Fall is in the air, and kids are back to school! If you’re like me, it’s a bittersweet time of year. On one hand, the carefree days of summer are gone. On the other, life becomes more predictable and routine. This year, I sent my oldest off to Junior High, and my baby started Kindergarten. This means that all of my kids are on a different schedule. Yikes! That’s a recipe for a crazy year, and an overwhelmed mom. To combat this, I’ve created a printable for each of my kids that will allow us all to keep track of who needs to do what, and who needs to be where at any given time.
In addition to helping me keep track of my kids’ schedules, I’ve also included a cleaning rotation that gives each of them some responsibility in the upkeep of the house. True, I’m a stay at home mom, and all of my kids are at school for at least part of the day each day. I feel like it’s important that they learn to work, though. The generation growing up right now seems to struggle with entitlement. Many don’t understand the value of the privileges they enjoy, because they’ve never had to work for them. Will spending some time cleaning the house change this perspective for my kids? I hope, at the very least, it will help. As a family, we sat down a few weeks ago and talked about the things that need to be done around the house. We agreed to divide the house into zones, and have each of us rotate through the zones monthly. Being in charge of one zone for a full month allows the work to be spread more evenly. In our home, we’ve decided that household areas must be cleaned Fridays before any outside activities can be participated in. This includes sports or other things our kids are a part of.
In addition to cleaning a household area each week, each of our kids is responsible to maintain his or her bedroom. I am in the process of creating checklists for each zone to help the kids recognize what I expect to see in a finished area. The one big area we left of the rotation is the kitchen. We’ve decided that the kitchen will be a whole-family responsibility, giving us the opportunity to work on something together on a regular basis. After dinner each night, everyone helps in the kitchen until it is clean. It’s been fun to watch our kids learn to work together and share responsibilities. They know that nobody gets to have free time until the work is done, and they are starting to recognize tasks that need to be completed on their own. It’s so fun to watch them grow up!!!
So . . . the schedules have been created and printed, but they won’t do anybody any good if we can’t see them. I found these amazing picture frames at IKEA that I have used to hang them on the wall in my kitchen. The frames open up so I can easily switch out the schedules as things change. Also, I’ve used dry-erase markers on the frame to add things to each schedule that aren’t permanent additions. When those things are completed, the marker wipes of and we’re back to a clean slate!
So far, this system is working wonderfully for our family. It’s helping me keep track of everyone’s “things” without going crazy, and it’s giving my kids more responsibility for the upkeep of our home. As they take charge of their own lives, they are gaining in confidence, and our home has been a more pleasant place to be. Work truly is a blessing, if we let it be so. This is one of my favorite quotes about work, something I hope my kids can internalize.
Are you ready to get your home and family’s schedules more organized? If so, you’re in luck. I’ve created a blank printable of the chart I’ve made for my family that I want to share with you. Click on the image below, and you will be taken to a pdf version that you can print out. I hope this helps you as much as it has helped me, and I wish you all the best in your continued efforts to create a life that you love!
