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Chore charts, schedules, rotations?
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I was reading another post where Becca mentioned she has a multi-week rotation for chores, kind of like FlyLady. I am really trying to establish some new habits (for me AND the kids) in this area… just better routines and such. I would love to hear what has worked or not worked for people, maybe even see some schedules if anyone has some they like to share.
I feel like laundry is the only thing I have a good handle on…the rest is hit or miss right now, in part because we just moved, and partially because even though it’s been a year since my college kids left I still haven’t really adjusted to the younger ones doing househole chores as much they really should. <sigh>
I recently made a chart for me that is really working well. I made a list of daily, weekly and monthly chores. I laminated it so I can check it off each day. For daily I have broken into time of day.
morning:
start laundry
Unload dishwasher
Make bed
Weekly chore (I choose)
15 min tidy
Afternoon:
Laundry to dryer (if hasn’t been done yet)
Clean up lunch
15 min tidy
Weekly chore
Monthly chore
Fold laundry
Evening:
Put away laundry
Load dishwasher
Wipe counters
15 min tidy
Weekly chore
Then I made a list of weekly chores I have 20, because I do one 3 times a day and that gives me 1 day to do one less. Also if I only get to 2 some days I just check them off until they are all done, even if it takes 1.5 weeks I stead of 1 week. Here is this list
Sweep
Sweep
Mop
Toilets/sinks
Showers
Bathrooms
Kitchen cabinets (mine are white) appliances
Master bedroom tidy/dust
Kids room
Tidy All surfaces
Trouble area
Sheets
Car
Weed garden
Weed front beds
Pick up back yard
Front porch
Empty bath trash
Tidy pantry/ fridge
Bills/calendar/mail
I really like beig able to choose what I do each day. That way Everythig gets done but on the day I want to do it. I also have a monthly list. It has about 40 things on it, including really easy stuff like change a/c filter, and 2 project days, so I can designate a day to work on 1/2 done house projects. Or the inside of the dish washer which is just running a cup a vinegar through. So some days are easier less time consuming than others.
I usually only do 2 of the 15 minute tidy ones during the day but when I first set up the plan I needed to play catch up. I really only spend about 45 min each day now.
About the kids. They are only 4 and 3 so their chores are to clean u proud, brush teeth, help load/unload dish washer, feed the dog, make their beds. We don’t have a check list for them because it is everyday keep the house clean type stuff
I recently saw the following chart which gives ideas of what chores your kids are capable of by age. Found it helpful…maybe it will help you or give you some ideas for your habit training.
Toddler (ages 2–3)
● Pick up/ put away toys
● Unload the dishwasher (silverware, plastic cups, tupperware)
● Dust with feather duster/microfiber rag
● Swiffer the floor
● Put clothes in the dirty clothes hamper
● Collect dirty clothes
● Help move clothes from washer to dryer
● Put clothes away
● Make bed
● Wipe cabinets
● Wipe baseboards (soapy water)Preschooler (ages 4–5)
● All previous chores
● Load the dishwasher
● Vacuum couch/ chairs/ cushions
● Take out recycling
● Set table
● Clear table
● Wash dishes (with supervision)
● Clean windows
● Wipe out bathroom sinks
● Match socks
● Fold dish towels
● Weed
● Water indoor plants
● Feed petsEarly Elementary (ages 6–8)
● All previous chores
● Meal prep (wash produce, find ingredients, simple cutting)
● Wipe bathroom sinks, counters, toilets
● Hang out laundry
● Sweep
● Vacuum
● Collect garbage
● Get mail
● Fold/hang laundry
● Clean microwave
● Rake leavesElementary (ages 9–11)
● All previous chores
● Make simple meals
● Take garbage/ recycling to the curb
● Wash/ dry clothes
● Clean toilets
● Mop floorsMiddle School (ages 12–14)
● All previous chores
● Clean tub/ shower
● Make full meals/ meal plan
● Clean out fridge/ freezer
● Mow yard
● Supervise younger children’s choresThat’s a great list! And I think my 2 year old does all of those things himself! And my 4 year old does a lot of them. I both kids love to sweep, so I tape a square off on the floor and tell them to sweep everything into the square, it works really well.
Well I try to keep things flexible and simple but still have a focus to each day beside the daily work. I recently made up a pretty schedule of the of the plan I had been using and put it in a frame behind glass so that I could use it as a reusable white board/checklist.
so the little list of daily job reminders looks like this:
Daily Work
-schooling
-meals
-general tidying
-sorting laundry
-small cleaning jobs (as needed)
-small yard jobs (as needed)
-kitchen jobs
~dishes
~garbage
~sweeping
~compost
~wiping surfaces
~supervising kids cards (kids specific chores)
I use a dry erase marker to check things off and then others in the household can easily see what still needs to be done in order to help when needed as well.
my weekly schedule is broken into days and each one is given a focus.
so Monday
*baking, freezer restocking, pantry restocking
*daily work
then I have checkboxes under that heading with spaces to write in dry erase what the exact jobs will be under that category. so today I have , scones, granola, fruit leather, Etc, etc. depending on the needs of that day.
