Well, I re-vamped the chores this week. So far it is good and bad. I added in Katie (7) and Molly (5) so they can have formal, every day chores. Katie's reaction was one of instantly being overwhelmed, even though she started out on collecting garbage and sweeping the kitchen. I didn't think it was that bad! Molly was smiley, but then just quietly and conveniently avoided it all day. Hers was filling the water filter and putting away clean dishes. I put one person on as Molly's helper, but that didn't go over very well. I don't know what I'm doing wrong! Here's the breakdown:
Mom--breakfast and lunch dishes, wash and fold laundry. Saturday, mop kitchen, clean inside fridge.
Bathroom--clean one bathroom each day including floor. Help Molly follow through with her chores. Saturday, do both bathrooms, wash tub, re-stock TP and soap.
Garbage--empty all garbage in house every day. Sweep the kitchen floor every day.
Laundry--collect and sort all the laundry in the house daily. Start a batch if there isn't one going. Put away folded laundry that doesn't belong to people (like towels, etc.). Saturday, dust, help fold laundry if needed.
Kitchen Detail--Put away clean dishes. Fill the water filter. Wipe up kitchen countertops, especially around the toaster. Saturday, clean off back porch (where we feed the cat our leftovers), sweep front porch, put away groceries on shopping day.
Vacuum--upstairs (all rooms) one day, downstairs the next. Stairs and entry rug as needed, but at least every other day. Saturday, vacuum under couch cushions and under couches. Vacuum entry rug, stairs, front room and hall again Saturday night if needed.
Dishes--Clean up dinner and finish any dishes in the evening. Saturday, wipe walls, wash outside of fridge, wash kitchen sink with ajax, wipe stove.
Everyone puts away his or her own laundry and is responsible for his or her own room.
So, am I being unreasonable? I put help Molly on bathroom because in the past, it seemed like that was the easiest chore. When Molly rotates onto bathroom, she will be on her own or Mom will help her. Now I am hearing arguments that bathroom isn't easy if you do it right, which one person says she does, and it is too much to have to "do" Molly's chores, too. The idea wasn't to "do" Molly's chores, but to lead her to it and help her do the things that are a little too hard. Argh. In my mind it works. Oh well, we are only in the third day, so I'll keep trying to make it work for a little while longer before I re-work it again. We have had the same chore routine for about, oh, three years or so, so it's no wonder that everyone is a little shaken up about it!
4 comments:
Hi Aunt Rachel. Love that you have a blog. I can keep up now. How'd your new song turn out? I went to that bulkfoods website you have listed. I'm assuming you use it. What all on there is a good deal? Most things or just some? Seems like a pretty neat site.
Wow that's a lot of chores. I know everyone has to help to keep the house going. I just wish that I had more help. I might have to borrow one of your girls in the summer for a couple weeks...for a summer job of course. My apartment is about a 1/4 the size of your house, but I can never seem to keep things clean. I am doing all of it myself though.
Do you have any organization ideas? I really just need to unclutter and give some things to DI, but every time I get a bag ready to go Sean takes everything out.
I've just been feeling really overwhelmed lately with Sean leaving for a month on Wednesday and then leaving in April for a year. It's kind of depressing.
Jaimie, we get carob treats on that website because we don't eat chocolate. We love the carob raisins and peanuts! I also have bought the sugarless caramels. Some of the spice prices are good, but I also use San Francisco Herb Co. sfherb.com and their prices are really good as well. I just compare every time and buy where the price is best. I cook a lot and I want to have spices in my storage, so bulk is better, and the quality is better than the grocery store spices, too. The kids were commenting on how good our cinnamon was this morning, and I told them it was because it came from a spice company, not from the dollar store!
Chelsea, get rid of half of what you own. I am more and more convinced that that would solve half the problem of keeping the house clean. With dishes, wash while you are making the meal. Fold the laundry right out of the dryer...a little here and there along the way is so much better than doing it as a marathon. These are things I know are true, but I am still trying to master them. You say that is a lot of chores, but after two weeks of this routine, I found that there are some things that aren't getting done that I will have to add. We have a lot of messes that other people maybe don't have because of the barnyard chores--muddy boots and hay on the coats, a chicken scrap bucket in the kitchen and dirty eggs that need to be washed. We also don't have a dishwasher. Ah, the joys! Oh, one more thing. Everything needs to have an assigned place. If you don't know where it goes, get rid of it!
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