Are you fed up with all the work your kitchen provides for you each day? Do you sometimes feel if you have to wash one more dish you will scream? Do you feel like you spend your entire day, in and out of the kitchen, and it’s only partly clean at any given time? Well, there is hope, and it is no further than the next room, or perhaps outside in your yard right now. Your kids!
I know, I know. You’ve tried. You’ve made assignments before and everyone started out great. Then, somewhere down the line they (or was it you?) lost focus. Now, the grumbling begins when a meal ends and you announce, “It’s time to clean up.” (Why is the bathroom suddenly such a popular room after dinner anyway?) Maybe it’s time to regain control. This time, permanently.
I’m no big chart fan, especially with a family my size. With nine children and at least that many potential columns and stickers, I could have a virtual paper organization nightmare if I did too many charts. Charts can be hard to maintain on a permanent basis if they are too complex. But the one I am going to recommend is simple, and once it is set up, it runs itself for months. There are no stickers. No prizes. Just clear directions on how to get a job done and who is going to do it. The rewards last for as long as your children are home: a continually clean kitchen, a relaxed mom, and kids who have learned how to master some job skills and are rightfully proud of it.
Are you ready? Okay. First, take out a pen and paper. Make a list of the jobs that need to be done daily in your kitchen. Then make a description of how you would like each job to be done. Think about this carefully and give clear directions. Ours looks like this:
DISHWASHER:
--Empty clean dishes. Put them neatly in the cupboard where they belong. Stack similar dishes together.
--Rinse dirty dishes in the sink and load them. Neatly. Stand back and be proud of your work!
TABLE:
--Throw away paper products (napkins, paper plates, etc.)
--Take dishes to wastebasket and/or sink and scrape and rinse. Then load directly into the dishwasher. DO NOT put them in the sink (it’s not a storage bin) or move them to cupboard. Repeat until table is clear.
--After table is completely cleared, remove large pieces of food (rice, crumbs, etc.) with a napkin and throw away. Be careful not to knock them on the floor.
--With a hot, soapy, wet but well wrung out dishrag, wipe the table AND all the chairs thoroughly. Include the sides of the table and sides and tops of chairs. Dry all with a clean dry dish towel. Then pull the chairs into the den so the floor can be cleaned properly. Stand back and be proud of your work!
CUPBOARD:
--Start at the farthest right hand side of the cupboard and move left, putting things away as you go. Put things where they belong.
--Rinse off dirty dishes and load directly into the dishwasher.
--With a clean, hot, soapy, well-wrung out rag, wipe the cupboard and stove thoroughly.
--Wash the stove burners and replace.
--Dry them.
--Scrub out any dirty pots and pans in the stove area. Dry and put away.
--Move to the microwave area. Wipe it inside and out with your wet rag.
--Wipe down the sink and faucet area. Make it shine! Stand back and be proud of your work!
FLOOR:
--Do not attempt to clean the floor until the cupboard and table have been completed and wiped off.
--While you are waiting, empty the kitchen wastebasket.
--When the cupboard and table are done, make sure all chairs and rugs are removed.
--Shake out rugs into the yard.
--Sweep the entire area of the floor. Pick up dirt with a dustpan and discard.
--Fill left side of sink with hot and soapy water (1/4 cup Armstrong floor cleaner). Use well wrung out sponge mop to methodically and thoroughly clean the floor, about 3 foot portions at a time. After each mopping, dry area with a clean rage. Repeat procedure until floor is finished. Once the floor is clean, put the chairs and rugs back where they belong. Stand back and be proud of your work!
Are you finished? Whew! No wonder you’re tired each day! Look what you’ve been doing! Now take this original list (or type it out for neatness) and laminate it. (Clear contact paper works fine.) You will be posting this next to the job assignments that you will soon be making. Doing so makes all expectations clear. When you have to call someone back to re-do his/her job (and you will, especially the first weeks that the children are learning what is expected of them) there will be no room for arguing. The job was either completed to specification or not.
Next, decide which kids can do which jobs. Keep in mind that children as young as 3 or 4 can help discard paper products, bring dishes to the person loading the dishwasher (okay, don’t give them your fine porcelain. No problem with that here--we don’t have any!), and move chairs from the kitchen to your designated area while the floor is being cleaned. 6 to 8 year olds can clear and rinse and even learn to load the dishwasher. I save the cupboard for the older children as they will be working near the stove and with left-over food and often knives and other cutting utensils. Really, you know your own children and are the best judge of what they are capable of. But don’t make the mistake of expecting too little. Most 9 or 10 year olds are capable of as good a job as you do, if they are required to do it!
