Last night's activity was a great success (at least the presentation part! that mod podge was trickier than I thought it'd be - sorry!! but they were still really cute!). Here are a few highlights from our presenters:
Elaine Tuttle:
Totes. Have everything you need for the job in one place. Saves time and energy when you don't have to run back and forth from the job to the closet for this or that. She has totes for cleaning, hair-do's, nail/pedi stuff, etc.
Clean from top to bottom.
Have a sanctuary. Elaine keeps her room clear and bed made so that even if the rest of the house is undone, she can go in her room and close the door and find peace.
Natalie Emmer:
House Of Order Handbook, by Marie Ricks. She has a system using 3x5 index cards to detail what jobs get done each day, week, month, etc. The website for House of Order is www.houseoforder.com.
“It is important to ‘neat’ your house before you ‘clean’ your house, and ‘clean’ your house before you ‘scrub’ your house.” Makes sense to me!
Monika Hopper:
Uses a reward system with a chart of 100 squares, and when each child fills a chart with stickers, they earn a designated amount of money. She also prints a daily chore chart for each child specific to the schedules and needs of each day. If the child does not complete the list, they do not earn the stickers, and if it becomes a habit of not completing the list, they lose friend privileges.
Angela Jensen:
Her children earn points by completing specific chores, and then they can redeem their points for "coupons" for things like movie night, and an outing with mom and dad, and extra tv time. Great ideas for those who dislike "paying" kids to do their chores.
Cindy Cahoon:
Cindy has adapted some of the House Of Order stuff and created cards for her kids which correspond to her jobs for the day. She also had some great ideas for making job time fun! Personally, I love the 30 second job idea (have jobs written on popsicle sticks and have everyone pick one. Set the timer for 30 seconds, and everyone races to get the job done before the timer goes off.)
**a few thoughts from the audience were:
They aren't bribes, they are incentives.
Create a list for multi-step jobs (like the bathroom) and post it in the room where it is done. Like the back of the medicine cabinet. This eliminates the constant "now what??" or "k, I'm done!" and it not really being done.
Finally, just don't give up. Keep trying things until you find what works for you and your family. It's not about having a spotless home. It's about being able to have a tidy home where the Spirit can thrive and your families can feel peace.
We did not have a ton of time for discussion and sharing of more ideas. Please feel free to comment with any tricks/systems that work for you!
*we will work on getting some of the info into a downloadable format. I'll let you know when that is available.
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