I feel like I’m constantly encouraging my kids to stay focused when it comes to helping oout around the house.
I hate feeling like the weight of the house cleaning rests entirely on my shoudlers and I don’t feel like I’m doing my little “angels” (and I use the term loosly) any favors by “just doing it all for them” and so…….this means that I am constantly feeling like I’m trying to figure out a way to encourage them to do their part.
I jokingly typed the word “force” instead of encourage and then had to erase it because that is SO not what I’m trying to accomplish with my kids….and this leads me right into a whole ‘nuther topic with a whole ‘nuther post for ‘nuther day…remind me of this sometimes soon, eh?
So, We’ve tried charts and and points and we’ve even tried reasoning with them. Ha Ha HA HA HA HA! That one didn’t work so well – *shrugs* but I tried.
My mom read a book recently and was so excited to tell me all about this amazing system that she had found and how it was changing her life and that blah, blah, blah, blah de de blah blah blah…..
I tuned out about that point. I really don’t hold much hope for really exciting systems. Especially if I have no idea how they would possibly work with MY family and MY husband and MY kids…..and….who are we kidding…..ME!
So, Things were getting better as far as house cleaning and keeping things tidy and I was excited with the forward/upward momentum that my life seemed to be having. Especially seeing as I was now working outside the home 4 out of 7 days a week.
And then………oh and then……my baby decided that sleep was for wusses and the kids went on strike and the husband freaked out about work and money and time and blah, blah, blah – I tuned him out too after a bit – and I was so tired that I slipped a bit further behind and then even a bit more behind and then even a bit more behind and well……I ended up feeling like things were hopeless.
So I asked my mom for the book and well….it turned out that there might be some merit to the system after all.
I sat down on Thursday to start planning things out the way the book says to and really if I were honest with you all….I half expected that by the time the kids came home from school on Thursday afternoon – that the house would already be moving back towards where it should be. Ha Ha Ha Ha HA!
Two phone calls, and a lunch appt later and I had written down exactly 4 cards for my new system and the house was in no better shape than it had been that morning.
BUT…..I sat down after they got home and wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote. I must have filled in more than 200 cards, and I still think that I’ve got more cards to write up, but HEY! It’s a start.
And so I started using the system on Friday and it was okay!
This system by the Slob Sisters uses index cards to help you and one thing that they said in their book that has really hit me is that there is now way that I can get it ALL done right away but…..if I’ve done 4 or 5 cards, that is 4 or 5 jobs that I hadn’t previously done and I’m actually better off than if I had done nothing. So WIN, right?
You write up jobs on each card and label them daily jobs, weekly jobs, monthly jobs, seasonal jobs or yearly jobs….they can be anywhere in between there, but I’m shocked at how it seems so much more managable when you just finally file all your cards over the month and realize that while you might not get everything done right away….that you will eventually get caught up and things will definately be better off than you were.
The kids have bought into this whole idea….I’m actually combining the cards with points. If they complete the card they get a point….if they complete the card within the “approximated” time written on the card then they get two points.
Today we plowed through a TON of work in 3 hours and while there was a whole lot of “JUST GET BUSY’s” thrown around – somehow, somewhere it seemed to click that this was easy and managable and they could totally buy into this.
Jeremy even said to me, “Mom, did you see how many cards I’ve done. I never even knew that I could do this much work.”
He’s my BIGGEST whiner when it comes to helping out….followed closly by Geli who just doesn’t like to work – but to see how he was excited by this and how he felt that he could do this….
I can actually SEE this system working for us.
I love the fact that once I do a “monthly” job that I can remove the card from my pile and file it with next months cards. And once I do a job for the week…it goes into next week. It also helps with other things like appointments and remembering to bathe the kids regularly – as opposed to the whole, “Freak, you stink! When did you last take a shower? Do not pass go! Do not collect $200. Get your butt in that shower and get that funk off you.” system that we’ve been rocking recently. I can file Jeremy’s bath for Wednesday night and if I get the girls on opposite nights, then it’s not like we have a melt down because the hot water has run out.
I can really see this working, and I’ve even talked with the kids about helping me on Thursday this next week to get things done for this next week so that we can take Saturday off and just have a family day.
I’m sure that I’ll be updating on this, but….we may have found something that actually works. I seriously hope so. Regardless, my house is in WAY BETTER shape than it was this morning. It’s not perfect, and honestly I have a LONG way to go, but…..progress, baby! Progress!