Organizing the Housework

Organizing the Housework

One method that I have used for a long time now is to break my house up into work areas and then assign a child to that area. I then spend time teaching the child how to do the job properly and have then stay in that area until the job is mastered. Then the children rotate jobs.

My work areas are:

The Floors and Table – we have lots of traffic so the floors are a big job. They need to be swept, vacuumed, and mopped several times a day. The table needs to be cleared and washed after meals

The Kitchen – clean up after meals, loading and unloading the dishwasher which we run 3 to 4 times a day, cleaning the sink and counters and keeping a tidy and neat appearance. This is a huge job in my house so there are 2 children usually assigned to this.

Clutter Control – There seems to be two or three areas that tend to collect clutter constantly. If it is not managed the clutter is just moved from one of those spots to the next to the next. So someone is responsible to deal PROPERLY with the clutter.

The Living Room – keep it vacuumed and neat looking. My living room is not a play area. I have a sunroom off the dining room where I use to keep the toys for my kids. Now my children are older and toys are not much of as much of an issue. They need to respect the living room and keep in orderly. It is nice to have one area of the home that is orderly on a regular basis.

Basement – We have a family room/music room in our basement where the children spend a good deal of time so that needs to be cleaned up and cared for. Our wood furnace is in the basement and there is always a mess from wood being brought in and ash from the furnace. The barn boots, chore coats and overalls for the animal chores are in the basement as well. So the mud and dirt that is tracked in and around the basement needs to be vacuumed and cleaned up regularly.

Bathroom- We have one bathroom, yes just one! Somehow we have managed just fine with one bathroom, but it gets a lot of use each day and needs a thorough cleaning each day.

Dining Room and Sun Room- sweep, vacuum and wash floors, help the younger children keep their toys in order, if necessary.

Bedrooms- my 5 children now at home are divided into 4 bedrooms. The children are responsible for their own rooms. Either my hubby or I regularly make bedroom inspections to make sure they are keeping their rooms clean and in order.

Many of these jobs overlap, such as clutter control and dining room (this is one area that has a major clutter spot). Each child is also still responsible for their own messes, I don’t allow them to expect that the person in charge of an area will clean up after them.

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