Now it’s time to make your chart. Take a piece of standard sized typing paper and set it out horizontally. On the top label it KITCHEN SCHEDULE. That is clear. That is direct. There can be no confusion about what it is. Underneath that title, on the far left, make a column entitled DATES. This column will be the largest in your chart. 2-3 inches is just about right. Then, make a column for each of your kids. Draw vertical lines down from their names, if you wish, and the DATES title. Add horizontal lines to complete a chart.
Are you still with me? Don’t look at the DATES column. For a moment we’ll concentrate on the side with your kids’ names. In the first row you will make the kitchen assignments for the first week. Mine for example, has my son David doing the table and chairs; Michael doing the dishwasher, Caroline doing the floor and kitchen wastebasket, Matthew doing the cupboard and stove; and Melissa as an apprentice for the table person (David). The next week (the second row) you will push everyone down a job to rotate. So, in my example, David will now have the cupboard; Michael will have the table; Caroline will have the dishwasher; Matt will have the floor; and Melissa will be the apprentice for the dishwasher person. Continue in this manner until you have completed all rows (around 6). Have you wondered what the other children will do? Well, the baby isn’t much help, but Rachel (6) and Grace (4) always throw away the paper products and pull off the chairs and help wipe them off. Note it at the bottom if you have such non-changing assignments. Everyone should have his name on the chart! For our family, tThis year, Melissa (8) will be moved from the apprentice position to a real job, and Rachel will get the apprentice position.
Now, under the DATES column, write the dates of various weeks. (for example: Sunday, July 20 through Saturday July 26; the next week would be labeled Sunday, July 27 through Saturday, August 2). We have jobs Sunday through Saturday. Sunday, in other words, is the day of the job change. You can make additional date sheets and tape them over the other dates, thus planning up to several months at a time. If you choose to laminate your chart (and I recommend it), you will obviously not laminate the dates section, as that changes. Doing it this way, you can peel off the dates as they pass, and when the several months’ worth of job assignments are over, you simply write in new dates. You will only have to make a new chart when you add a new worker.
DATES DAVID MIKE CAROLINE MATT
Sunday July 20 Table Dishwasher Floor & kitchen cupboard
through wastebasket & stove
Saturday July 26
Sunday July 27 Cupboard Table Dishwasher Floor
through & stove
Saturday August 2
(Melissa apprentices David’s job; Rachel and Grace (mini-apprentices) throw away paper products and pull out and wipe off chairs.)
Expect to spend the first few weeks teaching how you want the jobs done. It may even take more time initially to TEACH your children how to do the work than it would to do it yourself. Don’t give into the temptation to do it yourself. Like anyone who has ever breast fed knows, some things are painful at first but once you get used to them you would not have it any other way! The rewards of this system may be seen as early as the first week, and certainly by the first month you will wonder why you didn’t implement something sooner.
Expect some resistance at first. No one wants to be assigned a job he has never had before! Just be firm and kind and cheerful. Point to the chart. Let it take the blame.
Do you feel guilty requiring this help after every meal?
Don’t!
Everyone eats, don’t they? Everyone should have to pitch in. You are training your children to be independent and thorough. How many of us went to college and met other people who could not cook or properly clean or do the laundry? Your requirement for help now will help make them into the self-sufficient individuals you undoubtedly want them to be.
Obviously, this system works best if you have older (than age 5 or so) kids. But even if you have 4 preschoolers, you can implement this system and it will be some help. By the time they are older they will be used to the system, and it will be worth the time you spent setting it up.
When guests come for dinner, speak to your children beforehand to remind them of their responsibilities. Kindly request that when you give the signal, they are to begin. Then watch the awe your guests display as your work crew descends on the mess after enjoying the delicious meal you prepared. You can even relax after dinner with a cup of coffee or tea! A priest we invited over for dinner once literally said, “I can’t believe this” upon watching the kids simply do their kitchen jobs on cue. We didn’t think twice about it. They simply had been trained well, and your children can be too!
So, I guess that’s it. Your kitchen can’t really clean itself, but your children can clean it, freeing up your energy and time. You may be a better mother if you can learn to delegate the kitchen duties. Doing so will leave you more energetic for the baby and your husband, your home schooling, and other pressing home making needs. It could be the difference between a burned out mama and an enthusiastic one. But most importantly, by training your children to clean the kitchen properly, you will be teaching your children important life skills that will serve them well as they venture into adulthood.
