I am the kind of mom that likes everything done correctly and well. It is much more satisfying to do all the chores myself and not worry about them being poorly done, but I was burning myself out cleaning while my kids watched too much tv and we weren't spending much time together. I have never been very good at keeping a routine or schedule and have tried several different chore routines, but none of them worked.
Why they didn't work:
I only tried them for a week.
I wasn't consistent.
I wanted more time with my kids and less time stressing about my house, but I still wanted a clean house. I came across 2 books called Managers of Their Homes and Managers of Their Chores and sat down and read them both. They are written by Steve and Teri Maxwell parents of a large homeschooled family (they have 8 kids) and they are well put together. The system they use is amazing and makes excellent use of your time, but it was a little overwhelming for me. It was super fun making up the schedules and meshing them all together and planning everything out and making lists of every possible chore we'd ever need to do, but when it came to actually doing it, it only lasted a few weeks.
Although I wasn't very consistent with it, what I loved about Managers of Their Chores was that the kids could, at any time of day, look at their chart and know what they were supposed to be doing. They really enjoyed it and it eliminated the "Mom, what can I do??? I'm bored!". They were eager and excited about it and they were much more relaxed as they knew what was next at any given moment.
I am using their system again, but I have tweaked it a bit to fit our family and I really like how it's working. It looks a little overwhelming, but is actually quite simple and functional and flexible - which I love!
What I did:
1. I made a list of all the chores that would ever need to be done in each room or area of the house. (including things that are seasonal and not done very often) This is my Master Chore List and I keep it in a binder.
2. I started with the youngest child and wrote out under their name all the chores that I thought they were capable of and next to it I wrote the frequency of the chore. I even included things like - washing hands, brushing teeth, etc.
3. I tried to make each child's list "even" or equal-ish number of chores per kid, although the older kids got a few extra chores than the little ones.
4. Whatever was left was for me to do and went under my name.
5. I then made a chart for each person which includes BEFORE BREAKFAST, MORNING, AFTERNOON, AFTER SUPPER, and BEFORE BED categories. I listed the chores under the name according to what time of day it would be done, with a check box next to it.
6. The less frequent chores were assigned specific days, for example: Mopping and dusting on Monday, wiping the cupboard fronts and cleaning the tub on Tuesday, wiping the dining room chairs and watering plants on Wednesday, etc.
7. I also had a few chores that needed to be done once a month or every other month or every six months, so I would assign these to the first Saturday of the month, or the second Saturday of April and October, etc.
So each day, I would start at the top of my list before breakfast and check things off as I went and if it was a Monday I would skip all the chores that were not daily and were not assigned to that day, and just do the ones listed under "daily" or "Monday". You can also add the length of time you anticipate each chore to take, but is totally unnecessary. I also added a column where I could list the initial of the child that would do a certain chore with me (I help them with some of their chores or let them help me in order to teach them how to do it). I print off the list once a week and stick it to the corkboard in an area that we will see it regularly. If you don't want to print it off, you could laminate it and use a dry erase marker on it.
A routine works much better for us than a rigid schedule, which is why I went with general times of day instead of specific times. If the list doesn't get done, it's not a big deal. We skip whatever's left undone and go on to the next day because we are still getting tons done anyway and things are running a lot smoother than if we were just winging it. The beautiful thing is that it takes the daily thought out of it and I don't have to worry about my house not being cleaned, because as long as we're sort of "on track" everything will get done sooner or later and with much less stress!
At the end of this post is a sample of what my chore list looks like (it's much longer than the ones I have for the kids, but actually not overwhelming considering that more than half of what is listed will not be assigned on a given day.) Tomorrow I will go into what chores are appropriate for what age children.
Why they didn't work:
I only tried them for a week.
I wasn't consistent.
I wanted more time with my kids and less time stressing about my house, but I still wanted a clean house. I came across 2 books called Managers of Their Homes and Managers of Their Chores and sat down and read them both. They are written by Steve and Teri Maxwell parents of a large homeschooled family (they have 8 kids) and they are well put together. The system they use is amazing and makes excellent use of your time, but it was a little overwhelming for me. It was super fun making up the schedules and meshing them all together and planning everything out and making lists of every possible chore we'd ever need to do, but when it came to actually doing it, it only lasted a few weeks.
