Household Chores

There are alot of things that have changed over the years in our house. Having 5 wonderful children, homeschooling and a few extra, outside-the-house activities, has changed my view on things. I will admit, I am a little bit particular about how things are done. A little particular about how the dishwasher is loaded, silly, but the truth. I am a little particular about sweeping/vacuuming, and how much of the dirt has to get off the floor in order for it to be qualified as "done." I can admit that I like my laundry folded a certain way and I dislike greatly a messy dresser. In order to dust properly you have to take ALL the things off the shelf, dust, and put all the things back on. Taking a duster in between the things just doesn't qualify as "dusting" to me. The funny thing is, these things just weren't getting done, I just didn't have time to get it all done. So I had to let go. Let go of my particularness.
Boys are not particular. not. at. all. They are more than willing to help out and especially my 2 oldest boys, they just think it is great to help mom out. So I had to learn something huge for me. huge. I had to learn to let go of how it got done, I had to let go of how much dirt actually got off the floor. I had to let go of what the drawers looked like on the dresser, that is still a hard one, I just want to go reorganize the whole drawer every time I see it, but I don't. My rule is...the drawer MUST be able to close (so that I don't see it).
I learned that a 6 year old (and an 8 year old) CAN rinse dishes and put them in the dishwasher.


rinsing



putting in the dishwasher

Another thing I learned (learned awhile ago really) boys get things done in the least number of steps for them possible. Would pulling a chair over so he can reach the water faucet be better, I think so. Did he? NO, he did not. Could he fall, yes he could, but he is willing to take that risk to NOT pull a chair over, and I am obliged to let him figure that lesson out on his own. He only needs about another inch to be able to reach the faucet without climbing, the way he is eating lately, he may not need to climb by Christmas.
6 and 8 year old boys can also sweep, pretty well I might add. They sweep under the table after every meal, switching each week between sweeping and wiping down the table. Which, they can also do quite well. That leaves me with my own dishes and the 2 little eaters dishes at breakfast and lunch, which lightens my load AND gives the big boys some responsibility in the process.

Does all the dirt get off the floor? No, It doesn't. Is it better than it was and less work for me later? yes. absolutely. Have kids gotten bonked in the head with the broom? Yes, they have. Does the table look perfect? Not always. But they do such a great job, and they feel so proud of themselves. I have learned, however, that the table should be wiped down before the sweeping happens. As I said before, boys like to take the least number of steps possible to complete a task, so the scenario went something like this. One would get done with their meal first, it happened to be the sweeper, so he would get down clean his plate/bowl and then sweep. The wiper would come along and, even though they have been directed to swipe any food particles into the hand, would instead sweep them on the floor, this cuts down 2 steps I learned, 1. they do not have to put their hand to the table and 2. they do not have to then walk to the trash can (which by the way is about 1 step from the the sink that they have to walk to to put the sponge away). I would then come along and tell the sweeper they did not get their chore done. We have since changed our approach. wiping THEN sweeping. not ifs, ands or buts about it!
As you can see, the (almost) 2 year old likes to help his brothers, he "helps" everyone. Including me, when I empty the dishwasher.

Are the dishes still completely sanitary when they get put away? Not particularly. But boy does he like to help. alot. It is actually a fight to get him NOT to help, so I let him. If I know we are will be having company the next day(since we typically go through all our dishes in a day), I will avoid emptying clean dishes in his presence. He is a big help.
You may have also noticed that my only daughter is not a part of these photos. She is a challenge. Somehow she hinks everything is "too heavy," "to hard," "to much," or she thinks she is "too little." Since one day she will hopefully be the manager of her home, I am working hard to help her understand that she can't be lazy AND she cannot direct her brothers what to do, her husband will not appreciate it. In time she will get it. For now vacuuming is not a chore to her, so she helps vacuum often. Do I have to go over it real quick when she is done? sure. but she loves to do it and I love to let her.

Along with all these chores, they help with laundry, they clean their rooms, they feed the dogs and the turtles, they know how to make their beds, but I don't make them do it often enough. I figure if I am not making my bed everyday, then they shouldn't have to either. The next chore to add to the 2 big boys list is going to be their bathroom. A boys bathroom can get pretty gross, pretty fast. So we will be working on teaching them to wipe up the sink and tub after each use. They already clean up any "messes" they make on the floor, toilet or elsewhere, so they just need to learn to clean the toilet and the bathroom will stay cleaner longer.
These are things I have had to learn. I can pretty much guarantee if I had 2 or even 3 kids, I would just do them all myself because it would be easier, it would get done faster, it would get done "correctly" (in my opinion). I am glad that I have allowed my kids to help out around the house, they have learned to not make quite so bad a mess at the table because THEY have to clean it up. They have learned to rinse and put away their dishes right away otherwise the food is alot harder to get off the plate/bowl. It has been a good lesson for all of us to have the big boys start doing chores. As I learn to let go of my particularness, they will also get more responsibilities in the home, ones that will make them feel good about themselves and teach them how to take care of themselves better.