controlled chaos

"The challenge is not to manage time, but to manage ourselves."  Steven Covey

Before I became a parent, my life was easily scheduled with a tiny pocket calendar.  One Hallmark freebie every December and I was good to go for a full year.  Now, it's a bit more complicated.  Our children attend five different schools on five different schedules.  I have to coordinate practices, fundraisers and meetings for Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Chess Club, Technology Students' Association, Color Guard, Art Club and Band.  Then, there are my things to keep organized.  Three different PTO's, organizing the 8th grade dance, our local Social Media Association, a little freelance work, advocating for schools and several blogs.

We keep one large marker board/calendar right beside the front door that lists all the children's activities.  On the other side of the door is a chalkboard/door that the adults use to write notes for the children to remember.  The children use it for doodling.  If we have anything to do the next day, I put out everyone's outfits, bags, permission slips, envelopes with fees, etc.  There is a giant binder clip on each child's bedroom door where I put their daily mail.  I carry a "mom" calendar with me everywhere so that I can easily add appointments and meetings without needing to clone myself.  My two favorite mom calendars are MomAgenda and BusyBodyBook.  They both have multiple columns for each day so that I can easily tell where and when each child needs to be somewhere.  I keep contacts, plans, lists and everything in my mom calendar.  I LIVE by this calendar system.  Our life feels busy, but not so busy that I don't look confused every time someone says, "I don't know HOW you keep up with so many children."  It's really not that difficult.  In fact, I'm always looking for a new project.  Or two.

Comments

[onlymom]

Hats off to you! i have just one kid -- and I find it hard to keep up! It seems like systems is what keeps you sane...? Maybe I should adopt a few....thanks for the tips.

[Lynnie]

Wow!!!! Five different schools! That's pretty amazing! I think our biggest issue around here is dealing with mail. Obviously, at this point it's just mail for me and my husband, but still, there are like a thousand piles. I like the giant clip idea. I wonder how giant they make them!