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KEEP IT OLD SCHOOL
As much as I like using Apps on my phone, I
like to be able to look at the week or month in
advance, so in addition to APPS, I have a Do It
All (17 Month) Planner. This tool alone saves
my sanity, keeps me hopping to appointments
and on top of my family’s schedule. Love that
it has a section for each person.
MAKE IT TEAM WORK
I am so over trying to be the mom who keeps a clean
house with happy kids. The idea flew the nest when I
realized I needed more than one of me to keep up with
my family. Since I cannot clone myself I opted for a
better route - chores. Flying through my home, I noted
“zones” that were a hot mess. With each zone, I thought
about the ages and capabilities of each child and then
executed a plan that would tame the madness, teach
responsibility & team work, while making my to-do list a
bit less daunting. Here are three areas my family is
taming.
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The Bathroom
Each child is to clean the sink out with cleaning wipes after brushing teeth.
(Love this one. I hate toothpaste in the sink. Each child is required to clean out
the sink after they brush. Big win all the way around. :-) ).
Each child is to use their towel for a week - Instead of using 3 towels per child
per night, they are down to ONE towel. If it doesn’t get hung up the
consequence of a weird smelling cold towel reminds them for the next bathing
appointment. Each child can place laundry to hamper.
Laundry
In order to prevent 25 loads devouring the couch in my basement, I bought a
laundry basket for each person in the family. Once the clothes have been
washed, dried and fluffed, the laundry is then tossed into the correct basket
including one just for towels and washrags. Each week the kids fold their own
laundry and put it away. This alone has been my biggest sanity saving victory!
My children are 5, 7, and 14. They are old enough to sort and fold clothes (keep
in mind it will not be how gracefully you fold your laundry). This teaches them
they it’s not a good idea to throw the “I was too lazy to put my clean clothes
away so I’ll just through them in the hamper” because they will be sorting,
folding and putting away their own clothes. :-)
JASMINE'S PLACE
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