Father's Day - Because our Dad's ARE so special

If you are blessed enough to have your Father still with you, then embrace this day. I am lucky, my Dad is still alive. He is 78 years old and still looks great. (doesn't he?) He jokes and still says that someone told him he had a gray hair, but he doesn't believe them. (He didn't have any gray until about 10 years ago)
He is the root of my organizational skills. This is the Master Organizer. He doesn't keep things he can't use. Shortly after my mom died he had a Christmas party he was invited to that was a "white elephant". He wanted to know what that was. When I told him you take some joke gift that you have around the house that no one wants as your gift he said, "But I get rid of things I don't use around the house...what will I do?" LOL
We are actually celebrating our Father's Day next Sunday. My sister will be in town and she hasn't been here for a couple of years. So my brother, sister and I are going to take Dad out to lunch and then to visit my husband's farm to see all the kids.
Enjoy today if you have your Dad. If you don't, enjoy some good memories. Make sure your kids enjoy their dad today if possible.

Should Kids Help in the House? YES!!

I am reposting this because we have been discussing it this week. There be many of you who have not seen it before. (Happy Friday)










I am very opinionated on this subject. I strongly believe that children need to be given responsibilities starting very young. You can start out with just holding the basket so they can put their baby toys in them when they are around a year old!
Job boards with pictures work great for toddlers. A toothbrush for brushing their teeth.
The younger you start the kids in learning they have responsibilities around the house, the more responsible children they will become.
Kids like to feel important, to feel needed, to feel like they contribute to the family.
I don't feel that kids have to be paid to do chores. Do we get paid to clean the house? It is part of being a family. Of course allowances can be fine and used as a family wishes, I am just saying that I don't believe a child should think that he HAS to be paid to do any work in the house. It is all a matter of how it is presented.
Our kids do get an allowance. It is very small. Just enough to help them learn how to save some money and how it can go into the bank.
I have often had "extra" jobs that can be "paying" jobs in the summer if the kids want to make some money. It might be washing windows or something that I normally wouldn't have them do. (They think these is great fun actually.) But these are on top of their normal jobs.
Our kids have 2 regular jobs to do for the week. For the 8 year olds it is setting the table, clearing the table, helping in the kitchen, vacuuming or helping carry the laundry. That is on top of the routine making their beds and cleaning their rooms daily. They also put their clean clothes from their cubbys away when needed.

I think that we need to be raising our children to prepare them to be on their own. I have seen many, many children who have never had to do anything to help in their homes and I feel a disservice is being done to those kids.
I have 3 boys who have left the home and are living on their own now and they all know how to do laundry, keep things clean and what responsibilities need to be done. (I can't say they always do it..but they have been given the proper tools and instruction and they know how.)

Kids Chores - Cleaning Buckets Help

Having kids helping you can be a chore in itself. Making it fun can help to make it easier to have them help you.
Using colors can help to encourage them. It can also help to encourage us!

I make each child a cleaning bucket. It puts them in charge of something and will make them feel more responsible.
You can make it very simple.
Find a fun colored bucket or basket with handles of some kind.

Everyone is going to feel better about picking up a bright colored bucket instead of dirty grungy gray or black one. You can find them for very little at a dollar store and I have seen them at Target in the Dollar section.
For younger children or children who may not be as responsible to handle a spray of some sort...these wipes are wonderful. They can clean the bathroom, kitchen and even dust their rooms with them.(I wouldn't use them on real good wood though) You can also spray a rag yourself with a dust spray prior if you don't want to purchase these. They may be a little extra expense, but it is not like you are using them full time for your cleaning.

The older kids can have a bigger carrier with more cleaning supplies.
Having the cleaning supplies ready and accessible can make it much easier and actually encourage them to clean.

For us: I suggest that you keep several cleaning items in each room you use them. If you keep your windex, toilet bowl cleaner and comet downstairs in the laundry room..and your upstairs bathroom needs a quick clean up...then it more than likely won't happen as often as if the cleaning supplies were accessible.
I suggest keeping in each bathroom:
*mirror cleaner
*toilet bowl cleaner
*sink and shower cleaner
*rag or sponge
*paper towels

Make yourself a fun bucket! We can have fun cleaning too can't we?

Wordless Wednesday

The kids on our spring break at Devil's Den in Gettysburg, PA.

I am not very good at being Wordless! For my Work on it Wednesday Followers, I haven't given up on it, but just going to alternate this in every other week.
Thanks and "keep working on it".

Kids Job Board - Make your own!

I have posted before how important I think that it is that kids help with chores.
It is not to make it easier for the mom...actually there are many times that it would be a lot easier if we just did it ourselves.
Our job as parents is to prepare our children for life on their own. Learning when they are small that they are part of a family and all the family pitches in to help get things accomplished is very important. It teaches them responsibility, accountability and life lessons.
I may be tough, but I don't think kids have to be rewarded every time they help do what is expected of them. I do believe in allowances, but mainly so they have some experience in dealing with money. They need to learn to save and how to use it wisely.

