day 113 & 114: resources for chores, household management, and more

This post will encompass both weekend days since it will likely get lengthy! Next week, we will do age appropriate chores—one age group per day. Then we will be done with chores for a while! And go back to more preschool information via Jonathan’s Journal. I want to finish preschool in plenty of time in May to discuss summer activities, helping your students during the summer (whether your children go to school or school at home), and much more! (I always have big plans….just not always enough time to do them all!)


Are you ready for a complete, annotated list of sources about this topic? Okay…..bear with me:

1. Choreganizer cards---I talked about these in morning routine posts. (See http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/01/day-eighteen-develop-morning-routines.html and http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/01/day-nineteen-develop-morning-routines.html

Besides using these for morning routines, after school routines, or bedtime routines, they are also outstanding for chore charts (which is probably what they were intended for).

2. Accountable kids. This website offers a complete program for teaching children chores and responsibility, including immediate and delayed rewards and much more. I developed our own systems, but if I was just starting out all over again, I would definitely consider this program: http://www.accountablekids.com/

3. Book: "401 Ways to Get Your Kids to Work at Home" (McCullough and Monson). This was one of the first “teaching responsibility and chores” books that I had—twenty-six years ago! It contains many, many tips for teaching children to work at home and also gives dozens (or hundreds?) of organization/storage tips. Available at http://www.amazon.com/Ways-Your-Kids-Work-Home/dp/0312301472

4. Book: "Sidetracked Home Executives: From Pigpen to Paradise" (Pam Young and Peggy Jones). This was another early book I used to organize our home. It introduces a detailed index card system for household tasks, from daily jobs to seasonal and year ones; from laundry systems or spice organization. I found it especially helpful when I was having trouble prioritizing. I always worked diligently, but I got easily “sidetracked” by projects—had a lot of trouble with faithfulness to daily tasks. This book helped with that, too, with its priority card system, etc. It’s a pretty fun read also. Available at http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Sidetracked+Home+Executives

5. Book: "A Housekeeper Is Cheaper Than a Divorce: Why You Can Afford Household Help and How to Get It" (Kathy Fitzgerald Sherman). While the title of this book is obnoxious, its ideas for delegating and dividing work are not. While most of us cannot afford a housekeeper (and the author gives less credit to families working together than I believe is accurate, in many cases), this book puts housework and relationships in their proper order—and gives many good ideas for delegating and dividing work. Available at http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=A+Housekeeper+Is+Cheaper+Than+a+Divorce

6. Book/System: "Managers of Their Home" (Teri Maxwell). This book is not for the faint of heart. If you have a large family, homeschool, and are having trouble “getting it all done,” this book is for you. It includes a detailed system of organizing all of the work in a large family home. It is a system that takes a lot of time to implement—but the time saved once it is implemented is amazing and worthwhile. (If you are easily overwhelmed by elaborate systems, this approach and the “Sidetracked” one above are likely not for you.) Available at http://rainbowresource.com/product/Managers+of+Their+Homes/003890/1266103605-336372

7. Cleaning Products and Books: The Cleaning Center (Don Aslett). This site is where I get the majority of our cleaning products—as well as lots of help and tips. Don Aslett’s books are amazing—and I have even used a couple of them for read alouds for our children to help the learn to do things more efficiently and effectively around the house. This company’s cleaning products and tools are affordable and effective. Our favorites include Showers and Such (remarkable shower cleaner without the strong fumes or dangerous chemicals), Foaming Bowl Cleaner (like the showers one, it truly removes rust and water stains), and the Window and All Purpose cleaners (65 cents a bottle as a little packet that you add water to!). Available here http://www.cleanreport.com/

8. Book: "Clean in a Minute" (Don Aslett). This little book has taught my children and me how to clean quicker and more efficiently. I highly recommend it for learning how to clean fast and thoroughly. (Available at http://www.cleanreport.com/ )

9. Child sized tools. I always loved getting my littles their own sized broom or rake. The site that follows has pint-sized tools and utensils to get your little ones working alongside you: http://www.forsmallhands.com/store/index.php?main_page=collection&collection=CLN1

10. Book: "Make-a-Mix Cookery." I will review this book later in the year, but this is where I started with my mega cooking. It is not specifically mega cooking, but it has many “mixes” (i.e. Italian meat, hamburger mixes, white sauce balls, homemade “Bisquick,” and much more) that I have used over and over through the years. I am on my third copy (due to excessive use!), and I highly recommend this for home cooks who are serious about cooking from scratch. Available here http://www.amazon.com/Make-Mix-Cookery-Make-Mixes/dp/0895860074

11. Mega cooking site: Thirty Day Gourmet. This is the site I use for mega cooking help nowadays. Their basic freezer cooking manual looks wonderful (“Thirty Day Gourmet’s Big Book of Freezer Cooking”), but I use the software (item #12). This site will help you immensely if you desire to do freezer cooking of any kind: http://www.30daygourmet.com/

12. Software: Thirty Day Gourmet Edition of Advantage Cook Software. This is the software that I use now for all of my recipes. It is a long process getting them all switched over from WORD (and some from EXCEL) to this, but it is so worth it since this software lets you adjust the servings at the push of a button. After many years of adjusting recipe amounts on napkins, in my head, and on scrap paper, I so appreciate that aspect of it. In addition to being able to plug your own recipes into it, this software comes fully loaded with the Thirty Day Gourmet’s Freezer Cooking recipes (again, fully adjustable). I love this program. Available at http://www.30daygourmet.com/Products/Freezer-Cooking-Advantage-Software.aspx

That should get you surfing—and give you some resources to help you in your family’s chore schedules and household management. Thanks for joining us. It is a pleasure sharing life with you.