OK, ladies, let's spill our cleaning secrets. What ideas do you have to keep things cleaner with minimal effort, other than hiring a maid?

Blessings,
Christine

Send the kids to camp!!

My kids have been at camp this week (three of them) and it is amazing to me how much easier it is to keep up with everything with only one kid at home!

Aside from that, though, I find that having a routine and sticking to it helps more than anything else. Second would be getting the kids involved. It's harder when they're little, but pays off as they get older.
Lori

AAHHH!!! smile, it's definatley hard, especially during remodeling and construction
www.Flylady.com was a good motivator for me when my kids were toddlers. Another approach is: You get a 3x5 file box and index cards. You break up your cleaning/chores up by days of the week e.g. Monday- Clean Master Bedroom, sweep kitchen, etc. Then file them and each day pull the card, then do the listed duties for that day, if you didn't get to do it - Well that means it doesn't get done this week, it will get done next week. Does that make sense? You can take it further by also, besides having the days of the week tabs, you could have dated 1-31, and put one out-of-the ordinary job down, e.g. take bathroom light fixture down and wash, clean cob-webs out from outside under the overhangs, etc. You could also do quarterly tabs - e.g. Spring, Summer, Fall and put down - change car oil, put-up Christmas lights, etc.

I liked Flylady too but couldn't stand the guilt!
Do you know anyone who has a sample of the index card thingy? Good idea! It's a lot more structured than I am, but maybe that's what I need.
Blessings,
Christine

I, too, am a Flylady dropout. A friend introduced me to motivatedmoms.com, and I have halppily adhered to this for almost two years.

I on the other hand have been using flylady and have seen tremendous gains. I have found the structure has helped both of my sons focus more. Now they help with the house chores without being asked. The other thing that has helped was the Menu-Mailer from Leanne because it has cut our grocery bill in half.

Ladies,
MotivatedMoms looks very interesting.
Andrea, tell us about menu mailer!
Blessings,
Christine

Christine,
Menu Mailer has helped me greatly it is from Leanne who does saving dinner for flylady. It cost 29.95 for one year and each Wednesday she sends out a menu to everyone for dinners with a list of what you need. So each week you check what you have and buy the rest. With the list you don't do impulse shopping and that cuts down the cost.
Andrea

MenuMailer.com is the website address and they have differnt menus avaialbe for frugual, heart healthy, low carb, southern hemisphere, etc... they also have sample menus you can check out before committing, they also have options of subscriptions for three & months. The Change Your Life Challenge (Brooke Noel) also has some cookbooks and a weekly menu mailer. As well as a daily free recipe. Website addresses: www.rushhourcook.com
www.changeyourlifechallenge.com
www.rushhourwoman.com

Another great menu website is menus4moms. They send a menu for 5 days, shopping list, and recipes. It is free, and it is sent to my inbox every Thursday. I think it links to a homeschooling website.
Julie

I need to check out this Flylady site.

In a moment of extreme frustration, I actually grabbed a yard broom and RAKED the girl's bedroom of clutter into a pile and told them they had 5 minutes to sort. After that, the pile was going into the trash. It worked like a charm! The only problem was my FIL chose to pop in unexpectedly. Boy did he get a laugh!

Looking back, that yard broom was a great way to get under the beds and gather all those maddening, miniscule pieces into one place!

That reminded me -- when my kids were younger we used to use a dustpan, using it like a scoop, to clean up the Legos. It was a lot easier to scoop them up than to pick them up by hand, and the kids actually thought it was fun. Another idea, altho' I never tried it, was to spread a sheet on the floor before they dumped the Legos and have them play on that. Then when they finished you could just gather up the corners of the sheet and all the tiny pieces were inside, to be dumped back into their box or just tied shut and stored that way.

When I taught a preschool class at church we let them do a cutting activity while sitting in or next to an inflatable splash pool (minus the water). We tied each pair of scissors to a piece of yarn and taped the other end to the side of the pool, then we put a ton of paper in the pool. The kids could cut or tear the paper as much as they wanted to, and all the mess was contained in the pool. They loved it, and it was a lot easier to clean up the mess when they finished than if the paper scraps had been scattered all over the room.

Maybe one key to efficient cleaning is to contain or prevent the mess from happening in the first place.

When this grandmother was a homeschool mom of five, the best cleaning advice she got was: Put them all to bed at 8:00 and frantically clean until you fall in bed. Your house will be spotlessly clean and neat for at least 8 out of every 24 hours. :-)

Babushka,
You snuck in here without being greeted! Welcome! Hope you stop by often!
Tell us about yourself. You are a grandmother/homeschooler? And you survived! I'm sure our ladies would love to hear more from you.
Blessings,
Christine

quote:

Originally posted by Babushka:
When this grandmother was a homeschool mom of five, the best cleaning advice she got was: Put them all to bed at 8:00 and frantically clean until you fall in bed. Your house will be spotlessly clean and neat for at least 8 out of every 24 hours. :-)

ROTFLOL!!!! This is probably closer to the truth than most of us would like to admit!!! I would like to say that my children all have their jurisdictions spotless throughout the day but.... well.... It's a work in progress.

