I think one of the more challenging things about being a homeschool mom is the housework. We are home the majority of the hours in every day. The house gets messy, stays messy and with school and life it can be hard to find time to clean and do chores. And, honestly, who really wants to do them anyway? Well, I suppose there are people out there who like to straighten and clean but I am not one of them. I can always find other things to do. But, we seem to have people over all the time so avoiding housework really isn't an option.
Because we are home a lot, it is hard to keep things neat. For years, I believe, I struggled with just the right system to keep things neat and keep things clean. And now, I feel, I have a system. It isn't a perfect system, but I feel things get done that need to get done.
After EG was born, I had a cleaning lady twice a month. Just because I was crazy overwhelmed and hubby asked what would help. And that was my answer. But, about 6 months or maybe 9 months later, I started feeling a little guilty. Really, we were home all the time. I had an 8 and a 6 year old that I felt could be a great help and we started out there.
About 4 years later this is where we are. Each and every day, with no exceptions (well, except those days we leave the house before breakfast) I print off chore charts that say "This is what so and so does to contribute to the house." And each child does the same chores every day. For example NG washes the breakfast dishes. LM sorts laundry. There has been some switching around like Nature Girl now vacuums for Boop and he wipes down the Master Bath. EG turns out all the lights that aren't being used.
Before we leave the house in the afternoons or before daddy gets home, the living room is picked up and the kids' rooms are straightened. All day long, laundry is washed, dried and put away. After dinner, each of the kids has the same chore to clean up. NG loads dishwasher, LM wipes down table, Boop vacuums and they all clean the table.
I have broken down the week into "cleaning the house" chores. Monday is vacuum day. Tuesday is cleaning bathrooms and mopping floors and Thursday is dusting. It doesn't always happen on those days because of things that come up. But, if it happens twice a month on somethings, it is better than not at all!
We don't give an allowance. But, I felt that some money had to be made by the kids so they would learn to be good stewards - tithing, savings and spending. So, hubby and I made up a list of chores that we would be willing to pay the kids to do rather than do them ourselves and then assigned them to each child. Examples of that are cleaning the glass of the master bath shower. And, for those of you who have glass shower doors, you know hard those are to clean. Another example is cleaning blinds and window sills or sweeping the back porch.
Each week the kids are to do those chores. Mark them down on a Time Sheet and then turn the Time Sheet into hubby on his pay day. Then the get paid every two weeks. Just like daddy. Last week, they did not manage their time well and did not get their chores done before pay day and only got paid for a week's worth of work. This past week they did a little better realizing we wouldn't be home on Friday so they needed to get their paid chores done sooner.
For cleaning baseboards or wiping down cabinets, those are discipline chores. If you don't pay attention to what I or hubby says or if one of them has a bad attitude, they pull from the disobedience jar and do one of those type of chores. There is a corresponding blessings jar for those who go the extra mile or have a joyful attitude.
But, no plan is perfect. And there are some days when just the bare minimum gets done. Or, I have to go back and check and help them figure out how the task needs to be done. I do give tickets for morning chores being done on time. If it they aren't done on time, a ticket gets taken away. This past Tuesday, two of the kids had enough tickets to get drinks at a local coffee shop. One paid for a drink with the money earned from chores and one child got nothing because she didn't have tickets or money. I felt bad at the moment. But, the temporary uncomfortableness gave way to the thought that a valuable lesson was being learned. Now that child is working extra hard to get chores done by school time.
I know there are as many ways to get chores done as there are families who work at it. But, I am thankful that we are finally making some forward progress. And the kids don't seem to mind as much because it has become somewhat of a habit.
Who knows what Monday will bring. But, I am thankful I just have a plan that finally seems to be working . . .
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