Part 2: Family Management - The Binder

My family management binder is now my life source. When you first open it up it contains a master calendar that houses all of the kids activities. It is pretty blank right now because Andy is out of season with high school soccer and Josh is injured, but both boys will resume their soccer activities soon which will fill up the chart. I purposefully have kept it blank this month for a couple of reasons:

1.) I needed to slow down our family life to re-focus on getting back on track.
2.) I am trying to limit the amount of activities that we do in order to stay focused after we are back on track.

After the master calendar are 5 main tabs/categories:

1.) Family

2.) Food

3.) Fitness (Mine)

4.) Self

5.) Housekeeping

Under each of these categories are subcategories:

Family

      1.) Book List

This contains a list of books our family will read together out loud.

2.) Ideas

This for any ideas anyone in the family has such as things they want to do, places they would like to go, etc...

3.) Chores

This contains the master list for the chores assigned for that period of time.

4,) Family Meeting Info.

This contains our family agenda for each meeting and also our meeting notes from previous meetings.

5.) I'm bored List

I get tired of hearing my kids say that they are bored, so I created a list of all of the things that they can do when they feel bored. Instead of coming to me they now have a place to go to to get some ideas of what to do when they cannot think of anything on their own.

6.) Morning/Night Routine

This is just a list of everything the kids are expected to do each morning and evening.

Food

Behind the food tab is a helper of the day list. This person is my side kick in the kitchen with me as I provide breakfast, lunch, dinner and 2 snacks each day. This helper is responsible for setting the table, clearing the table, and helping to prep the meals with me.

This is a list of who is helping me each day.

This is what is expected when you are a helper of the day.

1.) Menu

This contains the menu for the entire week. No one has to come ask me what we are eating for any of our meals because it is all laid out in the family management book.

I grocery shop on Friday's, so our new week begins on a Friday and ends on a Thursday.

2.) Cooking ideas

This tab contains all of the recipes that I would like to try as well as suggestions from the kids.

3.) Baking ideas

Same concept as cooking ideas.

4.) Grocery List

Pretty self explanatory. This is the list of the groceries we need for the upcoming week.

This is last week's list.

This is the start of this week's list.

5.) Budget

Again - pretty self explanatory. This is the place where I write down how much we have spend and also where I store my receipts.

 Fitness

1.) Exercise Log

This is where I keep track of how far I have walked each day. How many sit ups, plank time, arm exercises, etc...that I do each day.

2.) Ideas

This is for anything fitness related that I want to remember keep or keep track of.

3.) Nutrition

I keep articles and other things pertaining to nutrition in this section.

4.) Weight Tracker

I think this one speaks for itself. 

Self

This tab is solely for me. It is what keeps me sane.

Proverbs 31 really speaks to me. I took some of the highlighted points from the book, Large Family Logistics, and created my own inspirational version of the Proverbs 31 woman. 

1.) Morning Routine

This has everything I like to accomplish each morning.

2.) Evening Routine

Self explanatory.

3.) Book List

This is a list of books I want to read.

4.) Decorations

This is where I put pictures/ written ideas of how I would like to decorate our next home.

5.) Quotes

I am always inspired by quotes. I like to keep a list of the ones that most inspire me. Here is one that particularly moved me: "For many boys playing video games is their only platform for controlling their own destiny. When they feel like they are failing they can restart their game until they have mastered that level." (I read this in a book that I do not remember the title to. Eek!)

6.) Clothes

Clippings of clothes from magazines that I would like to some day buy or that I find attractive.

So, here you have the bulk of my Family Management binder. The next section, housekeeping, is going to take up a post in-and-of itself.  I will save that for another day.




If you want to read this whole series:
Start Here
Part 1: Why's
Part 3 - Housekeeping
Part 4: Family Meeting, Chore Packs, Recipe Box