Bon-Bons Vs. Cleaning the House

I really like a clean house but I will settle for one that is picked up.  Some days the uncleanness of my house drives me crazy and I try and clean it all in one day.  At the end of that day my husband comes home from work and finds the children poking me with a stick. “Is she dead?” they ask. “No,” their kind father answers. “Poke her harder.”

To avoid upsetting the children further I have tried different methods of keeping the house clean/picked up: pull a chore out of the hat, spin the chore wheel, do all the chores on Saturday and my favorite, pick a balloon, pop it and find your chore inside.

The method I always come back to is the daily chore. One chore a day (unless it is a little chore then two a day). 

Here is an example:

Monday-Wash bedding OR make beds, depending on how long it has been since the last washing

Tuesday-Dust the house, eat bon-bons

Wednesday-Wipe down bathrooms with cleaning wipes (not baby wipes)

Thursday-Vacuum house, eat bon-bons

Friday-Straighten desk, clean out backpacks

Saturday-Clean bathrooms, pick up bedrooms, eat bon-bons

Sunday-Day of rest!

I asked my children how they wanted to do chores: one-a-day or all on Saturday.  They all chose one-a-day.

For the children I randomly assign daily task like unload and load dishwasher, sweep etc. Sometimes I have a child assigned for three days to unload the dishwasher, then three days to sweep then three days to load dishwasher. I usually post this sheet on the fridge. It’s mysteriously missing so the children get chores that are bugging me like vacuuming the stairs or wiping fingerprints off the fridge.

Each child is in charge of his or her own bedroom, a bathroom and an extra room.  Every Saturday they are to pick up those areas.  

The incentive to get chores done in a timely manner is no computer/Xbox/Wii/TV until the house is picked up. It is a great motivator!

Laundry is done randomly as needed. I use to wash on Mondays and my husband would fold while watching Monday Night Football. My three older children ages 8-13 now do their own laundry.

I feel I have more time to read, surf the net and eat bon-bons with my chores taking 15-20 minutes a day!

Find what works for your family.  You never know until you try it! Good luck!