We've teamed up with Pinhole Press to create our first ever family command center... and we love it!
Use the code LITTLEMINDS20 to receive a 20% discount off your entire purchase at www.pinholepress.com.
I have to admit I am far from organized when it comes to certain aspects of life. I'm pretty good with general scheduling, but ask me what's for dinner on Thursday and I'm lost! One of my resolutions for 2019 is most definitely to stay a little more organized when it comes to overall family life. And I'm really keen to involve the rest of the family in that process too!
Here's what is included in our family command center:
- monthly wall calendar
- weekly meal planner
- weekly responsibility chart
I wanted to keep it simple and flexible, hence I love that these Pinhole Press products are all dry erase. I also love that the products are all wall decals which can be easily applied to any dry and smooth surface. We tested out a few locations for our family command center, but decided on the wall by the front door as it was easily accessible for all family members. It also acts as a great shopping list prompt for me!
The wall decals can be removed and re-applied for up to 3 months, before they might loose their stickiness a little. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to apply them! Pinhole Press even provides you with an easy to follow tutorial video on their website.
Let's take a closer look at each of the command center components. First up, the monthly dry erase calendar. I opted for the small size as it worked best for our space and with only my son in after-school activities, it was ample in size for daily events. My kids LOVE the fact that they can look at the pictures of themselves throughout the year.
For my Kindergartener it has been a great tool for learning about months of the year and days of the week. Having it on display means that he is frequently interacting with his schedule and seems to have a better understanding of the day ahead of him. He sure does have one upcoming date firmly etched in his head...
For baby sis it has also been useful to introduce the concept of tomorrow. For example at the end of each night we look at the calendar and see if we have anything planned for tomorrow- e.g. playgroup or swimming. For my husband it is useful as I have evidence of the fact that I DID tell him I booked dinner out with my friends on Tuesday, that it is written down, and that he was not listening when I told him ;-)
Next up we have the weekly meal planner. I opted for the medium size as it includes five personalized photos. As I mentioned earlier, planning meals for the week has never been a strength of mine. In a way I like the flexibility of not being tied down to cooking a set meal. But having said that, I also know that being more organized on this front will save me many trips to the grocery store, and also quite a few dollars!
I've been using the weekly meal planner for a few weeks now and I have to say I am really enjoying being more organized on the food front. I am wasting so much less food! I do two grocery shops a week (compared to my previous excessive 'popping in and out' of stores pretty much daily). I have also found that I am more aware of providing my family with a balanced diet. My son is a little less keen on this!
Again, I have also been trying to get my kids involved in thinking about their weekly schedule. At the weekend we sit together and they each choose a meal for the week (within reason!). For my son, he also has the opportunity to make some suggestions for his packed lunch. I dread to think what would happen if the kids were left in charge of the meal planning...
The final part of our family command center is my son's responsibility chart. I took a long time to carefully consider how to best use this fun and interactive wall decal. My son is 5 years old, and although we like to encourage him to take responsibility with a few actions to help others around the house, we are not at the stage of expecting him to do chores. For me, I really wanted this to be more of a personal development chart. A way for us to share some thoughts on the good things and bad things that happen in his week.
For that reason I chose to only pre-fill four of the responsibilities on the chart. The rest were left blank. Over each weekend we spend some time looking at his chart and talking about his week. We reflect, we praise, we plan ahead, but most importantly we talk. It can be so hard in the chaos of day-to-day family life to get that precious one-on-one time with your child. Having a physical chart, above anything else, has helped us to maintain time to reflect and discuss together and for that I am so thankful.
At the end of each week my son chooses a new target for himself the next week. It can be as simple as being more helpful to others. He's only 5 so I'm not expecting a ton. But to hear him telling me about how he helped his friends at school when they were struggling to build their own LEGO house like his, or seeing him hold the door open for other kids after his karate class is pretty special.
My son thrives off visuals, so this responsibility chart has been working really well. We don't at this stage offer a reward other than verbal praise, but I love that it has the flexibility in the future to develop more into a reward chart if the situation arises.
So there you have it, our family command center! Thank you Pinhole Press for helping my family to become more organized ready for the year ahead! Anything which helps me to spend more time with my family rather than time worrying about organizing my family is a winner in my book!
