{home management}

My sister Ellie inspired me.
It's not the first time.
She has a tendency to be like that ... inspirational.

We were talking the other day about home management.
She has recently put some new systems into place that are working really well.

I'm not following the same systems as my schedule is different to hers.
But, listening to her enthusiasm inspired me to put my own systems into place.

We pack a lot into our lives.
Rory works full time.
He also plays futsal on two different teams.
I work part time
and spend half a day a week in a studio doing an art lesson.
We are both involved in music and missions at church.
Outside of school, Jono plays AFL and soccer.
Both kids take swimming lessons.

And that's just the stuff that's scheduled.

It's not too much.
We have plenty of time to relax
and enjoy being together.
We eat dinner together almost every night.
There are of course, exceptions.


BUT, what can happen, if I'm not careful is that I let the housework pile up
and then I spend an entire Saturday cleaning and that makes me grumpy !

There just had to be a better way ...

One of my biggest frustrations, when it comes to cleaning the house,
has been not knowing what my husband expects.
So ... first thing I did after talking to Ellie
( why did I not do this 12 years ago !? )
was have him tell me

EXACTLY

what his expectations are.

How often does he think the house needs to be vacuumed ?
How frequently do the sheets need to be changed ?

etc.

etc.

etc.

I thought his expectations were reasonable so I went with those.

I sat down and made a chart that lists all the cleaning and how often it needs to be done.
I added dates according to the frequency.
So ... this week, when I clean the toilet, I'll write the date it was done in the column for this week.
Make sense ?

I think it is going to be really good for me to be able to keep track of everything.
Also good for when Rory gets an inkling to help out, which he is very good at, to be able to
see what has been done and what needs to be done.



I also did a daily chart for each of the kids.



They love it.



I added the charts to the 'home management station' that I've been developing
on the inside of the pantry door.
It is the perfect location.
Seriously, how many times is a Mommy in and out of the pantry on any day of the week !?
I ALWAYS see it !!

I've got my calendar there.
The notes from the school.
Events, like a wedding we are going to in June ...
The menu.
And now ... the charts !

Can I tell you how much I love having everything in one place ?
I have always wanted some sort of 'home management system' but have never had a good spot for it.
I didn't want it on a wall somewhere where it looked 'junky'.
But, in the pantry ... with a door that closes.
Perfect, I tell you.
Just perfect.

So tell me ... do you have a system for getting everything done ?
Care to share ?
You can do it in the comments or post it on your blog.
If you do a post, be sure to let me know so I can come check it out ...