Families have their own way of time management. The task is fairly daunting. Making sure everything that needs to be done is done and allow for time to enjoy life is up against several members having completely different priorities and needs. Since a family is not a democracy and an iron fisted ruler creates a miserable home life where is the middle way?
Power struggles can easily erupt in these situations with demands being met with directives and ultimately the threat of punishment. Trying to make everyone happy leads to resentments.
The challenge is in finding a suitable framework for managing the family calendar.
One way is to start with defining family values. Health and well being tops the list. The three tiered system for community health can be adapted to a family. Prevention involves well check ups with the family physician; keeping the kitchen stocked with a good assortment of healthy foods; maintaining a level of cleanliness in the home to control for germs. Treatment involves maintaining a good sleep schedule; having open and direct conversations about frustrations and worries; and making sure everyone gets down time to play, individually and together. Crisis intervention is the family's plan to handle emergencies that inevitably disrupt the schedule. It is crucial to maintain an approach to crisis as a natural part of life and not a source of failure or disappointment because something had to be canceled to deal with the emergency.
All activities are identified as falling somewhere in these three tiers and then they will be prioritized not by what someone wants to do but on what is important for each member to do for themselves and each other. The above list is not exhaustive by any means. Each family knows what is important to live well. Each family knows the resources they have to support and love each other.
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