Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Okay, yes, I do have my hands full!

In exactly the sense that they mean it! My day isn't long enought to do all the things that ought to be done. Thankfully, I'm not one of those people who stresses terribly over that kind of thing. All the same, things need to be done around here, ya know?!

I have to admit that I really do more than I personally ought to be doing with all the other little hands in my home. The older kids do some simple chores around the house. Make beds, of course, empty trash, unload the dishwasher, vacuum to an extent, clean out pet cages. It's time to pass some of those on and have the older ones doing some more difficult things. Yesterday I had my 2 and 4 year old kiddos unloading/loading the washer and dryer (with a little kitchen step ladder) and they also emptied the dishwasher while I had the 6 yo load the dishes in. The older kids helped fold laundry but they're horrible at it. That's going to need some work. Sweeping the floor is something else that I need to train some kids to do. While I ask them to sweep from time to time I always have to go back and do it over. I guess the key would be for me to make THEM go back and do it until it's done properly. Ugh!! So not my idea of a fun time. But it's not about fun, is it?

Do any of you have other suggestions for what kids ages 9 (almost), 7, 6 and 4 could be doing around the house? And while you're at it, how do you go about training them WELL? Somebody, give me some thoughts!!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Talking about getting kids to help - my most recent success that I'm personally thrilled about is the Hannah cleaning the kitchen floor. I started realizing I couldn't keep the kitchen floor clean. After every meal there would be crumbs, sticky jelly, milk, etc. I was mopping all the time and then there would be spots that needed to be scrubbed by hand. I found myself frustrated because I had just cleaned the floor and it needed cleaning again. When I find myself frustrated (by the same thing repeatedly) I know to do something to change it. Soooo . . . Since Hannah LOVES to help Mommy and have a "chore" that is just for her to do, I built up this idea of keeping the kitchen floor clean. She loves it because she gets to use the swiffer vac (and gets to charge it), and she gets to use a "special" floor sponge to clean the spots and sticky areas. Don't ask me why but she loves to go around on her hands and knees looking for areas to clean with the sponge. She also likes this chore because it's not a once a day thing - but she can do it many times through the day! :) I guess I did a good job building it up for her! :) :)

mamazee said...

I'm at the same place - every few years the work has piled up and the children have grown up and it's time to offload :) - i do the managers of their chores, and i added just a few new chores to their packs and they barely even notice - but i sure do! I was doing all of my stuff plus babies and diapers and accidents :)and meals and homeschool and etc etc - and it felt so much better to have handed those over...
I think angele's little girl sounds like a darling - i wish i had me ONE little one who wanted to go around on their hands and knees with a sponge! LOL! That would be sooooooo nice!

Catherine said...

folding clothes: my 6, 4, and 2 yr. olds fold there own clothes and wash clothes while the one year old hands things to me. We do it together. I have a little thing I say for shirts that seems to help them remember how. Put your hands together clap (we actually stop and clap after the first fold lining everything up in half) Fold your hands(as we fold the arms in) and (when we flip up on the 3rd fold we say)Pray. So it' s put your hands together clap fold your hands and pray. We always start folding by doing wash cloths I give lots of praise but I'm very picky that it looks perfect. In the begining I'd fold there long sleeve shirts as the diddly didn't work so well. Now I just tell them you fold the arms twice. Then they put there clothes away. If they don't do it nicely they have to redo it.I don't know if this will work for you but it does for us. And your welcome to use my little diddly if you like. Sincerely Catherine