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I don’t know about you, but when my week doesn’t start off on the right foot it’s like the rest of the week crumbles! – It’s so stressful!!

In comes the best family planner to start your week off right! And even better, it’s soooooo simple!

What makes this the best family planner?

  • The simplicity of this helps when you already feel like you have so much on your plate and you’re trying to do it all
  • This hits on 3 top priorities of the week: family connection, communication, and meal planning with your budget in mind
  • It helps you factor in the entire family
  • When you follow the question prompts you’re going to see your marriage strengthen and feel mor connection

How It Helps Your Family Start The Week Off Right

When I was in grad school to become a marriage and family therapist I learned a lot of things about marriages but nothing stuck with me quite like this statistic. Through research done by Dr. John Gottman, it’s now known that 2/3 couples report decreased satisfaction in their marriage after having babies.

It’s also known through his research that successful couples schedule regular, usually weekly, check ins. This becomes an expected time for connection, a chance to better understand each other’s lives, and a chance to get ahead of stressors.

When I learned about these statistics they scared the crap out of me. I was pregnant with my first baby and I was determined to make sure my marriage was going to be ok. So, James and I created a weekend routine that has made an incredible difference in helping our family start the week off right.

How Does This Family Planner Work?

This is a flexible enough system that you could easily tweak this to fit your family needs, but it’s overall very simple.

  1. Start off by going through your pantry and fridge/freezer to see what food you need to use up and make notes.
  2. While going through your pantry you can make notes of any meal ideas and add things to the grocery list that you see you’re running out of
  3. Next, you’ll start working on the planning. Make notes of any evening activities that would impact dinner time so you can plan meals that fit that schedule.
  4. Lastly, and most importantly, walk through the questions with your spouse and kids if they’re old enough to participate. These questions are intended to help you both think ahead about your week, but more importantly, help you both gain insight about each other’s worlds and needs.

These questions help expand upon the general response of “my week is busy”. If you are both willing to honestly reflect on your week ahead and your needs you will give each other a chance to support each other.

What I love about it is that when my husband tells me what he’s stressed about or anticipates to be hard I can prepare myself. It helps me know that on Wednesday when he has a 7 AM meeting and he’s more short that it has nothing to do with me and it means that I have an opportunity to support him by making him breakfast instead of him cooking.

Do you see how it can change the way you approach things? Or how it can help you avoid a conflict? Or how it can help you feel like you’re “in it’ together?

Ready to give the best family planner a try?

Click the link below to have your planner delivered to your inbox. There are 5 templates to choose from

*** Pro Tip***
Laminate or use a pocket folder like this one so that you can use a dry erase marker to reuse your planner each week.

Did you find this helpful? Let me know in the comments or come follow me on Instagram @workinhardasamother Stop by my DMs or tag me in your stories!

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Weekly Family Planner and Meal Planner
Example of weekly family planner