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Written by Rachel Paxton
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Sunday, 15 July 2007 |
Our family's cleaning and chore schedules have varied widely over
the years. In two short years we have gone from having one
teenager in the home to having two teenagers and two toddlers.
In the past I have tended to do much of the housework myself,
with help off and on from my teenage daughter. Our cleaning
schedule was very different then. We got away with vacuuming
once or twice a week and didn't even do the dishes every day.
Our lifestyle changed dramatically when I was pregnant with our
twins. It got to the point I could do no housework at all. At
the time my daughter was 17 years old, attending community
college, and working at a part time job. I was not requiring her
to do much housework because of her busy schedule. While I was
pregnant we both decided she would quit her job and work for me
instead, doing housework, cooking dinner, and doing grocery
shopping for me. This arrangement worked very well for us and I
enjoyed the extra time we got to spend together. She was able to
easily find a new part time job after her brothers were born and
I started doing more housework again.
After the birth of our twins my teenage step-daughter moved in
with us. It wasn't until the boys began to crawl and then walk
that the housework became totally unmanageable and I had to admit
I couldn't do it all on my own. That is when we started our
daily "chore chart".
First I wrote down the chores with which I needed the most help:
Daily Chores
- Dishes, clean kitchen
- Pick up and vacuum living room and dining room
- Take out kitchen garbage
Twice-a-Week Chores
- Mop kitchen floor
- Clean litter box
- Do a load of laundry
Once-a-Week Chores
- Take out all garbages
- Put garbage can up on street
- Clean bedroom
- Clean kids' bathroom
This cleaning schedule has worked very well for us. I choose to
cook dinner every evening because I enjoy it. Between cooking,
feeding the boys, and getting them ready for bed, that is about
all I have time for in an evening. Having the girls do the other
chores is a huge help.
When I created the schedule, I did keep in mind the girls'
outside activities. For instance, if I know one of the girls has
an activity one night I won't have her do the dishes that night.
I have set up a schedule where each night one daughter picks up
and vacuums and the other daughter does the dishes. Those are
the two biggest chores. Then they usually have one other small
chore. Most nights their chores take 20 minutes or less, but
save me at least an hour of extra work. On Saturdays they clean
their bedrooms, and take turns cleaning their bathroom.
We haven't had any problems getting the girls to do their chores.
First of all, they can't go anywhere until their chores are done.
If they still choose not to do their chores they will not get
their allowance. Although one daughter also has a part time job
we also decided to give her a small allowance for doing household
chores because she spends so much of the rest of her time doing
homework and working at her other job. We wanted to give her a
small incentive and to let her know her help is appreciated.
We keep track of chores on a dry erase board that has a calendar
pre-printed on it. Every month I write in the days for the new
month and write in the girls' chores for every day. There is no
confusion as to who has what chores.
You can adjust your chore charts to suit your needs. You may not
need your living room vacuumed every day like we do. Chores can
be varied according to how many children you have and their ages.
Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom who is the author of
What's for Dinner?, an e-cookbook containing more than 250 quick
easy dinner ideas. For more recipes, organizing tips, home
decorating, crafts, holiday hints, and more, visit Creative
Homemaking at http://www.creativehomemaking.com.
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