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The Editor's Desk - From Beneath the Clutter
Feature Article - How Can the Kids Help Around the House?
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Guest Article - Post-It Style Parenting
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Ok, folks, I'm working on accomplishing something related to the results from the first poll - adding more work at home jobs. I almost have a section for unreasearched job leads ready to go; should be up in the next day or two. I'm doing this blog style so that it will be easy to tell when the leads were posted and you'll be able to sign up for an RSS feed so you can easily keep track of when new leads are posted. For those of you unfamiliar with RSS, don't worry, I'll explain it once I have the section up and running. I'll be sending a special email to let you know, so those who are interested can start looking right away.
I don't know how often I'll post new jobs. I hope to manage at least weekly, but this one is a balance between running other aspects of my business and doing a good job on finding leads.
You probably won't get a great deal of leads this week in any case... Gage's first birthday is on Thursday and the party is on Sunday. Obviously I'll be a little busy and how on Earth did a year go by so fast anyhow?
We're keeping the party pretty basic - let's face it, the first birthday party has at least as much to do with the parents as the child, and he's not going to remember it. Ariel will help me with the cake. She wants it to be pink, which obviously is NOT going to happen.
Don't forget, you can contribute your articles or tips anytime for consideration. Just use the contact form.
Did you know Dish Network now has a family-friendly channels only package?
$19.99/month, not an introductory price
When my husband was in college, a number of his fellow students were bringing their dirty laundry home, and Mom was coming once a month to clean their room. This wasn't because they were lazy, but they simply didn't know how to do the laundry or house cleaning!
Don't let your children become like those students... Apart from the fact that teaching your children house and other chores prepare them for life on their own, they're also chores that you don't need to do! I know, I know, it takes time to teach them how to do it, and there will be quite a few times when you will need to finish the job behind them, but once they know, you will never need to do it again until they leave... And, at least until they reach eight or so, they will be proud to be entrusted with "big people" tasks.
So, what tasks can be safely delegated to your children? It depends on their age, but there are things they can do as early as 2 years old. Below is a list of tasks by age group:
Toddlers: Can dust with an electromagnetic cloth or baby wipe; Spray and scrub the sink and bathtub with water and a sponge; pick up toys or other floor clutter and put them in baskets or bins - if the baskets are labeled with pictures, they can even put the right toys in the right container! At this point, anything you give them to do except putting the toys away will be more to give them something to do while you are cleaning, but they will try to do their best if you take the time to teach them, and it will seem natural to them when they graduate to more complex tasks.
Preschoolers: Sweep with kid-size broom; spray and squeegee windows using lemon- or vinegar-water (inside windows only, please!); use a handheld vacuum; wipe sinks using baby wipes; empty a small trash basket into a bigger bag; scrub corners of kitchen chairs or other small spaces using a clean toothbrush or nail brush and a cup of water; make beds (preferably with a comforter, it's easier for them); fold towels; put clothes in drawers; hang clothes on hooks; put dirty clothes in hamper; help feed animals; wipe off baseboards, windowsills with small cloth or wearing old socks on their hands; help wipe up spills; dry unbreakable dishes; pick up litter in the yard.
Kindergartners: sweep small areas with a dustpan and broom; clean bathroom sinks; hang up the towel after a bath; store bath toys; help in the kitchen (stirring, tearing lettuce, etc. - no knife yet!); set the napkins and silverware on the table; clear dishes from the table (depends on your child, you know if they risk breaking them or not); help load the dishwasher; straighten plastic dishes in a cabinet; help straighten pots and pans; sort family members' clean laundry; dust furniture; strip linens from beds; straighten books on a bookshelf; put game and puzzle pieces in correct storage containers; use a lint remover to pick up pet hair on furniture; tidy up their room.
Younger Elementary School Kids: Make beds (any of them); take out garbage; sweep stairs and walks; clean the car and help wash it; vacuum their own room; sort and straighten toys; fold and put away laundry; empty the dishwasher; feed and care for pets; set and clean the table (but only with unbreakable dishes and cups at this point); sort clothes for washing.
Older Elementary School Kids: Clean bathroom mirrors; vacuum; clean toilets; clean countertops and the kitchen sink; mop small-area floors; use the washer and dryer; wash, dry and put away dishes; clean pet areas; clean cobwebs and dust in high places with a pole; sweep the garage; set and clean the table (by the end of elementary school, they usually are able to do it with regular dishes and glasses).
Teenagers: Can do everything you do, except for the most intensive jobs, or the ones using noxious products, such as deep-cleaning of the oven, or removing mold from the bathroom tiles.
