The Family Manager Coach

I just recently completed training to become a Certified Family Manager Coach. I started the training because I have always enjoyed organizing and trying to find different ways to make things work around our home. I also wanted to do the training because the program made sense to me. It teaches you how to manage your home by departments. I'll share more about the departments in a minute. But, the main reason I wanted to do the training is because I love to see women live to the full potential God has given them. And, by being a Family Manager Coach, I can help women simplify their lives so that they can do the things God intends for them to do.

Now, back to the departments. The concept of running my home as a small business really clicks with me. As a CPA, I'm used to the business world, so when I became a stay-at-home mom I tried hard to make things work the way I thought they should work. But, I realized that I didn't have all of the skills or knowledge to do everything I wanted to do. When I read Kathy Peel's book, The Family Manager Takes Charge, the lightbulb went on inside my head. She described exactly what I was looking for and what made the most sense to me. When you think about it, our homes are really like small businesses. If you have a large family, it may be more like a small corporation! But, whatever size home you have, you can benefit by treating the day-to-day activities like a small business. Following is a list of the seven departments and their descriptions:

Home and Property-Overseeing the maintenance and care of all tangible assets, including personal belongings, the house and its surroundings.

Food-Meeting the daily food and nutrition needs of the family economically and creatively.

Money-Budgeting, investing, paying bills, saving and handling a host of other monetary issues.

Family and Friends-Dealing with family life and relationships, including child-rearing, education, marriage, friends, neighbors and aging parents.

Special Events-Coordinating large and small projects--birthdays, holidays, vacations, garage sales, family reunions--that fall outside the normal family routine.

Time and Scheduling-Acting as the facilitator so the household runs smoothly and family members get to the right places at the right time, with the right equipment.

Self-Management-Taking care of yourself physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually.

In the coming days I will go into greater detail about these departments. No one person is perfect in all areas, so remember to recruit help in your home. I'll speak more about that later as well.