homeschool AND housework...how do you do it all???

[christielee7278]

Our first year of homeschooling is coming to an end so I've been making some notes on things I would love to improve, change, keep the same, etc.

 

One BIG question I have is how in the world do you keep up with housework AND stay on track with homeschooling? I'm thinking maybe when my littles are older, it won't be so hard?? Please tell me that is so!!! :lol:

 

My biggest problem is realizing around 5:30 or so when we're either finishing up school work or cleaning up the house that I haven't even begun to think about dinner. And I PLAN our meals!!! I just forget to take something out of the freezer! My poor husband has stopped walking in and asking "what's for dinner?" Now he asks "are we having dinner tonight?" :tongue_smilie: We've eating out more this past year than we have in.....forever.

 

So, how do you do it all? Or do you? I'm not the only one who struggles here, am I?

Edited March 13, 2009 by christielee7278
mispellings...lol.

[Jean in Wisc]

Our first year of homeschooling is coming to an end so I've been making some notes on things I would love to improve, change, keep the same, etc.

 

One BIG question I have is how in the world do you keep up with housework AND stay on track with homeschooling? I'm thinking maybe when my littles are older, it won't be so hard?? Please tell me that is so!!! :lol:

 

My biggest problem is realizing around 5:30 or so when we're either finishing up school work or cleaning up the house that I haven't even begun to think about dinner. And I PLAN our meals!!! I just forget to take something out of the freezer! My poor husband has stopped walking in and asking "what's for dinner?" Now he asks "are we having dinner tonight?" :tongue_smilie: We've eating out more this past year than we have in.....forever.

 

So, how do you do it all? Or do you? I'm not the only one who struggles here, am I?

 

Have you ever heard people discuss the idea that when you finally get rid of the acne, you have to deal with wrinkles?

 

I think homeschooling is something like that. When you finally have your kids grown up enough to have time to work on keeping the house clean, you've grown old enough and have slowed down enough that you still are struggling to get your tasks done. LOL!

 

Yes, it does get easier if you train your children to help. No, you may never have it as clean as you'd like. Priorities mean your house is clean one day (maybe), your kids are educated another day, and you have food to eat the next.:lol:

 

Life. Keep a sense of humor and you just might survive. :D

 

Jean

Edited March 13, 2009 by Jean in Wisc
Forgot a title

[Crissy]

 

So, how do you do it all? Or do you? I'm not the only one who struggles here, am I?

 

A couple of articles from Mental Multivitamin that might be of interest to you as you begin your homeschooling years:

 

Advice to a new homeschooling mother

 

It all begins with me

 

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming...

 

If you are not familiar with MFS of Mental Multivitamin, I suggest a trip through her archives. Sometimes her words sting when one is not in the mood for self-evaluation and improvement. The wisdom, however, is priceless.

[Mom-ninja.]

If there was one thing I wish we could afford it would be a maid to help me.

 

I feel like I just barely keep my head above water, and there are times I go under.

 

I remind myself of my priorities. My children and their education are at the top. Laundry is not.

 

Of course we need clean dishes and food everyday. So each morning my boys clean out the dishwasher, and we load during the day. I turn the machine on at night so it's clean for the next morning. This works most of the time. As for dinner...my saving grace is "Saving Dinner." I love that little book! I highly recommend it. Of course, I tend to forget to take things out of the freezer or soak beans the night before. I'm working on it. One thing that helps me is to make bigger meals and freeze left overs. These are great for the days when I'm not prepared for dinner. We also do a lot of sandwiches and breakfast foods for dinner. My kids love grilled cheese or waffles for dinner. DH not so much so we always have salad stuff here for him. He eats a lot of salad! :lol:

 

Another homeschool mom once mentioned that her FIL was against her homeschooling. When she asked him why he said that homeschooling prevented her from doing her *real* job of cleaning the house. :glare:

[Staci in MO]

When my dc were little, I dreamed of the day when they would be old enough to do things on their own. Now, they're old enough to be a huge help around the house, but since they're older, so they have more schooling to do and more activities to go to. I guess I'm never happy!

 

Most of my housecleaning struggles have to do with my lack of self-discipline. I'm not naturally very good at cleaning as I go, or dividing large tasks up into small chunks, etc. The Motivated Moms planner (you can Google it if you're interested) has helped me TREMENDOUSLY with this, but I still have to be the one who gets up to do the work.

