I have finally created something that works better for me than the traditional TO DO list. In the past I would grab my pad of paper and simply list the things that I wanted to accomplish that day. Well, it was just a jumble of ideas mixed up in whatever order the thoughts came out of my head.

So, I decided to categorize my TO DO list. Using Microsoft Word, I created a document called Daily Activity List. I left a space for the date at the top. Then I created a table. I broke my "daily activities" into household activities, cooking activities, gardening  activities, school planning activities, sewing activities and personal goals. Under each section I gave myself FOUR lines. I did this so I didn't write down more than I could possibly accomplish in one day. I hate to admit that I have a habit of doing that.

At the beginning of the week, I print out six of these sheets because I don't use one on Sunday. Each morning after my Bible time, I fill one in for the day. I can honestly say that even though I have on occasion transfered an activity over several days, I am accomplishing more during my "summer break" than I would have without this handy tool.

Blessings,
Jennie

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My Black and Decker iron died. I am so disappointed. I bought this iron when I went off to college. It lasted so long. I need to get another iron in relative short order as I have sewing projects in the works. Just when I had determined not to spend any money that wasn't absolutely necessary. I guess this is necessary, but I want to be smart about it. My understand is that those higher priced irons aren't all that they are made out to be. My mother told me she does not like her Rowenta very much. My iron had an automatic shut off that I really liked. So I am coming to all of my Homesteadblogger friends to ask you to please recommend an inexpensive, quality iron.

Thank you so very much.

Jennie

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This is so clever that I just had to share. This comes from the Motivated Moms Chore Planning System. I am just not this creative. It is a way to remember to flip or spin your bed mattresses.

So, this week as all the bedding was washed we FLIPPED all the mattresses. I figured I would do it at the same time as the time change as a reminder.

So, fall flip now, and in a few months we will spring spin.

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After my discussion about piling on chores from one day to the next, I have to level a confession. I am currently guilty of chore skipping. I am not sure how it happens. I start out the week well. My laundry day goes off usually without a hitch. We all like clean clothes. I am coming off a day of rest, so I am ready to get that done. Tuesday work  of bathroom cleaning and mopping floors is almost always completed as well. On Wednesday we tackle the upstairs bedrooms and hall. Except for my husband' s recent back trouble that laid him up on one of my Wednesday cleaning days I have been getting that done every week.

Something happens on Thursday and Friday. I don't know what it is. Is it the proximity to the weekend that gets me feeling lazy? I am not sure, but I do know that my kitchen work, living room and family room cleaning have not taken place in recent memory. My memory isn't as good as it once was, so I am thinking that it has been at least 3+ weeks. Of course the basics of wiping down counters and vacuuming happen daily. but the dusting, cleaning the garden window, straightening all the "STUFF", cleaning the small appliances, wiping the cupboards, etc. They are supposed to be done once a week. I am pleased to report that today I focused, rallied the troops, er, children, and we got to work. I feel so much better working in there tonight. Speaking of which I must get my chili on the stove...

Till later...Jennie

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There is much discussion on the web about chore schedules, household notebooks, and other such thoughts about home management. As I was going about my work yesterday, I was reflecting on why so many of us struggle with homemaking. There are obviously thoughts such as not being taught how to organize our work and schedule our days at home, but what about those who are constantly making and remaking schedules only to fail once again. I have been in this situation. For me, part of that difficulty stemmed from the "lots of little ones" season of my life. I have moved on from that time, but still I struggled with how to manage my work load. The key for me was to have regularly scheduled days for certain chores. I have discussed this at length in other blog entries. Check out The Laundry Monster, Is It Possible to have a baking day, wash day, etc. anymore?, and Blessings of Daily Work for more detail on scheduling weekly work.  Prior to having this schedule, I was a chore piler.

What is chore piling? Chore piling, simply put, is moving unfinished chores from one day to the next as a matter of habit. Sometimes this occurs when we don't have work assigned to specific days, but it can occur even when we do have assigned chore days. If we get in the habit of constantly moving unfinished chores this leaves us with a huge amount of work that we could never possibly accomplish and an enormous sense of being overwhelmed. A concrete example might be the dusting. Let's say, on your chore schedule you dust your living room and family room every Friday. Let us say that you wake up ill that morning. It is obvious that this chore will not be accomplished. You have two choices. You can move the chore to the next day or you can wait until the next Friday rolls around to complete the chore. If the unfinished chore does not risk health and safety, I have found that leaving the chore until its next scheduled day is a much better solution than moving it to the next day. The problem with moving chores to the next day is that if you have a personality that is constantly putting off to the next day, then you always have a mountain of work. Also, the work from the day before will conflict with the work (or fun) already scheduled for that day.

