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How to Get Your Family Organized + Free Printable Age Chore List for Kids

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Do you ever feel frustrated with getting organized because it seems like your family makes it so hard? Homemaking is hard enough without everyone working against you. Today I’m talking about how to get your family organized. And if you’ve ever walked into a room to find a disaster soon after it’s been cleaned, you know how frustrating it can be!

Be sure to download my free printable Age Appropriate Chores List at the bottom of your post. I think it will help you figure out how to get your family organized and the kids helping!

How is your day going? I’ve been super busy. I woke up late and the last couple of weeks I’ve been soooooo tired. I just can’t seem to get moving early when don’t have to be at the ice rink before the sun comes up!

Yesterday I received this question in my email:

This is a big frustration for a lot of women! You feel like you try so hard and no one appreciates your efforts. I understand! So let’s talk about how to get your family organized so life is easier.

How to Get Your Family Organized

So, first all – your husband. You can’t make your husband help you. You can ask nicely. You can pray about it. You can explain how the mess makes you feel. But ultimately, he has to decide it’s something he wants to do.

And if your husband does help out with washing the dishes or other chores, be sure to praise him and reward him for helping. Now I don’t want to make it sound like he shouldn’t help or that you don’t deserve his help. But, the truth is, husbands don’t always see things the way we do. It’s always a good idea to express your appreciation!

Your kids on the other hand… you can certainly require them to help you out, complete daily chores, and be responsible. There’s no reason why they can’t follow through on putting away their things.

So here are a few tips you can use to get your kids on board helping you around the house:

Have a Family Meeting

Whenever I have felt overwhelmed by household tasks, I have held a family meeting to discuss ways that everyone can contribute and be a contributing member of the family. In these meetings it’s important to treat everyone with respect. Don’t use this time to yell, scream, or cry.

  • Explain why you need help.
  • Explain what is expected.
  • Explain the consequences.

The Family Meeting can be very helpful in a lot of different situations. It’s important that your family feels like a team. You can discuss your frustrations. Another great idea is to ask your kids for ideas about how to make things better. And then come up with a solution and write it down.

Getting Your Family to Help Around the House @ AVirtuousWoman.org

Be Reasonable

Make sure that the requests you ask of your kids are tasks they can reasonably complete without a lot of frustration or distress. A bad attitude about reasonable tasks isn’t something you should ignore. Getting your family to help around the house is a reasonable expectation.

But what do I mean by “be reasonable?”

If you expect perfection from your kids all the time, they will grow weary and frustrated. Don’t be a perfectionist. But do expect a reasonable amount of tidiness.

Give Age Appropriate Chores

From the age of 2 years old and older you can reasonably expect each child in your home to contribute something to the running of the household. You can download my age appropriate chore list here.

Chores build character in your children. When you expect your child to do chores he’s learning:

  • a good work ethic
  • how to be responsible
  • that the world does not revolve around him
  • that he is a part of the family unit

related: Age Appropriate Chore List

Create Routines for Your Day

Children thrive well under structure. Creating morning, afternoon, and evening routines is helpful not only for mom, but for the whole family. Daily routines become habits and we want to instill good habits in our kids!

So, for instance, if the children come home from school and dump all of their belongings in a pile by the door and then flops on the couch to play video games- they have developed that as a routine. A routine is basically a habit. You can help them create a new healthier routine. The afternoon routine might look like this:

  • come home from school
  • take shoes off and put them on the shoe rack
  • place backpacks in bedroom near desk
  • put papers for mama to sign on kitchen counter
  • sit at kitchen table for a snack while mama asks about their day
  • go outside to play and unwind
  • chore time
  • homework
  • 30 minutes screen time
  • supper time

Developing better routines is a great way to make getting your kids to help around the house part of your daily life.

Make it Mandatory

If you have asked your children to not leave their shoes in a messy pile beside the back door and they fail to do so, you need to insist. Part of teaching our children to be responsible is seeing that they follow through with those things that are required of them. For example:

Joey comes home from school and dumps his backpack, coat, and shoes in a messy pile by the door. Instead of feeling irritated and huffing away in frustrations, very calmly call Joey back to the scene of the crime.

Point to the mess and calmly say, “Joey, I have asked you to put your things away. Please take these things to your room and put the shoes on the shoe rack in the garage.” It’s important not to raise your voice. Children don’t listen well when you raise your voice.

Also, raising your voice in general is disrespectful. If he ignores you and goes to sit down with his electronic device, you can follow him, take the device and tell him he can have it again tomorrow. Then, insist he go put his things away. Don’t allow your children to ignore you.

You may want to read my article, Disciplining Better When Your Child is Older.

Following through and making sure your children do what is expected of them isn’t easy. Especially at first. If they are used to you ignoring their messy and bad behavior, they will surely resist any attempt you make at first to help them be more responsible. But training our children is so important!! Don’t grow weary in well doing mama!

Action Steps to Take Today

  1. Pray and ask God to show you how to encourage your family to help you get organized.
  2. Take an afternoon and write down some of the ways your kids can pitch and help.
  3. Talk to your husband and discuss your feelings and frustrations in a calm and pleasant way.
  4. Have a family meeting and discuss why you need help, what you expect, and what the consequences are for doing what is expected.
  5. Assign age appropriate chores to each of your children and download my age appropriate chore list below if desired.
  6. Create daily routines to give your day a soothing rhythm and structure. This will take time to perfect so give yourself grace. The main thing is to just get started today!

Learning how to get your family organized can be a real challenge when you’re just getting started. Go easy on yourself! Be consistent and persistent and your hard work will pay off!

Free Printable Age Appropriate Chore List

Age Appropriate Chores

How to Download

  1. Just fill out the form below and you’ll receive an email giving you instant access to my Age Appropriate Chore Chart.
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