Perhaps an Irish trait as well, stubbornness. I basically forced my way onto my children last Saturday, but it has been worth it.
I know Fly Lady basics say to baby-step to the goal-line, and for the rest of my house, I did just that. I mean, there are parts of my living room that still haven't been dusted, but that will all come in due time. The girls' room, however, is a testament to true grit and getting it done. Now, I wasn't a perfectionist. There is still plenty left to do. I just made them do what I thought HAD to be done in order to make it a working system.
The girls can do the chores now, the simple tasks that I ask them, in just a few short minutes. Erin is on her way to becoming better organized. Tonight she told me she was "getting together everything for tomorrow, so she would not have to hunt it in the early morning hours." Meghan doesn't mind jumping up and putting her pants in the dirty clothes hamper because she sees only one pair of pants on the floor. The mess is easily identified and dealt with.
I feel as if we can soon began the FlyLady Kids' Challenge without any major struggles. In the kid challenge, they will have one task to do...empty the trash, clean out their back packs, etc. They don't work for hours or several minutes...all can be accomplished on a 60 second commercial break when necessary.
If I could only keep them from jamming up their clothing drawers! But the good news is that I know who needs new shorts, and who has plenty of socks, instead of last week's emergency that there were no socks anywhere for her...now we all know where they were hiding, and they have been found and properly put away!
The basic gist is that each day consists of two sets of routines...the "when you first get home routine" and the "8:30" routine. The girls have five simple tasks for when they first get home...empty the litter box, do your homework, pick up your clothes. At 8:30 they come back around for five more simple tasks...check the weather report, lay your clothes out for tomorrow (complete with rain jackets, etc), pack your backpacks (with homework, school devices, lunch money checks, etc). Additional chores of empty the dishwasher or fold the towels are added on days that those are necessary...and those come with payment if they are done without any guidance from mom, other than a simple note on the board that they need to be done.
Each night is the same routine with Friday adding clean the bathroom, dance on the Kinect, and crush the aluminum cans for scrap metal. Saturday is the room blessing and clean out the car day, and Sunday is the day to fold and put away laundry.
This is just the routine for the children. It took forever to get established, but with some perseverance, and determination, we finally have it going. I don't have to stand over them any longer, they don't feel like they have a world of mess to clean up, and we get it all done with fewer tears!
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