Drea Wood

Category Archives: house keeping

Taking time to Train

Written on 02/20/2012 by Dreawood in caleb, house keeping, motherhood, Owen, Taite

The other day I was at my friend’s house… and saw her 7 year old little girl sweeping the kitchen floor. She was doing a great job too! Even got the corners :) It reminded me how slack I had been on enforcing more chores with our boys… Ever since the move really. I guess maybe because I wanted it done a certain way & since this is such a nice home and not ours forever… I want it kept up really well. So I’ve been doing the brunt of the work as far as house hold chores go.

Obviously my boys are still young… they are however smart… and totally capable to do certain task. My expecting perfection is doing no one any good…

A few new chores I’ve recently added are.

Sweeping

Emptying the Dish Washer

(The boys IMO do not wash well enough with their hands :-\ – and since I cook most of our meals, I do rely on a dish washer right now… its an amazing blessing – since I am the sole washer otherwise. They can however EMPTY a dishwasher full of clean dishes.)

Add this to our normal few & I think we’re doing pretty good!

Clearing off the Table

Emptying the trash cans in all 3 bathrooms.

Taking recyclables out

Daily pick up of toys/clothes.

They put away their own laundry (I fold it as of now – placing it into baskets for each of them)

Making Beds

Now all this being said. Taite needs help sometimes with certain task. He did just turn 5. For him making a bed is really hard some times, esp. if he sleeps wildly :) – during those times I encourage Caleb to help.

Also Taite I do not trust with putting away glass cups or bowls. So we leave that to Caleb.

Sweeping also is really hard for Taite. I think its a height thing ;-) – he needs a shorter broom hah…

So Caleb as of now really does get more of the chores… but Taites catching up… and it really is all about training… something we have to put time into.

The other day Travis told me “you should teach Caleb to do that” – referring to something I was dreading… and I told him “It seems like such effort teach him some times… Id almost rather just do it.” He then said “Thats why its called training” :)

Its work.

But worth doing.

… and really is a good teaching tool.

Our boys as of now do not get rewarded for doing chores. One day we may pay allowance. For now, fresh baked cookies and breads from me is reward enough ;-) – at least I think so, HEHE. Not to mention TV privileges and ipad time. :-D

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Clean = Better Play

Written on 12/09/2011 by Dreawood in caleb, house keeping, Owen, Taite

I have learned… that less is MORE – in so many areas… and one of those areas happens to be TOYS. This week we got a HUGE box (as tall as Caleb) – and filled it with TONS of toys. The boys did not hesitate & I was honestly surprised how many they were willing to part with.

After things were organized I was so happy to see how much better they played. There were able to find what they really wanted… and lay on a bed without something in the way.

It is worth taking the time to do…

So if you haven’t… get a box.

Because Christmas is coming… and its better to do it now than later ;-)

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Wash Wash Wash

Written on 11/09/2011 by Dreawood in house keeping

This is what I do.

All day long :) – well multiple times a day.
& thats ok. Sometimes I don’t mind. Other times a little.
I would much rather wash dishes than wash clothes :)
Putting away dishes is much easier than putting away clothes. Right? :D

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$8.00 vs. $40 + for Pantry organizer

Written on 09/23/2011 by Dreawood in friends, house keeping

Our new house is beautiful!

We love it.

However, the kitchen lacks storage… so much so that all my spices and smaller baking items had to be stored in a big container, on top of the fridge. While this worked, it was a head ache to dig through and find the exact spice I needed.

So I began looking for a pantry door organizer to help me with this problem.

I never realized how expensive they were tho…

For those wire kind you see often, they cost around $45!

I just could not justify that money right now.

Instead, I used an idea I saw at my friend Shannon’s house one time. She used it to store mostly snacks…. I however have every bit of my spaces, salts, sprinkles, grilling packs, pesto packs, etc… all in this…

It is perfect! Well, maybe not perfect ;-) but it suited my needs just right.

And for a little over $8 at walmart, I cant complain. It even came with the hooks to hang it with.

It has made it very easy to find what I need too, since the pockets are clear.

Thanks Shannon for the great inspiration!

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Messy Sink

Written on 09/13/2011 by Dreawood in house keeping

Just so you know, this is a familiar scene in our home.

A messy sink.

It all manages to get cleaned some how or another :) – in this particular instance, my dish washer was FULL of clean dishes… so I had to wash the rest by hand. I didn’t want to have to run the dish washer a 3rd time in one day. Crazy huh?! I tell you, with 3 little ones, you wash and clean A LOT of cups, plates and more. Especially when you are busy cooking 3 meals a day and baking in between. Not all weeks are like this of course ;-) – but they do come.

No complaints…

I love good smelling soap btw – makes washing dishes easier for some reason. Meyers is one of my favorites! Worth the extra money for the smell it gives :)

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