Chores-jobs or activities assigned to an individual that, when accomplished, benefit the family as a whole ie. sweep the floor, load the dishwasher… If your dishwasher is malfunctioning, make sure to contact a reliable dishwasher repair service near you! And those who are dealing with a plumbing emergency may hire a helpful contractor. You can also look up plumbing repair in Seattle, WA and nearby areas.

Personal Responsibilities-jobs or activities that, when accomplished, benefit the individual who did them ie. practice piano, clean your bedroom, brush your teeth

When children are young we do our best to work hygiene and other personal responsibilities into our children’s lives. We often make charts or schedules of things that must be accomplished daily. These tasks, which benefit the child doing them, are teaching personal responsibility and independence. These are things that kids should be self-motivated to do. These are also things that by age 7-8, they should be automatic and no longer require a chart or a reminder from a parent.

I recommend focusing on Personal Responsibilities before ever introducing chores into your family dynamic. In future posts we will be talking a lot about chores including topics like Why Kids Should Do Chores and Should Kids Get Paid for Chores but for today let’s focus on the personal responsibilities.

An Incomplete List of Personal Responsibilities for Kids

• brush their teeth
• comb their hair
• make their bed
• clean their room
• practice their musical instrument/sport
• care for their pet (if it is theirs and not a family pet)
• do their homework
• take a bath/shower
• empty their backpack when they get home and put things where they belong
• put their cup/dish in the sink or dishwasher when they are done

Are you seeing how these items are things that benefit the child more than the family? I also recommend that while a chart that reminds a child of what needs to be done can be useful, especially for younger children who are just starting to take responsibility for themselves, I don’t advocate using a reward system here. Verbal praise should be all that is necessary when a child shows responsibility. Rewarding kids for every little thing they do sets them up for disappointment. They aren’t going to get a sticker, piece of candy or more screen time every time they turn in a school assignment on time or throw their milk carton in the garbage can-don’t let them expect this. Let the reward be knowing they did a job well done.

In all honesty, the fact that I feel the need to write this post drives me crazy but, I know too many parents who are not teaching their children to be responsible for themselves. I know 8-9 year olds who would never think of brushing their teeth if someone didn’t tell them to do it! I know middle schoolers who don’t think about doing their homework until someone tells them to and then there is often a fight over it! This is ridiculous! As a student your #1 job is your education. Doing homework and doing it well is your job and takes priority over extracurricular activities and free time. Parents who don’t instill this work ethic in their kids at a young age are doing their children and their community a huge disservice.

Daily I see moms on Facebook complaining about disagreements with their kids about basic things they should be doing and I have 2 things to say about that 1. stop airing your family problems in a public forum and 2. raise your kids-don’t let them raise themselves. I’ll step off my soapbox for now but as parents our responsibility is to raise our children, to train them and it starts by teaching them personal responsibility. Teaching your child to take care of themselves and their surroundings is one building block to raising great kids.

Do you agree, disagree or fall somewhere in between? I’d love to have a great dialog as long as it remains civil. I retain the right to delete any rude or hurtful comments.

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Time Management for Bloggers-Schedule

In my first post in this series, Time Management for Bloggers-Writing, I shared my daily schedule with you. In that schedule I include 2-30 minute blocks of time to get my housework done. Yes, the bulk of my housework gets done in a total of one hour a day. Keep reading and I will show you how. I also include dinner prep in my schedule.

As I have said before, having a schedule is crucial to managing your time. If you don’t know what you are supposed to be doing at any particular time, you will probably end up wasting that time.

Time Management for Bloggers-Housework

Over my 22+ years of marriage I have tried several ways of organizing my housework. When the kids were between the ages of 8-17, they did the bulk of the housework, and it was wonderful! Now that Aaron is working 60+ hours a week and Jordan is on the mission field the housework has shifted back to being my responsibility. I have found that for me I need a not-too-strict schedule that will help me get everything done without making me feel stressed out or upset when something doesn’t get done. I am pleased to say, I have finally found that balance.

I came across a wonderful daily cleaning schedule at FrazzledJoy. She was even awesome enough to make FREE printable forms so that we can all organize our housework. The idea is that we have daily chores that must be done and then other chores that can be done 1-2 times a month. I used her template and created my own list which I even colored to match my kitchen. This list hangs on my refrigerator so that I see it often. I also made an arrow from a post-it note flag. I move the arrow every time I complete a box so that I know what the next day’s chores are.

