Works-for-me Wednesday

Good morning all!! I'm back with another Works-for-me Wednesday. Last week, I talked about how I have a really, really hard time keeping my floors mopped. It doesn't help that I hate to mop. And that even after I mop, my floors still look dirty.

Let me show you real quick why I consider mopping my entire house at one fell swoop to be utterly pointless:


Yes, that would be an entire plate-full of seasoned flour, on my dishwasher and floor. And it didn't even click to me to take the picture until after I had cleaned up the broken plate and raw meat. And then John was cleaning out the fireplace, and as soon as he turned around, the baby (he's 17 months old ... when am I going to stop calling him 'the baby'? Eh, probably when there's another baby to take his status away, lol) grabbed the bag of ashes, dumped it upside down, and sat in it. Then he started scooting around on his butt, and made it halfway around the couch before John even noticed ... it was actually pretty funny.

I digress. Sorry.

Ok, ok!! I'll get on with my tip for this week. I thought it would be appropriate because it had to do with floors. So here's what works for me:


That's Sam, under the table, with the dust buster. No, I don't make him get under the table. He was just in a really silly mood last night. He's a goose. Every evening after supper, we all work together to clear the table (even David, who helps take things like salad dressing or ketchup, or anything that isn't liquid without a lid), and then John or I starts on the dishes. The older kids do their own dishes most of the time, too, we just do ours and the big stuff. At night, Sam is responsible for the floors. He's getting pretty good at it, too, and I usually don't even have to beat him into obeying me tell him to do it. But he goes and grabs the dust buster, and just starts getting the bigger stuff, or really anything he can get in there.



Of course, sometimes he gets distracted. And can we just talk about the baby David for a second? This is a child who was in the negative third percentile for weight when he was younger. He now has back rolls. Horizontal cleavage on his ribs. Love handles!!! He really porked up!! I'm just saying.

Anyway. Sometimes, when you're five years old and the best big brother ever, it's easy to neglect your task for a few minutes to chase around a very fat baby toddler with the dust buster.

And when he's done with the floor (or sometimes before), he starts on the table:


David is trying his hardest to help, and hitting Sam on the arm with the Swiffer. I mean, that little one really wants to help. Someone, just let the boy help!!!

I then grab a rag and wipe down anything that's left, then empty out the dust buster, so Sam can plug it back in. Evie does the same routine after lunch, and I start the day off by sweeping after breakfast.

Now, here's the cool part about all this: it teaches the kids, all three of them, that they are valued and needed members of my family. We can go read, or play outside, or whatever, after everything is done, but that includes moi being finished. The more efficient they are, the more quickly I can finish, and the faster we're all out of the kitchen, running around like Indians outside, or reading on the couch.

And since it's an everyday routine, they don't even question it anymore, let alone fight me on it. The groundwork is being set in place with the baby David, too. He's been responsible for taking his plate or bowl to the kitchen (even if he was holding holding the plate while we were carrying him, lol) since he was about a year old. He's so used to it now that he'll just stand beside his chair if we forget to hand him his plate or bowl. What a fun thing, to not have to remind one of your kids to clear their place!! It is good for kids to work, and even better for them to learn to enjoy work.

So that's what works for me!!! What works for you?