Over the years I have had( as everyone else) to learn how to adapt and adjust my schedule according to the activities and ages of our children. When I only had 2 young children my home stayed clean and organized, but when our third child came along it all came to a screeching stop. I remember one particular day when my sister stopped by and was shocked at the clutter and toys and general chaotic condition of my home. She asked " what happened?" I simple stated " 3 kids"...I also remember another visitor, a dear friend of my husband's who was from Pakistan, he dropped by and , as usual, my home was rather messy. I apologetically invited him into our home. He responded with " you are a mom and you have a house full of kids, if your home is perfect all the time you are spending too much time on your house and not enough time with your kids" . I have taken that tidbit of wisdom and live by it and have passed it on. I had a clean home, but not a perfect home. For most of you that read this blog, you will not be able to relate to having a large family or HS them.
I set aside 2 days a week to do what I call Major House cleaning, then just maintain the other days. Mondays and Thursdays ( it used to be Fridays- but just couldnt get it in with the errands). This way I clean up after the weekend and before the weekend.
We always used a chore chart, I started off teaching my kids by giving them 1 chore for a week, then would rotate. When my youngest 2 were too young to do a chore alone, they paired up with an older sibling to work together. As they got older I changed to dividing the house into 5 areas and gave each child a section and rotated each day. On Saturdays they would clean outside, vehicles, garage or whatever extra and Sundays was a day of rest- no chores. Chores started as early as 18 months, helping me with things they could do, ie helping with laundry ( carrying the washcloths to bathroom cabinet), helping pick up toys and clean their room.
I would also give myself some guidelines to keep me from getting overwhelmed with jobs that needed to be done. I would assign days to focus on certain tasks- Tues- sewing ,mending, ironing. I taught my kids to iron by stating with pillow cases-even my boys have learned how to use an iron. Thursdays, also meant yard day- and as the boys were old enough to do the yard the focus changed to girls cleaned inside and boys did outside. ( The boys learned how to clean everything inside too - it just need the help with the yard ) Wed- baking. Saturday evening were used to make sure all the clothes needed for church on Sunday were ready-ironing of shirts or finding of shoes and socks- cut down on the frustrations on Sunday morning. A quick word to moms of boys, teach them to cook- whoever was in the kitchen had to help prepare the meals.
Laundry has ALWAYS been a challenge- As soon as my kids were old enough - about 10- I gave them their own laundry basket and taught them how to seperate and do laundry. Then the were each given a day of the week to do their laundry. This cut down on the mad rush for the washer and laundry from piling up, as bad. On the chore chart I had a laundry day and on those days I would pay my kids to do extra loads of clothes- they must be washed and dried to get paid. Here is how that would work- their personal laundry, 2 loads of general wash, then anything over that was paid at 50 cents per load. This gave them the opportunity of earning money and incentive to get the laundry done on their day to do wash.
This brings me to the subject of allowances- we tried allowances but found my kids were not as motivated to do chores or any extra jobs around that might need to be done. So I did work out a plan of "paying" my kids for extras. There again were guidelines- room had to be clean, school work completed and a daily chore- all done without complaining, arguing or reminding. Then, if I had some particular task that needed to be done, they could earn extra money by doing a good job, but it had to be done right... I am a stickler on that one. Example would be extra laundry, or pulling weeds in the garden, sweeping the garage or porches- just what ever I needed done, they had an opportunity to earn money for going over and beyond the basics.
Now comes to our school schedule- I started out, as most ambitious hs moms with the traditional big breakfasts. After several years of battling the breakfast dishes and getting school going at a decent our- Big family breakfast fell by the wayside- My kids were old enough to make their own breakfast and clean up their own mess- We do this today. Unless its a special occasion- When Charles comes home he loves getting up and making breakfast and getting the kids up to eat with him. School started at 9, lunch at 12 and resumed at 1230 and ended when assignments were completed- usually around 2-3. Some days earlier and somedays later. We would do 1/2 days on Fridays. I general focused on spelling test, math tests and chapter tests on those days. When my children were in elementary school, because I still had younger children, the schedule was bit different- lunch at 12 then 2 hour rest time on their beds reading books quietly. I needed the break and rest, i also took this time to get supper started. School usually went to 330 then, if needed. No matter what- school was finished at 4 pm. I had to have time to get dinner completed and let my kids get outside and run around.
At 5 pm ( when Charles was working stateside), we would transition to the driveway and get out skates, scooters and chalk- and play while waiting on him to come home.
Now these schedules and chores were general guidelines that I used to keep me motivated and on task. There was always room for field trips, emergencies, play dates and ministry. Our schedules were also changing as our kids got older and were involved in extracurricular activities. That is where the love affair with my crockpot began--- but thats for another time!
I use alot of the guidelines today, as I am still a sahm and hs mom. My job is my home and family. Though I have much more freedom in my schedule and hs 1 highschool girl is so much less demanding.
I hope this encourages you and you can gleen something from what I have learned!