 

Like right now, when I need to get OFF this computer and go get something done, for instance.

[christielee7278]

Thank you to both!!

 

Jean, thanks for the laugh. The boys are big helpers but my little guys' *help* isn't always what I need, kwim? lol

 

Crissy, thanks for the links!! I'm going to check them out now.

[christielee7278]

Staci-I know part of my problem is self-discipline too. I have heard of that planner...I'll have to check it out. Thanks!

 

Kleine Hexe-See? We have the same dinner issues! lol Before homeschooling, I used to do once a week cooking and it worked perfectly. If I can just MAKE time for that again.... Btw, my dad thinks my boys should go to ps and daycare so I can GET A JOB and "help contribute" like his wife (my stepmom).

[joannqn]

Most homeschoolers I know in real life don't do it all. For most of them, the house suffers. This includes mine.

 

It does get easier as the kids age, if you instill discipline early.

 

The school portion of my days aren't difficult simply because my older two can do most of their work independently. I can tell them to do school and know that they'll do it without me hovering to make sure they are actually working. We take school in chunks throughout the day. The first chunk is the work I've filed in their notebooks (LA and math). They know what is expected each day in those subjects and do it. Later in the day, we do their history and their science together. If needed, I can tell them to do it on their own and they will.

 

The cleaning portion of my days are getting easier as my kids get older. I have been slowly teaching them harder chores and expecting them to take more of a role in cleaning. I expect less chores from my kids than some. Part of why I do that is because I want them to be able to do each job well and independently so I wait until I'm sure they are capable of meeting my expectations for each job.

 

You are in the hard part with younger kids. You should go easy on yourself. If you develop a routine (Flylady style), it will help. Flylady has dinner in the morning routine so you remember to start those things that take longer (crockpot, bread, beans, defrosting). Get in the habit of wiping down your bathroom every day after your shower and it will stay mostly clean. Clean up the kitchen after every meal to keep it clean. For other things, I like to break it up differently and do something each day (ie. Vacuum upstairs on Monday, vacuum downstairs on Tuesday, litter/trash/fridge on Wednesday, mop kitchen on Thursday, mop bathroom on Friday). I also try to do 1-2 loads of laundry every day with all of the kids helping with putting it away.

[WTMCassandra]

Some quickie answers:

 

1. I always take something out of the freezer first thing when I come downstairs to start the day. We school near the kitchen, so if I need to make a casserole or something, I choose a time when they are working fairly independently and make it then. When the children were younger, I would make it during recess or while they were eating lunch.

2. We keep laundry going throughout the school day. When the children were smaller, I would start the laundry before school, change a load at midmorning recess, and then change another at lunch. If I had more I would then change a load after school and at dinner time. Now that my children are older I just have the wiggly one hop up and change the load when it goes off. She's always happy to get out of her seat ; ).

3. We have a family cleaning day. The children work alongside us and learn tasks. Some of yours are too little, but some aren't. We used to do it at 4pm on Fridays and then have a fun dinner like frozen pizza. We could usually get done in about two hours if we all worked.

4. We pick up each day. Toys are kept in the family room and I have a cleanup period after each playtime (I call them 5-10 min early so they have time to clean up). This keeps their rooms from becoming clutter zones. We do pickups of public rooms before each meal. If you stay on top of things, this only takes a few minutes.

[Melenie]

I am struggling right along with you! The last 3 weeks I have been so good about planning our new school year and keeping the house tidy, but completely let the bills slip. If one thing is done right something else suffers. Like PP said, I remind myself of my top priorities and do the best I can with those. Everything else can suffer for a bit.

 

A few things that help me are...

I have a daily plan for cleaning and I only do those things on that day. If I do not get to it that week for whatever reason, it rolls over to the next week except for laundry.

I do meal planning at least 2 weeks in advance. I rely on the crock pot as much as DH will tolerate it and this of course also saves money and trips to the store.

No TV, that has been such a time saver for me. I will watch a movie when there is something that I really want to see. What used to be my TV time, after the kids are asleep, has now become my time for planning school activities and reading (something I never felt I had time for).

 

For the most part though, there is always something that is not getting done as well as I would hope.

