Friday! Ahh! The end of the work week and the beginning of the weekend.This is the day I have set aside (ahem) for cleaning the house. I really don't look forward to the cleaning part...what I look forward to is the reward we let ourselves have after we clean: Art and Music history and free choice of creative activities and reading. Friday evenings are traditionally our pizza night so I never have to wonder what's for dinner and if everyone does their part we can have the whole place in decent order in a little over one hour...not bad.

The way we divide up the house cleaning differs by year and season of life but I make sure everyone has a job, even the toddlers. I have a list for each person (which I print up each week) saved on the computer, with their name at the top and checkboxes next to the items. Each person's list has some fun personal touches: pictures and cool fonts...even mine. :-)

I also include detail instructions, because kids need explanations. Example: "Clean Toilet ~ the whole thing must be wiped down inside and out and use a scrub brush for the inside and don't forget the part near the floor!" :-).

I also find that if I write the approximate amount of time it should take for the job it helps tremendously. For example: if the list says Dust the Living Room, I put 6 minutes in parentheses next to the job.
Children get overwhelmed when they don't know how long a job should take and if the list looks long to their little eyes they will dawdle over their work. Let's face it~ we adults feel the same way...we just aren't as vocal about it.
This time reminder helps keep everyone (including me) on track and we don't let ourselves give up or skip something or sit down and put up our feet until the list is complete. This also helps prevent the perfectionists in the family from turning a simple cleaning rag job into a Q-tip and toothbrush affair!

I know I sound like our house is lovely and spotless because we practice perfect cleaning routines every week...not so!
Some weeks everything goes haywire and the only cleaning we get done is a quick vacuum and a swipe at the bathroom sink. Please remember what I said before, the schedule is merely our guide. The spirit of the thing is what counts, not the letter of the law. If we have a routine and miss here and there, that's ok. We have a guide, a target, so to speak, that helps us have something to aim for. If your routine takes more than an hour or hour and a half, you may need to re-adjust and spread out the work to other days in the week....or maybe some of those things aren't that important. Could you save a few of the jobs for a special 'spring or fall cleaning'?

The jobs I give each person depend on their age and personality. I believe every person should have meaningful work to do. It gives a person a healthy sense of self worth when they are contributing to the family. I am always amazed at mom's who think it is solely their responsibility to clean everything...especially home school mom's. We need to guard against burnout. Also, you are doing the children a favor by teaching them to work and to contribute to the family. By saying this I do not mean to imply that you should demand your dear husband to help. That should be his own personal choice...I've seen some hubbies pitch in when all the children are small and it works great...some hubbies don't want to...they are contributing to the household in other ways. My own hubby is very thoughtful when a new baby is born or we have lots of company. But I never ask him to do these things on a weekly basis (Just my own little opinion).

Example's of the work I give to the different aged children:
Teenager: empty trash, vacuum a large area, bedroom dusting and straightening, change bed sheets, clean part of the bathroom, and dust in the living or dining area, oversee toddler cleaning....sometimes more sometimes less.

8 -12 year old: similar to above but no trash removal and a smaller part of the bathroom and less vacuuming and dusting.

4-8 year old: put away toys, vacuum part of a room, dust one piece of furniture and change their pillowcase, and sometimes sweeping or helping do other odd jobs.

1-4 year old: pick up toys, dust part of coffee table or whatever someone big is dusting, :-), and in the past I gave my toddlers their own little mops and brooms and vacuums. The 3 oldest just LOVED using them alongside me while I worked. The little girls haven't had these tools yet but Christmas and birthdays are coming this winter! Shhhh! Don't tell...:-)

Labels: Another Day, Household Helps