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tamlvee
Reading these posts about children having responsibility around the
house has been interesting to read, as well as slightly amusing. I
spent a lot of time "wishing" my family were more neat. Then I had a
revelation, I'm not neat! Then I thought why should I expect them to
be. My bedroom is a mess. Do I "wish" it was clean and orderly?
Yes! Will I clean it? When I can't stand it anymore I will. So I
put no pressure on my children to clean their rooms. The common
areas are different though. But we work together to keep these
clean. This is everyones responsibility.
This is the mantra I encourage over and over. It comes from the
Simple Abundance Book, by Sarah Ban Breathnach.
If you take it out, put it back.
If you open it, close it.
If you throw it down, pick it up.
If you take it off, hang it up (in our house no one hangs anything
up so I have adjusted this one to, put it in the drawer, in the
hamper or throw it down the stairs.
Do these things happen daily at our house? No. Do I expect them to?
Let's say I start everyday hopeful. I do encourage one thing to be
put away before getting something else out. We all know that team
clean up is easier if this advice is followed, but it doesn't always
happen.
I've learned to be more relaxed about these things since we started
homeschooling. It's my wasted energy to stress about house cleaning,
no one else worries about it, and when it need to get done it gets
done.
Just my 2 cents:)
Tammy
house has been interesting to read, as well as slightly amusing. I
spent a lot of time "wishing" my family were more neat. Then I had a
revelation, I'm not neat! Then I thought why should I expect them to
be. My bedroom is a mess. Do I "wish" it was clean and orderly?
Yes! Will I clean it? When I can't stand it anymore I will. So I
put no pressure on my children to clean their rooms. The common
areas are different though. But we work together to keep these
clean. This is everyones responsibility.
This is the mantra I encourage over and over. It comes from the
Simple Abundance Book, by Sarah Ban Breathnach.
If you take it out, put it back.
If you open it, close it.
If you throw it down, pick it up.
If you take it off, hang it up (in our house no one hangs anything
up so I have adjusted this one to, put it in the drawer, in the
hamper or throw it down the stairs.
Do these things happen daily at our house? No. Do I expect them to?
Let's say I start everyday hopeful. I do encourage one thing to be
put away before getting something else out. We all know that team
clean up is easier if this advice is followed, but it doesn't always
happen.
I've learned to be more relaxed about these things since we started
homeschooling. It's my wasted energy to stress about house cleaning,
no one else worries about it, and when it need to get done it gets
done.
Just my 2 cents:)
Tammy
Lisa Krause
--- tamlvee <stvan3@...> wrote:
call it "unchoring." ;-) I despise housework, so here
is what we do:
1. Every night before bedtime we clean up. That just
means picking up the stuff we took out during the day,
making sure all the laundry is in the laundry basket,
dishes in the sink, etc. My 6yo is good about helping
me with this, and the 4yo is coming along (it's her
bedtime, so she can be a bit grouchy).
2. I do dishes three times a week (it's just the three
of us, and we're all little and don't eat much!
hehe). When I do dishes I have them run around and
check for any we might have missed. I have them
convinced that this is a fun game. (My mom did the
same thing with me when I was little.)
3. Laundry is another nightmare task so I do it once
or twice a week. The kids help by putting their dirty
clothes in the laundry baskets after they take them
off. I saw someone (maybe on this list) say that they
had their seven year old do their own laundry. My 6.5
year old can't reach the washing machine controls so
that is pretty much out. Besides, the washer and
dryer are in the basement and there are spiders down
there (yuck).
4. Dusting and polishing? What's that?
5. My kids love to help with cooking and yard work, so
no problem there. Basically wherever they want to
pitch in I let them, and they are gradually getting
the idea that less chores for mommy = more mommy time
for them. This idea forms the basis of our lazy
unchoring philosphy.
Lisa
=====
"Thinking about life, by the time you get old enough to understand what it's all about, you die." -- Ozzy Osbourne
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> Reading these posts about children havingOur cleanup philosophy is similar to yours, Tammy. I
> responsibility around the
> house has been interesting to read, as well as
> slightly amusing. I
> spent a lot of time "wishing" my family were more
> neat. Then I had a
> revelation, I'm not neat!
call it "unchoring." ;-) I despise housework, so here
is what we do:
1. Every night before bedtime we clean up. That just
means picking up the stuff we took out during the day,
making sure all the laundry is in the laundry basket,
dishes in the sink, etc. My 6yo is good about helping
me with this, and the 4yo is coming along (it's her
bedtime, so she can be a bit grouchy).
2. I do dishes three times a week (it's just the three
of us, and we're all little and don't eat much!
hehe). When I do dishes I have them run around and
check for any we might have missed. I have them
convinced that this is a fun game. (My mom did the
same thing with me when I was little.)
3. Laundry is another nightmare task so I do it once
or twice a week. The kids help by putting their dirty
clothes in the laundry baskets after they take them
off. I saw someone (maybe on this list) say that they
had their seven year old do their own laundry. My 6.5
year old can't reach the washing machine controls so
that is pretty much out. Besides, the washer and
dryer are in the basement and there are spiders down
there (yuck).
4. Dusting and polishing? What's that?
5. My kids love to help with cooking and yard work, so
no problem there. Basically wherever they want to
pitch in I let them, and they are gradually getting
the idea that less chores for mommy = more mommy time
for them. This idea forms the basis of our lazy
unchoring philosphy.
Lisa
=====
"Thinking about life, by the time you get old enough to understand what it's all about, you die." -- Ozzy Osbourne
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com
tamlvee
--- In Unschooling-dotcom@y..., Lisa Krause <lckrause2001@y...> wrote:
way to get the kids involved.
Tammy
>Unchoring!!! I love that. Is it O.K. if I use that? What a great
> Our cleanup philosophy is similar to yours, Tammy. I
> call it "unchoring." ;-) I despise housework, so here
> is what we do:
way to get the kids involved.
Tammy