Chore Box

I don't know about you, but I am almost always behind on my chores. I spend my days cleaning, cooking, and playing with the kids. Most days when it's bed time I look around and think, "what exactly did I do today?" I like the house to be clean, I get stressed out faster when the house is dirty. Which lately is pretty much every day. So I've decided to get my chore box out. My mom told me about how she used this system way back when. I've used it before and it works so well. I just got out of the habit of using it. Now that I've got 3 kiddos making a mess during the week it's been near impossible to keep up. It's simple, and I promise that your house will stay cleaner doing just a little bit every day. No need to try to clean the house from top to bottom every day (which is what I have been doing lately). For one thing that's a lot of work, especially with kids around. With this system everything will get cleaned. You won't need to stress about it because you know it's in the box. Here is how it works:

I got his box at office depot, it's for index cards. Then I bought some calendar tabs, I couldn't find any index card sized ones, so I bought ones for a binder and cut them to the size I need. Next you need a stack of multi colored index cards. You're going to use 3 colors. Pick one color for the things you do every day. Here is my every day list:

-dishes
- wipe down counters
- wipe down appliances
- wipe off table
- sweep floor

Next make a list of the things you generally do in a week. Bathroom mirrors, toilets, sweeping bathrooms, laundry days, and so on. I like to spread my bathroom cleaning over two days. One day I'll do the counters and the mirrors, and the next I do the toilets and the floors. I don't know why, but for me it's way less over whelming when I spread it over two days. I also have a different load of laundry to do every day. One day for whites, darks, towels, Kaydences clothes, Nolans clothes, and sheets. I am always always behind on laundry. I hate laundry with a passion. Actually washing it doesn't bother me, just folding them and putting them away. And we all know laundry is NEVER done. Ever. It's hard to remember, but back when I was using my box I actually managed to stay on top of it. No more late nights folding piles and piles of laundry!

Okay, so for the third color pick things that only need to be done once or twice a month. For this one I have things like

-blinds
- light fixtures
-cleaning out the fridge
-cleaning the oven

You get the point. Some of these I do twice a month. Now let's put it together. Arrange your box by month and date. I keep the current month in front of the box, all of the others go at the back. Put your every day chores behind the tab for the first day you want to start, and then spread out your chores for the rest of the week. This way instead of a never ending list of things you have to do you have maybe 5 things to do. I don't do my chores all at once either. Usually I do all of my daily chores at one time, and the rest of the tings I need to do I pick a card when I have a few minutes. The kids are busy painting a picture? Wipe down the back door. They're playing with toys, I clean the mirrors. Now for your once or twice a month chores. Space them out through the entire month. Give yourself one or two a week. The best part about the once a month chores is that if you're having a bad day. Kids screaming, throwing up, grumpy, or whatever pick up the once a month card and move it to the next day. Don't move it more than once or you'll never do it. The point of this box is to make things easier so if moving your once a month chore is better for you than do it!

I've got my box organized again and I'm ready to roll come Monday. One of the biggest things for me is having the toys picked up, which I did NOT put in my box. I've been getting the kids to be more responsible with their toys, I usually have them pick up before rest time and before Ashley goes home. I didn't do a great job enforcing that this week and as a result my house is a serious mess. It's my fault for being lazy though.

I hope this helps some of you! I promise it works if you stick to it. Do a little every day and you will be surprised by the chance in your house after just a week.

*****I've just realized as I was using my chore box that I forgot to add how to keep the system going. Every day when you've done your daily chores take those cards and move them to the next days slot. As you finish your weekly chores move those to the correct slot for the next week. I take Sundays off chores, so if you give yourself a day off as well make sure you leave that spot empty!