If you’re looking to build a chores planner for your family, there are some chores that you don’t want to forget and make sure they get assigned. Some things are recommended, but other things are required, and you need to make sure that the most important things that need to be getting done is able to do that with a chore planner. Keep reading to see which chores you need to add to your list and how to build it properly.
Car Wash With The Boys
No matter what season you’re in, there is always a need for a car wash at least once every couple of weeks. This means washing down the undercarriage, the fender wheels, and the exterior of the entire vehicle. The purpose of this is to make it look good, but to also get dirt and debris off of the vehicle. Leaving that on there can cause the paint to scratch. It is also a good way to see if there are any issues with your vehicle. If you have multiple vehicles, make sure you wash them all down when you do this chore.
Depending on what season it is, you might want to add your RV or other recreational toys to the list being washed. If you’ve been camping or plan to go soon, you’ll want to do a wash so you can see if you need an RV repair for anything. This is a good time to check on all the moving parts and see if you need to update anything or have it replaced before you head out on a trip.
Monthly House Maintenance
There is a need to have a monthly house maintenance or inspection on your chores planner for the family. This maintenance includes doing a powerwash on the home, scrubbing down the porch or deck, and doing a routine check for any water leaks. While you might not always need to have a plumber come out, if you’ve noticed a difference in your system, or find some water leaking out of pipes, you will need to have a technician come out. Without the monthly maintenance, it could sit longer than you realize and cause more extensive damage to.
Other monthly house maintenance includes going through your pantry and refrigerator and checking for old and expired items. You’ll want to do a purge so you don’t generate a lot of hoarding in food and properly rotate out the items in your kitchen. Also, make sure you also have your baseboards cleaned, as they will collect dirt and build-up, which will start to be obvious.
Pulling out your windows, and giving them a good cleaning is another monthly chore that needs to be done regularly. Each window should be washed out and inspected for any cracks or breaks before it’s installed. A build-up of dirt and debris could attract unwanted pests and cause long-term damage to the windows.
Gardening Lesson Day
Some of the best things you can do for your family is to have a garden, and add chores like weeding and picking to the chores planner. You can mix this chore up with different people in the home, requiring them to go out and spend time harvesting the produce that’s ready. Also, doing things like weeding will keep the garden healthy and able to continue producing the produce for your family to enjoy. In the process, they are learning what it means to grow a garden and become self-sufficient.
In addition to gardening, you can call in a landscape service for specialty needs, but your family can take turns doing things like lawn mowing the property to keep the grass looking great. This is a great way to see if you’ve developed any issues with unwanted pests. You can also see if you are having an issue with your grass and perhaps need a specialist. If you see any signs of pests, contact a pest contractor to come in with a treatment for pest removal.
If you need to call in a landscaping service, you want your lawn to look decent and be cleared so they can get to work on the property. Anything that your family can do safely and properly, however, you should just add to the chores planner instead of paying someone else to do the job instead.
Clean The Bathroom
A weekly task on the chores planner, cleaning the bathroom should be everybody’s job since everyone uses it. This cleaning requires that the toilet bowl is cleaned out, the shower and bathtub area cleaned with shower cleaner, and the counters cleared away. You spend a lot of time in this space each week, and it could be a breeding ground for unwanted bacteria. Make sure you take your time cleaning and also organize the area so that it is most functional for you.
While you’re cleaning your bathroom, you may consider upgrading your current water heater to a tankless water heater so that you can have unlimited hot water. If your home currently has a small water heater, and you have to wait for it to refill before using it more, you are doing a disservice to yourself. You use this for hot water in different appliances, and hot water sanitizes the surfaces that it cleans.
Give Pets a Bath
Your fur babies are a part of your family, and they should be groomed and cleaned just like the rest of the family, which is why pet baths are at the top of the chores planner. Some dogs have more dander than others and oily skin that can give off a smell if you go for too long without washing your pet. You also don’t want your home to adopt that wet dog or sour smell that can come from sweaty, dirty pets. Each week, each pet needs a bath to keep them clean and so they are clean while they move through your home.
Giving your pet a bath will let you see if they have any parasites and need a tick removal treatment. You can easily find ticks on them when washing your pet. After you’ve removed the ticks and cleaned your dog, you need to give them a good brushing and groom them. Dogs that have straight hair are likely to shed, so you want to make sure you brush them at least every other day. Depending on how much your dog likes to be brushed, this can be a task for one person or for multiple people in the home.
