A Literary Life

By Kate Jonuska

Anyone who thinks running a smooth household or organizing a family is easy, or that it’s not “real” work, has obviously never attempted the task. In reality, family management is a full-time, 24-7-365 job, one that many parents ― especially moms ― struggle to pull off with aplomb and their sanity intact.

“I struggle with the clutter everywhere, the toys everywhere. I struggle with meals, the act of cooking them with the baby crying. I struggle with time management. A lot of our time goes into just driving,” explains Sarah Matos, the mother of two small boys, a part-time student and part-time nurse. “I need some help.”

Thankfully for Matos, she found her lifeline when she was introduced to Cari Pemberton, a certified Family Manager Coach who hosts workshops around town and offers one-on-one consultation. Matos has taken advantage of both, breathing a sigh of relief that there is someone out there professionally trained to help. Laundry, grocery shopping, birthday parties, homework, school activities: Permberton’s business, The Clutter Cutters, takes every facet of a family manager’s work seriously and offers real-world systems to make the home run smoothly.

“Absolutely, it’s work. The family manager creed that states this is the most important job in the world,” says Pemberton. The Clutter Cutters is based on the work of renown author Kathy Peel, who first recognized that the principles of running a business also apply to running a family. Coaches are job trainers, helping family managers create happy and efficient systems in each of seven categories, including organization, finances, family and friend relationships, self care and more.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the September 2009 edition of Pikes Peak Parent magazine.