Inviting your child in to habits of orderliness and cleanliness

I've been chatting and speaking about habits for many years.  Both informally to my children and friends and in large groups at conferences.  It's not easy growing habits of your own while trying to facilitate habits in others.  But don't throw the towel in!

If you plan well and make good effort towards beginning, habits of orderliness and cleanliness will slowly become part of the atmosphere of your home.

BUT HOW?

I personally feel like I have to look back in order to look forward.  This means seeing my own strengths and weaknesses in my past to help me decide where I want to go for this coming term.

I ask myself:  Do I always make my bed when I rise in the morning?  Do I remove my shoes and place them directly in the place where shoes belong?  Is there even a place for shoes to be when taken off?  Do I have a rhythm of how often and when I should clean my room?  Do I find the things that I need on a daily basis to be where they should be?  Is there anything that I am constantly looking for that should have a designated place and system?

Usually I find that my answers about my behavior need more support.  I don't often find that my daily habits reflect my expectations for myself!

 By all means, also consider the habits of your children and pick one (or maybe two at the most) that they are willing to work on with your support.  

It's the beginning of the school year soon for us.  We will have a family meeting as we re-focus our learning times together at the end of this month.  

And I am re-writing our "Acts of Service" chart that hangs in our kitchen.

I start by looking at our weekly schedule.
When will we be hosting people?  The day/night before should include some deeper cleaning.
What nights will we be more busy?  Those mornings I should consider employing the crockpot to help me cook.
What morning of the week should I spend more time one on one with a child? Those days I will need help with lunch.
What time of the day do I like to have the kitchen tidy?  I can employ some helpers to make sure breakfast dishes aren't left all over the tables.  

With this framework set up, I begin to make a daily plan of what and who.
On the days we know we will be hosting our CM learning group, I would like a new hand towel set out.  I would also like the toilet cleaned.  I think having the kitchen tidy is important as well.

I add these acts of service to the list for that day.

I ask my teenagers about their schedules and include them in the daily responsibilities of meals and cleaning.  With my younger children, I either pair them with myself or an older child to learn the basics of what will be their act of service for each day.  As they begin to show strength in knowing how to do a task, the parent/sibling begins to take a back seat to the task.  Slowly the child takes it over.

For example, when cleaning a toilet once a week, it might take six weeks before I feel a child can do all the steps required to clean a toilet on their own.  Toilets are personally my least favorite thing to do.  But a clean toilet is really important to me.  I take much care in teaching how in simplest terms and steps to clean well!  I like to work myself out of that job!  I feel very blessed to have only two toilets in this house!

And then I sit back and evaluate how will I am doing in making my bed, putting away my shoes, keeping my phone in one place!  How about you?

See it's very simple.
1. Take an inventory of yourself and your family.
2.  Set weekly/daily goals for what needs to be accomplished based on your needs.
3.  Designate who will do each task and make a nice beautiful chart of "acts of service".
4.  Keep a cheerful heart as you work alongside your children in helping them develop habits for a lifetime.
5.  At the end of each term, evaluate what's working well (don't touch it!) and what needs support.

Please share of your successes in creating new habits of acts of service in your home!  Happy school year to you!