| |
"Family Organizing Tips"
Family organizing can be a bit of a challenge, especially since the main responsibility often falls to the mom.
Is everybody looking at you to organize birthday presents, cook, wash and clean, make and remember doctors appointments, know when the liberary books must go back...
Even if you are a stay-at-home mom, getting your family involved in the running of your household and family life is necessary, for them and for yourself.
Your children have to learn that everybody contributes to family organizing, and that this is normal and not a 'chore'. I do not like this word as it implys that helping make family life run smoothly is a drag.
It can just as well be a privileg. If you see it like that it will be a lot easier for your children and partner to also see it that way.If you take on all the responsibilty you end up having all the responsibility. Involve everybody else and relinguish control.
For a start, having regular family conferences is a great thing.
In a lot of families people don't really talk with each other.
Do you know what your kids and partner enjoy about your family? Or what they dislike? What makes them happy? What makes them sad? Very often, especially with people close to us, we stop enquiring. We are afraid of rocking the boat, or we plain forget. Intimacy can also be rather scary, so often we don't open up and we are not honest. Regularly talking about things that bug you, move you, make you happy in a non-threatening and non-judgmental environment is wonderful for the soul. And it brings you so much closer together as a family. To ease everybody (and yourself) into the habit of sharing more, you could start off by telling your nicest moment of the day at dinner and asking your family what was theirs. This is often enough to get a beautiful conversation going, and it is my favourite family organizing tip. Other points to talk about during family meetings are: - holiday plans
- distribution of household tasks
- goals for the family
- values that are most important to you
- what each one would love to do most on a day outing...
The possibilities are endless and each one can bring you closer together as a family.
Another family organizing technique is to write down all the things that have to be done regularly in the house or garden. Then take turn picking things you want to do until they are all distributed (this of course depends on the age of your kids, and if you and your partner both work). Make it as fair as possible. At your next family meeting you can then swop tasks if you want to.
Give everybody some incentive by deciding on a family outing you all love to end the week.
If you feel overwhelmed sometimes by being a parent, read
10 Parenting Tips
for ideas to take the charge out and enjoy your kids and your family again.
And if you are looking for a more practical way to organize your family, check out the article about putting together a
household notebook
and getting
organized for school.
And should you be feeling calm and strong, consider organizing a
childrens sleepover
to keep your kids happy and entertained!
If that is not your cup of tea, check out our
101 fun things to do
for cheap and cheerful inspiration.
Return from Family Organizing to Organized Living Solutions
|
