parenting

Keeping it All Together

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I don’t share a ton about our family outside of sharing our crafts and sometimes the awesome adventures we go on. One thing about me is that as much as I try I am not the most organized person naturally. I have to work (HARD) to keep us all going in the same direction. We have 2 adults that work from home, 2 kids in school, 2 crazy pups and some snakes (yes, snakes). You would think that both of us working from home would mean we could get a ton done around the house, and that we must save a ton on gas right?! Not so much. 
I’m the type of person who can go to the store 3 times and still forget the item I originally went for. And the type of person who has every intention of putting that birthday party on the calendar, but leaves it out on the counter until we realize the party is today – in 15 minutes. Now that the boys are older the one thing I can say that I’m proud of is teaching them to keep their own schedules organized, which in turn helps me keep all of ours organized. Here are some ways we keep it all going:

We use the heck out of our giant wall calendar.

Google calendar synced with my husband’s that includes everything already on the wall calendar. 

Paper calendar for my work/posting schedules. For some reason this works the best for me. Something about having to write things down and having them all visible in front of me – glowing screens or not.

A husband that cooks and does most of the grocery shopping. I seriously don’t know what we’d do without him (as I don’t like cooking).

Friends and Family. Don’t know where we’d be without them either!

Online chore chart for the boys has helped keep me from having to remember to ask them if they’ve done their chores or which ones need to be done. 

Notebooks by the bed. I’m not a great list taker but I definitely have a million things going through my head, especially at night, so I keep notebooks by the bed to jot down all the things keeping me awake, and I don’t feel like I’ll forget them in the morning.

Working on the go. I don’t feel bad working in the car or checking the email while out with the boys. My work from home job gives me the opportunity to do fun things with them and be around them during the day that my “day job” didn’t allow. Sometimes that means checking emails or being on social media more than I was before while we’re doing something fun, and I’m completely ok with that.

Sometimes I just need a break and drive to the beach (like now) to keep it all going.

 

 

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Allison Waken is a wife, mom of boys and Phoenix, AZ native. She has been creating inspiring content for All for the Boys since 2011. Allison loves travel, movies and spending as much time as possible with her family while she can!

72 Comments

  1. I live by my good ol fashion agenda / planner, its like magic once I jot it down by hand, i remember it better. Technology is great, but it just isn’t the same, but I still use it to to set alerts for important events. =)

  2. Natalie J Vandenberghe Reply

    I keep a color-coded calendar so everyone can tell–at a glance–who’s doing what/when/where. I haven’t always been a list maker, but when my kids were both playing sports at the same time, it was important to know where they’d be (in large part to make sure one of us was there with them!). After resisting making lists for so many years, I was quite pleased to learn how helpful it was for me. The other thing about it is, documenting everything made it so nobody could say they “didn’t know” and, we’ve referred to the calendar after the fact–just to confirm something that had occurred.

  3. Your picture reminds me that last fall I redesigned our side door entryway with cybbies, and hooks for bike helmets and even a shelf and a key organizer. It makes such a difference!

  4. I make lists at the beginning of the day so I don’t get so overwhelmed.

  5. I am a list maker. My mother used to tell me I’d forget my head if it wasn’t attached and she was so right! I’ve misplaced my keys so many times that now I keep multiple sets.

  6. I stick very closely to a weekly routine. We function much better on a routine.

  7. I use a great program called Time and Chaos. I helps me keep up with all I have to do.
    I also have a notebook and pen by my bed so I can write things down and then go to sleep.
    Thanks for the contest.

  8. I try to keep my appointments spaced out and my to do list is part of my calendar

    tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com

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