Clean Individual Room
Cleaning individual bedrooms are also on the chores planner, and the person in that space is responsible for maintaining it each week. They must vacuum the carpet, make the beds, and also put away the laundry that goes in that room. What your home doesn’t need is a large stack of laundry building up in these rooms. The next thing you know, you’ll hear that they don’t have any clothes, and they will need to go through their stack.
Cleaning the individual rooms means that any dishes should be taken out of the room right away if they’re allowed in these places. Also, the rooms should be dusted regularly, so that you can cut down on allergies and dust mites that get into the space. At least once a month, it’s a good idea to use furniture polish on the furniture in the bedrooms to remove stains, clean up any dirt, and protect the outer layer of the furniture.
These rooms should always be comfortable for your family members, so make sure that the temperature is maintained. If they need additional fans or space heaters because you’re waiting on an ac repair, make sure they have what they need. If they aren’t comfortable, they will want to sleep in the living room or in another space that will just get dirty and need to be cleaned all over again.
Sweep And Mop The Floors
Added to the chore will is the requirement of mopping the floors. These floors, at least, should be mopped once a week anywhere there is hardwood, linoleum, vinyl, or tile floors in your homes. Before you mop, make sure you sweep the area really good, getting anything out of the floor that doesn’t need to be in the way of the mop. It should go without saying that your home should be swept every day to keep out any dirt that comes into the home from outside.
Vacuum Carpet And Furniture
If you have rooms with carpet in your home, you should add vacuuming to the chores planner at least twice a week to catch the dirt and pull it out of the carpet before it gets stuck too deep. Also, there are lots of attachments with vacuums, so you can use it to vacuum out dirt, crumbs, and anything else that is lingering in the seat of your couch. Before you vacuum the floors in your home, make sure you vacuum out your couch, love seat, recliners, and any other furniture with upholstery.
Dust Your Home
Whether you realize it or not, dust can build up quickly throughout your home, so it’s important to make sure you dust all the community spaces at least once a week. The individual rooms should be maintained by that person, but someone needs to dust at least once on the ceiling fans, blinds throughout the home, top surfaces on furniture, and the office area if you have one.
Wash Curtains And Blankets
Because your living space can collect dirt, dust, and debris, you need to make sure you’re washing the curtains throughout your home at least once a month. This is a great way to remove excess dirt that may be on this material but not as easy to clean. Also, while you’re washing these curtains, make sure you grab the community blankets that live on the couch in your living room, and give them a wash, too. They’ve been used by everyone in the home, the pets, and collected their own layer of dust.
Shampoo The Carpet
At least once a quarter, you should take your carpet cleaner that’s tucked away in one of the closets to your rooms or staircase with carpet, and give it a good cleaning. This is especially important if you have pets, and have children that track in a lot of dirt and mud. Over time, the dander and the dirt will build up in the bottom of the carpet and will hold a smell. You will also notice the discoloration of the carpet and have to get it cleaned so that your home can be considered spotless.
If you have area rugs that you use in your home, you can also use them with the carpet cleaner if they’re too large for the washing machine. If the rugs are smaller and can go in the washer, however, you will want to do that, but not put it in the dryer. If you can, hang it outside to air dry in the sunshine so that you get all the smell out of it, and bring it in with a nice outdoor smell.
Run Errands or Find Something To Learn and Share
You can start by adding time to spend with family on the chores planner, where you and your children go out together to enjoy things like paying home mortgages, grocery shopping, or making stops at different offices. If you want to spend more time with your family, decide on a hobby or skill you all want to learn together. Once you land on something like makeup school, and get signed up, add it ot the planner so everyone knows they have to be a part of this experience.
Cook Sunday Dinner
It’s usually hard to get homemade dinners in during the week with everyone working and keeping up with their own commitments. However, if you’ve recently found a pizza oven for sale, you can add the opportunity to cook Sunday dinner to your chores planner for the family. Make everyone responsible for different ingredients or dishes, so that it becomes a family experience to enjoy.
Enjoy Your Chores Planner
As a homeowner, you’ll understand the importance of these different chores, and why they should be on the planner. After a couple of months of putting emphasis on these chores and having the family be held accountable, you’ll start to see a difference where they are more responsible and your home is in the best condition it can be. Consider adding your chore planner to your home today and start assigning job duties to everyone in the home.
