We all want to be a part of something.
We all want to feel like we belong.
We all want to make our every day life and work meaningful.
A family working together toward a common goal creates all of this and more.
Working together doesn’t just make
the home a nice place to be, it makes a
FAMILY.
Here are a few ideas to help you work as a family and reap the simple pleasures of making a house a home:
*Clean the house room by room together rather than assigning separate areas. My friend, Vanessa, does this in a really unique way. As each room is cleaned, anything that does not belong in that room must be placed at the door, rather than taken to it’s rightful home. That way no one is leaving and getting sidetracked until the entire room is clean. Then, those items at the doorway are put away and the process starts over in the next room.
*Put on music as you work. We do this for our 15 minute Tidy times and it really creates a fun mood for cleaning!
*Assign cleaning buddies. Reward those who work the best together and get their chores done quickly, cheerfully, and completely. (Strive for every buddy set to be rewarded somehow…even a simple job-well-done pat on the back can do wonders!)
*As the parent, always be the first one jumping to the task. Your attitude is contagious! Let it be an attitude worth catching! This is something I took away from the book Jumping Ship by Michael Pearl. A worthy and insightful read on fostering a cohesive family unit.
*Choose your words carefully. I’m not fond of cleaning the kitchen, but when my children are helping me clean the kitchen I am careful to not let my disdain for kitchen chores shine through. However, I do tell them that having helpers really makes the least favorite of chores more enjoyable. It’s ok to not particularly like certain kinds of work. It is NOT ok to moan and groan about it. Again, it’s in the attitude!
*Have jobs for everyone. So often we forget to give even the littlest among us a chore to do. They really are so very proud to be right in the thick of things, dust rag in hand! It doesn’t even have to be a “real chore” to count. Give the 2 year old a feather duster and let him go to town!
*Admire the home you have created together. Tell the children how your clean home and hard work honors the Lord and reflects His glory as best as our simple humanness can manage. Remember to count the blessing of having a home to clean and a close-knit family to share it with.
I’m trying something new this week with the link up to see if those of you linking up will get more traffic. This post will be up starting Sunday evening. We also now have pictures to go along with the links! And I will be leaving the link up open for an extra day. Enjoy! Can’t wait to read what simple things you are up to.
aurie says
This is a really helpful post! I have been joining in on the 31 Days to Clen challenge and have been falling further and further behind. Thanks for the encouragement and ideas so that my little ones can help!
Carla B says
Great practical tips. Thanks.
Erin says
Thank you for this post! I sometimes forget how important my attitude is when it comes to cleaning my home! I struggle though to incorporate it all (cleaning, homeschooling etc) into our day.
Rachel says
We typically clean our home the same way — all in one room. We do assign a “runner” for the pile of things {yes, I admit it can be a pile} by the entry way to each room.
Wonderful post!
Gail says
Thanks for posting this Amy! I really struggle with including my kids as sometimes it seems they make more of a mess and it definitely takes longer. Something I really need to work on! 🙂 Thank you for the encouragment!
Stef Layton says
Thanks for this post – As the parent, always be the first one jumping to the task. – I really need to work on this!
Debra Worth @ Happy To Be Home says
I love to try and include Christopher when cleaning and cooking. While I’m chopping produce he might get a hunk of playdough and a butterknife (or if he’s hungry a banana or other soft thing). While I’m washing dishes he’s up there with me. He sweeps and absolutely loves vacuuming.
Tabitha (Growing Up Homeschooled) says
Don’t know why but the button would not work on my website. Gave me an error message and said the HTML was not closed???
Amy says
Sorry about that! I’ve had more trouble with that code! Feel free to just link somewhere to the blog in name only if you would like, but really I don’t mind if you don’t even link at all. 🙂
Amy says
I did try to change it if you want to try again. lol
Not So Average Mama - Brandy says
I tried to add your button to my post, but the code didn’t pull anything! 🙁
Amy says
I tried to change it one more time (this button has been something else!). Feel free to try it again, but if it doesn’t work, please don’t feel obligated to somehow use it. I’m more interested in having good links for the readers to look through. 🙂
Not So Average Mama - Brandy says
Worked great this time! Thanks!
Beth says
Just wanted to say thank you for the link-up!
Angela says
Thanks so much for hosting!