So, I guess the motto that I have learned is that we should not put off until tomorrow what can (and should)  be done today. However, if it can't be done it is best to leave it until it cycles back around on the schedule. This has kept me from being overwhelmed.

Blessings,
Jennie

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I confess. I used to do battle regularly with the laundry monster. You know the monster I mean. It is large. It looms near your washer or in a corner of a bedroom or bathroom. With the birth of each child the monster doubles in size. You are constantly under the weight of more and more laundry. It seems that even if you win a battle here and there that the war is mostly lost.

I confess. I used to do battle regularly with the laundry monster. However, I have now won the war. There are no more battles with this seething creature. What happened? Did all the children grow up and move out? No, they are still here. Did they all start doing there own wash? Some did, but some did not. Even so I would still have laundry from David and I. How did I win? I learned a trade secret. It has been passed down from women of the past for whom laundry really was a chore. It was exceedingly laborious for 19th century women that they would think us all ungrateful whiners.

What is this secret? How did the war get won? I have a laundry day! Just like women of the past I now wash my families clothing on ONE day out of the week. I do all the garment wash. I fold it and put it away. That is the only major chore for that day. I don't mop my kitchen. I don't vacuum the bedrooms. I do laundry along with the basic daily chores of fixing meals, neatening up, and such. At the end of the day, the laundry sorters (3 basket hampers) are empty. Everyone's drawers are filled with clean, neat clothes and I don't have to look at another load of dirty clothing for another week. I start the chore and I finish the chore in one day. It is the completing of this chore that brings satisfaction.

Can anyone have a laundry day? ABSOLUTELY! Actually, back in the day when I was using the inefficient model of doing a load or two a day, I met two women that did all their laundry in one day. Interestingly enough both these women had 7+ children. I was amazed? Weren't they overwhelmed? I just couldn't wrap my head around it. I did learn one thing though. They did not battle the laundry monster like I did. They learned from women of earlier generations and put to rest the inefficient system that we have picked up in our modern era. Even women who work away from home full time can have a laundry day. You could pick one evening early in the week when you are not worn out from work to do all the laundry.

Be encouraged! You, too, can win this one!

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Have you seen the show on HGTV called Mission Organization? A family has a disaster of a living space to organize and the show sends in a professional organizer to help them reclaim the peace that living in an orderly space can create. My favorite part of the show is seeing what tools (cabinets, totes, containers, baskets, etc.) the organizers use to help the family. It is a great idea gathering opportunity for me. Well, after watching the show yesterday, I marched up to the twins room and decided to reclaim it once and for all. The poor girls have no place to store anything. They also have no room to play. Since they are still young, it is important for them to have a place to play. I decided that it would be best to rebunk the beds. They had been down on the floor since we moved in. I wanted to move the dresser, and then I am going to get a cubical storage area for them to neatly store their toys. I spoke to my husband about it, and his response was, "I have some time now." So, the beds are now bunked. The dresser got moved, and I am just waiting to go get the cubical to organize the toys. I never expected my dh to move on this so quickly. Unfortunately, the little one on the top bunk has a cold and was up and down all night. When we finish I will post some before and after pictures.

Now, let's move on to Tuesday on the homestead. It is bathrooms and floors day.The various chores for bathroom and floor cleaning are broken down between the children. I wash all the bath towels and rugs. Sometimes I mop the kitchen floor, and sometimes one or two of the children do. Natalie mops the upstairs bathroom and swishes the toilet. Brianna does the downstairs bathroom toilet and floors. Jonthan cleans the tub. Carolyn sweeps and brings me the bath rugs. We are also supposed to be babysitting 4 children for a mom from church who has school today, but her children don't. I don't know how this will all work out, but the Lord does and I am trusting in Him.

Many blessings for your day...Jennie

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Monday has rolled around once again and so has yet another laundry day. It is also a slow day in my house as we are taking the day off from school. Daddy is home because he gets the President's Day holiday off from work, and mom and the children just needed a little break from the school routine. We have all been working very hard since New Year's.

A friend of mine was asking me recently what chores my children do, so I thought I would write down both their daily and weekly chores.

All the children do the same rooms chores. When they wake up they are to get dressed, make their beds, fold their PJs and put them under their pillows, brush hair, open shades and curtains, and do their Bible reading and prayer time. After they finish this, they come down stairs to begin their daily chores.

