A few fun and useful tips!

As we are finding ourselves always in the fast lane I am always on the lookout for ways to make our path as clear as possible (cleanliness-wise). Thomas is in a stage where he is always changing--he can change five times in an hour! Abigail is the most attentive mother and always has her stroller LOADED with dolls, stuffed animals and all the paraphernalia that is necessary for their health and well being. Elizabeth is always searching for anything to dump out and taste. Jonathan is always building things with legos, duplos, connex... The combination of these four very unique and persistent personalities is often...chaos. So, here are a few things that we've been doing to try to maintain some semblance of order:

1). I printed out clip art pictures that represent each chore that needs to be done in each room (a picture of a dresser, a boy clearing off the table, duplos, rocks, a proper place setting on the table....) Each child is given a card as their chore for that time. We have really been enjoying this as it sets a specific area that the child is responsible for rather than "It's time to clean up."

2). Jonathan and I have been doing an "extra chore" every day. Jonathan is a very detailed person and loves to tackle a small area, he is very overwhelmed by a large area (just like his mom!) So he has cleaned the pots and pans drawer under the oven, the bottom shelf in the fridge, under the kitchen table pedestal, under a wire book shelf in the kitchen, the silverware drawer... His diligent work has added such delight to my life by having these little areas glow.
Also, Abigail is pretty thorough with her scrubbing fingerprints, so I've been giving her a quarter of a Mr. Clean eraser and giving her one area that needs to be cleaned. I like the Mr. Clean eraser because then I don't send her off with a squirt bottle full of cleaner. Wonderful!


3). I've been working on establishing routines that are do-able for those hard to get to but vitally important for our health and well-being areas. For our bathtubs I purchased the cheapest shampoo and everytime I take a shower I lather a washcloth with just the shampoo and clean the walls. It works so well because it cuts grease so well. Abigail is my little helper in all things clean and she usually takes a shower/bath in the other bathroom, so that covers the tubs. Also, cleaning out the car! We have been stopping on the way home from violin every Thursday and vacuuming the car. This past week I got out some baby wipes and asked Abigail if she would like to wipe the dust off the dashboard. She was excited so off she went. Jonathan was vacuuming and when he was finished he couldn't get a wipe fast enough to help. I will be doing that more often now that I know the level of enthusiasm! ;)

4). I try to always have bedrooms clean and everyone dressed to their shoes with their hair done before breakfast. It just makes life much easier if we are all presentable and ready for the day at breakfast it isn't 1:00 when I see that Abbie's hair hasn't been brushed. It all naturally has a time, before breakfast. I also like to quickly clean the mirrors and counters of both bathrooms to make sure there are fresh smells and sparkles in the bathrooms. It is nice to know that these things are done.


I like to highlight my children's strengths and encourage them in their weaknesses. For example, Jonathan slogs through clearing the table off or putting the silverware away, but he loves to wipe things, sweep things, make little details glisten. He needs to learn to be diligent in the more mundane tasks, but there are other jobs that can use his skills also.

My other regular chores we do after breakfast and sometimes we will go room-by-room with vacuuming and cleaning and do a different school subject in each room--just to add variety to our day. Usually we do our whole home before school starts and then sit in the living room and kitchen "doing school". (Which at this point I often feel like the toddler I once was, who loved teaching anyone who would listen to me "teach"... I would even read to the guinea pig!!! :) )

I love to do these little things. My cup is so full.

When I blink too long I often have piles of Thomas clothes; blankets spread out all over the living room with some dollies sleeping and others having tea; a box of legos spilled out all over the den and Elizabeth chewing on a basket full of geode rocks. That usually happens when I'm trying to get dinner on the table. Then Elizabeth starts crying to nurse and then the door opens and Daddy walks in... :)