heartofdakota.com

Hi Ladies!

I haven't posted in a while, but I have been learning so much from you all! Such good posts!

I had to print off the schedules post as I am trying to get my schedule figured out for this next fall. Last year's schedule worked pretty well, but what I struggle with is how to fit in the daily cleaning and chores. I noticed some of the schedules had some kids' chores sprinkled throughout the day, but I don't think any of the schedules reflected what the moms do each day and if you have any specific chore chart/schedules that you do for the kids, like certain chores they do each day or rotating chores that they do on certain days. Do you do some of your daily work (laundry, etc.) while the kids are doing school, or do you save most work for when school is done? Do you have kids do some chores throughout the day, or do you have a concentrated time later after school to do chores?

I am jumping in with HOD doing 3 programs this year (just about ready to order this week, yay!) and I know I am going to need to have a very specific schedule that we follow pretty closely every day, or school will not go smoothly.

Any help with this would be so great!
Thanks!
Shelly

I think of myself as a working Mom. LOL. But really I do. I'm "ON DUTY" from 8-1pm every day for school work. School is my number one priority during that time. We school a lot in the kitchen so usually that is the cleanest room in the house. I clean when I can get them both started on something & I discover to my utter shock and amazement that I have 5 minutes to wipe down the counters. I can also do laundry because it's easy to throw in another one and fold near the kids. And obviously meals get done because again, I'm in the kitchen. We live in that room.

So everything else has to wait until we are done with "formal" school for the day. The only daily chores I assign my children are....

Make your bed
Clean your room
Fold your own laundry
Put away all your stuff in the entire house (I hate clutter)

The rest of what needs to be done around the house that day is written up on the white board as a list. I just tell everyone to pitch in and pick something to do off the list. They write their name next to it and I check after they are done. And everyone pitches in. You try to slack off and I give you more items on the list.

So it might look something like this...

Sweep front porch - Lydia
Clean out the car - Ryan
Clean the toilets - Mom (no one wants to volunteer for this one. Sometime Ry has to do it b/c he MADE the mess)
Vaccum - Dad (oooh, Dad put his name up there before he left for work. What a guy!)
Straighten up the living room. - Lydia & Ryan (they both got out legos)

What doesn't get done gets done the next day. I guess I don't like the idea of chores. LOL. I much prefer to just have a list and everyone pitch in based on whatever mood they are in. I don't allow slackers. So eventually you are going to learn how to do every job on the list.

Ha, I used to think I was Type A but I'm realizing that I'm chilling out in my old age.

Thanks Daisy, I like your idea of writing down what needs to be done on a white board, assigning daily jobs from the list, and checking to make sure it all gets done. Whenever I have daily chores for them to do, I get groans and complaints and battles from the 7 yo, the others are fine with doing what needs to be done. He's the one that makes chores each day such a chore.

I did get the daily list of chores from Motivated Moms this year (my dh says it was the best $8 we have spent in a long time ), so it's just a matter of WHEN to do them, not WHAT to do. I just look on my daily list and know what we should get done for the day. Now, if I can just learn better how to schedule my day to make time for jobs around the house, school won't feel so overwhelming.

Thanks again!
Shelly

i have the same trouble. i end up doing the chores at night and then i go to bed too late or they just don't get done and they finally do when it reallyis lookig gross. School is the main focus.
i am getting much better at dishes. it is hard to have the kids help with chores. they can fold laundry and a few other things.
they have even helped scrubbed the floor . this can get dangerous with a 17 mo old who just wants to play in the water. i have to watch to make sure she doesn't slip after the floor is completely sopping wet. Other hardcore chores they just can't do well.
i used to much tidier and i have had to "let go" with thinking i could get everything done. my kids are 5 1/2, 4 and 17 months. i don't want them growing up too fast but i do look forward to in a few years having a little more help.

i look forward to others replies on how to get it all done.

Jenn

Daisy,

thank you. This has given me an idea of how to help Momma get things done without the constant, "Have you...?", "I need you to...". Love the board and name idea. I made our oldest a chore chart with horses but it still takes prompting to get them corralled each day but that is expected for a while. Now I can list other things that need done and declutter my mind a little at the same time. Thanks.

Yeh, I think my kids always take "family chore volunteering" better than Drill Sergeant Mom. I have a tendency towards the Drill Sergeant thing. Bark, Bark, Barking out orders. The list is better for all us.

Oh, but I'm brutal on whiners. No second chances. You whine and I pick a nice nasty job to write your name next to. I don't care how old you are. I've even had to add my name to another chore just as an example to my kids. LOL.

I have a chore chart that rotates each week so the kids all learn the chores well but nobody feels stuck. This system has worked extremely well for a few years now. I just made my own chart based on what needs to get done and what was not getting done. I have my own jobs as well but they are not on the kids chart. I keep that just to them. I find if something is not done all I have to do is look on the chart and just let them know they are up for the task then they do it. Most of the time they do it on their own because they know the routine. From time to time I change the chart if it seems things need to be arranged or kids get older and can help more. I like that I never have to think about what needs to get done and I never have to argue about who needs to do it. I do also at times say this needs to be done and let them know who needs to do it if they have created some mess out of the ordinary but the chart keeps the house running pretty well in general.

I also have a consequence for those that do not do their job regularly or whine and complain. It is called specializing. My theory is if you can't do the job you need more practice so you get to do it more often to get that practice. If you are unkind to someone I also have a punishment of serving the person you wronged by sometimes picking up their chores or cleaning their room. I have one doing that right now because she said something unkind to her sister at church so now she is serving her. This seems to work well too.

Hope something here helps. I have a fairly large family so it is hard for us not to have something that is not really structured so keep that in mind if you have less kids this is something I find works really well with six.

W2W, if I had six children I'd be asking you to come help me figure it all out.

Yeh, it is a totally different ballgame with only 2.

And by Drill Sergeant I meant prior to my visual list, I used to just tell everyone what to do all day. I finally realized everyone was avoiding me. LOL.

OOh, and I love the idea of serving each other when you've wronged them. Awesome.

water2wine,

love the serving idea we are having a time with unkind words and thanks for the "practice" idea...perfect.

Daisy,
I am right there with the drill sergeant thing, thanks.

faroutback

I have a set of chores for everyone to do before lessons. I read Managers of Their Chores (I think that is right) and my younger two have chore packs. My oldest has a chore check-off list. After that we do lessons and the house usually gets crazy looking. After lessons we pick up and right before bedtime we pick up again. During the bedtime clean up it's me doing most of the work while hubby gets the kids all ready for bed. THey wash up, pick up their rooms and he reads to them. Some days go better than others but as they get older it gets better. This homemaker/homeschooling lifestyle has improved since I start back when my children were 1,2 and 6.