September 06, 2003

Share the Load!

One of the first things my husband was told before we started homeschooling was this: If you can't help your wife with the household chores, then hire her a maid!

Well, my husband, as wonderful as he is, is not one to scrub toilets, so for the first few years, as we were able, he hired a maid occassionally to help with the household cleaning. It was a wonderful thing while it lasted!--and even though I felt "guilty" for having someone else clean my home, I knew I needed the help. (I also justified it by convincing myself I was actually helping our national economy by putting people to work!) :-)

But, as time went on, I discovered that it was getting harder and harder to find good help that would clean things the way they needed to be cleaned. So many maid services start off strong, but after they've worked for you a while they get in a hurry to finish the job so they can call it a day. Or, they will send out their "A Team" the first couple of times, then once you become a regular customer they start sending their second string--or worse....

So up until last winter I used a maid service twice a month--until I just couldn't stand it any more! But you know what I realized? I had two very capable, able-bodied students who could learn to help out around the house! :-) So, I went to work teaching them to vacuum, dust, and clean their bathroom. They also learned to sort laundry and to fold it, hang it, and put it away. And they also learned to load and unload the dishwasher, wash down the kitchen table, and sweep and mop the tile floors. Additionally, during the spring, summer, and fall, they take turns watering the flowers in the front and back yard. (All this came in very handy this past summer when I had surgery and was laid-up for several weeks! They were a huge help to my husband while I was recuperating!)

To make it easier on everyone and to cut down on arguments, I made up a weekly job chart listing the jobs that were to be done each day and I assigned either a "1" or a "2" to each chore. Then, at the bottom of the chart, I assigned the "1" and the "2" to certain weeks of the month (ranging from 1-4), alternating the numbers so they didn't have the same chores each week.

Because I was saving so much money by not paying a maid service, and because I was giving them so much work to do each week, we doubled their weekly allowance. While they were not too thrilled with the workload, they were very excited about having their allowance doubled! However, we told them that if they did not complete their chores as directed, not only would they have to do the job(s) again, but they would lose that doubled portion of their allowance for that week. (That also applied in the event of whining, complaining, arguing, etc. about these household chores.)

The added bonus to it all was that since they were actually learning important skills they would use later in life, I was able to write this down in their school record book as "life skills"....

One of the things I had to remember when checking over their work the first few times, is that they are young and this is all new to them. They will get better with time, and they will always be able to carry these skills with them when they leave home. Also, if I am careful to encourage and compliment a whole lot more than I critique, their attitude will be better toward the work itself. (They might even gain a sense of accomplishment and importance, knowing they are helping me so much!)

While they don't clean things perfectly, they have become tremendous helpers! I don't know what I'd do without them!