Jun. 3, 2008 - Organizing Housework Duties with a Large Family
I have found a better organization system for our large family. My girlfriend shared this with me as we sat down for three hours at a restaurant with index cards and special tabs. She has raised and homeschooled seven children. She promised me that I would no longer have household chores to do on the weekend (free Sundays), and more time than I would know what to do with. She said that I would wonder what to do with myself. I was in disbelief, as I felt like I was drowning (our present organization system of zones seemed to be outgrown). My girlfriend said that I was soon to find out how many hands makes labor light. I am amazed at how clean my house is right now. I have only begun to use the system, and I can already see a huge difference. So, I thought I might share it with you, blogger friends.
Supplies:
1 plastic card box
2 sets index cards with numbers 1-31Office Depot or Office Max
1 set of monthly cards with all 12 months in order (Office Depot)
2 sets of colored index cards (the more colors the better)
dark pen
library holder cards or home made pockets from cloth to hold cards for children
What to do:
1.Put numbers in the index card box
2.Put months in order behind numbers with the present month being in the front of the box (second set of month of cards behind the following month)
3.Organize colored cards (water jobs are blue, orange jobs are electricity involved, green is outside jobs, yellow cards are organizational or pick up jobs, special color of jobs for mom)
4. Write down all the jobs that need to be done according to colored organization (green cards-pick up outside toys, pull weeds, mow grass, sweep front porch, etc. or blue cards might be sparkle all mirrors, windows, and doors with spraying and wiping, clean toilets, wash counters, mop floor, etc.)
5. On the top right side write the code that applies to the jobs:
W- for weekly
E.O. W-for every other week
D-every day
E.O.D-for every other day
M-for monthly
E.O.M-every other month
6. Take those jobs and place them in the numbers of the month, certain jobs might start on a Monday, or Tuesday, or Wednesday....Then those jobs when finished can be filed the following day, following month, or following week... (remember to keep the weekends free from the jobs--and include jobs on Friday to prepare meals ahead or cleaning jobs so that you can keep the weekend free)
7. Take the holders for each child (job to do holder and finished job holder-younger children can have a smile face holder for when they complete job). Put the holders up on the wall. Take the jobs for the first day and divide them up according to child and age (keeping orange and blue cards for older children). You will be surprised at how much easier it is for the children to follow this system. Each day gather the cards and redistribute them, including any new cards while you might refile the EOW or EOM cards from that day...The children have fun waking up to find out what new jobs they have. Who gets a green card for walking the dog or a pink card for feeding the dog? Who gets to clean and organize under the sink or dust the furniture? You will find that you will be adding to the system for a while until it gets tweaked to work with your family's needs. I added purple cards for schooling fun (from previous post...example: pajama day for schooling, go to the park for schooling, tea party after schooling, date night with mom or dad, etc.). This helps to keep spice in our schooling without me worrying about getting too busy for the fun.
For the chart, I borrowed the library card holders from another project and placed them under the scripture 1 Corinthians 12:14-26. I will be redoing this poster board and card holders this weekend, but for now it will work. The children are working on memorizing 1 Corinthians 12:14-26. We have spent time on learning how the body is of many parts as we are all parts together. If everyone does their jobs and helps others then we will all benefit from that as one body.
The management system comes from Sidetracked Home Executives by Pam Young and Peggy Jones. However, after reading it I was overwhelmed as to how to implement it. I hope that my explanation helps.
Comments
Jun. 3, 2008 - Thanks!
Posted by Alisha
What a great idea! I am going to try that. I have 5 & I have not been very organized with our chores.
Jun. 3, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Canadagirl
Thank you for the reminder. I read their book YEARS ago and I am going to try it again. I really need something to get us in a groove.
Thank you for visiting me and leaving a sweet comment.
Blessings and ((hugs)) in Him<><
-Mary
Jun. 4, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by weare3
I am going to have to try this. Thanks for the tip!
Jun. 4, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by crysnrod
I think this is worth looking into, thanks!!
Blessings,
Crystal
Jun. 11, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by psalm127
Oh I love that. Does your friend want to come over and help me get started. My brain gets so over loaded tring to figure out what jobs need to be done, how often and by who. I so want to be more organized.
Jun. 15, 2008 - I love it!!!
Posted by purityseekers
OK...I am SO going to steal that idea!!! I NEED NEED NEED to get my kids focused on chores!!! I am so excited and want to run right out now and get all the index cards, tabs, OOOOH I love it!!! Then I'll have to make that poster thingy because I love that too!!! haha I tried the "Managers of their Homes" and although I love the routine idea, I haven't been able to really master it yet. Maybe this would give me a boost and get my kids at least focused on chores!!!
And speaking of privacy... if I were you, I would take a pic like that one of your chores and put a little something over your names. I have Paint Shop Pro and it has "picture tubes" where you can put little stars, flowers, hearts, etc. onto your pictures, so I just cover any names on pix like that with picture tubes. But you could always erase the parts that show their name.
AND I feel SO bad whenever you comment on my blog because I am such a DRPPM (Dirty Rotten Pen Pal Mama). Just the other day my "A" said he wanted to write a penpal letter because he never gets any in the mail!!!!!!! I thought of your boys and how I just plain stink in that area of our life and need to get a grip!!!! So... I will try to get some letters out here soon!! Is your address the same???
