Parent’s University: Chores

Posted on 04.09.08 in Parenthood Parents University and there are 11 comments.

Today’s topic for Parent’s University is: Chores.

Please try to hold back your excitement and anticipation.

My tips today will focus on how I get chores done with three little kids at home.

The Laundry Basket

It’s not that hard for me to get some chores done when I just have my two oldest children with me.

But when I have The Small Person (my 1 year old boy) it’s much harder to get stuff done because if I leave the “Mommy Radar Radius” he tends to get upset.

So if I need to do something that requires much travel around the house, I put him in a laundry basket with a few of his favorite toys and drag him with me wherever I go.

He’s not constantly being interrupted from his play and I’m not having to carry him and his toys around from room to room.

As Seen On TV

I’m embarrassed to say this, but...I bought an item from the “As Seen On TV” section of Target and.....I LOVE it. I truly love it.

We have wood floors, three kids and a high traffic kitchen/dining room area. I sweep at least 3 times a day. But sweeping is so much easier now that I have this:

It’s called a Swivel Sweeper and if you have small kids, pets or just really hate regular sweeping, you need one.

The best part is that my kids love to use it, so they often sweep for me!

Swivel Sweeper inventor: I love you.

Your Turn

So what are your great chore/cleaning tips?

I need help and I’m sure other parents do too.

How It Works

1. Write a post* with your tips.

2. Then submit the link to your post in the box below. If you don’t have a blog, please leave your tip in the comments.

*Please link to the specific post and not just your blog main page. We want people to be able to easily access your post in the comings days and weeks.

The Comments:

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I can’t wait to see other’s ideas.

I followed you here from Shawn’s site today and loved some of your posts that I read.  So decided to throw in my two cents.

I have 7 kids and the clutter in my house was overwhelming.  When the oldest 4 were 1,3,5 and 7 we had to sell our house.  That meant it had to be in pristine shape at a moment’s notice.  I had to get on top of the clutter.  So I instituted a “pick up basket” I got a LARGE decorative wicker basket - (It could sit in a corner of any room and look like a small toy box or such)

Especially at the end of the day after kids were in bed I would go from room to room and put anything that did not belong in that room in the basket.  As I went to the next room to do the same I would take out of the basket the things that belonged to that room and put in the basket the things from the room I was in that did not belong.

As the kids got older to help me I would fill up the basket and then we would dump it in a single room and I would send them with thier pile to put the things away.  Then as they got older still they could take the basket and do what I did.

As my kids are now older it is still funny to me as they call out, “Mom, do you know where my ______ is.” My most common answer is, “Look in the pick up basket.”

Kat,

Thanks so much for the topic and the help!  I now need to add the swivel thingy to the list with the laundry basket. (Peanut size)

A. Snodgrass

Kari,
Me too! It’s definitely an area I need help in.

Barb,
Great idea. We love baskets around here!

A. Snodgrass,
You’re welcome, friend.

I’m so going to Target!  Is the swivel sweeper rechargeable?

Truevyne,
Yes, it is. And it recharges pretty fast.

Since I’m single and live alone w/ my white cat. I have purchased the iRobot vacuuming robot. I’m generally pleased as it does work and keeps the cat hair cleaned up. They do get hung up on thresholds and can not do steps.

I love your idea of taking the baby in a basket with you everywhere--great tip! 

Our new house has a LOT of tile flooring and I have the feeling I will be sweeping A LOT.  So I might be looking for one of those swivel sweepers.  Do you remember the price range?

Duug,
Those iRobot/Roomba things look very cool. I think it would totally freak my kids out too…

Lisa H,
Can one love an appliance? Because I think I love my swivel sweeper and I’m glad that love seems to be “sweeping” the blogosphere (couldn’t resist, sorry).

Oh yeah...price range? It was about $25-30. It might have been on sale, though.

My buddy wanted the Roomba cause his significant other does help much w/ the cleaning and I recommended against it for this reason. They require a clear path. So you go through like two weeks of making adjustments to your habits and clutter so that the thing can do it’s job. If you have two or more kids; this would be really tough. Anything the Roomba can get in it’s mouth that it can’t swallow will cause it to hang up and die(Any electrical or computer cords, shoe laces, news paper)...Also you want the thing to run when no one is around cause it re-adjusts the pattern when it hits into anything or anyone. It’s great for someone like me but it does drive the cat off.
Have you heard of Woot.com. That is a pretty cool place to find bargains.
All the Best!!

Holy goodness!  That Swivel sweeper kind of makes “sweeping” fun.  My floors and family thank you.  :D

Everyone who doesn’t like sweeping should invest in one of those things.

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