My head used to swim...overwhelmed by the enormity of it all and I used to often find myself caught in the web of procrastination and confusion just because I was not sure where to start. I had to get out of this vicious cycle I thought...surely I was not the first working mom to deal with this anarchy.
And through this confusion came a ray of clarity...I was walking through Target (like I did every other weekend) when I glanced upon a chore chart. Well it was a magnetic chart to organize..chores..by days of the week. Interesting I thought! And that's when it occurred to me that rather than planning out my chores in advance I was dealing with them as they came along. In management speak this would be "dealing with putting off fires rather than preventing them". Ting!
Brain wave # 1: Plan out weekly chores ahead of time and better still...distribute it to your family members.
So up it went on the fridge and all weekly chores were logged and assigned to appropriate people (not that there are too many...it's just my hubby and I!).
As I started using this chart I realized that I could also use it to plan out weekly dinners so that I didn't have the daunting task of thinking daily, what I had to make for that evening. Only to realize that I didn't have what I needed. Voila! Brain wave # 2: Use the chore chart for the weekly "meal plan".
Now I have the weekly breakfasts, snacks and dinners all planned out on the weekend and dutifully logged on the chore chart. It takes me about 10 mts to do the planning. I do my groceries according to what I need, accommodate left overs into the meal plan so that nothing goes waste and am able to leave work early or late depending on what I have to make that evening!
Note the stars on the chore chart...well turns out this chore chart is also a "reward" tracker. Every time Aryan does something good, I give him a star for it. Let's say he helps me with laundry, eats a meal without too much fuss, reads a book by himself, keeps himself busy without seeing TV...well he gets to pick a "star" and stack it up for the daily reward. We have struck a deal that 64 stars = 8 Bakugan cards. Of course the reward keeps changing based on the "toy of the day". Brain wave# 3: Double up the chore chart as a great motivational tool for a 5 year old!
So yeah the chore chart has been a huge relief and rescued me from the sea of anarchy my work week used to be. It has helped me relax a lot more through the week since I know what I have to do, that I have everything I need and that my little boy will strive to be a "star".
One doesn't necessarily need a magnetic chart on a fridge to do this. I realized after all this that I could have achieved the same using a simple piece of paper or even a white board (I do the latter at work, on a 10' X 5' white board).
So bring on the work week baby...chores are not scary anymore!
