The Square Peg

I was talking to a friend recently and we got on the subject that all moms gravitate toward when they're talking to other moms. No, not birthing babies. The other subject we always gravitate toward: kids and housework. Before we hung up, she suggested I share some of the things we did when our kids were little with my blog readers. I picked 4 to share with you.

Knowing people are more likely to put things away if it's easy, we kept our boys' shoes in buckets near the front door. They never seemed to mind digging through the bucket when they were looking for the shoes they wanted, but they seldom took the time to put them away if it was inconvenient. These buckets ensured we weren't late for appointments or church because we knew the shoes hadn't been dropped in the hallway, or pushed under the couch or bed.

We taught the boys to do their own laundry when they were about 10. Two laundry baskets were placed side-by-side on the floor of their closets. They put white items in one, and items that weren't white in the other (I admit I'm a laundry racist). When a basket was full, it was time to do a load of laundry. They helped with laundry before this, of course (moving from washer to dryer, putting them away, etc), but this is when they had to take full ownership of all their laundry. BTW, all clothes except socks, underwear, and shorts were put on hangers in the closet. Small children can hang their clothes up and it cuts down on dresser drawers having clothes thrown into them and coming out looking like they were slept in.

We assigned the boys odd and even days to load the dishwasher. This eliminated the arguments of who loaded last and whose day it was to unload (nobody liked to load because the loader also hand-washed the pots & pans that weren't recommended for dishwashers). If they ever had a need to switch days because of a social activity or whatever, it had to be completed the next day. No putting it off to be forgotten or argued about 3 days later. When Drew was too young to be responsible for loading and hand-washing, I alternated days with Ryan but Drew unloaded and dried the hand-washables (if necessary).

The boys started sweeping/vacuuming their bedrooms when they were about 7. Yes, it looked like a 7 year-old did it and I spent a lot of time making them pull the broom back out and re-sweep the corners (& under the bed), but they got better with time. It was worth the patience on my part. They don't always keep things clean now that they're grown (Drew's always been a messie) but they know how to clean, which was my goal. It goes along with that whole "you-can-lead-a-horse-to-water" saying...

Do you have any kids 'n' chores tips you'd like to share?