This is the job board I use. It is simple, easy to change and not expensive.
As I said on my MomTV web cast last night, I would post the instructions on how to make one yourself. (You can go to replays on that link - just look on right side mid page.)

Decide what size magnetic board you need. This will depend on how many children you have.
Here is a picture of a smaller one that can be used for just one or two children.


Get some magnetized business stickers. You can find these in a business store. They are meant to use for business cards, so you can turn them into magnets.



Peel back the sticker


Take an old business card and turn it so the blank side is showing. You can also cut
paper to fit if you don't have business cards to use.
Just place them on carefully.


Decide on what jobs you want your kids to have.
They need to be age appropriate. If your child can not read yet, then use pictures along with the words. They will understand what it means.
I use little stars in the right hand corner to signify jobs that the younger children can do.

(hopefully your toothpaste doesn't look like a worm sitting on a toothbrush like mine!! LOL)

Then just put your children's names across the top. Place the proper job under their names.
My kids know that if they touch the job board or move things around without permission...they will be given some extra jobs! (so they don't touch it.)
We change jobs weekly.
Just leave the kids names in the same place and rotate the jobs below.
Very simple!

Guest Blogger - Patty Kreamer from Bye Bye Clutter

I am thrilled to have Patty Kreamer for a guest blogger today. Her web site Bye Bye Clutter has resources, books she has written to buy and her blog. She gives a great thoughts on how clutter can make you feel. Read on!






— ORGANIZING TIPS FOR WORKING WOMEN —

Clutter, Clutter Everywhere…
and Not a Thing Can Be Found!

By Patty Kreamer
Certified Professional Organizer®
Stressed out? Check out the effect that clutter can have on your life. Remove the clutter, and you’ll immediately notice the difference!
Stress is a major contributing factor to poor health. Physical clutter adds to that stress, often without your knowledge, because clutter is what you no longer see. You walk around the piles of magazines, and you really don’t see them. But I can guarantee that your head and stomach “feel” them; you get a wave of guilt from ignoring the problem. Perhaps you fear throwing things away because you might miss something.

A way to test this stress theory is to remove the clutter and feel the difference. If you are having a difficult time seeing the clutter in question, take a look around your space through a stranger’s eyes, as if company were coming. This is a surefire way to bring into awareness all of the items that you have been ignoring for a long time.

Clutter has no conscience.
Clutter can:
· Make you sick
· Make you feel tired
· Affect your body weight
· Keep you living in the past
· Cause or worsen depression
· Make you put your life on hold
· Induce a feeling of shame and guilt
· Be the main cause of procrastination
· Add unnecessary confusion to your life
· Make you feel that there is no alternative
· Affect how people treat and/or respect you
· Cause disharmony among family, friends, or co-workers

Clutter is nothing more than unmade decisions.
The existence of physical clutter should come as no surprise since we live in such a prosperous country. The problem is that we want everything and we want it NOW. Since we live in a climate of instant gratification, we can have most things whenever we want them. But we don’t need most of what we have in our lives. The "stuff" accumulates and is never given a proper home. Thus, clutter is born.
If you’re able to get your physical clutter under control, the mental clutter is likely to follow without much effort, since one usually causes the other. Have you noticed that when you go into a cluttered room or office, you immediately tense up? If you go into that same room or office after you have decluttered it, you feel liberated. Your time becomes yours again, your priorities fall back into place, and best of all, your health may improve.

Patty Kreamer, Certified Professional Organizer® and owner of Kreamer Connect, Inc., provides speaking, coaching and consulting services to businesses and organizations who value effective practices that will leave their people being more efficient, empowered and proud of their accomplishments.
Do you want to be a much more organized person? Patty’s groundbreaking books, “…But I Might Need It Someday!” and The Power of Simplicity are available for purchase at www.ByeByeClutter.com. Or if you prefer a “baby-steps” online/workbook-based course, check out the Clutter Rescue Course®, which will transform a life of clutter, wasted time, frustration and overwhelm to one of power, simplicity and organization.
If you’re looking for a fun, dynamic, and effective speaker, or if your company would benefit from a productivity coach or consultant, Patty is available in person, by teleconference, webinar and phone. Email her directly at patty@ByeByeClutter.com or call her at 412-344-3252.
Patty can also be contacted via Twitter, LinkedIn, FaceBook, Plaxo/Pulse, or her blog. For useful tips, sign up for her free monthly e-newsletter at www.ByeByeClutter.com.
©2009 Kreamer Connect, Inc. Permission granted to reprint this article as long as the text and by-line are not changed. Complete text must be reprinted intact with all links made live.