Starting a Family Control Journal

I have mentioned before in several posts (“Office in a bag: A great Flylady tip,” “Setting up your Pesach Control Journal,” and “When did we repair that last?”) the benefits of putting together helpful tips and forms in one place for a specific purpose.

• My routines list in my planner helps me stay on top of things at home (I also have one for work).
• My menu planning, grocery list forms, and price list make menu planning and shopping easier.
• My Home Maintenance Journal helps me keep track of home repairs and information about our home and appliances.
• My Pesach Control Journal helps me keep track of all that needs to be done before Pesach and all the articles and tips I have gathered for it.

But I have been thinking a lot lately about how many things that I take care of in our home that my husband doesn’t necessarily help with. He is definitely a big help with so many things (cooking, dishes, changing the laundry, errands – to name just a few). However, I do a lot of the “home management” stuff. It made me realize that if G-d forbid something were to happen to me, my husband might not know where all that important information is (or even where important things in the house are!).

I decided that I am going to babystep my way (as Flylady says) in putting together a Family Control Journal. A fellow blogger at OrganizedJewishHome has her own Control Journal called a Shalom Bayit Book. She uses hers mostly for her own purposes, but she has some great tips and forms, which complement those on my blog.

What I am proposing is a slightly different book – one that would be good for emergencies, long-term stays away from our kids, etc. It will have a variety of information in it that my husband may not know where I keep. Now, I have had two long-term stays in the hospital on bed-rest where my husband had to take care of everything at home without me. However, some things were just too complicated for him to handle – like the bills. He didn’t quite know my system or where everything was kept. One part of this control journal will include that.

First get a 3-ring binder just for this use. We are going to add one component at a time.

For this week, print and fill out a “Medical Consent Form for your Children.” If you are single, this is good to have for yourself in case of an emergency. A good friend of mine, Michelle, keeps this information by her door in a marked envelope.

Here are two resources to create yours:

When might my child need a medical consent form? – can come in handy in a variety of situations

Printable Medical Release Form for Children – just print and fill in your information

You might want to put the finished form and the article in a page protector. Step one complete to starting your own Family Control Journal!

* If you decide that putting together this binder is too much for you, print this form and keep it with your babysitter information, so you will have it if needed.