At a past MOPS meeting we watched a video that was a great tool about how to look at how your family functions now and how you would like it to function. One of our MOPS moms wrote up a post about having a family message center to help with your family dynamic!
How can a family message center help you to grow a more purposeful family?
In the video they briefly talked about practical applications but did not give many ideas. Remember the framed photo of her sons to remind them of sibling loyalty? Enter - the family message center. I feel like this project is a perfect practical application to growing a more purposeful family.
After you spend all that time working through all of those questions (from the worksheet) this is a place where you can put it all out there on the wall for everyone to see every day to remind you all of “where you are driving.” Following this, I hope to give you some ideas on how to set up a family message center in your home and some things to consider when doing so. This has been a project I have wanted to do for a while in my own home and have done a bit of research on the topic. I would also love to hear some of your own ideas through comments to this blog post.
A big way to grow a more purposeful family is to become intentional with how you spend your time both as a family and individually. A family calendar is a good way to get everyone’s commitments in one place so you can quickly and easily make decisions about what you want to make a priority and where you can give things up. Think about the question what unites you as a family? Want to make family dinners a definite 5 nights a week? Family movie/game night? Time spent volunteering? Put it on the calendar so everyone knows and you can all hold each other accountable. And what isolates you from each other? Busy schedules? Having it all in one place will let you see where you can minimize, give things up, or reschedule so you can have more quality time together.
The other good question to consider when thinking about your family message center is what are your family’s core values? Think about the “choosing your route” part of the worksheet with the “we will” “we won’t” statements. The family message center can be a great place to put your “family rules” or “words to live by” as a daily reminder of your family destination.
Building a Family Message Center in Your Home
Ok you did your homework now its time to think about putting together your family message center. What will you include? Here is a list of ideas to get you started.
• Family rules/values list (There are some great examples on pinterest with each rule tied to a scripture.)
• Verses to live by (scripture)
• A menu
• A calendar
• Chores/routines
• Words of affirmation to family members (like the “I love you because” frame)
• A place to hang stuff such as sunglasses and keys
• A place for mail and/or sorting it
• A place for coupons
• A place for kids school papers
• Family pictures
Now comes the how to. The best place for getting inspiration is pinterest but I will do my best to put some of it into words ;) This is my favorite part (and probably the reason I still have not done this because I just can’t decide) because you can be creative and think outside the box. Again I think the easiest way is to put it in list form to give you some ideas.
• Cork-boards – You can buy one already framed but that’s not very fun. They also sell this stuff in rolls, square tiles and circles (for under house plants). Buy an old ornate frame at a thrift store and give it a face lift with a fresh coat of paint! (This technique can also be applied to many of the following ideas too!) Find a piece of fabric you love and use it to cover a cork-board. Or use craft paint and a stencil to fancy it up a bit. (This is a menu board made by our blogger, made out of a cork-board. Just one idea!)
• Magnet boards – Again get creative and save $$ by using something not meant as just a magnet board. You can buy sheet metal at Home Depot and have it cut to fit a frame you upcycled. (Take a magnet with
you to the store to make sure what you are buying is magnetic). Dollar store cookie sheets are great if you want a small one maybe for each member of the family. Wanna go big? I have an auto oil drip pan I got for
$10 at Wal Mart in my daughter's art center. Definitely a good value! Dress it up using the above methods or another is Mod- Podge it!
• Chalkboards – Again, be creative! You can use the awesome chalk board spray paint to spray just about any hard surface. Spray your magnet board and have it do double duty!
• Dry erase – My favorite, with endless possibilities is the simple picture frame with pretty scrapbook paper (or fabric) in it. Another great pinterest idea is using paint chips to make a dry erase calendar.
Tips and things to keep in mind when creating your family message center
1. Keep it simple! It can be easy to get overwhelmed with all the possible things you can include in this area of your home. Remember, you are doing this with the goal of growing a more purposeful family, so be intentional in what you include. Only include what you see as being the most meaningful to YOUR family. If you incorporate too much it will turn into a cluttered space that becomes part of the background. Your goal is to have the family interacting with it every day!
• This may mean that you decide to include things here that are only important to the entire family and find other spaces for things for individual family members. For example you could set up another space for just the kids stuff at their level so they can be held responsible for taking care of it.
2. Make it personal. Think about what might motivate each family member to go to or look at this each day. Make it beautiful using pretty papers, fabrics or paint techniques. Use personal touches like family photos and/ or family member names where appropriate. If there is a part you want your little ones to be in the routine of using make sure it is at his or her level.
3. Make it user friendly. The easier it is to use the more likely your family will be to use it!
4. Make it modular so this message center can grow with your family. Make it easy to change things in and out.
• Utilize an over-sized magnetic board so you have space for magnetic pencil cups, hooks and the like. This way these things are not permanently screwed into your wall and can easily be moved around and changed.
• Using peg boards and even a wooden pallet are two other great ways to keep it modular. Hooks and such can be added and moved very easily to keep everything organized and easily accessible. Think keys, sunglasses, coats, hats, scarves, bags etc. I love the pallet idea so family members of all sizes can hang their own coats!
• Clip boards are a great way to be able to easily change out family pics, meal plans, school lunch calendars etc. Hang a few with cup hooks and then the papers can be switched out as often as needed. Again these can be decorated with some Mod Podge and scrapbook paper or fabric.
• A ribbon memo board can be made easily and rather cheaply (Here is one TUTORIAL) and can hold all sorts of things. But beware, these boards can quickly get cluttered.
5. Short on space? Use the space inside cabinet doors. Break it up, put the family message center in the kitchen or living area and a grab and go station by the door. Or, rather than putting it all on the wall you can make a home management binder that sits on the counter. (see pinterest)
