Snowball's sandwich solution
Clearly, it helps to have energy as well as a system. In Thornhill, just north of Toronto, Cathy Snowball has both. Now that four of Snowball's children are doing undergraduate or postgraduate studies, Cathy and her husband, Al, are paying for their tuition by taking in foreign students.
With daughter Heather still in high school, daughter Kristin back home attending her second year of medical school, and four boarders, Snowball, 49, has her hands full. If the high-school teacher isn't ending the day marking calculus papers, she's making six weeks' worth of sandwiches that her family and boarders can pull out of the freezer for lunches. She buys ground beef on sale in bulk, and cooks and freezes it. "There's spaghetti real fast, tacos real fast, casseroles real fast," Snowball says.
Each week, she takes an envelope; on one side she sketches out a rough calendar for appointments, events and meetings. Down the edge she lists errands and phone calls, and on the back is her grocery list. "I have to have my lists or I'll forget something," Snowball says, laughing. Coupons or notes are tucked inside.
Buying staples on sale is a key component of the Snowball system. The freezer is kept stocked so there's always a meal on hand, and Snowball stocks up on items like juice boxes and favourite cereals when they're on special.
Like the Beatys, the Snowballs use a calendar that resides in a kitchen drawer for birthdays, dental appointments and shifts for those with part-time jobs.
When all the kids lived at home, there was often a separate schedule just for Saturday activities. The Snowballs used to plan dates with each child. The children chose what they wanted to do: Daddy with Rachel to the pet store, or Stephen with Mommy bowling. "It was just special time for one-on-one," says Snowball. "You've got to put that as a priority, so you don't just lose it in the busyness." The Snowballs still schedule dates with each other and with Heather, their youngest.
Despite her own need for organization, Snowball says everyone should work to their own comfort level. "If you're so disorganized that you lose your cheques, that's a problem," she says. "But I don't think everyone needs to be super-organized -- that's more of a personality trait."
Whew.
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