[sassenach]

In general, if we have had a fantastic home school day, the house will be thrashed. If the house is clean, we probably didn't have a great school day. I am not organized or tidy by nature, so I don't have the expectation that I will ever get it all done. At least not in the same day.

 

Homeschooling IS a full time job. You have to treat your expectations as far as the house is concerned as you would if you were working out of the house all day long. The only difference being that the kids are still home to mess it up. I really just do the best that I can and prioritize from there. For me, the dinner issue was getting out of control, so I have made that a priority. This is my pecking order at the moment-

 

1) clean clothes for DH.

 

2) homeschooling with excellence.

 

3) Meals planned and cooked on time

 

4) everything else!

 

Believe me, a lot falls by the wayside in that everything else category. I try to tackle it a little at a time, focussing on problem areas as I can. I will never have the cleanest house in the world. I also think we're far from being slobs. I shoot for somewhere in between (hopefully landing closer to the super clean side). Give yourself a lot of grace!

[katemary63]

I don't , my house is a mess.

[Audrey]

Delegation is the key.

 

Our number one rule: If you mess it up, you can darn well clean it up.

 

This applies even to very young (3 and up) children. You can show a little child how to pick up toys and put them in the appropriate container, how to pick their bed linens off the floor and put them back on the bed in some semblance of "made bed," how to wipe up little spills and a snotty nose, etc.

 

Older children and spouses can pick up after themselves. It helps to have clearly delineated places where things should go. I.e. one spot for all the laundry to amass, one spot where all the cleaning supplies can be found, etc.

 

Our second rule is: not everything is worth the battle.

 

I don't get fussy about cleaning done by another person that was done in a way *I* might not have done it. If it's really crappily done, then I might consider if that person needs a little help or advice on how to do the job. Other than that, I let it go.

 

Our last rule is: gender is irrelevant to roles in this family.

 

This one is very important here. Just because I'm the only *girl* in the house does not mean I'm the cleaning lady. Everyone who lives here contributes to the maintenance of the household.

 

I work a LOT outside the home (and in my home office) and I appreciate that I have husband who has no problems doing the things that need to be done -- like cooking or cleaning up, or even homeschooling -- when they need to be done, and as he can. During the seeding and harvest seasons, I do the same in regard to work that needs to get done to acheive that.

 

Do I get it *ALL* done? No. But, we have a clean, neat home. Everyone is fed good nutritious meals. The house is maintained. The farm is cared for and maintained. We don't have piles of laundry, repairs, etc. that are lying there waiting to be done.

 

It may not *ALL* be done, but it's done enough.

[abreakfromlife]

I didn't do the math but it looks like our kids are somewhat similar in ages.....I've just started really trying to get on track with housecleaning the past month and doing that and school really well (and meal planning) has left me exhausted....I'm also working occasionally from home and so that is just nuts when I do it..........the past week I've decided to try and do school heavily 3 days a week, and just minimal housework, and then housework heavily 2 days a week and minimal schoolwork on those days.........I don't know how well it will work yet but it seems like that might be a help to me. B/c I can't keep doing both of them all day every day. I'm exhausted by 2 :tongue_smilie:

[Greta]

My house is a mess right now. I had gotten into a good rhythm and felt I had things under control . . . and something went terribly wrong! :D So I recently started doing FlyLady again, and that's helping. The thing I like best about her "program" (if that's the right word) is that you establish routines. So my morning routine includes unloading the dishwasher and getting whatever food(s) I will need for dinner out of the freezer. That way the kitchen is more or less in order throughout the day (breakfast and lunch dishes can go straight into the empty dishwasher) and the food is thawed by the time dh is on his way home.

 

But when I win the lottery, hiring a housekeeper will be one of the first things I do! ;)

[Emmy]

I think it gets easier as you go *but* there are definite sacrifices. Our house will never be as perfect as I'd like because we are IN our house all day long and because I'm often too tired after school is done to really do housework well. Here are some ideas that have helped me:

 

- convince your dh to take on one major thing. My dh does our laundry. All of it. Including putting it away and including setting out clothes in the morning for the kids to put on. He is in charge of all things clothes related. And it's helped me tremendously.

 

- set up a routine for "picking up" the house daily. Assign each of your kids a zone that they are responsible for - at 4:30 (or whatever time...) round them up and tell them it is ZONE TIME. They must pick up their zone, vacuum it, and have it looking spit spot. Sure a 6 year old doesn't do as good a job of this than mom would - but it's better than not being done at all and that 6 yo gets better every week.

