Tip Tuesday

Finally, I am feeling better. The first trimester really wipes me out. The sickness seems to go on forever, of course it doesn't it just feels that way. So that is why I've been absent for so long. I'll do my best to get back on track for the entertainment and education of all.

So here is my...

Tip Tuesday

I actually planned to post this about a month ago. But...well...things happen and I just wasn't feeling up to it. But here it is now. Get a pen.

Anyone who is familiar with FlyLady knows that she's big into Control Journals. She suggests you schedule out you days, what cleaning or errands you are going to do, etc. When I started FlyLady I was overwhelmed. I wanted a Control Journal, but felt too overwhelmed to make my own. Fortunately for me (and of course her) she sells one. My mom got one for me for my birthday. I loved it and used it for awhile. I've fallen off the wagon as of late, but that okay. Here's what I have for my tip.

As a part of the Control Journal packet there is a part for directions to the house, important phone numbers, schedules, release forms for kids. So what I did, for ease, is put them those pages in its own Baby Sitter Control Journal. So now whenever we leave the kids with a sitter I pull it out and put it on the kitchen table, ir normally kept on the top of bookshelf. Since Sweet Girl has allergies I also have the EpiPen literature in there and have the sitter read through the directions before I leave.


So here's how mine goes.

1. Evening Routine
2. 
3. Child/ren's name , allergies, insurance etc. Special Instructions for the Babysitter
4. Babysitter Information, emergency contact numbers and medical release form (I often slide the insurance cards into the sleeve protector if I'm leaving for several hours.)
5. Allergy and allergy information and directions in case of reaction
6. Emergency Section: police, fire department, ambulance, and poison control numbers
7. Other Emergency numbers
8. Child Safety Identification Cards. You can get these off the internet and often at the police department. We happen to have a Boy Scout doing his Eagle Scout project and offered it free to the public. It was really nice. They took and printed the pictures right there, and did the finger prints and everything. Now that was a really great Eagle scout project!
   

It can have anything you want it to have in it. You don't have to buy it. There are probably internet source that will give them to you for free or you can make up your own. As you can see, some of the stuff is hand written and others are filled in on the form. I put all the pages in sheet protectors so the pages don't rip. I also write in pencil on most of the forms so that I can erase and change them as the children grow or we add another member of the family. It leaves me with a sense of calm when I leave the kids. I know everything is at the baby sitter's finger tips because I put it together myself.

With my last birth I put together a Birth Control Journal. It had in it who to call and when. My birth plan. Pertinent birth information from the midwife and where things were kept. I assembled all my stuff so I would be ready for use during and after the birth, but when in labor there is just no telling if I was going to remember. And I can tell Webby a million times, but there are no guarantees he's going to remember. So it's all right there for him!