Homeschool Memoirs: Chores

For this week's memoir we are to share about our system for chore duty.  Hmm, around here it seems to be clean, pick up, cook, wash turn around and start over lol.  Sigh.  Well I do have a Household Notebook that I've been keeping for about 2 years now that has really helped me stay on top of things (most of the time...some of the time...)  I try to keep to bit of a daily routine, things that must be done each day, and in any spare time I have (HA!) I will "focus" on a different area of the house, so that by the end of a week I have tended to the whole house.

My daily must do routine:

Try and get up before kids
Empty dishwasher
Start laundry
Get kids up and fed

At this point we start school and go until lunchtime.  I fix lunch and while the kiddos eat and have some downtime I:

Switch laundry
Load and run dishwasher
Clean kitchen

At this point in the day, if we have no errands to run and no one is sick and the planets are all lined up just right I can do my "focus."  Here's how that looks:

Mondays:  Master Bedroom
Tuesdays:  Kids Rooms
Wednesdays:  Kitchen and Laundry Room
Thursdays:  Living Room and Hall Bath
Fridays:  School Room and Mom's Desk

For the bedrooms this means changing sheets, dusting and vacuuming.  For the kitchen it means wiping down appliances and mopping the floor.  For the living room it's a good dusting and straightening.  For the school room, on Friday's when we are done for the week, the kiddos put their books and supplies back in the closet and I sort and deal with papers and such on my desk. 

In the afternoon I get the kiddos to pick up the living room and my older boy vacuums.  My 8yo will switch laundry again and my youngest will help me empty the dishwasher.  Then it's dinner and cleaning the kitchen once again.  Clothes get folded and put away.  Then I get some time with dh. :)

There are plenty of times when things don't go as planned and my routine just flies out the window.  On these days I just try and get my must do's done: wash at least one load of clothes and keep the kitchen clean.  If I don't keep up with these chores the people in my home go naked and eat with their hands...just kidding!  But this is the system I have developed over the years.  I feel you just have to find what chores are most important to you and your family and that's what really matters. :)