Big Fat Disclaimer:I would be a  liar if I pretended to 'have it all together' {grin}.  On this page you will read things that we do that work for our family.  As wonderful as these ideas are, they only work *if you {read "I"} do them*!  So, in a perfect world, I have a flawlessly functioning home--we never run out of clean laundry, the floors never get yucky and we never make a mad dash at 8pm to McDonalds...  But, since I don't live in a perfect world....well, ya know how it goes!  The biggest problem is being *consistent*--There's a word for people who are consistent 99.9% of the time.  That word is "inconsistent".  Ouch.  I'm hurting myself here.  Guess my disclaimer is over!  Whew...Read on...there may be some useful nugget here for you!  {smile}

Throughout the years so many young moms (and not-so-young moms) have asked me "How do you do it all?" with amazement, confusion, exhasperation in their voices.  I thought I would share some thoughts here and maybe something the Lord has shown me will be helpful to you :)   We've done many things many different ways throughout the years.  So much depends on the children's ages and the work that needs to be done.

 "I can't do it all!"

Okay, one of the things that helps me most is to remember that I can't do it all.  Say that with me "I can't do it all".  Don't you feel better now?  There's no way one person can do all that has to be done to run a household this size.  I have children.  They can do things besides make messes and play Legos :-).  A wise MOMY once said that as a mother your job is to work yourself out of a job!

Once I began to see myself as the Household MANAGER I lost all those guilty feelings associated with my inabilities to 'do it all'. Chores are good for children.  They help develop a good work ethic.  They bring to light character flaws that need to be addressed.  Got it?  Now that you are on the Chores Bandwagon, I'll explain more how we do things.

LAUNDRY...

yes, laundry deserves to be in all caps!  Our children aged 7 and up learn how to operate the washer and dryer. Children aged four and up can fold or hang most laundry, our children go into Chore Training when they are four and are assigned their first 'real' chores when they are five.  Molly is our Laundry Organizer currently.
 

Mon	Molly does Tony's, Dana's, Nehemiah's laundry
Tue	Sam/Joseph, Caleb/Elijah, Luke/Isaac.  The older is in charge and the younger assists.
Wed	Molly does hers, MaryVance does hers and Molly does kitchen towels
Thu	Jennifer does their family laundry
Fri & Sat	towels and any miscellaneous.

Cloth diapers were done every other night. 
It's a beautiful plan and works ..ya gotta have clean drawers!

 

Keeping house...
I divided the house into Zones.  Each child has one or more zones they are responsible for.  We have Zone Check twice a day, once in the morning and once before Daddy gets home.  The older, more responsible children have the harder chores--the younger have the easier ones.  Makes sense, right?

Here's how this idea plays out in our house:  

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
Living room	Sam	Luke	Sam	Luke	Sam	Luke
Play room*	Luke	MaryVance	Luke	MaryVance	Luke	MaryVance
Hallway	MaryVance
Laundry Room	Molly
Bathrooms	MaryVance, Elijah, Isaac, Joseph
Sewing room	Me
Office & Pantry	Molly

*The little boys help if it's a real disaster area in there!

 Mealtime Chores

Ahhh.... Mealtime chores...  We've done these lots of ways over the years.  When the children start to get
bored or they have mastered their chore, we change the way we do things.

Currently, we do Meal Chores in a type of 'zone' too.
 

Set the table	MaryVance and Luke, alternating meals and days
Clear the table	MaryVance
Wash dishes	Supper:Caleb, Sam and Luke alternate washing/rinsing/putting away  Breakfast/Lunch: Kitchen Day person

 

 

One of the older five has a Kitchen Day, on that day they do not do school but they keep the kitchen running, do a deep clean of the kitchen and dining room and do breakfast and lunch dishes.

Cooking... 

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
Breakfast	Molly/Luke	Molly/MV	Molly/Luke	Molly/MV	Molly/Luke	Molly/MV
Lunch	Sam	Molly	Caleb	Sam	Molly	Caleb
Supper	*	Sam	*	Molly	Molly	Caleb

  *These were originally my nights to make supper but Molly has taken over my kitchen!  humph!  
Whoever is cooking decides on the menu ahead of time :) 

 

CHECKLISTS

I am also a firm believer in Checklists!  For each Zone there is a checklist of what needs to be accomplished.  The children know what to do, what is expected and they all love checking things off their list.  Checklists can be done a mirad of ways but here is one as an example:

 

 

  

BATHROOM CLEANING CHECKLIST	M	T	W	T
Flush toilet
Clear off back of toilet
Put toothbrushes where they belong
Using a dry paper towel and a few sprays of window cleaner, wipe off the mirror
Get a cleaning washcloth, wet it with warm water, squeeze it out
Spray the sink with cleaner and wipe off sink and counter with washcloth
Lift the toilet seat, put in cleaner, let sit
Spray the outside of toilet, tank top, back and lid
Lift the lid and spray the top and bottom of the ring
Spray the potty seat
Wipe off all the areas you sprayed
Rinse out washcloth
Bag up trash and sit in hallway
Put trash can in hallway
Sweep, making sure to get corners behind the toilet and behind the door
Check corners for cobwebs and get them
Scrub toilet--make sure it’s clean!
Using spray cleaner, spray around the base of the toilet and any other floor spots that look dirty on the floor
Wipe off the floor where you sprayed with the washcloth you used earlier
Take the dirty washcloth to the laundry room & get a liner from the pantry
Put a liner in the trash can and put it back
Take the trash to the outside trashcan
Inspect your work