I’m working on the assumption that we’ve all seen the amazing (hold the click***warning, adult language) There’s Some Chores In This House video. Yes? So worth it if you can just put your comfy earbuds on and listen without the kids knowing why you are laughing hard enough to pee your cute mom pants (did we all see Laura’s new lounge set I plan on living in?)
I don’t know who my next life partner might be, but Chores Dad is my number one draft pick at the moment — he clearly “gets it” and therefore has my whole mom heart. (And hopefully he likes black joggers and hoodies on moms.)
There’s Some Chores In This House: House Rules For Kids & The Household Essentials To Get ‘Em Done
We’ve got chores in this house, too, and we’ve got rules. Basically, both exist so I can maintain my sanity and appearance of calm. Order around me equals order in my mind and heart. It’s simple really, if you just lay it out for the kids.
And no, they don’t get paid for these chores, these are simply my baseline expectations.
So. Here are our house rules, and some helpful home goods that make them happen. (However, if you are legit channelling your inner Linzi, feel free to print this post and slap some sparkly stars stickers on it for compliance as it all comes to life in your home.)
Rule #1 | Wipe Your Filthy Feet On The Cute Mat
The city streets are so dirty (and often wet), so let’s leave that at the door. These Chilewich mats are our team favorite, come in multiple sizes depending on your entryway needs, are waterproof, and will save your floors (and your mom mind) all at the same time. And they are a fun pop of cute! SO many colorways, but these are two of our favorites!
Chilewich | Black and White Bold Stripe
Rule # 2 | Remove Your Shoes & Put Them In Your Basket
We each have our own shoe bin/basket. It helps. In a perfect world (Pinterest?), we’d each have one pair of super-clean shoes lined up on a mat; that’s not my reality. So we bin/basket our shoes, in age order. The lower rectangle baskets take up more space but make for easier shoe finding. The round ones save space, but sometimes you have to dig deeper…which is great too.
Rule #3 | Wear Your Mask
This has become a whole next level thing around here…where once upon a time, I cleaned all of the masks daily, and then just hung them and everyone grabbed whatever they wanted. These days, we have separation of mask and mask, we each have our own hook for the clean ones, and we stay in our own masks and on our own hooks. These are my two favorites for me, which are also the right size for my 10- and 12-year-old, and so we do share the clean ones, and my two favorites for my little, she’s 8 and can still wear a child-sized mask and is more comfortable in one.
Rainbow Mask | My Mask, Don’t Touch It
Silk Masks | So Comfy Ok, Fine, We’ll Share
Unicorns & Rainbows Kids Masks
Rule #4 | If Your Mask Isn’t On Your Face, It’s On The Hooks
I like the masks to remain on the hooks, it’s their place. And the place is near the door…so a great place for them to be when we are trying to get out said door. It’s also where we hang them after we wash them. These are a few of our favorite wall hooks right now.
Reproduction Hang-It-All Balls On The Wall Hooks
Rule # 4 WASH YOUR HANDS
Can we say it again? Wash. Your. Hands. We wanted to change-up that experience so tried this 3 flavor pack. They all smell great! And the packaging is cute. And we’re still on linen towels, in the baths, in the kitchen, pretty much everywhere. We launder them daily, but it’s easy.
Rule # 5 | Do The Dishes
The number one thing the kids help me with, that brings me the most peace, is dishes. Unloading and reloading the dishwasher and scrubbing everything that doesn’t go in it, is the kids’ job. For the most part, they don’t complain about it…but I find with cute tools that get the job done, I just hear silence and see clean dishes. So. Invest in peace, via cute dish scrubbers (for your cute dish scrubbers).
Rule #6 | Sweep The Floor
How on earth, is there always so much extra on the floor? We’ve just taken to sweeping, daily, twice. I can’t explain it, I’m not even going to try, just grab the dust pan and brush and hit the kitchen and your workspace so we have a clean start for tomorrow, please.
Modern Dust Pan & Brush + Wall Hooks
Rule # 7 | Collect Your Laundry
Getting the dirty clothes to the laundry room is half the work. These make it easier. Dirty clothes in here, into the laundry room, through the process, back in your bin, and back to your room to be folded and put away. After many trials, these are our favorite bins.
Rule # 8 | Trust The Laundry Process – It Smells Good – Just Do It
After years of free and clear for the sake of sensitive skin, the kids all aged into not quite so sensitive skin. So we’re back to our team favorite detergent, but we’re also expanding our laundry scent experience, and based on reviews and recs from friends, we’re trying the Glamorous Wash too!
The New One We’re Trying | Glamorous Wash
Rule # 9 | Charge Your Own Devices
My kids are fully virtual school, so charged devices are essential these days. These are my two favorite ports for making that happen without creating a mess of cords all over. Hint: Great Gift Ideas for the Holidays!
Rule #10 | Clean Up Your School-From-Home Desk
A dolly on the desk goes a long way, and a cart that can move a little for some flexibility does too with kids school-from-home and adults work-from-home too!
Organize All The Things On Your Desk
Home From School Supplies Cart
Shop All The Household Essentials For Kids’ Chores
So if we just start and end the day with these 10 simple tasks, and use all the cute home goods to get them done, we clearly are in a better, more organized place to get the rest of the day and everything that requires moving in the right direction! What could possibly go wrong from here???
xoxo,
A
PS: Follow along with me on Pinterest for more Home Inspiration and other random distractions via pretty visuals. xo A
This one’s for the Pinners:
THIS! This post right here, is why I love TME. More posts like this, please! Solutions to Mom Problems! That’s why I’m here. Oh, yeah, and looking good while doing it. 😉
Also, it would be helpful to know your kids ages since expectations are so age-based with kids.
AGREED. I loved this post, too. A’s kids are 12, 10, aaaand 8?
Christy- First, thank you! I took a few minutes after I saw your comment to actually go back and read what I wrote, and to have a think on it. S is correct, my kids are 12, 10, and 8. This particular chores list, is approximately 10 years old in this house. Same list, new year. It’s more just that the expectations of the tasks grow as the kids do. Once upon a time, “doing the dishes,” simply meant them cleaning their plates after dinner and stacking them, clearing the table, or taking the popcorn bowls and glasses over to the kitchen after a movie type of thing. Then it evolved into, put the silverware away clean, empty all the clean dishes out of the dishwasher, and eventually, to just doing all of the actual dishes. Once upon a time, there were actual lists. I was intentional about “setting things up” so that they could in dependently do what was being asked of them-things at their height, baskets and bins located in smart places, clear instructions, and even actual lists. In time, it all just becomes habit and grows into what actually, legitimately, feels like help doing all the things. So I’m not sure how old your kids are, but my long winded answer is more to say, it’s never too late, to sit everyone down, and say, time to re-group, we’re going to try “this new system.” But it’s also never too early to just create a system-that kids can handle, and then to set reasonable expectations of them as well-in fact, I feel like starting young, equals a huge advantage in the long game. There’s always something, that just about everyone can do to “help.” I know I would be a “mess”, if my kids didn’t, and I genuinely feel like this particular list, can work for all kids 3 and up…the list before that age, was a tad different, and my own kids’ lists at their current ages are far longer than just this short one-this is really just baseline plus cute mats, bins, tools, and scrubbers to make it more fun. Tell me how old your kids are? And I’ll keep them specifically in mind, along with my own, for whatever the next similar post is. xoxo A