I guess this is part two to my last desperate post about managing home, work, and children!
I have given it some thought and realized we need some "foundation repair." We need to have certain basic systems in place to make our lives easier and less frustrating.
I designed a magnetic menu board/chart for me. I wrote all of the common main courses, fruits, veggies, snacks, and starches we eat on heavy cardstock, laminated them, and slapped a magnet on the back. I will be using them to put together our weekly food menu, so worrying about what we are going to be eating every night at 4 p.m. will hopefully go away. The menu will go up Sunday afternoon, before I do the weekly shop.
In fall, I will add lunches to the list. Right now it's just snacks and dinners, because that is when the kids are home. In fall, my oldest will be in a.m. kindergarten and home for lunch every day, so we will add that in once we are in the groove. Here is a pic:
Next up is all of the daily household tasks. I obviously can't keep the house up all by myself, and I'm tired of living in filth. I created a "daily jobs" list not just for the kids, but for me and DH as well.
The kids chart contains the things they are expected to do everyday: schoolwork, cleaning up their toys, brushing teeth, putting their laundry down the chute, putting their dishes in the sink after meals, etc. I tried to keep it light given their ages. The goal is to not have to keep nagging and yelling at them to do these things every day.
If they do all of their jobs each day, they earn a "peanut" (a cartoon peanut used for a bulletin board), and when they earn 20 peanuts they get to do something special, like go bowling or putt putt with the parents. I'm fine tuning this part. We'll see how it goes.
Here is a pic of the kid's chart:
The adults also have daily jobs. I had to sell Dh on this because he said he is "100 percent utilized" which at first made me mad. If he's 100 percent utilized just from playing with the kids for 2 hours and working, I am running at a deficit every day! Anyway, he was more into it when I showed him the plan.
I'm hoping that if we can get into a routine wherein there isn't as much nagging,and we all know what is expected of us, that will help ease some tension around here and we can fix bigger problems.
Anyway, in addition to the laundry and dishes we both do, we each have one extra 10-minute clean-up job every day. Things like pulling out the toaster and coffee maker and wiping the counter underneath, or cleaning the inside and outside of the microwave, washing the windows in one room. Cumulatively, doing these small 10-minute tasks every day will result in a much cleaner and better looking house, without setting aside a large chunk of time to just clean (which never happens!).
In reality, the two of us doing 10 minutes extra cleaning each day amounts to 2 hours and 20 minutes of extra cleaning each week. That is nothing to sneeze at. I made and laminated 10 minute job cards, magnetized them. Each day, we pick the chore we will do and hang it on the fridge. When it's done, it goes to the bottom of the stack. We'll see how it works!
I'm determined to make changes now, while the kids are still young and pliable. As y'all mentioned and I feel, things need to change now or nothing will get better. Once the foundation issues are fixed, I can move on to bigger problems.
***Part two coming soon***
In two weeks, I will be finished with the last of my low-paid weekly freelance gigs. After that, I will see how the dust settles and what my new weekly schedule looks and feels like work-wise.
I have given some thought to some of your suggestions to limit the number of projects I take on. It looks like I've averaged 12 projects/ articles a month this year, with basically 12 hours a week of childcare. Eek. No wonder I'm losing my mind.
Once this weekly gig is gone, that will be 4-5 less each month. I am committed to a minimum of 6 or 7 each month otherwise, plus I have a large summer project that I have to complete before Aug. 1.
After I see how my schedule looks without the second weekly gig, I can see how I might schedule time for my own personal projects like my novel, etc.
Of course, this will once again change in fall, when my oldest is in school every day (even if it's only 3 hours).
And, see if I can get us on a nightly summer schedule. wherein hubby takes the kids after dinner, I take a run at the park, etc.
We'll see. Stay tuned guys. Your advice was invaluable, now it's just a question of putting it into action!
Repairing my family, work, and kids life, part 1
June 3rd, 2013 at 02:52 pm
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Or, they may end up being long-term permanent procedures, which is great too! We have a menu and grocery list spreadsheet that I never want to give up because they just work so well and are easy to maintain.
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Tykes can put laundry in a hamper and if you play music and march about, they'll bring laundry to the washer - eventually. They can practice folding hand and kitchen towels. No perfection but done is good enough for 'atta boy' and a big hug for example. DSs loved to pull sheets off beds, it was fun! By kindergarten they can take their own dishes and cutlery to table and back to DW region and chose clothes to wear tomorrow.
We every night as part of the bedtime routine. We set the clock on the stove and everyone plays 'beat the clock' putting away toys, games, dishes, fold throws, fluff pillows, making public rooms 'company ready.' By grade two they can set and clear table. Rewards were trips to the playground/park, ice cream, gold star/silver star, visit with gran, 'helping' make cookies, going to the car wash with dad, picking the VHS/now DVD etc. Not doing daily chores meant loss of a privilege or go sit on the stairs . Until middle school most kids want to please for compliments.
June 4th, 2013 at 01:50 am 1370310635
We do have a clean up song, and they run around and put toys away while it's on. It's the Hawaii 5-0 sound track (and Monster Mash if the house is extra dirty). When it starts playing, they know what it means.
June 6th, 2013 at 10:32 am 1370514766