Kids Doing Chores

Wednesday, October 3, 2012
With four children, I really want to teach them how to help around the house and learn how to do things for themselves.  This is not always easy but it is something that needs to be done.

I try to start when they are little because that is when they love helping and being praised for doing it.

People often ask me about this and right now I give the kids little jobs to help but nothing too big right now.  I have them clean up their rooms, toys, make their own bed (not daily though- we need to get better with this), help with the dishes, they can sweep, vacuum and occasionally put some laundry away.  I am pretty relaxed about this because when I got pregnant with Andrew, I hired a cleaning service for the deep cleaning but I still want to teach the kids to be responsible for their own things. 

The ages of my kids are 7, 5, 3, and almost 4 months.

Today, I want to share a little video with you showing an example of how I do this.

Here is Matthew (age 3) helping with the dishwasher.  He loves his chores and really feels like he is helping.
(I did have to "help" a little in the video but I thought he was going to break the door.  He didn't like being "helped")



As you can see in the video, we use Shaklee's Dish Detergent and LOVE it!!  You saw that we only use a little bit.  I never pre-rinse anything and they are always clean.  Plus, because it is non-toxic, the kids can actually help me by putting it in the dishwasher and it won't leave any nasty chemical residue on our dishes.

You might of also seen our oven grates in the dishwasher.  I throw those in the dishwasher about once a week and that seems to works great!

What chores do you give your kids?

How do they respond?

Do you have a rewards chart or incentive?



Happy cleaning!

Bonnie :)





~ White Favorites ~

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

I've been gathering up pieces of white dishes...








Things I already had,


like cups and teacups, tureens, pitchers, platters, creamers,


sugars, teapots and coffee pots...


















And what for, you may ask?



To embellish my new cupboard, of course! 


Oh yes, a long time dream of mine has finally came true,


and on a budget-friendly price too. 


From World Market.








Love love love it!










One by one I collected the pieces and placed them sparingly in the cupboard... didn't want to put too may stuff there... I have this phobia of turning my house a bit like a museum ;) Less is more is my motto. These are the everyday stuff; kitchen utensils and things we use on a daily basis. Everything get to be used. Easy to find. Easy to get. Wish I have some nice large open shelves in-place of traditional upper cabinets, but this would have to do for now...
 


 






A few blooms from the garden... I love simple.





Have a wonderful week friends!





Cielo














Home Tour: Dining Room

Monday, October 1, 2012

Hello! :)  I am continuing on with my Home Tour! 

Today, I am sharing my dining room with you.

I like how my dining room looks.  I think it feels light, clean, and inviting!!

And it's SIMPLE!!!


I don't keep much too much in here and I like it that way.


I made the curtains, I bought the white table cloth and napkins at Target.  And everything else in the room in from my Mother-in-Law or from a garage sale.


I love these photos that we took in Florida.  I showed you how I hung these photos with command strips here.




I will be honest here and say that we never eat in here.  I do think we even need this room so I have some other ideas.


What is your dining room like?

Do you eat in there?

Do you use your dining room for a different use?

Bonnie :)


Have a great day,

Bonnie