The Love that Keeps us Sane (part 4)

We had such a great time cleaning the house this morning. I know that may sound crazy, but we really did. There are a few tricks that I have learned in order to make things go more smoothly, and for the kids (and myself!) to have good attitudes about cleaning.

First of all, everyone at this point, has the same job each week. As the younger ones get older, I will train them on new jobs because I want to have them learn how to do all of the cleaning. But, for now, keeping the same jobs works best. Jadon vacuums upstairs, Adam vacuums the stairs and downstairs, Lily cleans the mirrors and sliding glass door and vacuums the couch, and Yana dusts and washes the kitchen floor. I always clean the bathrooms because I like them to be really clean!

That brings me to my next point. I have to be willing to accept imperfection. Every once in a while, I may do some extra detail cleaning, but week to week, I rely on my children to help keep things clean. Some of them do this better than others, but they all do a reasonable job and I want to encourage them by not re-doing their jobs. Also, I really don't want to do any extra work!

I also try to remembr to really thank the children for their hard work. Everyone likes to be appreciated for what they have done. I can tend to take things that they do for granted, so I try to make a point of showing my gratitude in an enthusiastic manner.

Another thing that helps to make cleaning pleasant, is not to be too rushed. We can actually finish all of the cleaning in about an hour or an hour-and-a-half, but if we only have an hour then I get too stressed. Today, we had all morning to clean. It didn't take all morning, but we didn't have to rush, so we all felt very peaceful about getting it done.

A final thing that I have just recently been realizing is that I need to appreciate and utilize each child's strengths more. I have been so focused on strengthening them in their weak areas, I had been forgetting about utilizing their strengths.

So, for example, I have one super-cleaner, two willing cleaners who usually have good attitudes, and one avoider of all cleaning. In the past, I have worked and worked and worked (i.e. nagged) on helping this un-named avoider to finish up the assigned cleaning jobs. But, even though this child avoids a lot of work, she (okay, now you know that it is one of the girls) is also the most helpful when it comes to interacting with Grace. She loves to get Grace dressed, loves to get Grace's beakfast and Grace, in turn, loves it when she gets all of this special attention.

So, today, my avoider still had to do her work (in her own time), but I utilized her strengths in helping with Grace. That way, I could clean the bathrooms without being interupted (okay, so Grace did come in at one point because she really loves to scrub the toilet!).

In addition to their weekly jobs, the kids also have daily jobs. Of course, they make their beds and pick up their rooms. They also do all of the kitchen clean-up. Yana clears the table and deals with the trash and compost, Adam empties the dishwasher and wipes off the table and counters, Jadon fills the dishwasher and Lily either washes the dishes or sweeps the kitchen floor (whichever one is needed most at that meal).

They also walk the dog, fold socks, towels, etc. and do other general cleaning as needed. There are three main reasons that we teach our children to help with the cleaning. First, with 5 kids, I really do need their help in order to stay sane! Second, it helps them to learn to be responsible. And third, we want them to find joy in service.

After cleaning the house, we always try to do something that they enjoy. Since we do a limited amount of home schooling on Friday, we make time to go to the park, for a bike ride, to the library, etc. Today, we went to the library. It always amazes me how much they enjoy getting new books! So, an afternoon of reading topped off our lovely morning of cleaning! Oh, how I enjoy being the mom of these 5 precious children!