How To: Write a Household 6 SOP

Or in other words, a Home Management Binder. :) I know, seems kind of hokey, but believe me, they work. And it's nice to find everything in one place.
Required Items:
Binder
Dividers
Sheet protectors


That's pretty much all you need. You can divide your HMB any way you like. Let me give you an example. In my home management binder, the first thing you will find are my routines and cleaning lists. Daily, Weekly, Monthly and seasonal. These are printed and in sheet protectors so I can mark them off. these are good to have because if you go down ill and wind up in the hospital for a week, your hubby has marching orders right there and will know how to keep the household flowing smoothly so you don't come home to recover and find yourself up in the middle of the night catching up. Routines mean consistancy and that is good for you and good for your kids. When your hubby deploys and everything feels like it is too much, you just take one thing at a time and before you know it, you're humming along again.

The second section is my emergency information. I always put this with a red tab and write on the cover that in case of an emergency, use the red tab. Each family member has a complete medical history, allergy lists, blood type, etc and it's all gathered into their own sheet protector. I'm good at remembering this stuff. My hubby is not. He might forget that I'm allergic to Sulfa and Pennicillan but my history will warn the doctors before I'm subjected to it. Going to a spouses retreat and leaving the kids with a neighbor so you can recouperate while he's downrange? What if the baby gets ill? They have that info in case of an emergency. I can't stress how important this is. I also include locations of living wills, regular wills, powers of attorney, etc. If you want to get seriously detailed, keep lists for first aid kits, emergency preparedness info etc.

My third section is all the kids routines and calenders. You got kids over the age of 5? You'll probably need a calender to keep track of who has what when, coaches and teacher information, etc.

Fourth section are recipes. Family favorites, quick and easy recipes, or treasured family classics.

Fifth section are addressess and phone numbers

Sixth are my patterns for my crafts, some devotionals, etc.


So, the basic idea behind this home management journal is not so much that you can't function without it. But that your house can function without YOU should something happen.

If you don't feel like you are the creative type, here are some links to some printables that might help.
http://www.household-management-101.com/image-files/home-management-binder.jpg

So what are you waiting for? Get cracking!