"So it shall be written, so it shall be done."

The "Cleanie Meanie" tied her bandanna around her head and declared: "Today,Friday, September 25, 2009 is Life Skills Day." The picklets cheered. Or was it jeered? We had a plan. OK, I had a plan. It was written down. That plan included the picklets. They were thrilled. They especially liked the part at the end where it said, "So it shall be written, so it shall be done." They called me Ramses. I told them to bow. They snorted instead.

Each of their "boxes" contained chores. Some of the "boxes" contained lettered envelopes that contained specifics related to their chores. The picklets cried out in joy. Well, maybe not in joy. And since I considered this a full day of school, each box needed to be signed off by me before moving onto the next. They were psyched, ecstatic, worshipping the ground I walked on. Maybe not.

Below is what was accomplished.

Chip

1. Help as needed
2. Change cat litter
3. Take cans to garage and replace can-can bag
4. Help me sort stuff on porch, take stuff to garage and van (this was a much overdue project)
5. Clean off upstairs steps and vacuum
6. Clean bathroom: (7 inside envelopes contained the following: clean off and scrub bathroom counter, clean bathroom mirror, scrub bathroom sink, scrub toilet, scrub shower, sweep bathroom floor, mop bathroom floor) (this really looks like a lot but honestly it doesn't take that long...the porch took forever)
7. Dust dresser, filing cabinet and pictures in hallway
8. Vacuum hallway
9. Re-sweep bathroom, spray Lysol around shower, toilet and sink
10. Put clean clothes away
11. Clean bedroom: (3 inside envelopes: clean off and dust your dresser, make bed, pick up and put your stuff away off tables in room) (since the boys share a room (for now) I try to be as fair as possible when it comes to cleaning)
12. vacuum upstairs hallway

Dill:

1. Help as needed
2. gather laundry from upstairs and put in laundry room
3. change garbages and replace bags in ALL rooms (because he would only do the kitchen if I didn't specify ALL rooms)
4. take garbage out to cans, bring cans up from curb (because he would leave the bags sit on the porch and the cans at the curb until next Friday if I didn't insist he do it)
5. Take mattress upstairs (in #11 up above you will notice the (for now) about the boys sharing a room...to separate them so they won't stay up all night talking one of the boys sleeps on a mattress in the living room each night...they rotate...they think it's fun...go figure)
6. Clean kitchen: (8 inside envelopes in order: clean off kitchen table, stack and organize dirty dishes, fill sink with hot soapy water and soak silverware and glasses, put dishes in dishwasher away, wash and rinse dirty dishes, spray and wash counters, dry clean dishes and put away
7. Scrub out kitchen garbage can (see #8)
8. Clean out, organize and wash out underneath sink (Dill's regular chore is to take the garbage out daily. Many times he "forgets". The garbage is under the sink and some garbage falls on my cleaning supplies and is truly nasty. I usually clean this myself but it is high time Dill takes responsibility for his "forgetfulness".)
9. Put clean clothes away
10. Clean bedroom: (4 inside envelopes in order: clean off and dust dresser, make your bed, pick up and put away your stuff from tables upstairs
11. Vacuum room

Sweet:

1. Help as needed
2. gather laundry from bottom floor and put in laundry room
3. take recycling to garage and bring in new bin (even though this has been her very own chore for months I still have to remind her to bring in the new bin..sickening ain't it?)
4. clean dining room: (3 envelopes in order: clean off dining room table and replace table cloth, clean off buffet, clean off piano)
5. Clean living room (3 envelopes in order: clean off side tables, clean off TV screen, straighten bookshelves,)
6. dust both living room and dining room
7. Vacuum couch, febrese, put new couch cover on (she got out of this one since I had the boys take it outside for a dump run next week)
8. Clean out homeschool closet (Sweet is notorious for getting things out of the closet and not putting them back where they belong...or even close to where they belong. I normally do it when I get in the closet but thought she should take responsibility for this.)
9. Vacuum living room and dining room making sure to move chairs, piano benches and other objects and to use the wand around the walls and big things that can't be moved.
10. Put clean clothes away
11. Clean bedroom: (4 envelopes in order: clean off and dust dresser, make bed, pick up and put away things out of place, sweep and vacuum)

I know this seems like a lot of work BUT we took time at lunch (egg salad sandwiches, raw green beans, strawberries) to watch two episodes of The Book of Virtues (from Netflix), took a snack break (Boston Creme Pie) and watched the third episode of The Book of Virtues and were done by 6 in time for supper (homemade tomatoe soup and grilled cheese sandwiches). Oh yeah...we didn't start till 11. Really it didn't take too long at all. Life skills were learned and/or practiced, the house got cleaned and mama is happy. And that is a good thing cause if mama ain't happy ain't nobody happy.

© 2008-2009 Wicked Pickles-Homefront Lines