Household Chores

Household chores are a pain and something I probably dislike doing the most. As I mentioned before, I think I've got this dishes problem down. That's still going good. But the rest.....LAUNDRY (the worst!), vaccuuming, cleaning kitchen floor, cleaning bathrooms, keeping bedrooms picked up, dusting, and just in general keeping things organized so the house doesn't look cluttered, I can't stand doing this stuff! If I had the money, I would seriously hire a maid to come in twice a week. A girl can dream, right?



I decided that the only way all this stuff was going to even get close to getting done, I would have to have some help. This just isn't going to happen all on my own! So, my best option for help at this point is the kids. With them being ages 5, 3, and 1, this is a bit challenging, but with a little creativity, doable.



Here are some things I've had them help with:



1. Dishes - They all love helping with this in some way, shape, or form. My one year old loves to hand the clean dishes to me out of the dishwasher. My three year old likes to do the same as well as put away the silverware and other utinsels. My five year old likes to do the silverware too and he also likes to put the dishes I handwash in the sink into the drying rack and organize that. They all like to help load the dirty dishes after I rinse them. Doing dishes is really a team effort and I love that they all like to help!



2. The Dreaded Laundry - My problem with laundry isn't actually putting the stuff into the washer and moving it to the dryer, it's folding and putting away - ugh!! So, the other day I was sitting on the floor with two big baskets of clean, unfolded laundry. I asked my oldest if he wanted to help and he said sure. Trying to quickly decide the best job for him (since he's not the best folder, unless it's washclothes or kitchen towels), I went to their closets and grabbed a bunch of hangers. He took the kids' clothes, put them on hangers, separated them into piles on the couch, then took his little stool and hung them in the closets - LOVED IT! My three year old folded some washclothes and put those away in the drawer in the kitchen and my one year old "handed" me stuff out of the baskets to fold (it was really more like throwing them at me, but hey...). When the baskets were empty, I'd throw the clothes I hadn't folded yet back in and she kept going! This job for the youngest was key to keep her out of the piles of carefully folded laundry!



3. Dusting - I've discovered my oldest has a love for dusting! Just give him some of those disinfecting wipes, point him towards the bookcase in the living room and let him go to town. He even takes the stuff off the shelves, wipes those items off, wipes the shelves and puts the stuff back. How cool is that? The only downfall is that the pictures and other items from the shelves always gets rearranged to his liking. A small price to pay, I figure.



4. Vaccuuming - Also recently realized that my oldest likes to vaccuum. Who knew? He really, really wanted to do it on his own a few weeks ago and did a fairly decent job. Must keep nurturing this love of vaccuuming.



5. Bathroom - How come nobody wants to help clean in here?? Gross, gross, gross.



I feel like I've made a little progess with the household chores, but there's always room for improvement. Now I maybe need to explore some cleaning products to help make my life easier...like those things you put in the shower and it sprays cleaner around your shower so you don't have to clean. Sounds almost too good to be true. Would love to hear if anybody has ever tried one!!