This Family Command Center with Chore Charts was a magical tool in my home when the children were young.
About a decade ago, I was late diagnosed with ADHD. What a revelation! I mean, I had spent my entire life dreaming of being an organized person. As soon as a new book came out on the subject, it immediately became part of my home library. Let’s not forget my love/hate relationship with the Flylady. While I probably have enough knowledge and skills to be a professional organizer, I usually find it impossible to structure myself. My new Family Command Center (or Control Center) had improved that by a thousand-fold.
After searching on Pinterest for a while, I chose my favorite ideas that were within my budget, both money and space-wise.
I picked up the dry-erase calendar at Target. I searched Office Depot and Staples first but didn’t see anything that I liked. Finding it at Target was a happy surprise. The photo shows June and part of July. You can see that I write in the dates myself, and I try to use different colors for different people/categories, but it usually winds up being whatever I grab first. Also, I use both dry and wet-erase markers. I tend to use the wet ones on repeating items or things I absolutely have to remember so they can’t disappear accidentally.
(I now use this Magnetic Dry Erase Calendar that fits perfectly on my fridge since I no longer have a convenient area of wall space.
The wet-erase markers make all of the difference, especially since it now lives on the refrigerator.
At the end of every month, before I erase anything, I take a photo of the calendar. This way, I can upload them all and not save all the paper calendars like I used to.
Above the calendar is a shelf I also got at Target. I have a cute box up there holding the markers and the push pins. The pins are because I fell in love with cork tiles. We used one under the calendar and the other three on the side of a cabinet (not shown). There are also a couple of knick-knacks on the shelf (because I am just that kind of person).
Using Picture Frames for Chore Charts
My favorite parts are the children’s dry-erase chore charts.
Michael’s craft store was selling frames, so I could pick up three black wood ones for not a lot of money. I created the chore chart blanks using some free digital scrapbooking kits I have picked up over the years. Then in Paint Shop Pro, I put everything together and created six blank boxes. I printed them out on heavy cardstock and inserted them into the frames. I use the frame’s glass as a dry-erase board and assign each child age-appropriate chores.
The chore charts are working out great. We have only switched the chores around once, which was a breeze. I do use the wet-erase markers on the glass as I think they are easier to read, and no one can smudge them.
Have you created a Family Control Center in your home?
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