Feb. 16 - Management

This was one of those rare days in which I did not take a single picture of Griffin!  After he went down for bed, I pondered just what might constitute today's photo that would sort of capture what I've been up to lately.  As boring and terrible as this picture is, it is the result of that pondering.  Several weeks ago, God began to convict my heart concerning how I use my time and, therefore, manage my household as a stay-at-home mom and full-time homemaker.  It has been a very good but very difficult season in which I've been realizing the value and necessity for organization, scheduling, planning ahead, etc.  These are all things that do not come naturally to me; but what comes even less naturally to me is actually following through on what is scheduled and planned.  Flying by the seat of my pants worked fine up until Griffin was born, and that is when I found that the fruits of that method, at least for our family, was bad bad bad.  Actually, looking back at college, I can see how I could have been a much happier, less anxious person had I made the switch to organizing then.  So, I've been researching other homemakers' methods of keeping their household organized, running smoothly and efficiently, and as free as possible from the tension, stress, and conflict that result from an unorganized family.  The method I'm seeing a lot of moms use is the family management binder method.  This method uses a binder and/or day planner to keep close track of each family member's schedule, daily and day-by-day chores, meal planning, finances, vehicle, pet, health, etc.  This has binder has been my project over the course of the past two to three weeks, and I can say that it is much more fun to do the organization and planning than it is to actually do what you have scheduled for yourself.  But, Oliver and I both really believe that having more structured lives will help our family to become healthier, more productive, and happier....And who doesn't want that?!