The Duty Rotation "Secret Sauce"

First! If you want to buy the editable version from my etsy shop, head here.

What I did not expect was to trade in the "I didn't make this mess, I'm not helping anymore" fight for a completely different complaint.

The kids now complain when we miss a day of the rotation because it means that someone missed their work with mom day. (A little interview with my son on work with mom over on my Instagram.)

I easily could have just made myself a floater during this part of our routine and chosen a fourth permanent area like bathrooms or kitchen, but I specifically wanted a child to be assigned as my helper each day for three reasons:

1. so that I could have extra hands with whatever I had on my list that day

2. so that I could specifically train the children in different tasks

3. so that I could take an extra opportunity for one-on-one

   
   

Ideally, the work with mom child is helping me with whatever I have assigned myself on my cleaning schedule. This child is taught how to properly clean the toilet, the shower, and mop the floor in the bathroom. Helps me sort laundry and put it away. Is shown how to clean the fridge, or organize the freezer. We might wash windows, empty garbages, sweep the deck, bag recycling.

I wanted to have a chance to pass on life skills to my children, to show them more intentionally how to accomplish tasks around the home. 

Honestly, they do bigger jobs than anyone else, but for the most part they do it willingly and happily because they are doing it with me.

While my kids will be the first to tell you that work with mom has slowly degenerated more and more into work for mom, the general premise still stands.

Sometimes I'm nursing the baby, or replying to messages, or planning homeschool during this time and I can't work side-by-side with my helper that day, so I assign them something from my mental list that particular child can accomplish alone.

The kids still like it because it is novel. It's different (mostly) every time.

Over a year into this system, we've never had better habits of setting the house to rights every day, and I will never look back. Never look back with me.

Always honest,

Olivia