Welcome to my blog on topics about keeping the home - or attempting to - as a Gen X Mom of four and wife to one. :) This blog is written by me, Lori Seaborg, from the Florida-Alabama Gulf Coast. I'm not the person who is ahead of you in mothering and homemaking knowledge. I'm just the gal right beside you, motivating the 11yo daydreamer, keeping up with the 9yo future homemaker extraordinaire (every mama needs a helper like this one!), teaching the rascally 6-year-old while occupying the 3yo. Let's learn together!
Drill the preschoolers on numbers, colors, and letters. We keep flashcards, chalk, a Leap Pad, and dry-erase boards for this reason.
Fold clothes from the dryer (Start them out with just towels, then shirts, socks, and finally Daddy's looooong pants. Nobody folds anyone's underwear! Those just get :::eww!::: tossed into the owner's pile)
Clear and wipe the table after meals (our 9yo Brenden does this at supper; 7yo Brittany does this for lunch)
Sweep the kitchen floor after meals (9yo's job at lunch; 7yo's job at supper)
Vacuum a room or two
Be in charge of keeping the floors of two rooms clear all day long (9yo does the boys' room, foyer, and hallway; 7yo does the girls' room and kitchen)
Window clean
Give the baby her bath (I'd wait until she is well old enough to sit, and your elementary-age child has to be trustworthy enough to do this!)
Clean the bathtub after the younger ones use it
Make a basic recipe (our 7yo can make French toast if I assemble the ingredients first. She also makes cinnamon toast; our 9yo can follow the directions on a box)
Fill the cereal bowls of the younger children in the morning
Fill the baby's sippy cups or bottles, or the preschooler's cups, as needed (our 9yo doesn't always want to do this for his 5yo brother, but I always say, " I was filling your cup when you were his age, so you're going to do it for someone else now!")
Open and close the window blinds/curtains each day.
Do everything on the lists above, for 1-2-year-olds and preschoolers.
Start them out slow, for example, just folding towels as a first-grader, then gradually doing more. Brenden (9) and Brittany (7) can fold an entire load now. It took a lot of training, and time while training. I think that's where most moms get discouraged! It's easier to do the job rather than teach it. I do have to admit that my system does not always work well. Our 9yo has more than one naturally lazy bone in his body. Training your children, as you know, requires perseverance on your end.
Just wanted you all to know how dangerous Windex, Fromula 409 and many other household cleaners are. The above two contain a chemical called 2-butoxy ethanol whch is linked to kidney and liver damage, reproductive disorders, tumors and bone marrow damage.
The home is an unregulated environment and thus this information is not given to us. However, it is contained in the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) given to businesses - which are a regulated environments.
You can do a search on the net to check out other products.
We've worked hard to make our home environment safe, if you need any help with yours you can email me at jedgar@iglide.net
I agree with the dangers of chemicals! Since being aware of that, I've been surprised at how many things can be cleaned with just water. Water! I love those microfiber cloths that you can buy these days. We clean our windows and shine our faucets, wipe the t.v. and the computer, wipe the walls and the doorknobs, with those cloths. You can find them in the automotive section of stores like WalMart, if you can't find them in the cleaning section yet. They are also sold online.
When something seems especially "germy," such as the bathroom areas, we use antibacterial wipes. Then at least the chemicals are not going into the air and into our lungs.
I do keep a can of Lysol on hand, but use it only in "emergencies," like when the entire family caught a stomach flu last winter that lasted for 2 weeks. I desperately Lysoled the door knobs, light switches, phone, keyboard....anywhere our hands touched, and all while my breath was held. :)
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