A while back, I polled a bunch of large family mamas on how they have made it easier to get through their long list of responsibilities...in this case HOUSE CLEANING. This is the long list of their responses! Do you have something to add? Comment, and I'll add it to this list!
Cleaning
Quick pick-up before lunch. Company-ready pick-up and a few deep clean chores at 4:00.
Each child has chores by age (HERE)
Every time you enter a room pick up and put away two out-of-place things.
Keep a fairly large basket at the bottom of the steps. Its a step saver for things that need to make their way back upstairs.
For company pick-up, keep an empty laundry basket nearby and fill it with out-of-place items when you get the phone call that they're coming.
Each child has one deep cleaning chore, at least, per day. It must be done by dinner each night. They are also paid per deep cleaning chore for motivation!
We have a cute paper plate on the kitchen wall that we keep our daily do's on and weekly do's and if its something the kids do, there's a star by it and we look and mental check it off as we do it...with a few reminders.
Use a dry erase board with to-do's and check them off as you go.
Use an app on your phone to check off chores. Set alarms as reminders.
Mark chore cards HERE
Dishes during blanket time, pick-up while dinner cooks, fit everything else in whenever, deep clean on Saturday mornings.
Wash, dry, fold and put away 1-4 loads of laundry a day, depending on family size!
After your children know what's expected and can properly accomplish their chores, INSPECT WHAT YOU EXPECT....and do so DAILY!
Have cleaning buddies and room inspectors. Two buddies either do a deep clean or quick clean of certain rooms. Another buddy set of room inspectors inspect each others rooms.
Quick pick ups before naps and before supper... then daily zones (more cleaning-type tasks, as opposed to just picking up stuff & putting it away...) completed just after lunch.
Since being pregnant again, I've needed extra help. Every time the kids ask me to do anything (go outside, watch a movie, etc.) I say, "If you will pick up X, Y, Z," or "Take out the laundry and bring it to me," or assign some other 2 minute chore, THEN they are allowed. They always agree and they do it quickly.
I taught the children how to clean, giving them chore cards, so that I just focus on administrative type stuff (managing jobs). When you teach them when they are young, it really helps as they get older.
Our kids have chores as soon as they can crawl and they will pass them on to a younger sibling when the younger sibling is ready. The younger sibling will become the "apprentice" and the older becomes the "master or teacher". The younger will watch the older do the chore between 2 and 5 times before they attempt it themselves. Then they move onto doing the chore themselves, with the older one watching and instructing PROPERLY (no bossing allowed...Mommy's listening in). After about 2-5 times of the younger doing the chore under the older's supervision and instruction, the younger will do that chore on their own. From that point on, Mommy checks up on them randomly to see if it was completed properly. If it was not, then Mommy instructs the younger on how to correct it. Of course, age is always factored in.....I don't expect my two year old to wipe the table the way I would. BUT, they should be doing it to the best of their ability.
Put it away, don't put it down.
A place for everything and everything in its place.
A clean house is easier to clean than a messy house.
Kids need chores appropriate for their age.
Plan, plan, plan - and make a list!
Create a routine and stick to it!
Don't wait till the last minute to start a chore. Do it ahead of time.
I have 3 zones downstairs.... 1- kitchen, laundry room, big bathroom, 2- small bathroom, school room, 3- hall and living room. Whoever has breakfast dishes does zone 1, whoever has lunch does zone 2, and whoever has dinner zone 3. They switch every week.
Everyone has a daily outdoor farm chore and a daily indoor chore!
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