August 29, 2010
-
Back To School: Control Central
Before we get started on today’s topic, I am wondering how you are doing with your morning and bedtime routines? Come on fess up? I have done terrible….sorry, it is true. Tommy has been sick all week and it has thrown me off schedule in a big way. I hope this week is better.
CONTROL CENTRAL – The brains and heart of organization.
Now, on to calendars and how to develop your own Control Central! Over the years I have tried many different things to get track of the many aspects of my life. I am very happy with my current system. I have tried to only have one calendar and that has not worked for me. I have to have a work and home calendar.
At home, I have what I call control central or you might call it the side of my fridge. The side of our fridge plays a very important role in keeping us organized. Everyone knows to look there for important info. It is my job to keep it up to date for everyone. I have had the same calendar on the side of the fridge for about 10 years. This year I have a new one and I really love it. Amy Knapp’s Big Grid Family Organizer, I love this calendar!
Amy’s Big Grid Family Organizer has many great features:
- Big grids for writing
- Family notes/ Reminders area
- Daily Dinner Menu
- Great stickers for various appointments/events.
I happen to be giving away one of these wonderful calendars. Stop by my giveaway post to enter to win this wonderful calendar and other great items to make your own control central.
Other items in my Control Central (side of the fridge) as you can see in the picture above:
Magnetic Pencil Cup: Don’t you hate it when you can’t find a writing utensil when you need one!! We always have a pen or pencil handy by having them on the side of the fridge.
Frequently used phone numbers: The pink paper on the upper left side of my control central is where we keep frequently called numbers. It makes it easy for the kids to find the numbers for our neighbors and our cell and work numbers.
White Board: The white board has been used for various items through the years. I used to have my weekly chores listed on it. I now find it more helpful to have my shopping list and notes of things to remember on the white board. I keep my chore list on my new calendar in the area titled Family notes and reminders.
Magnetic Key Holders: This is where we keep all our car keys. This is helpful as we have 4 cars and need to move different ones when we are blocked in.
What to do with the various school and soccer calendars??
I enter all the dates on the school calendar on my work and home calendar. I enter everything in and put the original calendar away for safe keeping.
For the monthly school lunch menu and the classroom schedule for Tommy, I have that hanging on the closet door by the front door so we can review it each day on our way out of the house. We also use this closet door to showcase Tommy’s art work and school papers. The other thing that is good about having this info on the closet door, is I am teaching Tommy to use it as well. When he asks what is for lunch at school, I send him to go look on his calendars.
Wow….just typing this up I am realizing how much it really takes to keep me this organized. If you wear less hats in life you might be able to get by with less, but I have many hats and it takes a bit to keep me on track. Oh how my mind wanders!
Please share with us your ideas to keep yourself organized. I look forward to hearing from each of you!
HOMEWORK: Find a calendar that will meet your needs and start filling in important dates for the upcoming school year. The best way to start using a calendar is to have one!! The Home School Mom has some free online planners to get you started. The website My Free Calendar Makers has all formats of calendars: yearly, monthly, weekly and daily.
I happen to be giving away a wonderful calendar, Amy’s Big Grid Family Organizer. Stop by my giveaway post to enter to win this wonderful calendar and other great items to make your own control central.
Have A Great Weekend!
Comments (2)
I will come back and write more, I must get to bed if I am going to get up and do my morning routine!!! I have done it so-so, so far.
Anyhoo, what is that clip thing that is holding your calendar up? It looks neat!!! I have the same calendar and I think the small holes that hold it up aren’t going to last, but since my fridge is stainless I can’t use a magnet so I just have a nail in the wall.
Hope you are feeling better!
@mamaof2bugs - the clip thing I have on the calendar is the At A Glance Magnetic holder. Love it….I should find one of those to add to my giveaway as well.