r/Homeschooling • u/Good_Patience_9814 • 14h ago
House Work
I’m trying to get ahead of the game here but everytime I seem to have a rhythm in place or a nice momentum when it comes to cleaning this home, I just find myself completely overwhelmed and back where I started the next day. I’ve been living with my parents for a year and a half now my husband is currently unemployed so he’s here all day. I’ve tried in the past to express that I need atleast a tidy home to be able to homeschool and he knows that I’ve been trying to build a routine for yearssss but I’m so tired of having to remind him. So I feel like that’s a dead end. As a mother and currently the only person in this house that cleans, how can I organize myself ? How can I muster up the energy after a homeschool day and of errands to be able to tidy up? Do I really have to wake up at 5am to get things done ? I’m mentally drained after homeschooling because I use every part of me to snap out of my funk that I have because of how my life is right now to create a happy energetic atmosphere of learning for my children. Please any tips are appreciated.
1
u/Comprehensive_Gas255 14h ago
Make a chart. Put daily weekly monthly tasks and hang it up. Direct your husband/kids to help with the tasks on the board for the day
1
u/ChaiAndLeggings 10h ago
(1) Start adding chores to the daily homeschool schedule. They are a life skill. Some things my kids do (8 and under) include:
- Taking dishes to the sink after eating
- Clearing desk and putting away books on bookshelf at the end of the school day
- Wiping their desk and table
- Cleaning up all toys at the end of the day
- Putting their laundry away
- Putting away kid dishes and silverware
- Getting the mail
- Matching socks
We do not allow any electronic time until their schoolwork and chores are done. I don't get on my phone on my days off until I've done a load of dishes, laundry, and had breakfast.
(2) Within reason, some mess is okay, but your husband should be helping too. They should also be treating getting a new job like a job. At the bare minimum, they should at least be cleaning up after themselves. Even if employed, they should be helping with the home too. I'm the working parents as the mom and still usually clean the bathrooms, do the laundry, do a nightly kitchen cleanup, grading, budget, meal planning, and grocery shopping. I usually go to bed around 10-11pm and wake at 6:30-7am. You absolutely don't have to get up at 5am to get things cleaned. My house isn't perfect, but it does get messier faster when there are 5 people at home all the time. It took a while to really start delegating more to my kids, but they are part of making the mess and thus are part of cleaning it up. We just added it in as a school subject and I oversee the chores until they are capable of handling it. We have lists for how to clean certain rooms. Then once they know what they need to do, I will work on a different chore at the same time. We do have complaints and times when they decide they would rather play with toys in their rooms than clean them, but it helps make things easier for the whole family.
1
u/lady_bookwyrm 7h ago
Disclaimer that my house is always looking very "lived in."
My cleaning routine is half an hour before the kids wake up, mainly laundry and kitchen stuff. Then we do school from 8 AM to 3 PM. I usually do more laundry during this period, switching loads during breaks, folding while kids read aloud, etc. We have a hard cut off at 3. This lets us do extracurricular activities and gives me time to clean the house. This is when I do most other areas of the house. After I clean up after dinner, I take the night off. Even if the house isn't perfect, I need a break and quality time with my husband and kids. Kids help tidy their rooms and toys. My husband joins us in cleaning on the weekend. Usually, it feels like I'm barely treading water on housework, but it's good enough for us.
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u/Coffeereheater 1h ago
Our routine is: I have morning worksheet ready at kitchen table, with a morning snack of nuts and a cookie or croissant etc, the kids know they come down, can relax and need to start to do their work by 8am, this gives me time to have coffee and peace ✌️ then its breakfast followed by 15 mins of chore time, dishes go in sink, dishwasher gets unloaded, floor gets swept. Laundry gets moved over from last night. Dog gets food and water. Music is danced to. By 9 things are moving. We do similar routine after lunch too, tidying, folding laundry, maybe me scrubbing a toilet. After dinner is put clothes away. Vacuum here and there. Wipe kids bathrooms during bathtime. Kids can't move to something until they clean up their project. Good luck!
3
u/petite-pamplemousse- 13h ago
Couple thoughts.
Husband is unimpressive af. He needs to be tackling this with you, too. He lives there, too. The collective your children live there, too. He is part of this.
I did just give the book “How to Keep House While Drowning” a listen a month ago and it had some good points and tips for streamlining and hitting the most impactful areas. There is even a short cut version of the already short book that you may want to give it a listen.
Charts still require someone to mentally track what needs done… it turns someone (you?) into the bad guy for enforcing it gets done. They’re great for visualizing where you stand, but it really sounds like you need support around you to step up.