Meal clean up chores

[joannqn]

We are trying to get in the habit of cleaning up after meals. Until now, the job basically fell to me whether I got to it or not. Usually that meant dinner dishes weren't cleaned after dinner and I had to wash a huge load of dishes before I could cook dinner, which made dinner really late. How would you assign clean up chores?

 

I have a 10 year old DD, an 8 year old DS, and a 3 year old DS. DH is willing to wash dinner dishes if dinner is served early enough. None of my children are able to wash dishes (no dishwasher)...well, they can but it would take well over an hour for them to hand wash even half of the dinner dishes.

 

My kids are arguing over who gets what because certain things like clearing and wiping down the table are a lot easier than drying and putting away dishes. Does the younger get the easier job and the older just has to live with it being "unfair"? Do we switch jobs every meal, every day, every month? If you switch jobs, how do you keep track of whose turn it is?

[wbtx]

we keep a job for a week. I usually start oldest with hardest job and then rotate things down, so

23- wash dishes

17 sweep, mop

16 put away leftovers

15-wipe tables and counters

then next week;

23 wipe tables and counters

17 put away leftovers

16 wipe tables and counters

15 wash dishes,

then we just keep rotating down

Does this make sense?

With a three year old, I would probably just give him an easy job that was permanant, and rotate the older two.

Edited June 25, 2010 by wbtx
edited to add something

[MIch elle]

on the side of the refrig. - one list is dishwasher, the other is supper clean up. They take turns with each chore and write their name on the list with the date they did it.

 

I would have your 2 older dc alternate dinner clean up. Maybe everyone washes their own dishes & the one dc that has clean up duty does the pots & pans and/or dad does it WITH the dc that has clean up. With the right attitude it can be a time for father/child spending time together.

[Lara in Colo]

I'm in the same boat, so I can't help with what the children do, however I do have a suggestion that helps ME. I always, always, always start the cooking procedure with a sink of hot soapy water. As I use a pot or a dish-or during the waiting times of cooking--I do dishes, usually by the time dinner is served, I only have a few dishes left (the plates we used to eat with and some cooking pots. Not such a big chore and probably Dh won't mind doing them. I have every child bring their own plate and cup to the kitchen and one person clear the rest and wipe the table. I generally do the reat while they do their nightly house chore.

 

Lara

[ScoutTN]

Mine are way too little to help with anything but set/clear.

But we do have chores and we only change them around once a quarter. Too complicated otherwise. Each has personal chores (brush teeth etc.), pick up toys/books, help mommy. The one which rotate are: set or clear and feed the dog, laundry helper and dusting.

[AngelAnnie]

I read this blog post a few days ago and really enjoyed it. I thought it was a great way to deal with hand washing dishes and they are CHOOSING to hand wash. It especially works if you are a homeschool family with older children.

 

Just a thought that I have tucked away. :)

 

http://fimby.tougas.net/hand-washing-dishes

 

Angel

[Lawana]

We are trying to get in the habit of cleaning up after meals. Until now, the job basically fell to me whether I got to it or not. Usually that meant dinner dishes weren't cleaned after dinner and I had to wash a huge load of dishes before I could cook dinner, which made dinner really late. How would you assign clean up chores?

 

I have a 10 year old DD, an 8 year old DS, and a 3 year old DS. DH is willing to wash dinner dishes if dinner is served early enough. None of my children are able to wash dishes (no dishwasher)...well, they can but it would take well over an hour for them to hand wash even half of the dinner dishes.

 

My kids are arguing over who gets what because certain things like clearing and wiping down the table are a lot easier than drying and putting away dishes. Does the younger get the easier job and the older just has to live with it being "unfair"? Do we switch jobs every meal, every day, every month? If you switch jobs, how do you keep track of whose turn it is?

I can so relate:glare:. I try to get the kids to consistently bring their dishes to the dishwasher, but if I don't remind them, they forget. Mostly, I find it easier to do everything myself than train, monitor, remind, etc.

 

As far as your older 2 actually doing the dishes, I think they are entirely capable. In my family of origin (2 parents, 5 kids, no dishwasher) the older 4 kids rotated the dinner dishes on a weekly basis, starting at age 6. I can't vouch for the quality, but it was an absolute that the kid whose turn it was did the dishes. And no one was allowed to help:confused::confused:. It probably took 30- 45 minutes or maybe more. But that was life.