Although I wasn't very consistent with it, what I loved about Managers of Their Chores was that the kids could, at any time of day, look at their chart and know what they were supposed to be doing. They really enjoyed it and it eliminated the "Mom, what can I do??? I'm bored!". They were eager and excited about it and they were much more relaxed as they knew what was next at any given moment.
I am using their system again, but I have tweaked it a bit to fit our family and I really like how it's working. It looks a little overwhelming, but is actually quite simple and functional and flexible - which I love!
What I did:
1. I made a list of all the chores that would ever need to be done in each room or area of the house. (including things that are seasonal and not done very often) This is my Master Chore List and I keep it in a binder.
2. I started with the youngest child and wrote out under their name all the chores that I thought they were capable of and next to it I wrote the frequency of the chore. I even included things like - washing hands, brushing teeth, etc.
3. I tried to make each child's list "even" or equal-ish number of chores per kid, although the older kids got a few extra chores than the little ones.
4. Whatever was left was for me to do and went under my name.
5. I then made a chart for each person which includes BEFORE BREAKFAST, MORNING, AFTERNOON, AFTER SUPPER, and BEFORE BED categories. I listed the chores under the name according to what time of day it would be done, with a check box next to it.
6. The less frequent chores were assigned specific days, for example: Mopping and dusting on Monday, wiping the cupboard fronts and cleaning the tub on Tuesday, wiping the dining room chairs and watering plants on Wednesday, etc.
7. I also had a few chores that needed to be done once a month or every other month or every six months, so I would assign these to the first Saturday of the month, or the second Saturday of April and October, etc.
So each day, I would start at the top of my list before breakfast and check things off as I went and if it was a Monday I would skip all the chores that were not daily and were not assigned to that day, and just do the ones listed under "daily" or "Monday". You can also add the length of time you anticipate each chore to take, but is totally unnecessary. I also added a column where I could list the initial of the child that would do a certain chore with me (I help them with some of their chores or let them help me in order to teach them how to do it). I print off the list once a week and stick it to the corkboard in an area that we will see it regularly. If you don't want to print it off, you could laminate it and use a dry erase marker on it.
A routine works much better for us than a rigid schedule, which is why I went with general times of day instead of specific times. If the list doesn't get done, it's not a big deal. We skip whatever's left undone and go on to the next day because we are still getting tons done anyway and things are running a lot smoother than if we were just winging it. The beautiful thing is that it takes the daily thought out of it and I don't have to worry about my house not being cleaned, because as long as we're sort of "on track" everything will get done sooner or later and with much less stress!
At the end of this post is a sample of what my chore list looks like (it's much longer than the ones I have for the kids, but actually not overwhelming considering that more than half of what is listed will not be assigned on a given day.) Tomorrow I will go into what chores are appropriate for what age children.
