Order, Order!

This past week, we have had to reclaim order in our household. We are not by any means "neat freaks" or overly structured in our household routines. However, somehow, our house has started to look like an episode of TLC's Hording: Buried Alive and our routine has gone askew. In order to implement some structure back into our home we have gone back to some of the management strategies that we have done previously. What is it that maintains order in your household? I would love some tips or new ideas, but in the meantime, this is just a little of what we do.

1. Daily Chore Charts- I have made chore charts using DLTK's Custom Chore Charts for both McKenna and Asher. Chores they are responsible for include making your bed, picking up your toys, and finishing homework. They give themselves a check mark as they finish their chores and earn a set amount each day which they put in their money jars. You can find other charts at the Chuck E Cheese website or CoCo Key Water Resort. You may also want to create your own and have various rewards available depending on what makes your children excited about their jobs :)

2. Cleaning- we have opted to choose a room each night to clean. The first time or two through the house can take a while depending on the room and what needs to be done, but after a routine has been established, the house becomes neater a little quicker and it takes less and less time to devoted to the specific rooms. We also try to have a night or two off from cleaning weekly-usually the weekends if the schedule works out :)

3. Dinner- we continue to use E-Mealz and I continue to love it. It takes the guess work out of menu planning and gives me the answer to "What's for dinner?" Our grocery bill has increased slightly but we are eating out less and we are buying "better" food. We have more produce and fresh foods-much less junk food around the house. One of my favorite things is a little surprise or variety added to the menu or website for special occassions. For example, there was an Easter menu available and this week there is a Mother's Day breakfast in bed menu (at no extra charge). Fun!

4. Homework- McKenna has homework regularly and Asher also has homework from time to time. We finish homework soon after we get home from school-the kids may have a snack or play outside for a little bit, but usually homework is finished by the time dinner is served.

As mentioned, this is just a little about what routines work best in our home. I'd love to hear about what you do that gives your household order!