[joannqn]

I would have your 2 older dc alternate dinner clean up. Maybe everyone washes their own dishes & the one dc that has clean up duty does the pots & pans and/or dad does it WITH the dc that has clean up. With the right attitude it can be a time for father/child spending time together.

 

I like this idea. We've jointly decided to have one dinner helper that alternates weekly. Everyone will scrape their own dishes and bring them to the kitchen. The dinner helper will wipe down the table while mom/dad bring washing. After finishing the table, the helper than dries and puts away dishes. The other child will help by playing with the younger two kids (breakfast/lunch) or assisting with bath time (dinner).

 

 

I knew someone would offer a suggestion that we'd like or could adapt. Thanks!

[Liz CA]

When ds was about 10, he washed the dinner dishes and dried them - he had no choice since he has no siblings. It was a sight to behold. He'd strip his shirt off because it would get soaked otherwise and went to work, singing loudly or talking to the dog.

At first some things had to be re-washed but he got more thorough with time and practice.

Your older children could rotate with washing / drying. Don't worry how long it takes, they have to start some time. You could put aside heavy duty challenges like big pots etc.,and do them later yourself until they are seasoned little dishwashers. :001_smile:

[Carrie12345]

I struggle with dish washing routines, too. I don't have much room to talk, but there are a few things that help (and many of them are in the blog that was linked).

 

Washing while cooking is a big one. There's no reason to leave the mixing bowl to crust over while the meatballs are baking, or the cutting board to get icky while something is sauteing. (Psst- I do let the cheese grater dry out until later, b/c I find that hot water tends to make stubborn cheese extra clingy!)

 

My BIG problem is ignoring breakfast and lunch dishes until dinner time. It means I'm looking at dirty dishes all day, and they start to look normal *on top of* scrounging for dinner dishes. I'm really trying to get in the habit of spending the mere 5-10 minutes it takes after those meals to make the dinner load lighter (and dinner prep less frustrating).

 

And K.I.S.S. is something I'm trying to stick to. The more I dirty, the more overwhelming it is. I'm working on my plan to start freezer cooking, which will give me a crazy day of cooking and washing, but lighten the nightly chore. I'm also trying to streamline my regular methods. I can serve potatoes in the bowl they're mashed in. The kids' plates are large enough to hold their salad instead of using extra bowls. We rinse and reuse cups all day instead of washing a huge number at the end of the night. There's no reason I can't strain pasta and vegetables in the same strainer instead of dirtying two.

 

My kids don't do much washing yet, but the older three help with the drying. The ones who can't reach the cabinets know how to stack neatly. It's only a small help, but it also gives us a little one-on-one time in the kitchen.

 

I don't pay much attention to "fair". My 3yo may not have any real chores, but neither did the rest of my kids at that age. That's plenty "fair" in my book.

[Mommee & Baba]

My kids begin training as early as 12 months. By the age of 18 months my children clear their own dinner plates and place them either in the sink or on the counter. I guess it's personal preference on chore assignments. However I believe if they are old enough to safely play in bubbly water they are old enough to learn to use a cloth just their size to wash the plastic plates and the plastic cups. Then have the older child rinse (and double check the cleaning)...Then you can dry and your other child can put away or something like the sorts.

 

My children at the age of 2 were "washing" dishes and I was "inspecting" and "rewashing" some of them. NOW the 2 that were washing dishes early are awesome dishwashers..they are 5 and 7. And they like to do it. But we have a dishwasher so they get to "prewash" and load the dishwasher and the baby gets to push the on button and giggles everytime.

 

Dinner time is a family event. This includes the preparations and the cleaning of dinner.

 

I hope this was of some help.

 

My children are 16m, 5 and 7. All very active in "living" in our family.

[The Girls' Mom]

They can too wash them ;) My girls were washing dishes at 10 and 7, by hand. It may take longer, but they will get faster.

 

We divide the kitchen duty into tops, loading, wash by hand. Tops has to clear the table and wipe down the counters and table top. Loading has to unload and reload the dishwasher. Wash by hand has to do the dishes that can't go into the dishwasher (And there's always a sinkful of those to do) Then we rotate evenly throughout the week, with Sundays off. I have a chart on the fridge so there's no arguing about whose day it is. There's no differences at this point due to age either. (there hasn't been since the younger ones were tall enough to do the dishes)

 

We also divy up laundry, bathroom and trash.