How it's done: chores

In September, after Nate was back at school, I started having a hard time of how to organize my time.  I am a very type A kind of girl...I like lists and order and things my way.  :)  But I was not using the kids naptimes to my benefit.  I mostly sat on the computer and clicked on my email, facebook, and blogs that I read over and over and over and wondered why nothing new was coming up.  I was kind of at a loss, and then naptime would be over, and I would still have a messy house and have nothing accomplished. 
So, I decided I had better do something.  I read a lot of blogs about how to organize housekeeping (this sounds so stupid, I realize that) and finally came upon motivatedmoms.com.  This site was even too much for type A me, but I was able to take some of the ideas and change them into my own. 
Long story short, since then I have been menu planning, which has made meal time (all meal times, not just dinner) so much easier.  I came up with a printout of a grocery list that I can just mark what I need on it.  I have a chore chart for myself that spans a month, so that I get all kinds of stuff done that I never used to get done (the microwave gets cleaned out twice a month now, instead of...well, I won't even admit how not often it was before). I am not militant about my chore chart by any stretch of the imagination, but it gives me direction during naptime.  I also made a list of everything that should be done before bedtime. 
The boys have gotten really good at helping me too.  Z is fabulous.  He unloads the dishwasher every morning, and the little boys now do the kid dishes and cups.  Z helps clear the table and helps Nate with evening chores.  The little boys can clean up the entire family room (and do before naps and before bedtime).  They are much better at bedtime, especially if bribed with the promise of Elmo!  I love to have the basement playroom, because it can stay a mess and I don't really care.   
Laundry is a huge chore here, and I do it every Monday.  I have found that it is best for me just to designate a day for it, and run the machine all day long.  Monday nights, then, have me sitting in front of the TV while I fold those 8 or 9 loads and put them away.  If I don't put them away that night, even if they are already folded, they won't get done.  Last week something happened on Monday night so I couldn't do all the laundry (can't even remember what) and just tonight (Monday) I pulled up my laundry from last week along with my current laundry!
I think that the fact that I have 4 kids has actually made me be better at keeping up with stuff, simply because if I DON'T then it will spiral out of control so quickly it will be ugly!

Teach them young!

One of Z's morning chores is to unload the dishwasher.  He puts the kid plates and bowls in a low drawer, the kid cups in another low drawer, and the silverware away.  I love it.  And I miss it when he is not home to help me, I'm not going to lie! 

Recently the little boys have been helping him.  He encourages them so well "Good job boys!" (in the same tone I say it!).  He helps them to put the dishes and cups away, and tries to direct them the right way so that they don't just run off with the plates, which they still often do.  I don't think he quite realizes that by helping them learn that he is working himself out of a chore!  He will understand it soon enough though :)  L was still eating which is why he isn't in these pics.