An ongoing goal of mine is to create flow and rhythm in our family home. As a Mama, particularly of multiple children, I've found it tricky and often incredibly stressful to manage multiple stages, schedules and needs across everyone in our household.
So being able to slow things down, create efficiency and delegate daily tasks so it doesn't all fall on Mums' (and Dads') shoulders, is very important to me.
I truly enjoy getting my strategy hat on and creating systems and tools that help give my children autonomy and responsibility for themselves and their schedules. Which in turn, decreases the stress and roadblocks in our daily life - and help me keep my sanity!
Over time through trial and error, I've been able to create a balanced way to keep us all organised and accountable, while also allowing freedom and spontaneity when we need that too (because variety is the spice of life right?!).
These tools continue to be refined to ensure the continuation of flow, and our key systems take pride of place at our mission control, AKA the fridge!
So whether you are looking for inspo when creating your own family systems or looking to have more flow in your daily life, here are the tools I keep in my 'Mission Control'.
Kid's Rhythm Wheels - I created rainbow coloured schedule wheels for each child that records what they have happening, on which day. As part of our nightly routine, the kids move their respective arrows to the following day to then prepare uniforms and pack bags accordingly. This has not only saved space on my personal calendar by housing it elsewhere, but has also given the kids a sense of responsibility and ownership over their schedules and organising themselves for the next day. I made them fun, bright and colourful and each activity is represented by a symbol, not words so that even my 3yr old can 'read' them accordingly. I also love that they now keep each other accountable as they are aware of each other's schedule also.
Weekly Menu Plan - We have tried many different methods when it comes to meal planning in our home, from very complex monthly planning with weeks A + B etc to spontaneity (little to no planning at all!). In the end, we've resorted to ease and what works best for our family and that's planning on a weekly basis. Hubby and I both need variety in our diet/meals and cannot eat the same thing more than a few weeks in a row or we go insane... So, we now plan a week in advance on a Friday night, creating our shopping lists ready for our one big weekly shop on a Saturday. So far, this is working really well for us, and to make the meal planning even easier, I have created a compendium of our favourite and popular family meals to refer to as we plan so we're not having to pluck ideas out of our tired heads on the last night of the week! For inspo I always turn to Pinterest, and making boards dedicated to meal planning is also very effective! A link to the magnetic menu plan is here.
Shopping List - Our shopping list lives on the fridge. The moment anything is out, it gets written straight down. This has been a game changer for us for a long time and means nothing is missed or forgotten. Note, it has become increasingly harder to locate magnetic shopping lists, so I often peel the magnet off an old one and glue it to a non-magnetic pad which seem to be more readily available. I know others who use shared, online lists with their partner, but we're old school and I personally love striking each item out with a pen as I shop.
Morning & Night Routines - Similar to the rhythm wheels, these tools allow the children to follow the tasks required of them to start and end their day. My five year old (Virgo sun) particularly, loves running in and 'ticking off' each item on the list and that way, there's no surprises and nothing is missed. All tasks have a corresponding image, so that even the non-readers have no problem translating. Do note, the kids flow in and out of following these. There are some mornings or evenings where everything falls apart, but I feel having a consistent method to come back to and recalibrate the next day/week, really helps.
Notice Board - This is a fun board where I can pop up countdowns to Birthdays/events etc positive affirmations, reminders etc that set the tone for a fun and celebratory home.
My Schedule - This is complex enough that it deserves it's own post, but for now, while I do move in and out of this habit at times, I'm enjoying this current method of time blocking my day. I feel it gives me power over my day by designating certain areas of life at certain times of the day - and as a result I feel less guilt and stress knowing everything is covered so I can be present in the tasks I am performing at that time. Stay tuned for a featured post later.
Monthly Calendar - What you can't see in the above image is my monthly calendar. This is placed just to the right of the fridge which captures all the birthdays, events, appointments etc all seen at a glance. The kids' weekly schedules are on their wheels which leaves room on my calendar for other things. I love an old school calendar as everyone can view it at anytime. There's no excuses for not knowing what's coming up when it's front and centre in the busiest room of the house.
My Planner - This lives on the kitchen bench underneath my monthly calendar and includes my daily to-do list and intentions for the day. These are things I aim to achieve from chores, cleaning, planning, content and exercise/wellbeing practices and tracking. I carry it with me when I leave the house and return it to it's spot when at home.