Sandy Southwest

House Chores!

So, in response to some friends on the WTM board - I'm posting how I have set up my home and family for chores.  I made this system myself about 7 years ago (when I only had 3 children) - because I was determined that having a large family didn't mean I had to have a dirty house NOR did it mean that I should be cleaning all day long!  Here it is:

  Kitchen Chore (everyday list): 

Unload:  unload dishwasher and drain tray everyday

Load: load dishwasher and wash large pots/pans by hand, wipe out sink & faucet area

Counters: put away items, clear trash, wipe down (including stovetop)

Table: clear and wipe off table, benches, chairs, & highchair

Floors: sweep and shake out rugs

Trash:  take trash out

Fridge/microwave:  wipe out inside of microwave and outside of both

 Kitchen chores (Saturday list):

 Unload: wipe down dishwasher (outside), remove any large food pieces

Load:   scrub out sink (with bleach)

Counters: remove everything normally on counters and wipe down, wipe down cabinet doors and handles

Table:  wipe down table, chairs, benches, highchair (all legs, etc)

Floors:  sweep and mop floor, vacuum rugs

Trash:  wash out trash bins and clean trash cabinet (it’s inside a cabinet)

Fridge/Microwave:  wipe out inside of fridge and clear out anything gross

 House chores (everyday):

 Family room:  put away people’s things, remove all trash, straighten pillows

School room:  clear school tables, counters and computer desk. Remove all large trash off floor.

Front room/entry way:  remove all people’s things, straighten pillows, straighten piano area.

Bathrooms: swish toilet, wipe off counters and sink, pick up floor and trash, straighten towels.

Outside porches:  remove toys and trash, roll up hose. Shake out front rug.

Floors/vacuum: sweep or vacuum floors, vacuum family room.

Trash: empty trash bins daily, take/put up big trash bins for pickup day, wipe off switches plates

 House chores (Saturday):

 Family room:  all above plus dust tables and lamps

School room: all above plus dust shelves, wipe off tables, and straighten bookshelves

Front room/entry way:  all above and dust and wipe off glass

Bathrooms: all above plus scrub out bathtub and wipe down mirror

Outside porches: all above plus sweep porches. Clean out dog run.

Floors/vacuum: all above plus mop all floors, shake out rugs, and vacuum all rooms

Trash bins: all above and wipe out trash bins, wipe off switch plates, wipe off door jambs, doors and doorknobs

 Monthly chores:

 Wipe off baseboards

Wipe off ceiling fans

Wipe down windows (inside 1 month, outside next month)

Vacuum under couches

Clean out linen clost

 Bedroom chore list (everyday):

 Toys

Clothes

Books

Shoes

Trash

Bed made

 Bedroom chore list (Saturday):  All above plus clear off all flat surfaces.  Dust.

 Bedroom chore list (monthly):  Clean out closet.

My chore charts are just big graphs:  names down 1 side, with the chore name across the top with boxes to fill in.  They are laminated and allow my wipe it off each week (I keep them on the fridge).  We rotate chores on a weekly basis - every Monday for us.  I keep another list on the fridge - the one that list what is to be done for each chore, daily and weekly.  This leaves no room for arguments over what is required for each chore. 

When I first started this system, I worked beside my children to teach them the porper way to do the chore for 1 week (they were 8, 5, and 3, #4 was on his way).  Now that they are older, they help teach the younger ones how to do the same work.

Once I fine tuned this system(it took about 2 months to fine tune it), it now only takes us 1 hour in the morning to clean the home (less if the dishwasher got loaded the night before!).  We spend about 15 min after lunch making sure everything is still picked up (I'm still chasing a pre-schooler and toddler).  And then it takes about 30 min at night to finish up for the day - most of the work being in the kitchen (obviously).

On Saturday, we spend about 1 more hour in the morning finishing the weekly portion of each chore - but we often work together and it gets done even faster!  We do 1 of the monthly chores also each Saturday - fans one week, baseboards another, etc.

People are always surprised to find that I have a large family - because my home is always clean!  it isn't very hard - it requires a good system and then good habits of cleaning quickly each day.

I love having a large family and I love having a clean home! 

Now laundry - that's all whole other subject!  One to be approached another day!

Thanks for the motivation!

6:40 PM, Apr. 19, 2007 .. Posted by joymommy

It was great hearing your ideas for cleaning and how you keep your house clean! I have 6 kids (all little) right now but have started to have a pretty good chore system but are a little out of sync since we're moving in a week. I needed your little bit of motivation to encourage me to get back into our system once we move. I agree that it's so refreshing to have all the chores scheduled and done every week and have a clean house!