 

- Plan your meals and set a timer or alarm or something that will remind you by noon to start your dinner so you don't forget to take stuff out of the freezer. Keep at least 2-3 total freezer meals on hand (like lasagna with garlic bread or another casserole you like...) that way if you can't do anything else you can pop it in the oven at 4:00. I try to have only freezer meals or crock pot meals on school days; I cook on non-school days or on our coop day where we are done at noon.

 

- pick one day a week to do only "essentials" in school so you can actually clean your house.

 

- consider doing a rotation of a few weeks of school and then a week or two off so you can play catch up around the house. I did a 6 week on / 2 week off rotation last year and now this year I'm doing 4 weeks on / 1 week off and it really helps.

 

Hope some of these ideas help spark some ideas of your own - good luck!

[dangermom]

Yup, me too. I can't do everything well, and school gets the priority, so our house is never what I would like it to be. Also I'm not that great a housekeeper anyway, even though I would love to have a clean and tidy home. Also we have quesadillas for dinner more than we ought to!

 

I've moved up to schooling two children this year, and it's harder. I seriously do not know how I would manage more than two (and I know that's pathetic!). But I've also started requiring more from them in the way of chores, which has been a big help. I discovered Managers of their Chores, and although there's no way I'm going to schedule my day out in 15-minute increments :lol: I have got the kids doing a good schedule of jobs morning, lunch, and evening.

 

For myself, I try to follow a schedule I designed from FlyLady. I have jobs I'm supposed to do every day, plus a Zone job. I do not succeed at this terribly well, but we seem to get along.

 

Mostly my priorities fight for dominance. If the house is clean, our schooling suffers and I haven't gotten much sewing done. (Sewing is my other priority.) If school is going well, the house is a wreck. I try to live with it, since I can't afford a housecleaner! It would probably help a lot if I spent less time on the computer, too...

[Guest adgilbert870]

I set up a schedule to do the housework. We only homeschool from 8:00am to noon. So, on Tuesday afternoon I do the weekly cleaning. I also do a daily pickup before I put my son to bed. He is 5 so he can help some.

 

The best advice I have for you is that the priority is homeschooling your children, even if housework has to suffer or you have to get dinner at the Burger Barn. Years from now your kids will not remember how clean the kitchen floor was or whether the TV was dust free, but that you took the time to be their teacher and provide them with an education.

[christielee7278]

Thanks, ladies, for all the responses.

 

I guess I should have mentioned that dh does help out on the weekends and some evenings when he isn't too late for nothing but dinner, shower and bed, but he works out of town quite a bit so it's just the boys and me a lot. It's the sacrifice we have to make so I can stay home with the boys.

 

I appreciate all the advice and commiserating. :001_smile:

[Mommyof4ks]

This is the first year that I have even close to keeping up with it all. My youngest is 3 (4 in May), and they all have chores that we do in the middle of the day, generally after lunch for 30 minutes each day. Everything does not get done everyday, but our house is fairly tidy most of the time. I have found the key is to set aside a time (30 minutes or whatever) each day as part of our schedule and tie game time to it. My kids will do anything for Wii lol. We usually stop and do a toy/book pick up about 15 minutes before DH gets home, so he does not walk into total chaos.

 

Our first priority everyday is school work, eating is second, then cleaning, and then everything else that needs doing. I don't thaw meat from the freezer, so that helps alot! It goes from the freezer to a pan with seasonings and water two hours before DH is to get home. He comes in to the smell of dinner, and it is very quick to throw in some veggies, fruit and bread to round out the meal. I also try to fix enough for two nights and freeze some for those crazy days. We live 20 minutes from the nearest fast food, so it is not very fast! I have a friend that cooks 4 meals on Sat., because she finds it just as easy to pop 4 in as one when the oven is on. She has enough for every week night except Fri., and that is the night they eat out. You will find what works for you, just keep trying new routines.

