Our Family Binder

Being organized is the purpose of my entire life. Okay, maybe not, but I spend a lot (understatement!) of my time looking for ways to get organized and stay that way. With our busy schedules, Michael and I have to be on the same page and sometimes, we aren't able to communicate during the day so organization is key to maintaining a "got-it-going-on" routine in our house.

So, while I have this full supply of "nesting crack" running through my veins, I've decided to take the opportunity to organize our family binder. We never actually had a family binder because it wasn't so difficult to keep track of just the two of us, but with Mikey making his grand appearance, I have a feeling that it's about to get a lot more difficult to keep track of where my car keys are, not to mention all the meal planning, Army schedules, important phone numbers and addresses in order. This was the birth of our Family Binder.

Without further ado, I am proud to introduce to you the Rotundo Family Binder! I'm sure this will grow as our family grows, but for now, it has 5 sections. (1) Emergency Contacts and Information (2) Mikey, (3) Meal Planning, (4) Important Dates and (5) Daily Routines and Schedules. The purpose for this? Not only organizing everything into one central location, but for quick access if (god forbid!) there was ever an emergency and a caregiver needed the information, if Michael needed important information to the hospital and I was MIA, and every possible scenario in between. Let's not talk about what could possibly happen!

The Binder Breakdown -

I wanted to first section to house things that we may need quick access to. A pen/pencil, tape, scissors, tape, stamps, etc. These things may be needed for other sections and are easy to access!

SECTION 1 - EMERGENCY CONTACTS

I wanted this section to include everything that may be important in case of emergency. Here is a template of the printable I used to house this information.

 

SECTION 2 - MIKEY

Although he hasn't said HELLO WORLD! yet, in this section we store all of our important documents for when that time comes, as well as some helpful resources in our first few days of parenting. You best believe this binder WILL be an essential in our hospital bag!

 

SECTION 3 - MEAL PLANNING

It's no secret that I "suffer" from OCD, so this means that I NEED to know what we will be eating each day of the month and what our grocery list is going to look like. Most of the time this is well planned out before the month has even begun. So in this section I house my meal plans, coupons, sales ad's and anything else that may save us a penny here or there!

 

 

SECTION 4 - IMPORTANT DATES

Every family has a list of important dates, and 9 times out of 10 somebody happens to forget one of these dates, so behold, the important dates section! Here I list out all birthdays, anniversaries, commitments and appointments we have. If a family member needs to know what's coming up, just check out the binder!

 

NOTE: This does not replace the family calendar which is proudly displayed on our refrigerator.

 

SECTION 5 - DAILY ROUTINES AND SCHEDULES

We all have a routine, schedule, whatever you want to call it. In this section, I have listed out our daily routines for myself, for Michael and soon-to-come: Mikey's schedule. This way, if Michael and I find ourselves baby-less for a night and a babysitter has taken over, a schedule for Mikey is right there for him/her to follow. These schedules and routines are helpful to know where each family member is in case of an emergency, the best contact information to use, and helpful to anybody who may be offering care to pets, babies, or our home in the rare case that we may be gone for an extended period of time.