Hanging your chores out to dry!
I recently started making house hold tasks work with me rather than the other way around. I never wanted to worry about chores changing our plans again. So I made a change. For example, if the weather is nice, laundry took away from time with my daughter outside and making memories… not anymore! Now we have a clothes line and we both love hanging clothes out to dry. This clothesline changed my mindset about all household work. Here is a list of three ways I made house hold chores work for us and creating memories. An added bonus my toddler is involved and learning life skills while we make happy memories. I encourage you to think about your household work as a possible memory maker and find way to involve your children safely and efficiently.
Clothes on the line: We not only save energy and money on the gas bill but my daughter loves doing the clothes pins and choosing what items go on the line next. Pro tip get the dual line and hang from different items in the yard if you can. We use the ends of our wooden hammock base. Also get colored clips and use for color sorting and matching on a rainy day! (See my rainy day activities post for ideas)
Vacuuming: We have a dog and a cat so vacuuming is a must. We love our rhoomba but we do bust on the big vacuum for a deeper clean about once a week. To involve our toddler and make this a group effort and memory maker we bought her a small vacuum… but we skip on the fake toy vacuums and bought her one that works! Low suction and cordless. Our toddler LOVES it… and she is actually cleaning.
Dusting: If its a day where going outside is not an option we try to have fun while getting household chores done. Dusting is something we used to forget about. Now we have a reminder! Dusting toys for kids are so cute and a great way to start practicing… why not buy a real duster in their size? We have a washable microfiber duster one a stick. Our toddler chooses this activity at least once every time we are in the house due to weather or just needing a break.
I hope this list is a jumping off point to help remove the pressure of household chores, the thought that kids make messes and work and that household work is a chore that we can’t enjoy.