Don't forget to use the code LITTLEMINDS20 at www.pinholepress.com for 20% off your entire order.
I have to admit I am far from organized when it comes to certain aspects of life. I'm pretty good with general scheduling, but ask me what's for dinner on Thursday and I'm lost! One of my resolutions for 2019 is most definitely to stay a little more organized when it comes to overall family life. And I'm really keen to involve the rest of the family in that process too!
Here's what is included in our family command center:
- monthly wall calendar
- weekly meal planner
- weekly responsibility chart
I wanted to keep it simple and flexible, hence I love that these Pinhole Press products are all dry erase. I also love that the products are all wall decals which can be easily applied to any dry and smooth surface. We tested out a few locations for our family command center, but decided on the wall by the front door as it was easily accessible for all family members. It also acts as a great shopping list prompt for me!
The wall decals can be removed and re-applied for up to 3 months, before they might loose their stickiness a little. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to apply them! Pinhole Press even provides you with an easy to follow tutorial video on their website.
Let's take a closer look at each of the command center components. First up, the monthly dry erase calendar. I opted for the small size as it worked best for our space and with only my son in after-school activities, it was ample in size for daily events. My kids LOVE the fact that they can look at the pictures of themselves throughout the year.
For my Kindergartener it has been a great tool for learning about months of the year and days of the week. Having it on display means that he is frequently interacting with his schedule and seems to have a better understanding of the day ahead of him. He sure does have one upcoming date firmly etched in his head...
For baby sis it has also been useful to introduce the concept of tomorrow. For example at the end of each night we look at the calendar and see if we have anything planned for tomorrow- e.g. playgroup or swimming. For my husband it is useful as I have evidence of the fact that I DID tell him I booked dinner out with my friends on Tuesday, that it is written down, and that he was not listening when I told him ;-)
Next up we have the weekly meal planner. I opted for the medium size as it includes five personalized photos. As I mentioned earlier, planning meals for the week has never been a strength of mine. In a way I like the flexibility of not being tied down to cooking a set meal. But having said that, I also know that being more organized on this front will save me many trips to the grocery store, and also quite a few dollars!
I've been using the weekly meal planner for a few weeks now and I have to say I am really enjoying being more organized on the food front. I am wasting so much less food! I do two grocery shops a week (compared to my previous excessive 'popping in and out' of stores pretty much daily). I have also found that I am more aware of providing my family with a balanced diet. My son is a little less keen on this!
Again, I have also been trying to get my kids involved in thinking about their weekly schedule. At the weekend we sit together and they each choose a meal for the week (within reason!). For my son, he also has the opportunity to make some suggestions for his packed lunch. I dread to think what would happen if the kids were left in charge of the meal planning...
The final part of our family command center is my son's responsibility chart. I took a long time to carefully consider how to best use this fun and interactive wall decal. My son is 5 years old, and although we like to encourage him to take responsibility with a few actions to help others around the house, we are not at the stage of expecting him to do chores. For me, I really wanted this to be more of a personal development chart. A way for us to share some thoughts on the good things and bad things that happen in his week.
For that reason I chose to only pre-fill four of the responsibilities on the chart. The rest were left blank. Over each weekend we spend some time looking at his chart and talking about his week. We reflect, we praise, we plan ahead, but most importantly we talk. It can be so hard in the chaos of day-to-day family life to get that precious one-on-one time with your child. Having a physical chart, above anything else, has helped us to maintain time to reflect and discuss together and for that I am so thankful.
At the end of each week my son chooses a new target for himself the next week. It can be as simple as being more helpful to others. He's only 5 so I'm not expecting a ton. But to hear him telling me about how he helped his friends at school when they were struggling to build their own LEGO house like his, or seeing him hold the door open for other kids after his karate class is pretty special.
My son thrives off visuals, so this responsibility chart has been working really well. We don't at this stage offer a reward other than verbal praise, but I love that it has the flexibility in the future to develop more into a reward chart if the situation arises.
So there you have it, our family command center! Thank you Pinhole Press for helping my family to become more organized ready for the year ahead! Anything which helps me to spend more time with my family rather than time worrying about organizing my family is a winner in my book!
Don't forget to use the code LITTLEMINDS20 at www.pinholepress.com for 20% off your entire order.
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