[iquilt]

What I have found to be a good system for us, so far, is to spend some time the night before planning for the next day. I make sure I know what all 3 main meals will be for the next day and take out anything that needs to defrost. I have our daily lessons planned and ready before I go to bed. My kids are all in bed for quiet time/ reading time by 7:30 so I usually have quiet time for myself to make plan ahead or cook ahead. I often make bread dough to rise in the fridge overnight and to bake in the morning, or bake muffins for breakfast. Also we make sure that we pick up the house before lunch and again before dinner. It got much easier around here when my littles got a bit older, even my ds3 can help empty the dishwasher now. HTH

[Desert Rat]

and I never understood how someone couldn't get it all done. I mean I did lots of school work, stayed on top of laundry, had nice cooked meals at night, and still had time to read.

HA! That has changed in the last three months. Huck and Tom are both doing more school and most of it can't be done together adding extra hours onto our school day. We have sports 4 days a week and Saturdays. I'm team mom for soccer. I clean my folks' house. I used to love to sit and chat with my husband at night and read my book and relax. Now I do a flop on the couch for 30 minutes and then crawl to bed utterly exhausted.

So, now I understand. Oh, do I understand.

I get up an hour before the kids and exercise and get myself ready. While the boys are eating breakfast, I make beds, straighten and start laundry. I change the loads (or Huck does) in between subjects and fold it at the table. I read during to them during lunch and save messy art and science projects for after lunch. I still try to have hot dinners ready 3 days a week even if I wrap up my dh's and take it with us. So far I'm staying on top of it all but I feel myself getting overwhelmed and slipping. So, it's time to cut back. I'm just not sure where. :o

This got really long just to say that it's hard to get it all done, especially with little ones. You do what you can. The only advise I can really suggest is crock pot meals. You start them in the morning or at lunch and your dh will be happy at dinner.

I hope this helps and hang in there.

[jedbel]

I have a hard time with housework as well. I feel that homeschooling + a 2 yr old is a full time job and I cannot get the rest done properly :tongue_smilie:. The cooking for me was a major issue and I felt like I was in the kitchen all day making breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner sigh... it was horrible. I decided to try cooking everything first thing in the morning. I know that it might sound weird but it has really worked! I make it ALL first thing in the morning, the loaf of bread, a pan of muffins, beans or lentils or garbanzo in the pressure cooker, a big pot of brown rice left to warm in the rice cooker, the meat or chicken, everything... I even cut up the fruit for snacks and put it in a glass bowl in the fridge. Then I begin homeschooling and do not have to worry about the cooking for the rest of the day. I cannot explain how this simple change in my daily routine has helped me!

I haven't been able to really come up with a solution to the housework and laundry problems yet though so I am definitely keeping up with this thread.:D

[Mekanamom]

Oh boy. I'm another one who has ranch/farm chores on top of everything.

 

It can't ALL be done EVERY day. (At my house at least.) But here are the things that help me the most:

 

Crock Pot and Rice Steamer with timers

Bread Machine with timer

Roomba Vacuum cleaner

Motivated Moms Chore list

A designated day for running errands and grocery shopping

 

When I am super busy:

Bags of frozen chopped vegetables have saved me more than once. I get the Organic Foursome from Trader Joe's. Pop a bag of those in the crock pot. Cubed chicken (or tofu) goes over that. A bottle of Trader Joe's Simmer Sauce poured over the top, plus a little water. Heat on low for 6-8 hours. Set up the rice cooker and set timer to be done at the same time as the crock pot.

 

This is a complete meal with protein, veggies, carbs, and a yummy sauce. It's easy to keep all the ingredients on hand, too. It takes me about 15 minutes to get it assembled in the morning... WAY easier than stopping everything to cook dinner in the evenings.

 

Cooking double batches will give you ready-made lunches for a couple days.

 

If I know I will be busy for many days in a row, I try to mix up the crock pot meals with other easy dinners... or at least vary what goes into the cock pot as much as possible. ;)

[WTMindy]

It is not possible to "do it all." But, it is possible to homeschool and to keep a clean home if it is a priority. From the time the kids are very little train them to pick things up, and help you. Assign them age-appropriate chores. Make it a big celebration for Daddy to come home. Take 10 minutes before he comes home and tidy things up. Tell the kids that we are so excited for Daddy to come home that we want to make things look nice for him. This teaches the kids to clean, plus it shows the kids that we value Daddy, plus it gets the place tidied up.

 

In terms of meals, it really helps to have a plan. Dh and I usually plan (OK, he usually plans for me) the meals for the week on Sunday. He loves to grocery shop (strange man, I know) so he does most of the grocery shopping for the week.