Another favorite verse of mine is Proverbs 14:4

"Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox."

So when I say their rooms look like a pig sty, I'm really not that far off!

quote:

my children all have their jurisdictions spotless

So exactly how do you assign their jurisdictions? We're planning to completely revamp the way we do chore assignments after we move, but I'm not sure how to go about that. The girls all have chores assigned to them, and other chores they may do for extra pay (not required). But I feel like it's more work on me to keep up with it than it is for them to do the work, and hard to keep track if someone is slacking off. So how do you assign chores for your kids?

Yes, Lori! It would be easier if I did all the cleaning and cooking. And it IS a lot of work on me walking behind them, reminding them to "police their jurisdictions" and pointing out areas for impovement. but I do this because of the bigger picture.

The purpose of my children cleaning is not to make my life easier but to teach them "work willingly with their hands." I want to teach my children to be productive with a good work ethic so when they go out into the world, they will be ready for God's work.

Remember the parable of the talents? One servant was lazy and cowardly, one servant invested wisely and multiplied the talents. The Lazy servant lost his gifts but the Master blessed the wise and faithful servent and gifted the him because he was "faithful with a little" the Master made him "faithful over much." I'm trying to teach my children to be faithful over the little things first and I must be faithful to teach them.

quote:

Originally posted by Lori in FL:
So exactly how do you assign their jurisdictions?

First, what exactly is the meaning of "jurisdictions?"

1 : the power, right, or authority to interpret and apply the law
2 a : the authority of a sovereign power to govern or legislate b : the power or right to exercise authority : CONTROL
3 : the limits or territory within which authority may be exercised
synonym see POWER

We assign each child a territory of authority. It is ultimatly that child's responsibility to have that area taken care. They don't have to do this by themselves and how they want to accomplish the task is up to them, within reason of course. The important thing is that jurisdiction is their responsibility. If the job isn't done or done well, that child is responsible. By assigning jurisdictions, our children seem to enjoy their work more and have a sense of pride in a job well done. Instead of the drudgery of chores (negative), they have an area of responsibility and authority (positive)!

How to assign areas? One way is to look at each child's interest and ability. One might be more social and outgoing than another. They would enjoy the window over the kitchen sink and the kitchen radio. Another might need instant gratification... Keeping a large pantry in order is quick, easy and helps a little one burst with pride at having things catagorized by usage, or food types. (this is also an excellent tool for teaching inventory, a very useful skill)

Another way to assign is to think of character area that need to be addressed. If a child is a little lazy, then dishes might be in order. Around here that's a non-stop job but has an element of fun with the bubbles and the window... Working in the kitchen around food will drive home 2nd Thess. 3:10 especially when the child is hungry.
For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.

who gets laundry???? That can be a hard one. This one takes a looong time to master. First there is sorting, then how to use the washing machine, and just how much soap? what about stains? we've had our share of "pink" underwear (washed with red) and overstuffed washers. These are learning opportunities that require love, patience, and on the part of the child maturity.

Whoever gets the laundry may intially have the folding and work up to doing the washing. My 12d has the laundry with 10d as her helper. Sometimes there is so much that we all pitch in and fold. It has taken two years to almost turn it totally over to her but we are getting close.

Don't think I assign areas and leave it at that! If a child is totally unhappy, we'll adjust and I won't have them stuck in one place forever.... we switch around after several months.
Once an area is consistantly clean, we'll look at switching so a new skill can be learned.

I wish I could say that jurisdictions were my idea but I got the basic concept from Michelle Duggar. She lives just down the road from me.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: quiverofeight,

We've watched all the TV shows about the Duggars. I almost feel like I "know" them (a little anyway). They seem like such a wonderful family! I did recognize that term (jurisdictions) from one of those shows, and thought it was a great concept when I heard it then. Of course it would be applied a little differently with my "small" family (of "only" 4 kids, and one of them may be moving out soon). But I still like the concept, and really like the way you express it of them having authority and responsibility over an area. I need to give it some more thought, and hope to put this more into practice after we move, since right now would not be a good time to make a lot of changes! Since my girls are all fairly close in age (3 girls in 3-1/2 yrs) I tend to assign jobs to them equally. The youngest may not do quite as well or maybe can't do all the things necessary for some jobs, but she comes pretty close most of the time and tends to more than make up for it with her willingness to work. I do have to be careful, though, that my almost 16-yr-old doesn't feel like I'm treating her like a "little kid" when she sees her youngest sister having the same responsibilities that she has. She tends to be very sensitive to that for some reason. Anyway, thanks for your help. Hopefully we can get moved soon and start to put some of these new ideas in place.

I guess an easier way to think of jurisdictions is to think of a king and his kingdom. The king rules over his land and is responsible for everything there.

Another way to think of this is a policeman patrolling his jursdiction.

you can tie this concept into homemaking. An area of jurisdiction needs to be policed and checked on periodically. Any messes, even those not made by the child, are the responsibility of that child and he needs to get it clean.

The Duggars are really neat. Their oldest and my oldest are good friends and she has been a great source of help and inspiriation to me through the years.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: quiverofeight,