Organizing: A Mother's Area of Expertise

It's been far too long since I've done an "organizing" post. (For that matter, it's been far too long since I've been organized, lol!) So I thought I'd whip up a big post about how my various organizing systems are working for me (or not), except that ... I ran out of steam! And then, when I gathered steam again a bit later, I ran out of time! So instead, I will do this project in installments. :)

I've loosely divided this project into a series of questions regarding household organization: what, how, when, where and why. The first thing I did was to write down the what ~ all the areas of home and family life that we mums need to manage. (And by manage I don't mean we do it all by ourselves, but as mothers we are usually repsonsible for overseeing most domestic affairs.) :)

So what do we need to organize?

Paperwork

Housekeeping (daily, weekly, monthly and seasonal)

The Family Calendar (activities, appointments and events)

Home Learning (including life skills and manners)

Emergency Information

Medical Issues (care, special needs, appointments, research)

Home & Garden Maintenance (schedule, services, home gardening)

Clothing (maintenance, storage, purchasing)

Family Pets

Seasonal Celebrations (holidays, feast days, birthdays)

Family Faith (at home, in the parish)

Correspondence (contact info., electronic mail, greetings)

Meals (menus, marketing, recipes, nutrition)

Money (bill paying, budgeting, economizing)

To-do's (daily, misc. tasks and ongoing projects)

Activities (social obligations, sports, clubs, hobbies)

Library Loans

So that's what I had jotted down in my notebook, the last time I brainstormed over this. The list seems fairly complete, but I'm sure I've overlooked some things. I would love your input! Am I forgetting something? What would you add to this list?

And may I ask, what area(s) of home and family life do you find most challenging to keep organized?

Well, that's all I have time for just now. We're getting ready for a busy day - including a trip to the farm to see baby lambs! (If the weather holds, I'll have lots of pictures to share later!) And in an upcoming post, I'll take a look at how I need to organize each of these list items - now that will take some thought. ;)

Have a good day!