Friday, January 29, 2016

A Clean House - With the Whole Family

I have to share with you what IS working for our family and it may work for yours too! 

House Cleaning! House cleaning?!  We have tried many (and I mean too many to remember) ways to get (and keep) our home clean. 

We've tried separating out the chores per day of the week, we had hired housekeepers not once but twice, we tried challenges and contests, we even pretended that Adele was coming over and we wanted to impress her and would run around like crazy people to get things picked up. But.... None of them worked long term. 

A few weeks ago, I was picking up some girls to bring to the next mom to take into town for volleyball (yes that sounds confusing but it takes a village to get all these athletes where they need to go, when they need to go!) I asked one of Arly's friends if she got to do anything fun with her extra hour that afternoon since it was Thursday and they get out of school an hour earlier than usual. She told me that on Thursdays, her sister and her clean the house and instead of an allowance or commission, the work they do is rewarded by how they spend their weekend. If they do a good job, they will get to go to the movies, spend time with friends, etc. 

Great idea!!!!!

I needed to figure out a way this concept would work for our family. That weekend I thought of many scenarios and finally landed on this one. We tried it, and now we are 2 weeks in and it's working splendidly! 

We have one night during the week that is currently not filled with another obligation. We use that night to get all of our house cleaning done. 

First I grabbed a chalkboard and wrote down 12 chores that needed done that week. The four oldest Sprys would each have 3 chores to do. 

Then I grabbed a bowl and cut up paper and put each of our names on just ONE. I have the chores broken into categories from hardest/takes the most time to easier/less time to complete the chore. This way, one person couldn't end up with the 3 hardest chores. For example; the kitchen and the 3 bathrooms were one category... 4 hard chores. The vacuuming, wood floors, dust upstairs, dust downstairs were the next category and so on. 

Then we simply drew names out of the bowl. Each would grab one name and we'd work down the list, putting a name next to who was in charge of the chore. Then dos the next category of chores, all 4 names went back into the bowl for the next drawing, and so on. 

This put a absolute end to the 'that's not fair!' and the 'I always have to do that!' and 'ew! Anyone want to trade?!' It's just the luck of the draw and so far, ZERO COMPLAINTS! Win!!!

Then we crank the music (not too loud for the littles' ears) and get after it. It takes about 2-2 1/2 hours to get our whole house cleaned but it relieves us of a weeks worth of stressing out about a dirty bathroom, bedroom, appliances, or whatever we see. 

For a mama that is home all day, this has brought much peace and order to our home. When there is a mess, my brain is a mess. When I feel overwhelmed, intend to shut down. This system is the perfect fix to help me be productive in my every day and let's be honest, keeps me a little calmer and my sanity in check! 

Oh and want to know what else is keeping me sane and is actually quite fun doing? Tidying our home! We're trying a new tidy method that has worked wonders for friends that are currently working through it or have finished. We are seeing success and sin through this method but I'll share more of that here oh so soon. 

Do you have a cleaning system that works for you? Have you struggled like us? I want to know! 

2 comments:

  1. My family has a similar struggle. We've been doing something a bit different this summer. We have a rotation where everyone has a turn doing every chore. That way, it's fair. The only problem is that it takes four hours to finish the house - on Saturday morning. Maybe we'll try a week night or two.

    Irwin Hearn @ ACDC Cleaning

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