Has anyone every made their own "motivated moms" chore list?

[nanette0269]

I love the idea, but their list doesnt fit us...its significantly different enough that i would discard half of the items and want to add another half (we dont have carpet, we dont have a basement or upper story, we have year-round outdoor weather, we dont do scriptures, etc).  i want to make one in excel, which i think would be quite easy (eg every 3 weeks do this, every 10 days do this...that type of thing), but was curious if anyone else has done the same?

[Savoir Faire]

Actually, I did for awhile and it really did work. It was a combo of several different "methods." Unfortunately, what happens for me is that 1 little thing will go wrong (I think my kids were at grandma's for 1.5 weeks) and it gets me out of whack and then, boom, I lose my system.

[homemademom]

I was just thinking about this for the same reason.  Also, even though I know the idea of MM is not to get too overwhelmed, I can't do just one little chore (like mirrors) in a bathroom. It would drive me nuts to not also wipe down the counters since I'm there with all the cleaning stuff, you know?  I really need a written routine though.  Thanks for the reminder and kick in the pants ;)

[e13lorena]

I'm not to familiar with MM, but I do a combo or FlyLady and my own stuff that I picked up through out the years that worked really good for me for quite a long time.

Basically each day had it's own room (instead of Flylady's Zones for the week) Each room had a set amount of chores - like 4-5 things that I wanted to do as weekly maintainance in each and then there was a monthly chore for things that didn't need to be down as often.

I would make a page for each day in Word and do bullets (check boxes) before each item. Each kid had 3 chores as well that went along with each room day and then a dinner time chore. I laminated each page (printed double sided) and could post of fridge or in binder and use dry erase markers to mark off each job has completed.

So Monday was bathroom day and the list might look like this:

• Clean Tub/Shower
• Clean Mirrors
• Clean Sink
• Clean Toilets
• Sweep Floors
• Scoop Litter Boxes
• Dump Trash Cans
• Laundry - Washcloths, Wipes, Napkins, Towels, Rags

I would also have a few everyday chores that I wanted to get done to - like declutter counter, wash dishes, sweep living room rug.

The plus with this method for me is that everything in the one room would cleaned at once. Since we're in the bathroom cleaning, we're cleaning everything. Dividing it up between my 3 girls helps tons - each of them actually have there favorites so it works out well. They also loved to cross off each things as they completed them - as do I.

Now I kind of use the same concept for what I need to do - but I write the items on post-it notes - 3 things on each and the kids get to pick which set the want. I need to revamp. But I totally think making your chore list your own is totally worth it. It might take some time, and trail and error.

You can make a master list of what you want to do in each room and then divide and conquer from there.

Good luck,

Erin

[pear-shaped]

I made my own list after looking at both MM and Flylady and it works well for me. Mine is based on doing a room a day with the exception of the kitchen, which I try to do twice a week, and the floors, which I do all in one day. I don't bother to list the individual chores in each room, but I do itemize chores that get done every day, like making the beds or picking up dd's toys, and chores that aren't room-based, like ironing or mending things. It's also pretty lopsided in how things are scheduled throughout the week because I have a lot of energy and motivation to clean at the beginning of the week but it always fizzles out by Thursday, so I put the really important things like mopping all the floors early in the week. That means I mop some floors even before I clean the room they're in, which is against conventional wisdom, but it's the only way I ever manage to get that chore done. That's actually the main reason I made my own chore list, I knew I wouldn't be able to follow any with a more conventional schedule!  I do mine on iCal on my Mac, then I print it out and post it in one of my kitchen cabinets.

[doubledutch]

i've been working on one!  i'm trying to incorporate little daily maintenance stuff into my existing morning and evening routines (woh ft) . . . like, putting the laundry away when i go upstairs to wake the boys in the morning (since i'm going up anyway, and since i need to pull out their clothes at that point). 

to make it simple for myself, i only have daily and weekly stuff.  the weekly all happens on the weekend, except taking the trash and recycling to the curb, because that's when i have time.  daily stuff like dishes, swapping laundry, kitty stuff, the mail . . . that takes up all the time i'm willing to give to housework on weekdays.  maybe when i feel settled into this daily/weekly routine, i will start thinking about those less frequent pieces and where they fit in.

[Learning_Mum]

I'm not really sure about MM or FL, but I have something that sounds similar.

I just have a list I hand wrote on the fridge. It has a list of daily chores, like dishes, kitchen, tidy, laundry, vacuum etc. Then underneath I have listed a different chore for each day, so Monday is wash floors, Tues - clean bathroom and toilet, Wed - Change sheets etc.

I find the biggest thing with being organised is really having a specific *time* when you do things. Like I will drop DS1 at school then come home and do the daily chores. This takes about an hour with little breaks to get things for DS2 etc. I put the laundry as soon as I walk in the door, then I can do other stuff while that's going. I'll often pick up at lunch time. Every night while the kids are in the bath I pick the the toys, run the vacuum around, wipe down the kitchen etc. Then once I've got the boys to bed I do a final sweep of toys they may have gotten out between bath and bedtime and then I'm free to do what I want and the house is clean and tidy for when we get up in the morning.

As a PP mentioned though, if you start something like the above you have to stick to it everyday or it gets mucked up pretty easily. With having both boys home during the holidays and Christmas etc I hadn't kept on top of it, so while they were at their Dad's on the weekend I spent SEVEN HOURS cleaning, tiding, decluttering etc.