Logistics

So for the purpose of record keeping and being transparent with our journey, I'll share about our meeting tonight. We are now less than a week from move in day, and we met together tonight to share concerns, fears, and plans for how things will work logistically. We determined that in the midst of unpacking, painting, cleaning and moving we may not be as diplomatic and understanding about who was supposed to be doing____ and that some forethought might be wise.

We talked about chores. Who was going to be responsible for paying bills, doing dishes, mowing the yard, cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming, cooking meals etc. This was all decided mostly by what things some of us are pickiest about. For example, Eric is a little particular about the dishes- he likes to load the dishwasher as efficiently as possible and dishes in the sink really get to him, so he volunteered to look after dishes in the evening with Tom. We divided up everything else pretty easily because we all have our pet tasks that we enjoy or dislike greatly and our dislikes and likes ended up complimenting each other pretty well.

We talked about our children. How would discipline be handled? Of course, Eric and I will continue to parent as always, but good questions were discussed. For example, Erin is in the bedroom with Elijah for some reason. Tom or Cassie is walking through the living room and sees Micah jump on an unsuspecting Isaiah for no apparent reason. Isaiah consequently gets up and grabs Micah's arm, obviously attempting to bite him. (Very plausible situation by the way unfortunately.) What should Tom or Cassie do? We decided that they could and should intervene in instances where someone has or is about to inflict bodily harm on someone else by making the kids sit in different chairs (or at least separating them) until Eric or I can get there. But all consequences for misbehavior will still be dealt with by mommy or daddy.

We talked about grocery buying. We're still a bit uncertain about this one, and definitely open for adjustments along the way, but we decided that part of the purpose of living in community is to stretch ourselves away from the "what's mine is mine and what's yours is yours" mentality. If we're all being fed well and for the same amount of money or less than what we had previously spent on our families, then does it really matter if I'm drinking milk bought with Crisp money or Fuerst money? Not really. Cassie and I will plan out evening meals in advance, and we'll buy groceries that we need for those meals plus items for lunches and breakfasts. We'll all contribute money to a community fund for groceries and pay for groceries out of that pot. To start off, we will all contribute what we've always spent on groceries monthly. If there is money left over at the end of the month or if we're short, we'll reevaluate then and decide what to do.

We made final decisions (open to revision later of course) on the uses of our space- what rooms for which people and where the guest rooms will be. We've decided on a longer-term guest room upstairs along with Eric and Erin's room and the boys' room, and a short-term guest room downstairs with Tom and Cassie's room. We also talked about making sure that no one feels like they are relegated to one area of the house and talked through our daily routines to get a feel for what others would be doing at certain points in the day and week.

I think that about sums it up. We're all getting really excited but are a bit overwhelmed too. It's hard to pack and move in the middle of a semester when the same amount of school work is still necessary. Life must go on even in the midst of moving, painting, cleaning, packing and unpacking. We'll have pictures of the new house to share soon.