Category Archives: Homemaking

Organizing your Chores {Blog Hop}

chores

If you’ve been following me for very long, then you know I am a huge fan of training children to work.

Here is a chart from my friend Toni over at The Happy Housewife—a list of age-appropriate chores that children can do. This does not mean that they do every chore, but it’s a list of ideas for you. If you’re wondering, “What can my four-year old do?”, this this might help you:

Around here, we use a weekly rotation for the “big things.” Here is what ours looks like this year:

If you like this one, you can download a printable version of it here!

Bottom line: Have a plan. Teach your children to help and the value of hard work. You’ll all be better off for it!

Work the Plan,

Read all of the posts about “Organizing Your Chores” on these blogs! And read all about the Blog Hop going on HERE!

Organizing your Laundry {Blog Hop}

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laundry

Laundry gotcha down? Say the word and even seasoned moms like me cringe. It’s just.so.daily.

Or not! Unfortunately, when I don’t do laundry every day, it piles up. I was in fall-decorating/school prep mode this week and so the laundry was sorely neglected. We paid for that today when all the piles of clean laundry were dumped out on the family room floor to be folded and put away. The upside: five people folding and putting way makes short work of Mount Never Rest.

Families are all different, and different methods work during different seasons of life. Here are a few quick tips I’ve learned for beating the laundry blues!

Don’t leave your laundry to chance. Develop a system! I wrote about our system in my book: The Guide to Daylight
1. I’m a fan of chore charts. Here’s a printable chore chart with many suggestions.
2. Get your children involved in doing laundry. In our house, everyone is responsible for running their own laundry through if they are eight years old or older. One person is assigned to make sure the hampers are being run through and then the clean laundry is given to it’s owner to fold and put away.
Organize your laundry room
1. Use hampers to sort clothes. In our house, each bedroom has it’s own hamper. We keep a wicker hamper in the kitchen for kitchen laundry and two in the laundry room for towels and clothes I find strewn around the house. 🙂
2. Put laundry detergent within easy reach.
3. Use laundry baskets for individuals or for particular rooms (we have a basket per each bedroom).
4. Install a hanging rack if at all possible. We found one that I love two years ago. Now clothes to be hung up can be hung up straight out of the dryer.
Choose a regular day for washing sheets. Children can strip their own beds and put clean sheets on with some help. We chose Thursdays—since Friday is errand day and we generate the most laundry over the weekends.
Try to be consistent with the schedule you come up with. We do laundry every day at our house, but there are 10 of us here on a regular basis. Remember, everyone has bad days/weeks. Sometimes, it just piles up because more pressing things need to be done.
Let go of perfectionism. That’s all I have to say about that. You can have your perfect laundry scenario back when the kids are grown. (We’ll miss this too, I’m told.)

I have never come up with a system that I love for socks. I’ve tried them all—and right now we just put the mismatched socks in a big basket. We dump it when it gets full and try to match socks. About twice a year, I throw the others out. (I know I can save them for all sorts of Pinterest projects, I just know that I won’t ever do them.)

I’d love to hear your ideas!

Scrub-a-dub,

Read all of the posts “Organizing Your Laundry” posts on these blogs! And read all about the Blog Hop going on HERE!

Organizing your Spiritual Life {Blog Hop}

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spirituallife

About twenty years ago, I remember getting into a fight with my husband. (Don’t look at me that way. There are more where that one came from.) My husband and I rarely have “heated” arguments. They’re more like intense conversations, since he’s the more mellow of the two of us. I used to joke and tell him he was no fun to fight with since he’s so rational and patient. 🙂

This was a little different that our normal spat, though. Here’s what happened:

Right in the middle of our argument, there was a knock at the door. A couple from the church where Jay was a pastor had stopped over for an impromptu visit. Now these two had been married much longer than we had; and they had five children, which at the time put them in the “saint” category as far as I was concerned. I revered this rock-steady couple. So it was just a little bit embarrassing to have them dropping by when my house didn’t look like something out of a Martha Stewart magazine.

I could not hide my emotional state, either. You see, my husband and I were having a hard time with a particular parenting course that was being offered at our church. I am a sort-of “Type A” personality by nature. I like formulas. Jay, on the other hand, felt that much of what was being taught was too rigid and legalistic. Twenty years later, I can tell you with certainty, he was right. But that’s not the point.

My friend Carol sat down on my couch and we began to tell she and her husband why we were arguing. We just laid it out there. I will never forget her words to me. “Heidi,” she said, “I’ve noticed that your coffee table is covered with parenting books and magazines, but I don’t see your Bible here. Your Bible is the most important book. If you never had another parenting book or program to follow, the Bible would be enough. Reading it is the most important thing.”

I was even more embarrassed. I was a pastor’s wife without a Bible on her coffee table. Surely there is some law against that! I’m sure I turned 50 shades of red. But these two, they were telling us the truth.

Carol’s husband smiled. They weren’t being mean or judgmental—there were pointing us to the only place where we can ever find the answers we really need. Parenting books are great, but none of them—not a single one—has all the right answers. As moms, we must be grounded in God’s Word! It’s not enough to read someone’s advice. We must take our concerns and questions to the Lord and ask His help in discerning what is best for our children.

It was the best advice I’ve ever received from another mom—and it changed the way I parented. In fact, it set us on a different trajectory as a young married couple. It’s fine to read parenting and marriage books. In fact, as an author, I highly suggest reading other people’s books! 🙂 But at the end of the day, we listen to the Author of life. We listen to the Lord.

We’re talking about “organization” this week—but I’m here to bear witness to the fact that if I’m not in the Bible on a consistent basis, even my best organizational efforts fall flat. Why? Because without God’s perspective fresh in my mind, the kids are stuck with mine. … yeah, that’s not that amazing.

Listen for the Lord. Read your Bible. Know what it says. Let your children see you reading God’s Word.

That’s the most important thing. Be in relationship with the Lord, Busy Mom. He has the answers you’re looking for.

Be in the Word,

Read all of the posts “Organizing Your Spiritual Life Posts” on these blogs! And read all about the Blog Hop going on HERE!

Have Kids, Will Travel

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Ahh the glamorous life of the road.

People often ask us what it’s like to live for months at a time sleeping in Wal Mart parking lots with six or seven children. Honestly, I’ve asked myself some of these questions, so here are my candid answers to the top five- including how to travel with kids!

We do it because it’s part of our job, but truly, driving is the BEST way to see the country. And what an amazing country it is!

What Is It {really} Like?

It’s amazing. But it’s also hard. Nothing that’s worth doing in this life is ever easy. Since we believe that God would have us stay together as a family, we take most of our speaking engagements with six gorgeous kids in-tow. Traveling with this many kids is not easy, and when you are doing it with eight people in a 27 foot motorhome, prepare for adventure.

But we’ve learned a lot of things in the past five years of doing this.

See that man? He’s my awesome husband. He has just finished lettering our new cargo trailer. I tell ya, there’s nothing this man can’t do.

And it’s a good thing–because in the line of work God has called us to, we’ve got to be ready for just about anything. This spring will mark our third trip traveling across the United States as a family. 10 people. One vehicle. Lots of adventures–and misadventures.

Which brings me to:

What’s the hardest part about traveling cross-country in an RV?

No contest here: breakdowns. They’re expensive and often scary! Last time, we had to replace

the brakes
the transmission
the rear axle …

Familiar sight: This is from our first trip in 2009.

But all in all, we’ve seemed to weather it fine so far …

Together with our kids, we make some smokin’ hot road trippers.

And I’m not kidding.

In 2011, near the end of our last 15,700 mile journey, our RV caught on fire.

You heard me. On.Fire.

We were somewhere outside of Cheyenne at about 9:30 that night. I had just tucked the little kids into bed for the night and we planned on driving several more hours.

Our son caught a glimpse of “orange flickering” near the back of the motorhome, just beyond the rear bedroom window.

Jay pulled over and immediately came running to the side door: “Everyone out! The wheel is on fire! OUT! OUT!”

I ran for the kids in the back while the older ones grabbed blankets and we headed out into the brush on the side of the freeway. In the dark. In the cold. We stood barefoot in the dry Wyoming grass while Jay tried desperately to put out the fire. A semi-truck driver pulled over and used his fire extinguisher after ours was empty. But the fire would not go out.

Just about the time we were about to watch the entire thing go up in flames, Jay had the brilliant idea to cut the grey water line and all the sink water began to empty onto the fire. As the fire trucks and ambulance, police and fire marshall were arriving, we saw the flames die down.

This.Was.Not.Fun. We shut down the freeway in both directions for at least an hour. The Fire Marshall said it was a miracle that the RV didn’t explode, since the fire, which was sparked from a rear bearing, began just above the FUEL LINE.

Yeah. I believe in angels.

That was our last road trip. This time, we’re driving in a 15 passenger van, since my PTSD has not let lifted from our last trip. -Keep Calm and Carry On-, she says. In the van we shall go.

I could tell many more stories, but I’ll save those for another blog entry. Back to the questions.

Heading to a hotel while our RV was getting a new transmission. This was T-2 … 2011. Transmission broke down just after taping a radio interview with Dr. James Dobson. (Yeah, that was embarrassing.)

How Do You Do It?

Good question. Organization is the key.

And games for the kids. And stops along the way.

And patience. And grace. Yeah. That too.

But I’ve discovered that if you can be extra-prepared, the trip will be more successful, and less stressful. Usually when we travel, we are moving from venue to venue without much time to stop and “play,” so the key to keeping everyone in good spirits falls on the mom–if the littles ain’t happy on the road–nobody’s happy!

My favorite small-space organizer: a shoe keeper! This hung on the wall of the RV near the back.

Where do you put your stuff?

Another great question! We are organizational nuts. Our two older daughters and I take a three-fold approach to organizing for road trip , but it works for living in a small space, even if you’re not in an RV or a van!

Pack simply. No more than five days worth of clothes per person. Each child has a clear plastic bin in which to keep their belongings. They must leave room to “collect” things on the road–souvenirs, etc., all need to fit into their space. We bring our own pillows so that we can sleep better at night.It’s very important to allow the kids to bring something they can’t live without. Each of our children is different and has a different idea of what that is. We encourage them to keep it simple.
Everything has a place. EVERYTHING. Every.Thing. From chargers to post cards, insurance information to sunglasses. Everything has a place. Each time we stop, we do a little tidy-up to make sure things are put back where they go. This is crucial or things get lost and/or broken.This was my favorite item from our last road trip: a simple shoe holder that I found at WalMart. It’s made of canvas so we just let the kids design their own little pockets and made pockets for all those “little” things that get lost or misplaced so easily. We hung it near the top of the ceiling so that the little ones could not reach medicines or other things we didn’t want them to touch. Worked like a charm. In fact, when we got back home, we hung it up again. If you need to pare down at home, make a list of what you can’t live without, and then put those things aside. It’s amazing what we can live without, what we don’t need.
Entertainment and Exercise for Everyone. When you are driving for 12-15 hours at a time, there has to be something to keep the mind and body from atrophying. For us, it’s iPad games, movies, card games, school work (15 minutes at a time), naps and good conversation. And yummy snacks. That too. This year, we will be stopping frequently to let the kids run and stretch our muscles. Being in a van will be a different experience so we’re hoping to take advantage of hotel workout rooms and pools. Exercise is so important. Without it, we start to lose energy and our emotions ratchet up toward defcon six.

What Do You Eat?

I‘ll be honest: On our first trip back in 2009, I took all my cookware and utensils. And used them twice in three months. It just wasn’t practical. So in order to eat something besides fast food (yuck) we started looking for healthy meals that we could prepare quickly:

Sandwiches, Costco chicken, bagged salad, prepared main dishes from grocery stores etc.

I do cook occasionally but in all honesty, it’s not easy with a large group. Especially if it decides to rain and the kids can’t go outside while I cook. On our first road trip, I gained 15 pounds. The last one, we did just fine because we were much more intentional about our meals: healthier snacks, more water, less soda. (duh.)

The kids take turns adding states to the map as we go.

How do the kids do?

Honestly, sometimes great, sometimes, not so great . Wait. That’s just like home.

Getting sleep is very important though. Sometimes hard when you’ve spent the night next to a noisy semi-truck or in 110 degree heat and the AC quits working. That’s not very much fun.

Early morning in the RV 2011

Where Do You Stay?

Wal Mart or KOA when we have the RV. WalMarts are great because they’re free. Just pull over and get everyone into bed. Bonus: You can stock up on needed supplies while you’re there. 🙂

This year we’ll be hoteling it. I’ll let you know how that goes. I’m not sure yet since we’ve never done it this way. You might have to haul me home in a paddy wagon. 🙂 I’m hoping not though. Right now a friend is researching hotels that are large-family friendly.

Sometimes, if we have a few days inbetween conventions, we stay at campgrounds to unwind.

Near Colorado Springs

Overall, is it worth it?

Yes. In spite of all the breakdowns (the RV and the family), fire, long nights and weary days, we would not change it for the world. Our adventures have drawn us closer as a family. Living in a small space has made us realize we can live without most of the “stuff” we think we need. Seeing different parts of the United States has given our children a love for other places and a desire to meet new people.

“Remember when…” has become a regular part of discussion around the dinner table. Now that our oldest is grown and married, we appreciate this short season even more.

So if you’re thinking of RV’ing it, I vote YES.

We love to talk about traveling with the family. If you’ve got any questions, leave a comment here. My hunch is that if you’ve got a question, others have it too.

We’re in New Mexico to speak for CAPE right now … we leave on our big road trip with the kids when we get back on Sunday.

We sure would appreciate your prayers–they make all the difference!

Do your days need some breathing room?

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You know how it goes, we schedule something for each day this week. Then one more really great opportunity comes along. Then the kids get invited to a last minute birthday party and you get an email about a makeup soccer game… Pretty soon your week has flown by and you hardly looked at each other! Or maybe I’m the only one who does this! :blushing: See what Friday’s Friend, Steve Lambert, has for us today about overscheduling:

Did you ever watch your child running with a too-full cup of water or juice? How long did it take you to clean up the mess? Spills are inevitable when we’re moving too fast and our cup is too full. Life is like that, isn’t it? When our cups are too full and we are moving too fast we end up creating a mess that needs to be cleaned up.

We tend to schedule our lives until they’re spilling over at the brim allowing ourselves 20 minutes to get from the piano lesson to the dentist and promising to make a dinner for the nice family at church who just had a baby on the same day we’re already committed to having guests for dinner at our home.

To paraphrase one of the many popular Facebook posts of late, “I have too much spare time and wish I had more to do, said no mother, ever.”

Our children need time to just “be” rather than always having to be “doing.”

Life may be like a box of chocolates for Forrest Gump, but I’ve found it to be more like an all you can eat buffet. And I’ve found that when I eat at one of those buffets I end up with dozens of different foods on my plate(s) but can’t really remember any of them when I’m finished; overstuffed and bloated. I’ve eaten so many different foods but I never really tasted any of them. They all just ran together on my plate and the meal ended up being thoroughly forgettable.

But when you sit down to a simple salad and a well prepared steak or seafood entree’ each bite melts in your mouth, the flood of flavors washing your palate in the refreshing taste of lemon, or basil, or garlic; mouth watering goodness to be savored and enjoyed… and remembered for a long time to come.

Are your days like that? Do you pack in so many activities in rapid fire that neither you nor your children really has time to enjoy or savor any of them? By bedtime have you already forgotten whatever you did this morning? Can you even remember the things you did last week that seemed so important at the time? Most of us can’t because we’ve overscheduled our lives.

And then the unexpected phone call or interruption occurs and we end up with a giant mess. We allowed ourselves no margin and once again we stumble while running with our cups too full.

Make time this week to look at your calendar and take intentional steps to simplify. Schedule one activity instead of two. Cancel several existing commitments that you knew you shouldn’t have made at the time. Plan an unclaimed hour or two between events so you have time to savor and enjoy each happening.

We want it all. It’s only natural. But as someone once said, “You can’t have it all and even if you could, where would you put it?”

Purpose to fill your cup less full beginning today.

Plan to walk from one event to the next with a margin of time built in to savor and enjoy the scenery and the companionship of those who are with you instead of scheduling yourself to race from one commitment to the next.

In America we’ve come to believe that if a little is good then more is better and “way too much” is too wonderful to even imagine. I’ve found the opposite to be true in my life. Have you? Sometimes less is more. Sometimes more is less. And if it’s true for you, it’s true for your children as well.

Blessings,

Steve Lambert

A busy working father of two, Steve found himself “along for the ride” when his wife, Jane, first began homeschooling more than 30 years ago. But he quickly saw the benefit to Jane’s unique approach to teaching and became an enthusiastic cheerleader as he watched his children’s love of learning blossom. By the mid-nineties, Steve had become a popular author and speaker at homeschool conventions nationwide as his wife’s popular curriculum, Five in a Row, had also become a favorite in many homes across America. Today Steve remains involved in a variety of family-related ministries, public speaking and writing while enjoying the wonderful role of grandfather. Find audio encouragement and more from Steve Lambert, Publisher of Five in a Row, over at www.fiveinarow.com.

Git ‘er Done: 5 Tips for Easier Laundry

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Ahh, the joys of laundry … or not.

“My second favorite household chore is ironing. My first being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint.” – Erma Bombeck

Does the thought of all the laundry you have to do overwhelm and discourage you? If so, you’re not alone. Laundry is one of those things we tend either love or hate!

I used to hate it—but in all honesty, I don’t anymore. I love the smell of clean laundry. And I REALLY like grabbing shirts and dresses out of the dryer before they need to be ironed! Mmmm. Lavender fabric softener is my new guilty pleasure. 🙂 But I won’t tell if you won’t!

No matter how you feel about this age old chore, it’s always good to feel like you’ve got the best of it instead of the other way around. No, really! You can! It’s important. And you don’t need a laundry “room” to be really great at getting a handle of doing laundry. In fact, I devoted a huge part of a chapter to laundry in “The Busy Homeschool Mom’s Guide to Daylight” because I honestly believe that if we had a better system, laundry would not be such a chore.

So without further adieu, here are FIVE of my favorite laundry tips! Let me know what your favorite tips are – if they make my next article, I’ll send you a free copy of my book.

{one}

Train your children to do laundry. I’m not kidding! If your child is just three years old he is not too little to start training. A three year old can put laundry in the hamper. She can help you put the clothes into the washing machine.

So often, moms find themselves overwhelmed when a quick glance around the room reveals a much bigger issue: children who could and should be helping simply are not.

Start when they are little. By the age of eight, my kids can run both the washer and the dryer, and they can measure the detergent too. Teens can do their own laundry. Tweens should be helping by folding the baby’s laundry. You get the idea. Put your kids to work! Yes it’s more work for mom initially but the payoff is worth it, and believe me when they move out they will thank you for training them to take care of themselves and others.

{two}

Early and often. Fly Lady says, “A load a day keeps the chaos away”, and I could not agree more.

Around our house, the first load is started first thing in the morning. We often run three loads a day but two for our household of 10 is about average. Two loads a day. Kitchen towels pile up and we do them twice a week. My point is—we are doing a lot of little loads to avoid the massive laundry “day” that is sure to pile up if we don’t.

{three}

Use a system. This cannot be over-emphasized. 🙂 Systems work! And usually, any system is better than no system!

I wrote about our system at length in my book but I can simplify it by saying that in our house, each BEDROOM has it’s own laundry basket. Here’s how it works:

1. Child fills up his or her laundry hamper.

2. Mom or children start a load and run it through.

3. When laundry comes out of the dryer, it is immediately sorted into the basket that corresponds to the room the child is in.

This makes the CHILD responsible for his or her own laundry. It works. BONUS: It forces the child to think about the amount of clothes they throw in the wash each day. 🙂 And I’m ALL for that!

{four}

Think before you buy! In other words—if you have a lot of people in your house, if it wrinkles easily or if it will require extra care, maybe it’s something you should just leave in the store. Yeah. Just say “no” to more work in the laundry room!

{five)

Get caught up. Have a laundry-folding party! In our house, when we get behind (and believe me, it happens) then my solution is to gather the troops, dump all the clothes out on the floor and have a FOLD-FEST.

The last time we needed to do this was … mmmm… two days ago. 🙂 I had been gone and we had about eight loads of laundry that needed to be folded and put away. With my kids helping, we got it all done in just over an hour!

hint: if you need to have a fold-fest, take a washcloth, get it wet and throw it into the dryer with the clothes that are too wrinkly to wear. Give it about ten minutes on medium heat. Voila! No ironing!

Ready to Git ‘er done? Train your kids to help, get a system and get moving! You’ll be glad you did!

Saturday is for Sprucing Up!

Heidi St. John

Speaking the Truth in Love