Tuesday
*laundry,
*outings, visits
*daily work
there is the same room for specifics to written under that as well as all other days.
Wednesday
*planning, calendar updating, e-mails and letters caught up
*small décor projects
*daily work
Thursday
*organizing jobs
*wash sheets, linens
*daily work
Friday
*mid-deep cleaning jobs
*daily work
I will give what is written in the checkoff spaces now from last week so you have an example. I write things in as I see that they are needed. I don’t think everything needs to be done every week. Though bathrooms usually are and smaller vacuuming jobs get done throughout the week as needed as part of daily work. So last week has these jobs written in…
_bathrooms
_floors
_windows
_walls
_dusting and furniture polishing
SatSun
*yardwork
*outings and shopping
*daily work
I don’t know if that was clear as mud or if I made it understandable. It would be much easier if I could just show you because it is not very complicated and it is quite flexible as well.
HTH
-Miranda
I just bought a download from motivated moms. I had a coupon from a convention so got $2 off, so I’m invested $6.50.
Anyway, my kids are 7&8 and it is working great. it is very similar to Fly lady I think, but I printed out the year and have in a notebook. It has daily chores that I mainly do and then I go through the list with kids and they get to pick which ones they think they can do or want to learn to do. I then have them write them down along with their goals for the day and then they check off from their list and turn into me so that I can add what they did to the family services schedule in the CMorganizer.
It gives them about 4 very small quick chores that I would never think of or take time to schedule. my son chose to dust window sills and clean all computer/tv screens. that sort of thing. I tend to think more in whole roooms, where this breaks it up into jobs throughout the house. Like wipe all light & plug covers. That kind of thing, but all in all things are looking smashing around here & best part is that they get to see what all goes into home maintenance and I don’t have to do it all. LOL
They also have a section on the printout for you to enter daily appointments and menu planning for the day too. So, almost could use for a daily written planner for other stuff than school.
Well, I only have 2 children and I like simple. Sat. mornings are generally free for us so it’s chore day. If we have plans/company, we move it to Friday. Each kids has set chores every Sat. One vacuums and dusts upstairs, the other other vacuums and dusts downstairs. One cleans 2 bathrooms, the other cleans one bathroom and empties small garbages. I do mopping. I much prefer this to small bits every day…just how my mind works….and it only takes about an hour w/the 3 of us.
Dishes are on rotation too….one night hubby and son clean up dinner, the next night daughter and I clean up dinner. After breakfast and lunch they know to put own dishes in dishwasher and anything they get out back in fridge, etc.
I do laundry, they put their clothes away. I need to train them in this, but probably won’t make it a permanent chore…they already clean most of the house and are mostly independent in school work…so I feel I should do it.
I don’t have a good plan for the blinds, etc. Would love to incorporate those. We just wait until stuff like that looks dirty and then hubby or I generally do it…but would like to add maybe an extra chore on Sat. for that sort of thing.
Don’t know if that helps, but it works for us:) Blessings, Gina
My kids (8, 6, and 4 years old) have the following posted in the kitchen:
A. Morning Routine – this is things like making their bed, putting jammies away, brushing teeth.
B. Job cards – 3 jobs on each card, all the daily things like unloading/loading dishwasher, starting a load of laundry, sweeping, clearing the table, helping make supper, etc. Each of us do one card after each meal (or before, in the case of making supper LOL). I do my own card and assist DD4 with hers, but the other two can handle everything on their own. The cards rotate daily, so everyone learns to do all the regular tasks. Each card is worth 20 minutes of screen time if done in a reasonable amount of time.
C. Weekly jobs – Each job card include one ‘weekly job’, which is things like vacuuming, toilets, mirrors, a quick wipe of kitchen cupboard handles and other spots, taking out trash, etc. These are divided into small chunks (one toilet, vacuum one room, wipe 3 cupboards, etc.) so that we each do a small job with each Job Card. We are usually done the whole weekly job list by Friday, so on weekends we just have the basics.
D. Paid jobs – these are all the extra things like cleaning inside the fridge, organizing cupboards, cleaning inside trash bins, and so on. Flylady would call these ‘detailed cleaning’. Each week I post the paid jobs for the zone we are in (I made up my own zones, but similar to Flylady.) Each job has a money value, between 20 cents and a dollar. The kids can chose to do any of these jobs if they want to earn some money. If not, I work on them as I have a chance. We finish everything on the list, even if it takes a few months, and then start again.
It sounds complicated, but once I figured out how to divide up all the jobs, it’s simple to maintain. It’s my personalized version of Flylady, who is brilliant, but doesn’t live in my house with 5 young kids (we also take care of 2 year old twins full time.)
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