I have decided lately that I really need to find out a better method of keeping my house in order. I am not a morning person, thus I wake up when I absolutely need to. I hurry and get the kids ready for school and then send them out the door. Then between a boy that practically wants his mothers attention 24 hours a day and other things going on, my housework seems to get put on the back burner. My time is literally not my own for most of the day between running errands, playing with children, kid's homework, and the list goes on. I have had an especially hard time these past few weeks with absolutely GORGEOUS weather outside. It isn't hard to convince me to be outside at all and I find myself at the end of the day realizing that my house has become neglected once more. My laundry, deep cleaning, and other misc. jobs are in desperate need of a routine.
Yes - my kids all have their own jobs that they do every day, but there is still that deep cleaning that probably wouldn't get done without my supervision or me doing it. They all do a wonderful job and are responsible for keeping their bedrooms clean. I even had great intentions of having each child do their own laundry above 8 years old, but I find that that isn't happening.
I would love to hear from the rest of you on how you are able to manage this fun task. I have started thinking about the hard reality of getting up at 5 a.m. to have 2 hours to myself every day just to get on top of these things. Do any of you have your children do their own laundry and how do you get that to work successfully in your home? I have realized how much smoother the family runs when there is laundry in drawers, piles put away of papers, closets clean, etc. Please any suggestions would be WONDERFUL!!!
6 comments:
Not that I've tried this myself, but here is what my mom used to do. Each child was assigned a day of the week. The older ones were assigned on the same day as a younger one and were to help them do their laundry (with ours.) If we didn't do our laundry on that day, we had dirty clothes.... It only took once for us to learn to do it right away. That ends up meaning that laundry is going every day, but hopefully you aren't the one doing it.
I think we need to get a pair of large stackable washers and dryers - then more gets done all at once and your husband can help instead of waiting for the old washer and dryer to get done :)
Byron
Byron's solution is pretty funny! I went to enrichment last week and they had an "Organizing Class" It got me all inspired, because my house feels like chaos. So, we will be doing one load of laundry every day, and the kids and Randy have to bring their laundry bags downstairs 3 times per week to be sorted. She also suggested (per some books) that we should get up before our families and shower and get ourselves ready. This makes me laugh since Aiden gets up at 5:45, there is no way I am getting up at 5! Our ward may be doing midweek Organizing classes this year, which I am excited about. I will send you a couple of book titles in case you are interested!
This is something I am REALLY struggling with right now, too, especially with being in the throes of morning sickness every waking moment. I can't stand the idea of getting up early! :)
It seems like my mom mentioned you had tried FlyLady. . .?(Was that you?) I am curious to know what you thought of her system.
I know she recommends a load per day (for a family your size I'm sure that would be more like 2-3 per day). I like her philosophy of routines for the sake of getting what's important done so that you can have time to enjoy your family!
Um, wish I could tell ya. I am in the same boat. Please tell me when you figure it out. :) What a great sister I am. Ha Ha
Who knows- this is always so challenging. One thing about the laundry is I did my own at 10 and on. My mom assigned me a day and that is when I had to do it. Otherwise- when I do my laundry I put the kids clothes in their own colored basket and then THEY have to put it away, nicely and neatly. That helps a little. They also bring it to me and help me sort it. But I literally have to make myself do 2 loads a day or I will drown in it.
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