How Do You Get Household Chores Done When Home Schooling Little Kids?

Question:

How do you get any down time? Or time to get the basic household chores done that could typically be done while your kids are away?

Because I am in Scholar Phase (where I need a lot of time to learn every day) and I am also leading my little girls in Core Phase, I need to clean in-between school time.

This (below) is my kitchen all sparkly-clean. I try to get it like that in the evening before bed so it's not too hard to do the next day.

I get the house clean again right after breakfast and before we start school time. Then, as we go throughout our morning, we just pick up as we go. Because everything has a place my 3 year old can help put things away. As we get out afternoon projects, we clean again, and just before bedtime.

I will say, this is NOT a picture of our house. Though we sometimes do feel like zombies walking around, somehow things are presentable and housework gets done. It is especially beneficial for Dad to help a lot with the house, or at least not be too perfectionist about it...

What about Deep Cleaning?

For deep cleaning, I find times when the girls are playing happily together and slip away to deep-clean something. If I have been busy and things get out of control, I'll turn on a movie for them, put on headphones and turn on mormon channel and then fast, fun music and get everything clean quickly. If the girls get bored, they come clean with me and I let them have the sprayer bottle filled with water and a paper towel and show them to clean whatever is near me. This deep cleaning usually happens while Brielle is napping and Milah is having some afternoon quiet time to herself.

Side note: if your kids can't play in their room by themselves, it's really rough on you. Make sure you train them to have some solo-play time (see On Becoming Toddler Wise) from an early age so that you aren't always entertaining them or you'll get burnt out really quickly!

Family Work

In my major we learned all about the value of family work, where your children do chores with you. Them sweeping next to you or being chased by the vacuum is likely going to be a highlight of their day if you make it fun. Family work is amazing because everyone can participate. If you have older kids, working alongside each other doing "mindless" work (think folding laundry or doing dishes together) gives you a time to connect. They are free to tell you about what they are learning, and your relationship is strengthened.