Guess what....I'm NOT Super Mom :-D

Guess what...I'm NOT a super mom and that's okay.  

So, we moved recently from a house like this....

3 bedrooms (one a messy office at all times), livingroom/kitchen, 2 baths

to this...

upstairs, main floor, basement, 3 baths, attached garage, laundry/storage room, 5 bedrooms, family room and great "living" room and of course the kitchen.

Yeah...I'm NOT a super mom.  I still have boxes and boxes and boxes... still unpacked...in this house and we moved here at the beginning of August.  Part of the reason (besides the time it takes to prepare for schooling at home) is that I feel always behind in the house cleaning apartment.  

Don't get me wrong...my kids often helped at the other house but their day to day chores were mainly emptying garbage, dishwasher, vacuuming here and there, helping with any "extra" baking, dusting.  They were great helpers.

Their favorite was baking of course...and really...that kind of made MORE mess.  :-D

In this new house...it wasn't enough.   Most days I feel like I only do cleaning, cooking, school, and baby care over and over and over and to be truthful...I was/am burning out. and feel like this...

 There seems like there is no time for "me".  Or appreciation.  Guess what?  You HAVE to make time for you as mom.  Most of the family doesn't see the "need" for that.  But it's true...if we aren't taking care of ourselves...we will not do well with the rest of the family.  So, that's where I'm at.  Trying to figure out how I can change things up in this family so that I have some "down" time.

Really, they need to make a picture of this for schooling at home with a public school mom...and that last picture her sitting with a kid at the computer, pulling out here hair because the school platform is messing up again.  LOL

First thing I started was Mom's "helping hours".  This way the kids know when I'm available to help with their school work.  So if they goof around...that's their problem and they'll just have to figure it out without mom...it'll still need to be done.  Didn't take long for them to finish their school work during MY helping hours.  LOL  Success!

Second was "chores"....beyond what they were accustomed to.  Still in the process.  But going much more smoothly.

Third was meal planning.  

Recent post about that so I won't spend much time with it.  Let's go back to 

CHORES!

The bottom line is that when you are a stay at home parent...you get the brunt of all housekeeping and cooking.  Plain and simple.  Yes, I have a helpful husband...might need me to tell him what needs to be done more often then I've had to in the past...it's still helpful.  So, if he's reading....dear husband, be aware that you are getting on the chore list soon!  :-D

What chores do your kiddos do?

Aw...aren't they cute?  The Picture Ladies out of Bay City, MI!

I have an 11 month old, 5 year old, 9 year old and 11 year old...there is no reason why those older kiddos can't help quite well!  So, moms...remember that they can start helping at a toddler age and become better and better helpers as they get older!  Take the time to teach them how to do chores correctly so that you don't have to go behind them.  :-D  

I will say that there is a bit of incentive as I have attached KINDLE time to their chores.

They can earn minutes if

* they see a chore that needs to be done and just do it.  (They get plenty for this as it's something they need to learn!)

*  if they do their assigned chore with a good attitude.

* if they do their assigned chore without being asked to.

* if they do their assigned chore well.

Again, like the menu...there really isn't a way for you to see it clearly unless I put the image in extra large (and still it's not very clear) and it goes off center in the blog.  Drives me bananas...but, guess that's the way it goes.  

So, though it's personalized for our family...I went ahead an uploaded to google docs... in case you wanted to look at it closer.  

You can access that file by clicking HERE.  :-D

Last month, everyone did the same job every week.  It made life easier.  Now that they get how it's working (oldest to youngest written on day, color coded also.  Black means they all do it.) I started switching out my older two's jobs so that they aren't stuck doing the same thing every week.  We also found out that there were some jobs that just didn't need to be done every week!  Yeah!  Opens up a space to get something else done.  

There is one older kiddo job that has stayed the same since we moved here and that is vacuuming.  My 5 year old would love to do it and gave it his best shot but that vacuum cleaner is just too big for him yet.  So he has the stair cases.  :-D  9 year old has some sensitivities and vacuuming tends to cause "behaviors".   So, until I get him a set of ear plugs, I just bypassed him doing it.  If it's not listed on that sheet...guess who gets to do it.  Yup, me.  However, this really really helps!  I suggest you do something similar if you find yourself getting burned out with all the cleaning and etc.  

I did slip in on the bottom lunch prep and table washing/sweeping.  I had 5 year old on there but really...he's not ready.  He's not quick enough...holds us all up.  We'll give him a few months and try again.  :-D  He can help me on Sundays when his brothers have a "break" and we aren't on a time frame.  :-D His willingness is there though!!!

Please share how you go about keeping from being overwhelmed with the day to day jobs of a stay at home mom...especially one that schools at home!