So, when will you sit down and create a chore chart for your children? What chores will you assign to each, depending on their ages? What will you do with the time you are saving this way?
Karin Vibe-Rheymer-Stewart, Ph.D., helps busy women reclaim time and achieve work/life balance through whole-life time management, in other words everything that affects your use of time. She works through one-on-one coaching, group coaching, seminars and talks. For free resources and to contact her, go to http://www.superwomanrelief.com.
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I love 3M's Post-It Notes, and keep a stack of colorful pads always near at hand. They're good for flagging edits on a manuscript, for communicating with others in my home when we're busy living separately during the day, or for jotting down phone numbers, grocery lists, and sudden bursts of inspiration for story-writing. But the best use I ever found for them was when my son was in elementary school. I discovered they were great parenting tools.
It was driving me crazy that the sink in the bathroom always looked atrocious every time I walked in there. It looked great every time I stepped out of the washroom, but rarely did it look so pristine on entering. There was usually some crusty feeling stuff on the taps and not only did the grunge drive me crazy, but having to remind my son about it time and time again, nearly drove me insane. I'd wash the crust off, rewash my hands, then turn to dry my hands on a towel, only to find the towel marred with whatever my son had supposedly washed off his hands earlier.
It was frustrating and annoying. No matter how many times I told him to clean the taps off and use towels for drying his hands, not for wiping dirt on them, the bathroom was still like that several times a day. I told him he'd lose a day on the computer every time I found it like that. It didn't work. He lost the computer for a week and nothing changed, and even when he was off the computer, it was still like that. He was getting used to hearing his name pronounced in a way only an irate mother can pronounce her child's name (we're quite skilled at drawing out the syllables for effectiveness).
Or he'd be playing online or off, and as soon as he heard the tone of his name in that way, he'd say, "Oh, sorry, sorry," rush to take care of it and get back to playing with his toys, or hop back on the computer chair and tap away at the keyboard.
Since the computer was his favorite "toy," I set up a schedule of times he was allowed to be on it, and would take away privileges a half hour at a time. That didn't work. He was fine with losing his comp time because he'd simply go draw pictures or play with his toys. Still the grungy bathroom problem continued.
I was getting sick and tired of being upset with him over such a trivial thing, yet I hated that it seemed my hands got messier trying to clean them, than they had been before I started!
Finally, I grabbed a brightly colored Post-It, and wrote on it, "Ha Ha! I am dirt and grime and I don't want you to play on the computer! I play dirty! Ha ha ha ha!" I added a little picture of a grime spot with an mean smile. I stuck that one on the mirror in front of the tap. I took another Post-It of a different color and wrote "I am NOT a back-up washcloth! I'm a towel. Please use me to dry clean hands. Don't clean them on me! I drew a little crying towel.
It was working! No more grime, no more leftovers on the towel . . . but the other towel was then being used for cleaning. I stuck up another note and wrote "I'm a towel too! Please no dirt and grime!" I drew a trembling towel with a grime monster about to devour him.
After that day, the bathroom was always nice and clean and the towels lasted on the rack more than half a day, and I didn't have to say a word.
Neither of us mentioned the notes until about a week later when I put a little reminder notes up for myself in the kitchen (which I do frequently) and he said, "You're sure into notes these days huh? Like in the bathroom?"
"Yes," I replied. "I saw those, too. But I'm not a towel, and I'm not dirt and grime, so please don't think they're from me." He laughed, gave me a hug and said "You're such a cool mom." I took the compliment for the rare wonder it was, and we never brought the notes up again.
For a few years more, the Post-Its Patrol kept our home in tip-top shape: over a coat rack, "Please may I hold your coat for you?"; above the laundry hamper, "I'm not full yet, more clothes please!" The notes were all over the house until my son was able to remember certain chores and responsibilities without reminders. Even his cousins and friends abided by the Post-It Patrol's rules. Best of all, I didn't have to nag my son for those things to get done.
Now that my son is a teenager, the notes are gone and the walls around here are a lot less colorful, but it's a fair trade for raising my son in a home where yelling is rare, arguments are discussed in respectful tones and chores are actually done. I don't know if I could have managed it without a little help from my Post-Its.
Kim-Marie Ward is a freelance editor of both non-fiction books and fiction novels, a ghostwriter, and has written several articles for various ezines and newsletters (online and in print). She's an active member on http://www.Writing.Com, an online community for Writers. Stop by and visit her portfolio at: Kim-Marie on Writing.Com.
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