Posted in Show and Tell Friday

Wow, it's Friday again!  That means it's Show &Tell with Canadagirl!  If you have something you'd like to show and tell us about, please visit our lovely hostess Mary for more information.

For the past month or so, I've been working on a Family Home Companion binder.  I was asked to show it when it was done, and while I will be continually adding to it and updating it, it is finished enough for sharing purposes.

A Family Home Companion is to be a mother's helper, helping to remind us of events, keep track of important documents, and inspiring us every day to stay connected to God, our families, and our true selves.  Because I want to use this every day, and because I won't use it if I don't think it's pretty, I went to the store and purchased some lovely papers.  Here is the cover: 

The quote on the cover reads:  "Time is the most valuable thing one can spend."  ~Theoprastus

When you open it up, I have placed a small pencil bag in the front, which holds a pencil, a pen, some paper clips, stickers, and some 3M flags and post-its.

Each section, of which there are currently six (I plan to add my daily planner to it soon - I'm ordering the next one three-hole punched instead of spiral-bound), has its own lovely cover page.  Here they are:

In order, these sections are titled:  Homekeeping, Faith, Education, Health, other, and Contacts.  When you open the Homekeeping section, you see:

Next, I put my most updated schedules.  Some of you know that I have been working on these this week.  I finally finished them, and they are our new school-time schedules.  I say school-time, not strictly school, because they are how our days will (ideally) run once school is back in session.  I will begin my schedule bright and early Monday morning to help get me back into the swing of things before school actually begins.  There is so much more I say about these schedules, but the focus is on the binder today (sigh, lol!).  The schedule on the left also has a twin that will be posted on the refrigerator for the whole family to use.  The one on the right is just for me.  Whether each day actually runs like this is not the point; the point is that at any given point in a day I know what I should be doing, thereby doing away with wasted time and aimlessness (theoretically, lol!).

In the spirit of not wasting time and streamlining our housekeeping duties, I have chosen to have a Focus Room, or Rooms, as the case may be, each day.  This breaks my homekeeping chores down into manageable bits, while allowing me much more freedom to accomplish other things during my days.

After these schedules come a few pages of natural home cleaners (we went 'green' in our cleaning about three years ago, and so make all of our own cleaning agents.  It's fun, economical, and so much safer for all who dwell in or visit our home.  Here is just one page of those cleaners:

Sorry it's so blurry!  Anyway, after the cleaners come specific instructions on cleaning each room.  I have two bedroom sheets, so I can hand one to each boy before he begins his own room.  As a sidebar here:  it is so much easier for children to keep their rooms clean if they have been severely de-cluttered first.  Then they are not overwhelmed and find the chore fully reasonable to complete.  This is a lesson we have learned the hard way with Jigger.  His room is undergoing a complete de-cluttering right now; by the time school starts back up I hope to have it finished.  Such a great way to begin the school year - with a clean, de-cluttered home!  (Still working on the garage, too, Mary!)

Okay, in the interest of time, I'm going to quickly run through the rest of the binder.  In my Faith section, I have sheets for prayer requests, various prayers, a speech by the Pope printed out for later reading, Feast Day sheets to be posted on the refrigerator on the proper day, and a section labelled 'A Mother's Inspiration' where I have put quotes, stories, and bible verses on mothering and being a wife that I find inspirational and uplifting.  This is a great place to spend some time with a cup of tea on those days when you find yourself frustrated and overwhelmed.  Also in this section I have a calendar I picked up at church at the beginning of the year that has all the Holy Days of Obligation and Feast Days listed, as well as other important dates.  Rounding out my Faith section is a printout of the Traditional Liturgical Calendar.

In my Education section, I have the member directory for the local Catholic Home Educating group we belong to, School Schedules for the boys, a course of study section, and a plastic binder folder that holds some home educating catalogs and other assorted items.  I don't keep the bulk of my planning things in here because I have a separate education binder that I use (two, actually, one past and one present, but that's for another day :).

Under Health, I have a sheet that I created for each person in the family that lists dates and pertinent information for each appointment for that person for optical, dental, and medical visits.  I then have an emergency first aid chart, a guide for babysitters (more for my oldest son to reference at this point), and another pocket folder with medical forms in it.  I then have copies or originals of any paperwork we've had to submit to insurance.

The Other section is a bit tricky right now, as I'm filing everything else under this title, but as I collect enough for an entire section, or as the information warrants its own folder, then it will be moved.  I've simply put things in here that I don't want to lose, or that I will be doing something else with shortly.  Among these are:  geneaology papers, a personal calendar with extended birthdays/anniversaries on it, Santa's list from Jigger last year (awww...), gift basket ideas, gift ideas for upcoming events, and future plans hubby and I are discussing.  There is a separate sub-section in the Other category that houses all of the pet-related information and paperwork we need for the mutt.  Rabies certificate, licensing information, etc.

Finally we come to Contacts.  This is where I am slowly transferring my new (permanent) address book to.  Oh, and I have another pocket folder that holds our take-out menus.  Very handy!

So, that is my Family Home Companion as it stands right now.  I got most of my inspiration from the Starry Sky Ranch blog.  That link will take you directly to her home management binder series.  She has printouts and many, many helpful items for you to begin your own Family Home Companion.  I would encourage you to build one of your own, and then develop a habit of using it.  Our tools are only as good as we are consistent.  Take control of your life for the final time; I'm going to!  Who's with me?