A little goes a long way!

In May I started warning my kids that when school got out their lives were changing. No more free passes around here. My house was in a constant state of chaos and I felt that I never stopped cleaning. It was like that greek mythology story of the man in Hades pushing a huge bolder up the hill and as soon as he gets it to the top, it rolls back down and he has to start over. So, as soon as school started the CHORE CHARTS began.

The first day of summer I sat the kids down with my clipboard. We went through each room showing and writing down every detail on how to clean each and every room. I then typed it all up and made the charts.

Now, this isn't the graph on the wall where the kids put stickers when they've picked up their socks. Nope, this is an individual folder that contains what is expected of that child on each and every day. Having it written out step by step avoids the overwhelmed feeling that kids always get as well as avoids the "I don't know what to do" whine. I change the chores around every week. Eccept laundry day. That stays the same each week. Yep, that's right. Each child (includeing the 4 year old) does their own laundry. Wash, dry, fold and put away. They each get from 2-5 "jobs" a day, depending on the difficulty level. The older two are asigned to help one on the youner two. There are no chores on Saturday and Sunday, except for the kitchen and dog duty. Saturday is yard work. The kids learned pretty quick that if they keep their room clean they have less to do the next day.

I don't want to seem to be wasting my children's summer away, by creating my own little merry maids, so here's what I do for them in return. Every day their chores are done, we do something "fun." Fun can be anything from the zoo, to ice cream, to a nature walk, playdate, making cookies, etc.

The result is amazing. Monday is always the hardest day of cleaning. After the weekend the house is a wreck. Today we had the house clean in 1 and a half hours. Floors done, toilets scrubbed, beds made, dishes clean. For fun we went to the libray and book store. Last night I asked Carson what he liked that I did as a mommy and he said, "well, I kinda like doing my chores." I almost cried.