Our homes and needs vary but this is what is on my list…

Daily Chores

• make the bed
• wash the dishes
• wipe the kitchen counters
• wash one load of laundry
• sweep the floors

Rotating chores

• Kitchen counters (deep clean), stovetop & microwave
• Master bedroom sheets, clean out refrigerator
• Bathrooms-mirrors, toilets, sinks &  floors (2x)
• Dust living room and clean off kitchen table
• Mop floors in kitchen, hall & living room (2x)
• Fold laundry & clean laundry room
• Declutter any area for 30 minutes (2x)
• Wash kids’ sheets, clean out refrigerator
• Clean desk, pick up master bedroom
• Scrub bathtub & shower walls (Aaron’s chore)
• Clean out car, wipe down kitchen cabinets and appliances

Some chores are done twice during the 14 weekday rotation. On one Saturday each month we try to plan a day to do some deeper cleaning that needs to be done but as you can see, the basics are covered by my schedule. If you are looking for more organizing tips and tricks make sure you follow my Organization board on Pinterest.

Time Management for Bloggers-Meal Planning

I have been on and off the meal planning wagon many times over the past few years. For the last 3 months, I have found a schedule that works for me and my family. I plan 4 dinners a week and schedule them on days that at least 3 of us will be home. For us Sunday we eat with our small group and we each contribute to the meal. Monday the kids go to church so it is just hubby and I so we usually do something light or leftovers. Tues-Sat there is at least one night where hubby is working or the kids or I have plans so planning 4 nights a week works for us. I found this great FREE printable that I use from Life in Yellow that works perfectly for me.

How I Meal Plan

I have a spreadsheet of all of our favorite meals separated into basic groups: Beef, Chicken, Pork and Pasta. I plan a month at a time.

1. I print and date 4 meal plan sheets and I add 3 meals to each list rotating between the 4 recipe types. I write all the ingredients under the recipe title.
2. I fill in the 4th box with a new meal that I have pinned on my Recipes I Want to Try board on Pinterest. This way we try something new each week and we decide it it gets added to our master meal list or not.
3. I file the upcoming menu plans in my household notebook.
4. I take the current list to the kitchen and cross off ingredients I already have on hand.
5. I look at the family calendar and decide which night we will be eating each dish and not that in the appropriate box.
6. I add other needed items to the list.
7. I check for coupon match ups for my list and I pull or print the coupons.
8. I put the list in my AnyList app which auto-syncs with my husband’s app and include notes about coupons.

My husband does most of the grocery shopping and he goes 2x a week. We are both self-employed with no guaranteed paychecks coming in regularly so we shop with cash on hand + coupons on Saturdays and Wednesdays.

I hope these tips have helped you get more organized and better manage your time. Next week we will talk about making sure we spend time with those we love.

Other Posts In This Series:

Time Management for Bloggers Part 1-Writing

Time Management for Bloggers Part 2-Social Media

Time Management for Bloggers Part 4-Family Time

The post Time Management for Bloggers Part 3-Household Responsibilities appeared first on The Mom Maven.

About the Whirlpool WashSquad App

Is finding help with the laundry an impossible chore? Do family members go mysteriously “missing” on laundry day? Well fear not! The folks at Whirlpool® have created an easy-to-use app that helps turn your family into a team of wash and dry wizards… all from the palm of your hand. The free Whirlpool® WashSquad App lets you:

• Assign laundry jobs to your family
• Track and reward their completed chores
• Create custom laundry guides with wash and dry instructions tailored to your Whirlpool® washer and dryer

And the WashSquad features a Stain Eraser guide and Fabric Coach to help get you through even the toughest of loads without breaking a sweat. Download the free application now and you’ll be on your way to perfectly clean laundry that you didn’t have to do. Now that’s one kind of laundry we can get behind.

The Mom Maven’s Thoughts

This app would have been wonderful, if we all had iPhones, when my kids were a bit younger and still doing the laundry. The built in incentive program is a great motivator. I’ve spent some time looking over the app and I really like the Cycle Guides that step you through the best way to do a specific load of wash…Did you know you should wash jeans inside out but dry them inside in? I didn’t. The Stain Guide is also very useful to help you know the best ways to remove typical types of stains.

If your kids have iPhones I recommend you all download the Whirlpool® WashSquad App  and make doing the laundry a fun competition instead of a dreaded chore.

Disclosure: “Presented by Mami Innovative Media, this is a sponsored post on behalf of Whirlpool. All opinions expressed here are my own.”

The post Get Laundry Help with the #WhirlpoolWashSquad App appeared first on The Mom Maven.

I am a huge proponent on teaching kids to work and be responsible for the jobs that are assigned to them. This summer I plan to revise my “How To Get Your Children To Do Chores” series that I wrote a few years ago and share it here. I am always on the lookout for tools that help families do chores and track work that has been completed. Recently a friend of mine told me about an online chore chart called My Job Chart.

My Job Chart is a FREE online Chore Chart that teaches kids to work in a fun and productive way. Using an easy and fun online system, My Job Chart inspires kids to do their chores on time. An interactive point system tracks your child’s progress, creating excitement and enthusiasm among kids. And the fully customizable chore chart allows you and your child to decide upon mutually determined rewards, fostering communication and developing responsibility. You even get an email or text message when your kids finish their chores or they earn a reward!

Do yourself a favor and go to My Job Chart, sign up for a free account and give it a try. You have nothing to lose and more responsible children to gain!

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