September 2011 Family Command Center part one: Calendar School is underway and summer is over so there is more pressure than ever to keep track of the activities of your family. The best option is a Family Command Center in a central place in your home—perhaps the kitchen. The October Terri's Tips for an Organized Life will talk about what else should be in the Family Command Center. You first need a family calendar. I suggest mounting a large yearly calendar on a wall and mounting a pencil with a long string for updates. Another option is a large dry erase calendar which you can find at your local office supply stores or online. Check out www.improvementscatalog.com. You should regularly write down activities, meetings, appointments, parties so your family life will run smoothly. The advantage of the yearly calendar is that you can write down the years' worth of vacation/holidays days from school and work; future doctor appointments; after-school activities (sports practices and games; music lessons; play practice; etc.); school and family trips; parties; special meetings, etc. You may want to color code activities by family member so keep the colored pencils and eraser (pen not recommended since changes always happen) near by. If your family members are old enough, they can be responsible for adding their activities to the calendar. They should look at the calendar each morning to be aware of the day's activities, and I very much recommend holding a family meeting one night a week to go over upcoming activities and make sure they're on the calendar. You'll be amazed how smoothly life can be with a central family calendar.