They're not chores.

Somewhere in the blogosphere spread this idea that house chores need to be named something different to keep mommies and children motivated: a "house blessing." I started thinking about that and decided this would help us. As I went through my list of "40 things" (see last post) I realize I left off one very important item which has been in my mind since late last year.

I've been wanting to be more systematized in our home re: housework, chores, etc. My method in the past has been, "Kids, clean your room!" (ten minutes later) "Kids, clean your room!" And then, after waiting forever, I would find their room kind of sort of partially picked up but the time long gone that I had hoped they would spend on such a task and all of us ready to move on. And since it didn't get done regularly, it approached semi-disaster before getting done at all, then warranted mom or dad to do a total sweep ourselves, clean it, and rededicate ourselves to the task of getting the kids on board (again).

Not a good system, although I'm sure many readers can relate to it. When I read Managers of Their Homes last year, I appreciated the authors' focus on children doing the same chore regularly and being shown diligently by the parent until the task is mastered. Then, the children can rotate and do different ones, mastering those. Both Alex and I had this expectation that they should all just intuitively know how to do these tasks and to do them right, and recognize when they aren't being done right. Obviously this is an unrealistic expectation. I aspired to finally sit down and write a list of what needs to be done in our home on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, divvy up the tasks, and make it a regular occurrence for 15-20 minutes twice a day that we work on them.

This finally happened last week. The lists were as follows:

Daily:
Sweeping
Picking up rooms/floors
Doing all the dishes
Picking up under the table
Doing laundry/putting it away
Folding diapers when necessary (2x/week)
Filing bills, etc.
Straightening up the entryway
Wiping down bathroom counters
Checking the trash and taking it out

Weekly:
Dusting
Cleaning out toy cabinet
Mopping floors
Shaking out rugs
Cleaning out appliances
Deep cleaning the bathrooms
Balancing the checkbook

Monthly:
Scrubbing the tub
Putting away the Costco groceries completely
Cleaning the windows when needed

Ultimately, Zoya ended up volunteering for practically everything, with the boys slightly less enthusiastic. So I helped them divide the tasks up fairly and put my own name down for the ones I'm doing myself. And for one month, they each will do the same tasks.

We have done this every day now for a week. Today was our "deep clean" session with the mopping, etc.

Observations:

1) The house looks much better on a daily basis.
2) The kids are starting to get better at the tasks. I am still having to help them with certain things and correct them but that's okay. I'm expecting this.
3) Little things can make a big difference. Trash cans in the bathroom that aren't overflowing, for instance, go a long way to improving the overall appearance and comfort level.
4) The kids are starting to notice when their task needs to be done even when it's not "house blessing time."
5) Cheesy songs about blessing our home make it all seem way more fun than it used to.
6) Some days require barely any time on chores because we're on top of it so much more.

While I am prone to fizzling out on the "management" aspect after about 5 days, we intend to take full advantage of our day of rest. So far, this is working well for us.