The Organized Family: Responsibility Center

*This will be the start of a series, similar to my binder series-which will be updated and completed so stay tuned for that-, but focusing on what we do outside of aforementioned mentioned binders.*

Chores, according to Dictionary.com, are the everyday task around a home or farm.  These everyday, mundane, often mind numbing task are usually faced with dread.  I'll admit there are days when I glance at the fresh laundry that needs to be folded or the pile of dishes towering in the sink, and just think "Screw this, I'm going to color". I detest everything about chores, even the word chore, just sounds horrible. Say it one time nice and slow, ...it sounds like a chore just saying it doesn't it?

While I dislike chores, they are a huge part of my life.  A home doesn't run itself, laundry doesn't get done, meals don't get cooked, and children's lessons don't happen unless I do all the daily task needed. I've spent the last few months, OK more like the last year, trying to adjust the way I look at and approach the tasks in front of me.  Many of the homemaker blogs out in the blogsphere discuss this topic from a place of faith, they find joy in these things because of some being they believe in.  

Well, I'm still godless, so obviously that wasn't going to work for me and instead found me banging my exhausted little head off the desk many a night.  I figured there had to be other ways to alter one's thinking so you can find joy in these mundane tasks.  I refused to accept that the only way I could have joy in serving my family was through sweet baby Jesus, Allah, or the Big G. Then I thought about the way I view these tasks and the way the world around me views them. Everything from the way I spoke about them to the way they are depicted in the television, videos, and semi-well placed Facebook ads I’m exposed to carried a negative connotation. I can't even say the word chores without a shudder, eye-roll, and a long sigh.

I realized if I wanted to change the way I approached chores in our home, I would have to change my thinking, and ultimately my family's thinking as well.  So first I changed the word, instead of chores we have responsibilities. Everyone in our home has a set of responsibilities, from bed making-yes even I make my bed-, to school work, to keeping our bodies clean.  We all have responsibilities, we all contribute something to this family, our team, that allows for it to function at its best. That means we all have to do our daily tasks, parents included, because in doing them we are contributing to our family and working with the people we love to make the place we call home a healthy and enjoyable place to be. This in turn allows us to find joy in our work, because they aren't merely tasks, but an expression of how we feel about our home, family, and ourselves.

Does that mean we’re always joyful when we scrub toilets and that we don’t occasionally let the dishes “soak”?  No. Of course not. It’s still work and we don’t always want to do it.  The children don’t always want to do their part and us parents definitely don’t always want to do the work on our end, but we do them.  We do them, because they make our home function and teach us to be responsible in other areas of our lives.  So how do we keep our responsibilities organized and help our day function better?  We have a Responsibility Center.  Much like a Command Center, which we always have, this is an area in our home where we keep all our responsibility stuff organized and easily accessible

Our Responsibility Center is in our hallway so it's the first thing we all see when we leave our rooms in the morning.  It also allows me easy access to it in the evenings before bed when I update it. 

Our home is divided into zones.  Zone One is the upstairs and Zone Two is the downstairs.  Currently it has the daily cleaning responsibilities for that particular zone.  Eventually this will include monthly, seasonal, and annual home maintenance as well.

We also have a section for meals with breakfast, lunch, and dinner sections.  I scribble our tea time -snack- next to the lunch section since we don't always have our tea time due to schedule conflicts.

The section between the two cork boards holds the boys morning, afternoon, and evening responsibility lists.

Under all home maintenance responsibilities we have the boys' school responsibilities.  Next to the daily tasks we also have our schedule and our positive and negative consequences list.

In the top corner I have taped our family rules, but that is just temporary, until I can get something nicer either the rules in vinyl or framing them.  I also want to add a shelf to keep our binders so they are easily accessible.  Since they tie in more with our Responsibility Center than our Command Center.  

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Of the various methods we've used this has by far been the most productive and easily to remember for all of us to ensure everything gets done.  I'm very pleased with it, especially once I put the finishing touches on it.

What method do you use to keep your family organized and family responsibilities handled?

Copyright(c) 2014 Rayven Holmes