Day 11 or, chores and housework

Excuses Reasons why every other chore schedule I have ever tried has not worked:

~ multiple tools and/ or cleaners needed each day

~ too difficult to teach multiple kids multiple skills on the same day

~ the day's chores seemed too big/ too overwhelming/ too time-consuming

~ too difficult to monitor everyone ("don't expect what you can't inspect")

Solution? One cleaning chore, one set of cleaning tools, over the whole house, on the same day, time and ability to work with the kids and make sure they are doing the job thoroughly and properly. It takes 20 minutes max. each day, usually closer to 15 (except for Monday, but that is still only five minutes or so at a time).

The schedule:

Monday~ Big Laundry Day. We wash everything that we aren't wearing, and all towels, kitchen linens, etc. (but not bedding). Throughout the week I pop in a load here and there as needed. Gracie is learning to do the laundry entirely on her own, The Boy is learning to sort and load (but still can't reach the controls), and everyone folds and puts away their own laundry. We use homemade laundry soap, and all of the kids know how to make it (though it usually ends up being Baby's job).

Tuesday~ Bathrooms. Counters, tubs and toilets are three different jobs. When one skill is mastered, we rotate (right now Hubby does the tubs since the littles can't reach and Gracie and I have bad knees).

Wednesday~ Dusting, all glass and mirrors. All of the kids can manage to dust and do windows to a certain degree (depending on height), and all can clean the glass tables. Gracie or I do the mirrors.

Thursday~ Vacuuming (hard floors and carpets). All kids can manage this one (and Baby loves it!). It's easy to divide the house up evenly- one kid does each floor, I do the stairs.

Friday~ Mop all hard floors. We have textured ceramic tile with a very deep grout in the kitchen and all three bathrooms, which is very difficult to mop (and very hard on my back). My parents gave me a Shark for Christmas which we'll be trying out for the first time this week- can't wait! (and hoping the kids can manage it ;-)

Saturday~ Big Projects (this week it was putting away Christmas decorations), sheets and bedding.

Sunday~ Rest. Ahhh... And planning for the upcoming week, but that's a Happy Chore.

Keep in mind that it took a few months to work out what works best for our family, but now it works.