You may wonder how it is possible to create more hours in your day and also wonder how this could be related to debt, but it goes back to the post on debt being more than a financial problem. We see debt in all areas of our life. We borrow from tomorrow all the time by procrastinating and not doing what we should have done today.
We decided enough was enough...again!
I've used the series Managers of Your Chores, Managers of Your Homes, and to a slightly lesser extent, Managers of Your School, all put out by the the Maxwell family. I first came across this series almost by accident when I watched a show, taped for me by a friend as we didn't have cable, about the Duggar family. In that show, Michelle Duggar had in the background a coloured schedule that outlined the childrens' day, where they should be at what time, what chores were to be done when, etc. I'm not sure how I knew it was a Maxwell thing, but in my head I thought, "If it is good enough for the Duggar's, it is good enough for me!"
I was expecting our fifth child seven years ago. I had four other children under the age of 8 and my house was a mess. I couldn't stay on top of it - the laundry, for one, and all the other messes as well. I stopped sleeping at night as I was panicking about how I would handle another child.
When I went to the homeschool conference that spring, I bought the whole series of Maxwell books and read them each night. That summer I made a plan. I wasn't sleeping anyways, so up I'd get at 4:30 a.m. and I started to create schedules and what they called Chore Packs. By August, I was ready to do a trial run as the baby was due in September. I hoped to have the house running smoothly before the baby came.
This is how I describe the Chore Packs to other people. When I first read the Chore book, I was looking for a quick fix, something that would give me a clean house in 10 easy steps. What I got was a Bible study on how to organize my home and children. It was amazing. This is why our family's life changed - because God's Word talks about having order (1Cor 14:33), it talks about establishing the works of our hands (Psalm 90:17), and for the first time in my mothering life, I felt peace about the chaos in my home.
I had all the kids around me and I explained how things needed to change and how God's Word gives us a plan. I wanted them to know how to establish their own homes and that it was my job to train them as I wouldn't be living with them for the rest of their lives. We all got really excited as I passed out their chore packs which explained their duties for each morning.
The key to the chore pack is they follow what is written on each little card that is attached by a clip to their clothes. As they walk around doing their jobs, they take out each card and as they complete each task, they take out the card and put it at the back of the pile of card tasks, slipping it into the "pack", thus the name. When they are finished, the chore pack is returned and I inspect.
That fall, our home was more orderly, the baby came and for the first time I felt I could have many more babies, Lord willing, and not panic anymore. I knew I would be able to handle whatever came my way as our house was becoming more and more orderly. Here we are at baby 8 and when that pregnancy was discovered, I didn't panic, I welcomed him as I knew I would be ok!
Now, don't go thinking our home is perfect and always ready for guests. It is not and anyone who knows me can attest to this. Remember, I still have 5 kids under the age of 7! So trust me, it is not perfect, but we can pull it together when we have to and people do drop in all the time, so we can basically get it together real quickly when we need to as we have a plan! Even, when things run perfectly smoothly, my five year old isn't quite meeting my higher standard for tidying - it's impossible, she's 5. So even in a well-run home, there has to be some give in the standards and I do try to be reasonable and encouraging as long as they show that they are trying.
Now, that the kids are older, they aren't all wearing chore packs anymore, but we still follow the same tasks each day and they must complete these things before school starts. No one likes starting the day in a messy house.
The problem was, though these chore packs did not have long lists of things to do, something about the morning made things not go so fast. What should have taken less than half an hour, ended up taking longer and longer. Partly my fault for not staying on top of them I guess - we were all getting a little lazy.
So one day I started up something I had created years ago, but had forgotten to use as it means no procrastinating (and I loooove to procrastinate)......Evening Chore Packs! These little gems have added HOURS to our day. I'm not exaggerating. So much so that some mornings we have so much time on our hands the kids beg me to start school as they have nothing to do!
This simple, simple idea is so, uh, simple, that you'll wonder why no one else does it and why you never thought of it before (though, you born-organized people will roll your eyes at me as you probably have done this for years - this is more for those of us who weren't born-organized).
All you have to do is explain right before bed-time (for us, it is right after family worship which normally starts around 6pm and can go for anywhere from a half hour to an hour if we include chit chat time). So somewhere around 7 pm, I say, "Quick Evening Chore Pack!"
Everyone jumps up and says which room they'll do (there are easier rooms than others, so thus the jumping up!) The oldest daughter and her sister usually do the kitchen which was done after dinner anyway, but somehow another dish or two gets in the sink and a final tidy is done so I can come down to a lovely clean kitchen in the morning (what a good feeling that is!). The boys divvy up the family room, loft room and homeschool room (bathroom, if necessary). Bedrooms get attended to as well, also, if necessary, as that takes up a lot of time in the morning.
The house looks good and we're left with just animal chores in the morning.
This has changed everything for us. The chore debt is basically gone. We'd been stealing from our school hours which explains why it is always so hard to stay on top of the curriculum. No wonder!
The key is to get the children to remind you how great you'll feel when you do the evening system because you won't want to do it! But if you don't, the next morning just does not run smoothly. Thank goodness for my second son - he is so faithful and each evening he says, "Mom, Evening Chore Packs!" My husband and I do not feel like doing it ourselves as we're ready to put people in bed, not start up a whole cleaning system! But then, we remember, so up I get and start getting kids to do their tasks, keeping in mind how great I'll feel the next day. I never regret it.
Do you see the greater picture? There is always a greater picture. We cannot get stuck in the here and now. We must be more forward thinking and this requires training and renewing of our minds. Our old habits and and our old ways of thinking can be transformed! Isn't this the beauty of the Christian life and the command of Romans 12 :2, "Do not be conformed to this world,[c] but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." We need renewal and transformation!
If you were a fly on the wall in my home you would see me walking around the house literally praying out loud sometimes all day long. I commune with the Lord in the laundry room, at the sink, mopping the floors......always asking the Lord for strength, wisdom, guidance....for my husband, his work, the kids, their futures....whenever I'm feeling hopeless or discouraged....it is all day long. It is a habit that I cannot recommend enough.
One day I will not have sticky fingerprints on the wall and I will be sad about that, so I'm also trying to enjoy the sticky fingerprints! But, while I do have children that make messes, I'm trying to train them to stop making messes! Tricky balance, isn't it!?
"And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us, yea, the work of our hands establish thou it." Ps. 90:17
That is my prayer.
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