Thursday, October 2, 2008

Chores Galore


My current project is coming up with a chore schedule for our family. Really this is something that I should have developed years ago, and Chris keeps asking me to do. I think the reason I haven't up to now is that with a baby it is really hard to know which day you'll be able to mop the kitchen floor, or clean the bathrooms, etc. Fear of failure maybe. I have always gotten by on doing it when it has been bugging me and I just can't take it anymore. Although this approach has been somewhat effective, I think a more proactive tack might be more appealing....and maybe the chores would take less time? Anyway, since all of you are, I'm sure, more organized than I am, I would love it if you would share your chore calendars with me. It would make this seemingly daunting task a bit easier to handle, I hope.

This is the list I have so far....I just need to choose what days I need to do what and plunk it down into a calendar.

-floors, mop and vacuum (1x week)
-bathroom toilets and sinks (1x week)
-laundry (2x week)
-dishes and kitchen clean up (daily)
-change linens (1x week)
-dust furniture (1x week)
-yard work, mow (1x week)
-ironing (1x week)
-water plants (1x week)
-deep clean kitchen (1x week)
-deep clean carpet spots (1-2x month)
-clean fish bowl (1x month)

*kids chores*
-make your bed (daily)
-take a bath (2x week)
-empty garbages (2x week)
-take dirty clothes to laundry room/
put away their folded clothes (2x week)
-toy pick up & straighten room (2x week or as needed)

I need to coincide toy pick up, maybe the day before vacuuming. Bathing the same day that sheets get changed, etc....so I want to play around with it a bit.

Maybe if we have some special task, I'll just add it to the calendar that month. I'm sure I'm forgetting something but I can always adjust as things come along.

Let me know what you think, any suggestions are MORE than welcome.

10 comments:

  1. Our job chart is pretty simple, it goes something like this:
    -Mop Floors (2x week)- First time is completed by Mom and the second time is completed by mom approximately 20 minutes after the bucket and mop are put away. (Just after the kids dump soda on it.)
    -Dishes and Kitchen Clean-up (2x daily)- First is done by the child of Mom's Choice, and the second is completed by Mom and the same child about 10 minutes after the the child is "done".
    -Water Plants (1x daily)- This is completed by Melissa when Mom isn't looking and instead of water Kool-Aid is the liquid of choice. (Bear in mind all of my plants are fake)
    -Ironing- What is that?
    I try to coincide the backpack school junk pickup with the "Can I play with a friend?" request, however I have found that the backpack school junk mess will be dropped wherever as soon as the friend is called anyway.
    I am sure I am forgetting something, but don't worry I will smell it later. (Keep Smiling)

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  2. I have started writing the kids' to do lists on index cards and then hand it to them when they get home from school. They need to do their chores before bedtime, so whenever they choose to do it is fine with me, as long as it gets done. This works because the things that need to be done (clean toy room, put away laundry, dust baseboards, vacuum basement, clean the sliding glass doors) are always in flux and sometimes I need them to do something that isn't on the chore chart for the day....that's the reason I don't have one. I like the index cards because they work for me.

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  3. Natlie, good luck with the jobs. We have our house divided into "stations" and each station has things such as: station #1 upstair bathroom, front room and kitchen table etc... Each week we rotate the wheel and the kids get a new station. They are expected to keep their station tidied (is that how you spell it?) every day. I need to re-do the jobs on the station because now that Isabelle is in first grade I can't justify having a cleaning lady-wah, wah!! The key is to find what works for your family.

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  4. One of my friends has a chore chart that really impressed me. I just sent her a note asking if she would email it me (so I can forward it to you). It may help you think of some things you may have left off of your list. She's so dang organized, I remember seeing that always did her grocery shopping on the same day of each week, and she fills her gas tank on Fridays!! I wish I was that disciplined.

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  5. I don't have a chart ... rather a "schedule." Something like this:
    Monday - Kitchen
    Tuesday - Guest Room & bath, girls' bath
    Wednesday - master bath
    Thursday - vacuum & clean upstairs
    Friday - vacuum & clean downstairs
    Saturday - "super task" the "deeper" cleaning of one area like master bedroom fans, blinds, baseboards, etc.

    I do one load of laundry every day which has made a HUGE difference for me! Towels and sheets on Saturday and no laundry on Sunday. I've been completely caught up for 2 months now :)

    My kids are in charge of their rooms, playroom, emptying the dishwasher, wiping down their bathroom, and are learning to vacuum. I plan to read "The Parenting Breakthrough" by Merilee Boyack and hear it has some great ideas that are broken down into "age appropriate" tasks.

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  6. S - love the index card idea for the kids chores. I may just do that and see how they do. Thanks!

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  7. Liz, your schedule sounds way too much like what I am currently doing. Thanks for the comic relief!! :)

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  8. Lenice - What in the world is a cleaning lady???? I thought that was ME. Stations sound great but I don't think my kids are old enough. Good plan for down the road tho.

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  9. Thanks K, I would love your friend's chart. I don't know if I'll extend it to grocery shopping. Seems like I'm always out of something or other and going to grab something every 2-3 days. I probably spend more $ that way, huh?

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  10. Kari - you rock! Your schedule sounds a lot like what mine is shaping up to be. Chris thinks we should do most of the chores together on Sat. But I think I'd go crazy trying to do everything on one day!! Especially with all the kids home. Uggghhh. Good for you for being all caught up. My Mom does laundry like breathing too, and I've been trying to follow suit. It's a bit harder though since my dirtys are all upstairs and the washer and dryer are in the basement.

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