 

When the kids were younger I used to clean on Monday mornings and they got to watch a movie. Now that they are older I can't take that time away from their school, so we usually clean on the weekends. Now that they are older, they have their own chores to do and don't watch a movie while I clean. :D

 

I only had two kids so it was probably easier for me, but the principles are the same. Tidy regularly and plan ahead.

 

Good luck to you!

[SilverMoon]

I haven't met a homeschooling mother yet that confessed to getting it all done. :lol: One of my most commonly muttered quotes is, "I can give the kids a great homeschool day, or I can get the house clean. Not both!" I try to get it caught up on our lighter days. :)

[christielee7278]

Thanks to ALL of you!!! :001_smile: I appreciate the responses. I've been reading off and on from some of the websites suggestions.

 

I think one thing I really need to work on right now it purging. Our house needs a good spring cleaning so I think we'll do that next week. (I got a head start tonight, though!!! :D)

 

Once we get reorganized, I can sit down and make some clear(er) decisions about what we need to do to stay on track. At least now I can honestly feel ok with NOT being able to do it all...all the time.

 

Thanks!!!

[Lovedtodeath]

My biggest problem is realizing around 5:30 or so when we're either finishing up school work or cleaning up the house that I haven't even begun to think about dinner. And I PLAN our meals!!! I just forget to take something out of the freezer!

 

I do the exact same thing!!!

 

Homeschooling is a full time job. The whole family must consider it so. DH does most of the dishes and helps get the house back in shape on the weekends.

[Cindy in the NH Woods]

 

Priorities mean your house is clean one day (maybe), your kids are educated another day, and you have food to eat the next.:lol:

 

 

 

 

Jean, how did you know? :001_smile:

[Tree House Academy]

I think only the true Type A (and possibly OCD) personalities can truly pull this off. Me...I do a lot on the weekends and during break/after school. However, I also prioritize...if it is between doing a stack of dishes and going out the play in the yard with the kids...the dishes can wait. I will never get back that hour I could have been playing with my kids. My house is no pigsty, but it is not white glove test approved either.

[Susan in KY]

I didn't read all the replies. My bottom line is that I gave up on cleanliness perfectionism. As long as it looks tidy and clean-enough, I am happy! Once or twice a month or so, I go bonkers on something (baseboards, cabinet tops, etc) and really deep-clean that one thing. It makes me feel more in control of things, and the kids get the message I am serious about them picking up after themselves!

 

We run a tidying mission every afternoon just before DH drives up, and I do laundry two or three times a week.

 

Lately, I have been cleaning (read: vacuum house, spot mop kitchen, and disinfect bathrooms) on Mondays (making the kids clean, too), and doing "school lite" (math and language arts) on Mondays to keep up with some semblance of order. That has helped, because when we start the week off clean, we are more likely to end it at least neatly, if not clean.

 

I give the kids their payday on Monday, so they are more likely to hop to in order to earn it! :lol:

 

As far as cooking goes, when I cook a meal that takes some effort, I try to cook enough to put an extra meal in the freezer for those hectic days. I also brown meat and chop onions, etc all in one go, then freeze them in individual meal-size portions so they are ready at my fingertips. That helps a lot on those days I get to 6 or 6:30 and haven't thought about dinner. :tongue_smilie:

 

Sometimes, I can make one part of a dish and freeze it ready-to-go, then make another part of it on a different day, and just put it together. It works well for me. For example, in my freezer I have 50 tablespoon-sized lumps of a filling. At some point, I will have enough time to make the dough, and I will use the lumps as the center of a savory dumpling. It didn't take time at all to make the filling, I just used left-over spinach and ricotta lasagne filling, and mixed it with a little marinara sauce and other ingredients i already had on hand (more spinach, browned beef and sausage, minced onion). It may be three weeks between the prep of the filling and the use of it, but it's there waiting when I get ready. Freezing it in usable portions has drastically reduced my cooking time on the other end, and it really didn't take any extra time to freeze it that way to start with.

 

The biggest help has been getting decluttered, though. It's made my life a lot easier!

 

Hope this helps a little,

 

Susan

[MommaKel]

Working on routines with Flylady is helping. Lowering expectations, mine are unrealistic.

 

Getting the kids to do their part in keeping the household running. They live here, they can pitch in. :001_smile: Teaching them life skills and the house is cleaner. A win-win.