| Mom | Chore | Est.Time | When | With | M | T | W | TH | F | S |
| Daily | Make beds | 5 min | B4 brkfst | JD | ||||||
| Tidy bedroom | 10 min | B4 brkfst | ||||||||
| Make Dad's lunch | 10 min | B4 brkfst | D | |||||||
| Get dressed | 15 min | B4 brkfst | JDK | |||||||
| Brush hair | 20 min | B4 brkfst | JD | |||||||
| Inspections | 10 min | All chore times | ||||||||
| Brush teeth | 5 min | B4 brkfst | JDK | |||||||
| Wash hands | 5 min | B4 brkfst | JD | |||||||
| Tidy bathroom | 5 min | Morning | ||||||||
| Tidy back entrance | 5 min | Morning | L | |||||||
| Vacuum back entrance | 5 min | Morning | ||||||||
| Teach chores | Morning | JD | ||||||||
| Wash/dry 2 lds laundry | Morning | D | ||||||||
| Sweep kitchen/dining room | 5 min | Morning | ||||||||
| Fold/put away laundry | 20 min | Afternoon | JD | |||||||
| Organize | 1 hour | Afternoon | ||||||||
| Music practice | 30 min | Afternoon | J | |||||||
| Tidy dining room/kitchen | 10 min | Afternoon | ||||||||
| Make dinner | 30 min | Afternoon | LJ | |||||||
| Supper dishes & counters | 20 min | Evening | ||||||||
| Put dishes away | 5 min | Evening | ||||||||
| Clean kitchen sink | 2 min | Evening | ||||||||
| Pack diaper bags | 10 min | Evening | ||||||||
| School Marking | 20 min | Evening | ||||||||
| Journal | 20 min | Evening | ||||||||
| Floss & teeth | 10 min | Evening | JDK | |||||||
| Weekly | Clean & organize top fridge | 20 min | Monday | |||||||
| Clean microwave | 10 min | Monday | ||||||||
| Make bread | 30 min | Monday | LJ | |||||||
| Wipe washer/dryer | 5 min | Tuesday | J | |||||||
| Iron clothing | 30 min | Tuesday | ||||||||
| Straighten school/craft | 20 min | Tuesday | ||||||||
| Wash windows | 20 min | Wednesday | ||||||||
| Wash bathmat | Wednesday | |||||||||
| Straighten bathroom shelves | 5 min | Wednesday | ||||||||
| Menu planning | 1 hour | Wednesday | ||||||||
| Take out garbage/recycling | 10 min | Thursday | ||||||||
| Bake | 30 min | Thursday | ||||||||
| Wipe shelves in fridge | 10 min | Friday | ||||||||
| Throw out leftovers | 5 min | Friday | ||||||||
| School planning | 30 min | Friday | ||||||||
| Buy groceries | 3 hours | Friday | ||||||||
| Run errands | 3 hours | Friday | ||||||||
| Groom kids nails & ears | Saturday | |||||||||
| Clean inside Suburban | 10 min | Saturday | ||||||||
| Tidy suburban | 5 min | Saturday | ||||||||
| Clean tub & shower | 10 min | Saturday | ||||||||
| Clean bedroom | 5 min | Saturday | ||||||||
| Dust bedroom | 2 min | Saturday | ||||||||
| Sweep bedroom | 5 min | Saturday | ||||||||
| Empty bedroom garbage | 2 min | Saturday | ||||||||
| Change sheets | 10 min | Saturday | JDK | |||||||
| Straighten drawers | 10 min | Saturday | ||||||||
| Write letters & thank yous | 20 min | Sunday | ||||||||
| Weekly x2 | Mop kitchen & dining room | 20 min | Mon/Thurs | |||||||
| Weed gardens* | 20 min | Wed/Sat | LJ | |||||||
| Bath kids | 30 min | Tues/Sat | JDK | |||||||
| Shower | Tues/Sat | |||||||||
| Clean toilet | 5 min | Mon/Sat | ||||||||
| Weekly x3 | Water gardens* | Mon/Wed/Fri | ||||||||
| Every other week | Clean crib doors & bars | 15 min | Monday | |||||||
| Wipe kitchen chairs | 30 min | Tuesday | L | |||||||
| Household repairs | 30 min | Wednesday | L | |||||||
| Wash shower curtain | 10 min | Friday | ||||||||
| Pay bills | Friday | |||||||||
| Monthly | Clean carseats & diaper bags | 15 min | Monday | L | ||||||
| 1st week | Vacuum suburban | 10 min | Saturday | |||||||
| Wash inside suburban windows | 10 min | Saturday | L | |||||||
| Mending | 1 hour | Tuesday | ||||||||
| Check smoke detectors | Wednesday | |||||||||
| Boil toothbrushes | Thursday | |||||||||
| Straighten/organize closets | 30 min | Friday | L | |||||||
| Every 6 months | Make Dentist/Doc appts. | Monday | ||||||||
| Mar/Oct | Flip mattresses | 10 min | Saturday | L | ||||||
| Clean playpen | 10 min | Saturday | ||||||||
| Dust ceilings in basement | 20 min | Saturday | ||||||||
| Dust ducts & furnace | 20 min | Saturday | L | |||||||
| Yearly | Take family pic | October | ||||||||
| Mail pic & newsletter | November |
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