There is no denying that a piece of single parenting comes down to organization and having “systems” in place that work. Whether it has to do with your custody arrangements, transportation, or just making sure the laundry gets done and the kids get fed—getting some workable systems in place can mean the difference between efficiency and chaos. Before you get too confusing and complicated with your “systems planning” however, it might help to remember that sometimes the simplest systems are the best ones…
One thing I have learned raising a family of three kids over the years is that sometimes it is much better to “go with” the natural flow of things than to fight them. For example, after fighting the shoes-and-book bags by the front door problem for a couple years, I finally put a huge basket for shoes in the entryway and hung a shelf with pegs in the stairway hallway just inside the front door. I know that big basket of shoes is not very “Martha Stewart” since we don’t have a separate mudroom or entry hall in our compact townhouse, but it does keep things handy, reasonably tidy, and it works. Occasionally people will comment on our mound of shoes, but it usually signals to people to take their own shoes off since, even though it isn’t a requirement, we just tend to be a barefoot family in the house. Simple solution, simple system.
A blank notepad for grocery items in a prominent location, a designated place for everyone’s dirty AND clean laundry, a central location for bathroom supplies—all of these may seem extremely simple, but just having a system in place; an easy system—can really make a single parent family run more smoothly.
Look over the places where things tend to be problematic in your household or with your family life and see if you can’t come up with an obvious, simple solution for a system that will make things run smoother.
See Also: The HOME Blog for organizational and household ideas