The weekend is, without a doubt, my favorite part of the week for multiple reasons, one of which is the reuniting of my whole family back together again. After being deprived of Junior’s presence for almost 5 whole days out of each week, I finally get to see my boy once more. Junior is my second child to move into our local college’s dorms for freshman year and I have to admit that the sting of separation anxiety isn’t quite as sharp this go around. After all, the shock value should be a little less traumatizing when it’s your second binkie and blankie that have been confiscated. Are you getting the impression that I’m one of those mothers who wouldn’t mind having her adult children live at home forever (or at least until they get married)?
The fact of the matter is I truly enjoy experiencing my children grow up, assume their independence, and live their own lives. And I’m especially appreciative of all of the mature conversations we’re now able to carry on…conversations that involve exchanges where my adult children give me a little glimpse into their lives away from mom. For example, Junior and I were talking about dorm life and he happened to mention that one of his dorm mates had an idea for using a community dry erase board for keeping track of each of their outgoing schedules. In short, all four dorm mates are to write on the dry erase board when they leave so the others will know when someone has actually left the dorm suite altogether versus simply hiding out in his room with the privacy door closed. This system is to prevent them from thinking someone’s gone when he’s not (and vice versa), which I think has happened to the guys a time or two. What an excellent idea! Issue Identified + Solution Implemented = Problem Solved.
Using dry erase boards as a reminder hub or a personal weekly calendar is not foreign to Junior and Toodlez. In fact, my son is using his own personal board in his dorm room and my daughter uses one in her room here at the old homestead; they both see their boards as helpful organizational assistants. But, as I was listening to Junior talk about how the community board is being used within his dorm suite, I recognized an opportunity to do something similar within our home. Using a visual for noting when someone leaves, where they’re going, and perhaps how long they’ll be gone, appealed to my inner interior decorator. And I was immediately inspired to shop at a local crafts store to find a small dry erase board or chalkboard that I could use as a “Going Out” or “Outgoing” daily reminder within my home, preferably in my kitchen that has poppin’ red accents throughout.
Here’s the before:
And there’s the after:
I decided to decorate the boards a little bit and give them a fun vibe. But their underlying purpose is not to look cute, it’s to keep 5 family members “in the know”. When you have five different people with five different schedules headed for five different destinations throughout the day, it helps to have a reminder of everyone’s whereabouts. Something as simple as a communication tool (like those in the picture above) can save a lot of unnecessary phone calls, texts, and worrying.
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