“How do you get your house clean with so many kids??? How do you do it all???” Standard cleaning sheets my friend, standard cleaning sheets for EVERY room in my house. And a system of assigned chores.
Over the years, I have been asked this question a LOT. I love giving any helpful tips to moms that I can because let’s face it- keeping house and children and managing life is pretty hard!
One of the weapons in my housekeeping arsenal is what is called Standard Cleaning Sheets.
I went through many housekeeping “systems” before settling on this one years ago. I can honestly say that this has been one of the single most effective ways that we train our children to help with chores and household tasks. It unifies all of us so that we all know what is expected and helps to eliminate any excuses as to why certain things don’t get done.
In times of sickness, or postpartum days, these lists can be followed by ANYONE, including Dad, to keep the household together and running smoothly. So, today, I’m sharing my standard cleaning sheets for EVERY room in my house that you can print, laminate and begin using right away with your family!
**Note- obviously your house may be different than mine, so feel free to only print out the pages that will be useful to you, or, use mine as a jumping-off point and go make your own with the blank sheet I provide at the end of the download!
Each Standard Cleaning Sheet has:
- The name of the room to be cleaned ( 😉 )
- Daily tasks- these tasks are what needs to be done daily in order to ensure cleanliness and order usually done by a parent or older child.
- Helper tasks- These are age-appropriate tasks for a younger sibling to help with alongside the older sibling or parent. —usually none in bathrooms for sanitary reasons.
- Weekly tasks- These are the deep-clean tasks that must be done once a week, usually Fridays for us.
- Monthly tasks- These are the tasks that don’t normally get done but save me a huge headache if they are done monthly. I tend to do a lot of these myself or with a helper.
Train those Kiddos!
Through the years, people have observed my children being able to do their own laundry, cook, and help with cleaning the house. The question I always get is “HOW do you accomplish this???”
My very first answer is that I have a simple system by which I train them when they are younger: Standard cleaning sheets. These laminated pieces of paper set the ‘standard’ by which we train our kids to clean.
Begin with Helper tasks
“Helper Tasks” are where we begin, training the younger child to learn to be ‘a help’ around the house. Once they know how to do their helper tasks well and they are old enough, we begin training them on the rest of the list.
But YOU have to train them.
It takes time and consistency to help your child learn how to clean according to the standard sheet, but I promise you, that temporary commitment on your part will yield long-term benefits! Not only will you gain some much-needed help around the house, but your kiddos will learn valuable life skills that will serve them well in their adult lives!
Even the Hubby can help!
Another benefit of having standard cleaning sheets is that your husband no longer has to play the guessing game concerning what you really want. He can easily look at the list just like the kids and help as needed.
My own husband has confessed many times through the years that he would have loved to have been more helpful if only he knew how- this system solves that problem in the housekeeping area. During times of childbirth, sickness, and busyness, my husband has been able to jump on board easily and follow the list with the kids to be a huge help to me. Win!
Lastly, and this is my favorite benefit of this system- it eliminates excuses and the stress that comes with them!
When chore time is over in my house, we all simply consult the sheet for each room. If anything is left undone, the sheet speaks for itself and the child needs to complete the list before moving on to any other activity.
Yes, we’ve had bad attitudes at times, and we have had to work through character issues just like every other normal family out there, but because we all agree that the standard cleaning sheets are ‘the standard’, everyone knows when they are not working as well as they should be. No more arguing, no more “I forgot” or “I didn’t know” excuses… the list confirms whether or not we are following it.
My house isn’t always perfect, we’re a large family so it gets messy quickly, but with the Standard Cleaning Sheets, it also gets cleaned quickly! For more about the routines we set in place at home, see this post.
Standard Cleaning Sheets for All!
Are you ready to have some structure, have a cleaner house, AND train your kiddos at the same time??? I know I sure was years ago when I was drowning in laundry, dust, toys, and crumbs all over my house!
The Standard Cleaning Sheets are now available on the Fruitful Life Etsy Shop! Click the image below to get your instant download!
Happy and Fruitful Housekeeping!
Oh My goodness lady! Those look amazing! Thank you for putting that together!
Tiffany Montgomery recently posted…10 Frugal Christmas Gifts the Kids Can Make
Thanks! I pray they bless you Tiffany!
Wow this is so helpful! It’s funny when I first saw the sheets, they reminded me of being back in elementary school we totally had something similar. Are you a teacher by the way lol! Either way it’s so needed for raising the standard in your household, especially if you have some little ones (or a hubby haha) without any :-D. Printing these out when i get back to work this week!! Bless you.
– Christy
Thank you so much! We are a homeschooling family, so organization and efficiency is ‘key’ around here. 🙂 I pray they will be a blessing to your household!
The cleaning for 10 minutes fits right in with with flylady zones in the home. This week is week two …the kitchen …So this week any 10 minute cleaning will be in the kitchen. It is a huge help to clean in small chunks in one area. Next week bedrooms etc. Another fly lady young mom has lists for zone cleaning ..The Secret Slob ALL you young moms inspire me, a grandmother of 25! Homemaking always changes and it’s fun to learn new skills!
Your post is a game-changer for busy parents like me who are trying to manage a household and kids. The way you’ve broken down tasks into daily, helper, weekly, and monthly categories is genius. It’s amazing how these sheets not only keep the house clean but also teach kids valuable life skills. I love how even your husband can easily contribute and support with this system
Thank you Rose ❤ As moms, we need things simple as possible and so do our kiddos! I pray these will be a blessing to many! ❤
Your standard cleaning sheets are a brilliant way to maintain order in a busy household. It’s impressive how you involve the whole family in keeping the house clean and organized. Thanks for sharing this effective system, which is both practical and inspiring!
Discovering these standard cleaning sheets was a game-changer for our family! They’ve not only streamlined our household chores but have also taught our kids invaluable life skills. We’ve also starting rotating responsibilities weekly. That way, everyone gets a chance to learn various tasks, making them more versatile and accountable. Thanks again, this has been incredibly helpful!