIORITISE your folder and then link back to this post. Once you've done that, please fill in the little Linky box below so others can be inspired by what you are sharing too!

Happy prioritising!

Love, 

Family Planner Folder Challenge and Blog Hop

Well, if you are familiar with FLYLADY, I'm sure you will also be familiar with her control journal.

Well, I've been using this idea for the past couple of years (ours is a little more casual and relaxed) and we call ours

'The Family Planner'.

Now, it has been working really well except alot has changed in our family and I really need to update it and give it some more love and care.

What is it?

The Family Planner is a place to store all our info that helps the family run efficiently! It is the place where you store your 'i'm gonna need that!' document really soon and NOT lose it!

Some of the tabs I had in there in the past were:

Emergency Contact Information

Asthma Plan

Quick Menu Ideas

Take-Away Menus

Medical Forms

Library Book List (the receipt you get when you've borrowed that tells you how many books and when they are due back)

Ideas for Self-Sufficiency

Current Vouchers

Kids Reward Chart Vouchers to Redeem

Autism Support Contacts

But like I said, alot has changed in the past couple of years and I've needed our Family Planner to change as our needs have...cough cough....except I just haven't done it.

Now I have three folders instead of just one. They are stored together on a little shelf in a kitchen cupboard.

Each one has a purpose:

1. Family Planner (the same idea as above just actually organised better).

2. Contacts Folder (Like our address book basically)

3. Family Recipe Planner

At the moment, they are ALL in serious need of a makeover!
And I plan to get on top of this before the baby comes - well and truly before the baby comes. But realistically, I know I can only do this in stages.

So here I am throwing down the proverbial gauntlet!

I was wondering if anyone else wanted to join me in making/updating their own Family Planner?

I'll be going slowly step-by-step showing what I am doing and you'll hopefully share your ideas and tips on your own blog too as we go along!

What will you need?

Well, depending on the needs of your household, you might choose to just have one folder like we did for a number of years that has everything in it.

Or you might be where I am now and decide to have recipes/meal ideas etc in a separate folder, have a famiy planner and have a separate contacts folder.

It's totally up to you!

It will be a little crafty (making the tabs, a cover page for each folder, and whatever else tickles your fancy!) but don't be put off by that - you can use plain dividers you get from the stationery store or be like me and just make your own (and save yourself some bucks too!)

You'll need some plastic sleeves too but you can add to your supply of these as time goes on. No need to rush out and by some!

Then all you'll need after that is to fill it with info!

So what do you do now?

Honestly, having a Family Planner has made our life so much easier over the past few years.

Perhaps that wouldn't work for you and that's totally cool (maybe no one will join in and that's ok too!), but if it sounds like a challenge you'd like to be apart of, then simply mention this challenge in a post on your own blog (you might mention why you want to join in) linking back to this post then add your name to the linky list below and then get ready for the challenges to begin (step-by-step and nice and slowly!!!)