The Job Board

My entire childhood, my Dad worked either 2nd or 3rd shift at Caterpillar. Due to his shift work, we often would not see him after school and so the job board was born. The job board played a significant role in our house--it was Dad's way of communicating with us while he was a work. If you were in my house in the 80s, you could not have missed this fine piece of home decor. It prominently hung right inside our kitchen door (next to the rotary telephone with a 25 foot cord--coolest thing ever! ;-).

Now you have to understand, my Dad's method of communication may seem odd to you, but it is who he is. He is a task master. I grew up with a big yard, a good-sized house and five siblings--there were chores to be done, and six kids to do them. Get to it!



The Wright Responsibility Board

The job board (which "JOB BOARD" was actually written in bright red across the top) was wooden, probably 2 foot square, with all six of our names painted in red (I wish I had a picture of it--it hangs now in our garage and is used to hold dozens of keys--I almost sent my brother Sean over to take a photo for me!) Under each name were two nails, one labelled "Do" and the other labelled "DONE". There were also dozens of metal-rimmed key tags with various jobs written on them: Mow lawn, Weed garden, Feed Chickens/Rabbits/Goat/Etc (whatever barnyard critter we may have had at the time). If Dad was particularly upset with you, or you didn't complete all your chores, the next day you might see the feared "Do or Die" key tag under your name. (Hard to believe this is the same man that taught my children to put stuffed animals on the ceiling fan and turn it on full speed! Had I ever done that in our house...I can't even imagine what would have happened...!).

This past week, I set to making my own "Job Board". After researching loads of crafty ideas all over Pinterest and other sites, I decided that my Dad was a man before his time. I couldn't find a more practical version--his just made sense, but I had to apply a bit of Martha Stewart to it! I actually went to Home Depot and said to the man, "I am looking for metal-rimmed key tags. I know you must carry them because my Dad uses them for everything, and I KNOW he has never set foot in a craft store!" Truth be told, I am certain he bought the supplies for his job board at Farm & Fleet (his favorite store), but since there doesn't seem to be a Farm & Fleet in South Tampa, Home Depot had to do!

My finished board is a kinder, gentler version of my Dad's; it is both practical and cute. Turns out Aidan and Cole Patrick especially love to move the key tags to "Done". Apparently, I can say "practice piano" twenty times a day with no response, but a key tag that says "Practice Piano 20 Minutes" gets immediate response. Had I known this, we would have had a job board a long time ago!