DAILY CHORES

Jonathan(12 yo)

Unload dishwasher

Check and empty kitchen garbage if necessary

Vacuum family room

Help with breakfast

Eat

Rinse dishes

Brush teeth

Natalie(10yo)

Vacuum dining room and livingroom

Swiffer front hall

Clean counters, sink and outside of toilet in upstairs bathroom

Pour drinks for breakfast

Eat

Load dishwasher

Brush teeth

Carolyn(7)

Clean glass in livingroom and family room

Fluff pillows in both rooms

Wipe down light switches and door knobs with disinfectant wipe

Set breakfast table

Eat

Brush teeth

Wipe table after meal

Brianna(7)

Collect garbage from wastebaskets

Clean sink and toilet in half bath

Put out vitamins

Eat

Brush teeth

Sweep kitchen floor

After all the daily chores are done, the children and I begin the weekly chores, but I think that is another entry. The laundry is calling my name...

Blessings,

Jennie

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I finally got it. It took me years to come to terms with this. God says in Exodus, "Six day shalt thou labor and do all thy work."

For years, I saw Saturday as my first day of rest in a way and Sunday as my second day. Of course, I did small chores on Saturday, but there really was no direction for my day. I think I had a mental block about Saturday being a day to slack off from the usual grind of my week. That is how the world operates for the most part. My husband is home on Saturday as he works a traditional Monday through Friday work week. Yet, he always seems to have something to do on Saturday. He mows the lawn, takes care of house repairs, runs his own errands, etc. I used to shop on Saturday, but I think I really enjoy being home. So, I have determined that Saturday will have a purpose. I will be either baking or gardening. Right now, it is 8 degrees outside with a wind chill of -10. So, I don't think gardening will be part of the equation for a while. For the past few weeks, I have been baking on Saturday. I have been getting my granola made for the week. Every other week, I have been making bread, and we have enjoyed a steady stream of homemade whole wheat bread. I am not stressing in the middle of the week because I don't have time to make bread.

Today will prove to be a bit interesting as my oldest daughter will be attending a birthday party smack in the middle of the day from 11 AM until 1:30 PM. It is at our church which is 25 minutes away. This will put me out on a day when I would rather be home in my nice warm kitchen. So, we will have to see how this all develops. There is such joy in knowing what each day might bring even if the Lord sends something else our way. At least we know what we have purposed to do each day when we awake.

Many blessings,

Jennie

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A woman on a message board that I visit regularly asked this question. I think it is a good question and worthy of some discussion. What she is referring to is the idea that every day has its own special work in the same manner that Ma Ingalls and her contemporaries ordered their days.

My answer is yes! It is possible and even preferrable to assign each day its own work. The order is personal. I can't tell you what the best days are to do your work. The work that I do in my house is still the same work that needs to be done in most homes. That work is: laundry, cleaning bathrooms and floors, cleaning bedrooms, cleaning the kitchen, cleaning the living rooms and/or family room, running errands, baking and office work. It is also extremely important that we leave a day of rest where we take the day off from our regular chores and work.

Since today is Monday, it is laundry day in my house. Oh, how many times I have heard, and actually even said, "I could never have a laundry day. I would be doing 15 loads of laundry in one day." This is a MISCONCEPTION! I do not do every conceivable load of laundry on one day. I wash the clothes and usually the kitchen and bathroom hand towel since those get changed out every day. Actually, as I type the towels are in the wash. I do wash on other days. On bathroom day, I was all the big bath towels and rugs. On bedroom days, the children wash all their sheets. I wash mine on a seperate day to cut down on the congestion in the laundry room. I probably do about 5 loads of laundry on laundry day. I do not do baking on laundry day. I do not clean my kitchen on laundry day. I do not pay my bills and balance my check book on laundry day. I do laundry and my daily chores such as meal prep. Now I do have children around who unload the dishwasher, vacuum, wipe down the sinks and toilets, etc. If I didn't have children in the house, I wouldn't necessarily have to do all those daily chores everyday.

For years I could not get my weekly work done. Part of that problem was that I didn't really know what weekly work needed to be done. The other problem was that I didn't schedule the work, and the third problem is that I let my laziness get in my way. The only way that this plan or any plan can work is if you work. It has to become a habit. We need to get up out of our chairs and off our computers and work.

There are many blessings is doing weekly work on assigned days. First, I know that when I am done with a particular day I don't have to visit that chore for a whole 7 days. I know that my house will have a certain level of cleanliness because I am hitting all areas at least once a week. This is particularly important at this time of year when colds and flus abound.

So, yes, it is possible to assign chores to a certain day. I would encourage anyone who is struggling in this area of organization to try this. Now, lest you think I came to this on my own, I did find the impetus for this at Large Family Logistics. She has wonderful ideas.

God bless you as you work to keep your home clean and orderly.

Jennie

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