Giving New Meaning to Parenting

I love having a clean house but I want to spend as little time as possible doing housework so we can move on to the fun stuff! Call me lazy but I try to make it as easy as possible for me and the kids to get our jobs done. Here are just a few things that we have done, feel free to leave a comment with your own ideas.

1. Everything my nine year-old needs to clean the bathroom is stored in a container on a shelf. He doesn’t have to waste time looking for supplies or putting them away in another part of the house.
2. I have taught my kids to carry a tote to throw clutter in when they are cleaning up. After everything is picked up, they take the tote from room to room, putting everything in its proper place.
3. I have three laundry baskets in my bathroom; one for whites, one for lights and one for darks. The clothes get sorted as they are worn, so my 7 year old doesn’t have to spend time sorting when she washes a load. It’s a simple thing for her to grab the dirty clothes out of her room, add them to a basket in my bathroom, and throw the clothes in the wash. She does one load a day so the clothes don’t pile up.
4. My daughter got tired of putting the boy’s red pepper spice away after every single meal so I scrounged up a divided container from my stash to keep napkins and spices organized. Now they can stay on the table and no one has to waste time getting them out or putting them away.
5. We have a cute wooden stool that the kids used to use, but it is heavy for little ones and they were always banging it into furniture and walls as they carted it around the house. I finally bought three inexpensive plastic stools, so there is always one handy when they need it. They’re not pretty, but they are so helpful to have around.
6. A three year old can hang up his own clothes if you teach him how and make sure there is a closet rod low enough for him to reach. If you don’t know how to install a rod then you could purchase something like this closet rod doubler.

Kids can’t help if they can’t reach, if they don’t have the right tools, or if the job is too overwhelming. As you and your kids are doing your chores, ask them to think about ways they could get them done faster and easier. I’m sure they will have lots of ideas for you. Some of them may not work but some of them will, and they will be proud that they were able to help in more ways than one.

Part I, Whose Job is It?
Part II, Getting Rid of the Clutter
Part III, Let Them Help
Part IV, It Takes Time
Part V, Work Together
Part VI, Learn to Practice

Want to save time during your day? Subscribe to GNMParents. It’s a very efficient system, just click on the orange square above, or enter your email address in the Subscribe area to the right. Then GNMParents will be easier to access, which will save you time for more important issues, like relaxing on the couch. And don’t worry about spam, we use a system that keeps your email anonymous. Spam is yucky.

[tags]kids, parents, parenting, rituals, happiness, relationships[/tags]
Photo graciously provided by the author, under a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved