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Everyone Can Help at Home: Kids, Dads + Tips for Balance

August 23, 2020 by Jaimi Erickson 3 Comments

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Everyone can help at home-this includes chores for the kids, ideas for dads to spend time with the kids and a focus on the tasks that were most important to complete. I did not have to be the one doing it all at home.

Our household felt out of balance during my first year homeschooling. Dishes, cleaning, floors, bathrooms, the clutter piled up and stressed me out. I had to shift my thinking to realize just how everyone can help at home-this includes chores for the kids, ideas for dads to spend time with the kids and a focus on the tasks that were most important to complete.

I did not have to be the one doing it all at home.

I realized I had a work force! As a stay-at-home mom, I tend to think everything at home is my job. It is impossible to go long term with this mindset. The entire family has to help at home especially when you have multiple children. Work at home moms, this is how we get all the things done – the important things anyway.

Everyone Can Help at Home

As I was researching the tips for this post, I compiled ideas for chores by age that kids can do. I include chores my kids have done and do as well as ideas from other sources.

Everyone can help at home-this includes chores for the kids, ideas for dads to spend time with the kids and a focus on the tasks that were most important to complete. I did not have to be the one doing it all at home.

You will be surprised by how young we can – and should – start teaching our children to help around the house. It starts in a fun loving way to encourage participating and togetherness.

Chores Kids Can do by Age

Babies and Toddler Chores

It starts this young. Truly when babies can sit up on their own and put toys into a box or basket, they can be encouraged to help clean up. You make it a game and have fun with it.

Your baby learns they are capable and that putting away is not a negative thing.

I always used simple toy storage ideas depending on the space in each of our homes to help my kids clean up independently from early ages.

From the age of 6 months to 1 year old, babies and toddlers can help around the house as they have interest. We encourage putting the blocks away, placing stuffed animals together on the bed or in a basket, and toy cars can go in the box labeled for them if you use that type of toy storage system.

Children as young as toddlers can be asked to help at an early age.

Preschool Chores

When I was pregnant with baby #2, I started asking my then 3 year old to feed the dog. He could let her in and out of her kennel and into the backyard. If I was nursing the baby, he could help.

His chores started because I needed help. This has always been the case for my kids. The more work that piles up on my plate, the more chores I need my kids to help with and chores are good for kids according to research.

Chores for School Age Kids

Somewhatsimple.com shares that she starts having her children complete chores at age 5. Things like making their own bed, bringing dirty laundry to the laundry room, or putting clothes in the hamper, and setting the table are all great ideas.

With my laundry sorting hack, kids can help pre-sort laundry. Loads can be washed as the hamper is full which cuts laundry time down a lot!

I also recently changed how I have my kids put their clean clothes away. I will share that in an upcoming Mom Meetup Monday chat on Facebook and my IGTV channel soon. (You can watch the previous videos though in case you missed one.)

Children from ages 7 and up can set the table for meals, get the mail, use a leaf blower and even clean up dog poop.

We bought a lighter weight leaf blower so my 6 year old could do that as one of his chores. We have a lot of pine straw and pine cones that fall with every rainstorm and he loves helping to blow off our walkway and driveway.

My oldest started mowing the lawn around age 12. We do reward chores by paying our kids. I explained why I believe in using chores as a way to teach kids about money. We pay them so the kids learn the value of work, the benefits of saving, and the budgeting required before spending. Children learn so many money lessons when you pay them for chores.

Everyone can help at home-this includes chores for the kids, ideas for dads to spend time with the kids and a focus on the tasks that were most important to complete. I did not have to be the one doing it all at home.

How Dads Can Help with the Kids

Stay-at-Home Moms do a lot at home. This can mean that dads may not be sure where to help or what to do to contribute and not “mess up your system.” At least that is feedback I have gotten from my husband.

Frankly, often what we need as the mom at home is dads to just give us a break from the kids for a bit! Even if that happens while we are folding laundry or making dinner.

Reading to the kids before bed, helping the kids during bath time or taking the kids outside on a walk or a bike ride are great ways for dads to help with the kids and get quality time together.

We have to ask our husbands for help, and we can be specific. No one can read minds. That would be amazing, but it just does not exist.

I found that when I started asking my husband to take the kids up for bath time, or please take the full bag of garbage out, after a few times he was more proactive.

The long term benefits of kids doing chores

Parent.com shared that only 28% of kids are expected to complete chores at home. This was surprising to me! Kids actually lose out on valuable life lessons when they do not have to help around the house.

Chores teach children social skills, fortitude, perseverance and self-sufficiency. Studies have shown that kids who do chores have greater academic and career success in life too.

A surprise benefit of doing chores is how it teaches children to have empathy for others. They learn to care and help for the greater good of the home and family.

Everyone can help at home and after those stats, everyone should help! With homeschooling, chores can even be considered part of learning. It is contributing to the social situation in the home.

The way our home stays in balance with 4 kids, 2 dogs, and the military + homeschool lifestyle is everyone helping.

Successful Mom Daily Checklist to help you gain balance between housework and play time with the kids. Get more done, and feel more successful as a mom and homemaker.

Free tool to help you stay in balance at home

If you struggle as a stay-at-home mom to know how to keep your house in balance, I have a free tool for you! This helped me to get back in balance after my twins were born.


Free Successful Day Checklist Download

I send a free Successful Day Checklist to each of my email subscribers as a free gift. It is completely free to subscribe and you will never receive any spam. I do not sell or share your email.

The checklist will help you manage your day, focus on balance, and allow you to not be a slave to your to do list. You can subscribe for free here or read more about the checklist.

Tell me, do you have a good chore system in place at home? How is it working for you?


Did you miss our Mom Meetup Monday chat all about this topic of everyone can help at home?

Don’t miss another one and catch up on the previous chats by clicking to our Facebook page and liking for future notifications. Every Monday we get together and chat about a topic related to balancing life as moms at 3pm Eastern/12pm Pacific. See you there!

Everyone can help at home-this includes chores for the kids, ideas for dads to spend time with the kids and a focus on the tasks that were most important to complete. I did not have to be the one doing it all at home.
Successful Mom Daily Checklist to help you gain balance between housework and play time with the kids. Get more done, and feel more successful as a mom and homemaker.

Enjoy your time at home!

Your Name

Filed Under: homemaking, organization, parenting Tagged With: balance, chores, cleaning, dads, homeschool, kids chores, quality time, virtual school

Comments

  1. Eric White says

    August 30, 2020 at 10:12 am

    Isn’t everyone should help 😉 thanks for sharing your journey 🙂

    Reply
    • Jaimi Erickson says

      September 6, 2020 at 11:01 am

      I agree. 🙂

      Reply

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  1. Laundry Organization Tips to Save Time | The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide says:
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“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” - Audrey Hepburn

I spotted her just looking at our little seedlings. The peace of doing with our hands what we have learned with our mind is so satisfying. 

Tomorrow we can plant our first seeds in the outdoor garden beds. I am so excited for the simple task.

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What are your plans for the weekend? #friyay We What are your plans for the weekend? #friyay 

We are having a few neighbors over tonight. (Obviously not locked down here. 👌) 

I am thankful for like minded people. 

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What are you thankful for today? 

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Today’s schooling looked a bit like this. 💕 L Today’s schooling looked a bit like this. 💕 Library, reading, painting the toy that came in the kids meal, reading time, and calm. 

When I think about my homeschool style (aka structure) it has definitely evolved over the years. I never really researched a style until today actually. 😂 What I found was, we started as Traditional - workbook-based learning. Then I added Unit Studies to our Traditional structure. Now we naturally have shifted to a more Charlotte Mason + Unit Study approach for some subjects and Traditional approach for a few subjects (math most specifically). 

Flexibility keeps our interest. Plus learning never stops.

Today our day began with a visit to our library. When we got home the kids all found a spot and were so quietly reading I did not want to shift gears! So I didn’t. 

There was reading, eating, drawing, painting, and so much quiet you guys I just had to let the kids go with this. My brain was soaking in the peacefulness.

When I started homeschooling, I would have never thought that a day like this would make me feel successful. It feels so good to have reached this point. 

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You know what’s funny? I took this pic not even You know what’s funny? I took this pic not even noticing what random things were out of place. 😅 Perfect for this post today. 👇

Motherhood is a juggling act. We try to seek balance and be joyful, but kids, husband, house, our needs and wants all pull us in different directions.

We worry that if we drop one ball they all will come crashing down! We are busy, yet not feeling productive many days. The line between needs and wants become blurred.

Attempting to keep it all organized is overwhelming. 

We tend to define balance with images in magazines, snapshots of other moms who are
having a together day when we are not, or elaborate spring cleaning tasks that sound great and get pinned but ultimately leave us feeling even deeper in frustration when we do not complete them.

*****
Balance is not a place where you go and never ever again feel a bump in the road.

Balance is an on-going, always changing, never finished job. 

*****

If you feel out of balance today, you are just in the process of working your way back to it. 

If today was a great day, prepare yourself now because the scale may tilt and things may feel out of your control tomorrow. #reallife

It is not easy to cut things from our calendars or limit our focus each day. I feel that struggle so much. My whole family needs and deserves my time and attention. I am constantly in a state of re-balance, and making attempts to re-organize, as I attempt to balance four children and a husband.

That requires a lot of humility, prayers for God’s peace in my life, and relieving myself of any guilt for not doing it all every day.

Do you see the items out of place in this pic or are you focused on the beauty within it? 😉💕

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#AD Today was hard! School took longer than expect #AD Today was hard! School took longer than expected, grocery shopping got pushed back, and I am soaking up my time to get quiet and pray it all away. 

I have discovered simple, quick ways to feel refreshed staying at home. With four kids, homeschooling and military life I can not just get a break when I feel I need it. 

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One of the simplest ways to recharge is with a good old hot shower. I think it pretty much cures mom overwhelm and stress. I always planned my showers around the kids’ quiet times. That way I could take my time.

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I put together a helpful list of ways to help us moms feel refreshed.

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Check out the tips from my friends on the blog (via link in bio):

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I spy two creatures who naturally love nature, wat I spy two creatures who naturally love nature, water and most of all dirt. 😍

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#AD Yesterday we had some talks. Things got a litt #AD Yesterday we had some talks. Things got a little tense. There were tears because she was embarrassed about what she did and said. 

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Everything returned to contentment. We all smiled. This is real life and real parenting. Our emotions clashed but calm logic brought things back in focus.

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How have you been taking time to recharge while st How have you been taking time to recharge while staying at home? Making my list of favorite ways to refresh ‘cause moms with full schedules from morning to night need some simple ideas to get in quiet time. 👏 Do you need recharge time?

I like keeping it simple. 👌 Luxurious shampoo and body butter to maximize the spa feel after a hot shower, Bible study in the morning with my coffee, walking the dog solo are just a few of my break ideas. (I think hot showers are a cure all for a lot of stress! Time to think, feeling the strain wash away...all good things.) What do you think?

Since I have been a #stayathomemom for 13 years now, my kids have always been around and my time has been devoted to home and family. But I NEED time to have quiet and just be alone too. 

That means I have to squeeze in my recharge time in creative, simple ways. 

I am going to finish up this blog post and share it all with you. Share what you do too! I would love to give you a  mention you in the post. 👩🏼‍💻 💕

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When you really focus on fear, isn’t it pretty s When you really focus on fear, isn’t it pretty silly how much we let it run our lives? 

Anyone who knows my 7 year old daughter knows she has a “no fear” spirit. She can be a bit of an adrenaline junkie. She is always moving, seeking out fun and not intimidated by the unknown.

As a parent I both admire and cringe. 😅 

I find that I have to suppress my fear when it comes to her adventurous spirit so I do not diminish her true nature. I also have to be on the ball from a parenting perspective to talk through being smart while having fun. 

It is not as if we can ever see the results from the actions before we act though. 

Remembering myself how I truly only know what I see and what faith teaches me allows me to focus on eliminating fear from ruling.

For many years I was the opposite of my wild child. I was always thinking too far ahead to see what potential pain may come. That suppressed my nature. I see my kids so social, so eager to try new things and it energizes me to set that example too. 

Fear is not a worthwhile debate partner. 

“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.” ~Proverbs 31:25, NIV

Do you wrestle with fear in parenting and life in general or are you more of the no fear type?

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