Special Report Parental Team
Editorial by Dominique
The Five Commandments for a Caring Parenting Team
- You will make your dream parenting team come true.
- You will identify your needs.
- You will order your priorities.
- You will make space for the needs of others.
- A common definition of success you will write.
The Five Commandments for Moving from Intention to Action
- You will reserve some white time for yourself.
- You will look at your calendars.
- Shortcuts and help, you will grant yourself.
- You will remain realistic in your expectations.
- You will aim for satisfaction rather than perfection.
Sharing the Mental Load in Four Steps
Your practical guide
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Step 1: Create your personal time budget
Do you often feel like you do more in your daily life than your partner? Do you lack time for your personal hobbies? Do you have a head full all the time and spend all your days running from one task or appointment to another?
Take the time to fill out this time budget in order to re-evaluate your schedule and check if your time is being allocated to the right places according to your values and priorities.
Step 2: Establish an ideal task sharing scenario
This is the time to sit down with your spouse and work out together your ideal scenario for sharing tasks and, above all, the mental load.
Depending on your personal and family reality, determine who will now be the manager of each of the following departments, taking into account the frequency and time required to complete each of the tasks involved. You can also decide now to delegate some of the tasks, taking care to assess the cost and the potential additional mental load. This is also the time to assess which tasks could now be the responsibility of the children. Finally, don't forget to repeat this exercise every year!
Step 3: Complete the family organization chart
To help your children know who to contact when they have a request to make in a particular area, complete this organizational chart of the different departments of the family and post it in a visible place! Consult our practical guide to complete yours!
Step 4: Hand over power and develop effective processes
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The transfer of power and the development of processes
Consult the practical guideIf you have been in charge of a department for several years and are now transferring responsibility to your partner, you will of course need to plan a period of time to pass on your knowledge and your different methods to effectively accomplish the tasks related to this department. To learn more about the qualities you will need to demonstrate, download our practical guide.
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Departmental reorganization
A few weeks after setting up your ideal task sharing scenario and ideally once a year, take the time to sit down and ask yourself these few questions that will allow you to realize whether your sharing is fair and whether everyone is satisfied with the different departments for which they are now responsible.
Tips for preparing meals as a team
- Schedule batch cooking at the ideal time for both chefs.
- Plan a pleasant working atmosphere (music, aperitif, etc.) like a date!
- Determine two separate work plans: each with its own place and knife!
- Provide wet and dry towels for everyone.
- Place the trash, compost and recycling in the center of both worktops.
- Have the steps to follow in hand, easily accessible to both partners.
- Take advantage of waiting times to help your teammate finish their current step or to wash the dishes.
- Share cleaning and tidying tasks once batch cooking is finished.
- Congratulate each other on the work accomplished!
Batch cooking
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Italian Stew
See the recipe -
Stuffed shells
See the recipe -
Swedish Meatballs
See the recipe
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Chicken pad thai
See the recipe -
Small coconut jars
See the recipe -
Creamy Chocolate Bites
See the recipe
To go further
Here are some tips and advice from our colleagues to optimize your level of efficiency in each of these departments!
Department of Family
Discover in this video the best advice from Laurence, author and professor of psychology, to involve children in carrying out various household tasks.
Department of Housing
Miss Tidy-Up offers you her advice on how to better reconcile different organizational styles within a couple, while ensuring that you keep a well-ordered home!
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Department of Education, Recreation and Sport
Read the articleSarah, founder of Bougeotte et Placotine, gives you her tips as an active woman and mother to help you better share the time spent on physical activity between spouses.
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Department of Finance
Read the articleOur collaborator and financial expert, Ms. Dominique Lépine, invites you to think about fairness in your family finances and shares her advice to achieve equitable enrichment for each of the partners in your union.
