It can be hard to keep your home organized. Don’t let it stress you out! All you need is a plan.Here are my suggestions for an Organized Home, at a glance:
▪Chore chart (for kids) ▪Housework Schedule (for you) ▪Family Calendar ▪Get Organized! ▪A place for everything… CHORES Teaching your children how to work and do chores has SO many advantages. It teaches them responsibility, self-confidence, appreciation, selflessness, and it helps YOU carry the load!I love the saying: "If you want children to keep their feet on the ground, put some responsibility on their shoulders." ~Abigail Van Buren Children that are 2-years-old (and sometimes younger) can learn to clean up after themselves. My 19-month-old loves to take her diapers to the trash and her clothes to the hamper. She smiles the whole way – feeling so big! One of the beginning chores at our house, starting at age 2 or 3, is taking care of the bathroom trash. They pull the full trash bag out of the trash can and carry it to the big trash in the kitchen. Then they get a new bag (recycling grocery bags) and replace it in the trash can. This job is soon mastered and they are ready to move on! I have just moved my 3-year-old (almost 4 now) into the chore rotation with my bigger boys. He can make his bed, set the table, unload the dishwasher, help me with the dishes, dust and vacuum (not all in one day). Of course, these chores aren’t done to the perfection I would desire. But you have to let that go! Never re-do any chores your children have done. This will de-motivate them. When my 3-year-old’s bed looks better before he made it than after, I just ask, “did you do your very best?” and leave it at that. I have showed him the correct way to do all of these chores and sometimes I help him to reinforce the “right way.” He’s learning and getting better all the time. I think it’s possible to do too much for your children. One day my husband was helping one of our boys get dressed. I think he was about 2 – and I could hear my husband saying, “OK, pull it over your head, now put your hand through this hole...” It was like a bolt of lightning had hit me. Each day, I’d been going through the motions of taking care of this child and not once had it occurred to me that I could teach him to help himself!! It’s easy to get caught up in routines, but once in awhile, you need to stand back and assess the situation and decide if your child might be ready for the next step. Yes, it’s usually easier (and MUCH faster) to do it yourself. But your child learns nothing that way. HOUSEWORK It’s impossible to clean the entire house and then that’s it, I’m done ‘til next week. Why? Because WE LIVE HERE. That has been a huge frustration that I’m slowly learning to get over.It’s hard, after I’ve mopped the floor, to not come un-glued when my children walk across the floor with dirty shoes. I have to remind myself – “They’re just living life. They didn’t sit and think, ‘Mom just mopped, here I go!!’” Don’t get so obsessed with having the picture-perfect clean home, that you make your family unable to relax or walk across the room without catching your wrath. I watched a Pink Panther episode with one of my boys today where Pink Panther was walking across an army mine field, pausing after each careful step until he’d made it across safely. This is my children when I’ve been cleaning! If you are a “homemaker,” your “job” is to take care of the kids AND the house. It’s a tall order and no one expects you to have it all together all the time. So don’t stress out about it. Your priority is, of course, the kids. And you’ve been told to “sleep when the baby sleeps.” OK, so you’ve had a nap – now get to work! What’s your priority as far as house-cleaning goes? Does it drive you crazy if you’re dishes aren’t washed? Start there. Do you lose sleep at night if your floors aren’t mopped? Start there. Take it a step at a time. Make yourself a schedule, such as laundry on Tuesdays and Fridays, vacuuming on Wednesdays and Saturdays (whenever the kids aren’t), you get the idea. Click on the Housework Schedule link to see my sample schedule. “ORGANIZED” HOME My very most favorite book on organization is by Laura Leist, called “Eliminate Chaos.” She takes you room by room showing you how she organizes each. I have applied her technique in several area of my house and it has been wonderful for me.If decluttering and orderliness is important to you, I highly recommend this book. My favorite definition of organize is “To arrange in a desired pattern or structure.” DESIRED is the keyword here. There’s not a right and wrong way to organize your home. It’s all about what works for you and your family. Don’t compare yourself to Sally next door, who seems to have it all together. Work on the areas that matter to YOU and you’ll feel better. Just like our children, learning to dress themselves and do chores, we learn step-by-step and as we master each step, we can move on to the next. Chore ChartHousework Schedule Family Calendar
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