Our House is a Mess and I want it clean :)

[SonshineLearner]

Basically just thinking of how I can get it clean :D

 

We use to do allowances, and then we got "real poor" :001_huh:

 

Now I'm thinking of doing the "Allowances for Chores" thing, and doing a "Behavioral Chart" too.

 

Basically, instead of "giving money" they have to "earn it" and instead of letting them get away with a snotty attitude... they have to be nice.

 

Shouldn't be hard, right? :D:lol:

 

SO, now I have to think of a chart or something.

 

I printed of the Motivated Moms Calendar so I can get some stuff just going...

 

But I need ideas for the rest.

 

I have a 15 year old daughter. (Two weeks with us.. and then 2 weeks at her moms)

 

a 12 year old daughter... (Always with us)

 

and a 7 year old son.

 

I want the "Perfect" answer.. with no work... and I can't do boarding school...

 

SO... does anyone have any ideas??

 

:)

[Peela]

As I have said before....instigating chores with your kids can be more work than just dong it yourself. Its worth it...but it is work. Mine have been doing basic chores for many years and they still try and get out of them and "forget".

 

We have an alternate week system. One week, one does the chickens and dog poo, while the other does all the dishes. Then they swap.

One has a permanent job of doing the bins, the other, the swimming pool fliters.

Some days I get them to tidy their rooms before we start school. Or, keep them in on Saturday until it is done. They are old enoguh to know what to do. They are also old enough to actually appreciate having a tidy room...they just dont have the discipline to do it themselves unasked, regularly, although they will at times.

 

I have tried various chore systems. I am good for about a week, then I get slack.

 

I do pick up after them sometimes and confiscate their stuff for a while.

 

We do fine them for leaving stuff around, or for not doing their chores. But in order to do that reasonably, they had to get an allowance. So in our case, the allowance is not for doing chores. But it is a source of income to give them fines when they DON'T do their chores.

[Rhonda in TX]

I read Managers of their Chores, and while I didn't stick with their chore system, I did find some ideas I like. One is to assign chores long-term. For example, emptying the kitchen trash is Child A's job for 6 months or so. This way, you always know who is supposed to do that chore. If it's not done, you don't have to stop and figure out who was supposed to do it. Also, if they have a chore for a long period of time, they will learn to do it really well.

 

I really like Motivated Moms. I print out the schedule and put it on the fridge. I highlight the chores I want the kids to do with a child-specific color.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

The way I look at it is that taking care of the house is the responsibility of everyone who lives there. One person cannot consistently clean up after everyone without getting burned out. It may be very difficult to get them started on a chore routine, but keep at it, and eventually it will pay off.

 

My house has never looked better since I instituted 'Saturday Chores' a few months ago. We have 4 family members, so I divided the house cleaning into 4 sections- bathrooms, upstairs, kitchen, and living room/dining room. Each person gets a section and I made lists of specific duties in each room. We rotate chores every week, so that each room is cleaned by an adult every two weeks, since our kids are still small and don't really clean that well. I get everyone going in the morning on Saturdays with a good breakfast and lots of encouragement. I try to make it a feeling of camaraderie that we are all helping to take care of the house together. They still don't like doing chores, but they just know it is something they have to do, and the attitudes have faded- especially dh's attitude, since the benefits of doing this are visible- both in the house and my demeanor! ;)

[katemary63]

This is what I've always done, for 27 years. It works.

 

I have procedures lists for every room in the house. Bath, Bedrooms, Kitchen, Living Room & Hall, Family room, even Yard & Carport, what ever. The procedures list every single thing that needs to be done in that area to call it CLEAN. (This is weekly cleaning, not deep cleaning so it does not include things like baseboards or ceiling fans.) The procedures list is written in the order of operations and is VERY detailed (for the little ones). They have a box for checking off each task.

 

Every week, I print a new procedures list for each room. Depending on what stage of our lives we were in and how many kids were at home, it varied as to who did what room and sometimes a particular kid had the same room every week. But usually, we alternated rooms weekly. Obviously, a 7 year old can't be assigned the kitchen unless they are being assisted by mom or dad. But they can do a bathroom or the living room all by themselves.

 

Saturday morning is chore day and EVERYBODY cleans till the WHOLE house is done. Everybody is given a procedures list for a common room and their bedroom. Even mom and dad work off a procedures list so the older kids don't feel like we think they don't know how to clean a room. (This IS a problem! LOL) We start at 9:00 am so you can still feel like you slept in some. If a child is too young to do a room by themselves, then they are assisted by mom or dad, but they do everything on the list that they are capable of. Mom and dad also have an assigned room. We are usually all done by noon unless we just didn't get started on time. Kids must clean their assigned common room first. That way, if they dauddle in their bedroom, they are wasting their own time and the rest of the house still gets done.

 

Older children have the option of doing their assigned room on Friday after school if they have plans for Sat. morning. If we ALL have plans for Sat. we clean Friday evening or Sunday after Church (but we try really hard to avoid Sunday.)

 

The procedures lists make it possible to avoid a number of problems. Everybody knows EXACTLY what is expected of them. You never have to tell them or repeat yourself. You won't have a child saying, "I'm done." when the garbage didn't get changed or the rugs aren't shaken. When a kid is done with a list, they bring it to a parent for review. EVERYTHING gets done every week. ADD kids can handle one small task at a time. Do a task, check it off, do the next task.

 

For daily pick up, each child is required to "Tour the House" a couple of times a day. That means you walk through every room and if you find something of yours or that you touched, you put it away. When I feel it needs to be done, I just call all the kid and say, "Tour the House." The only thing not on a procedures list is the laundry and I just do that daily.

 

For kitchen clean up after dinner, it just all depends on who's doing what that night. We all clean up the table. Nobody walks away till the table is cleared. Usually, I just do the rest, but I'll ask certain kids to help with certain things. Sometimes a kid will do it but that has always varried. The thing is, just have it done right away. Eat dinner, clean the kitchen.

 

I don't dust, vacuum, sweep or mop, etc during the week. I don't have time. It all gets done once a week and thats enough. The house always looks presentable for the weekend. It's a team effort and that helps us bond as a family.

 

Ps. We really believe it's important for Dad to be on the cleaning team. It sets a good example for the kids. Imagine if mom and all the kids were working on cleaning day and Dad was watching TV or sleeping. Yikes! ( I pamper Dad on Sundays in appreciation of his hard work all week! )

Edited November 7, 2010 by katemary63

[MindyD]

I have a completely different suggestion. Get rid of 1/2 your stuff. Seriously. We put most of our "stuff" in storage to put our house on the market, and since then, it's a snap to keep clean. And do you know how many times I've had to go get something out of storage? Once. To get my dh's winter clothes.