Chore Tips and Tricks - Medications

This post starts a series on tips and tricks for your everyday chores. I'll do one every Monday.

At the very top of my chore list every day is “Meds”. This is not only my medications, but everyone's. There are 7 individuals in this house (if you count the cats) and that can be a lot to remember if we're all sick!

It's always been a challenge for me to remember to take my medication, even though it's only one tablet. It's even harder to remember the kids' medications, because those aren't all the time. Usually just when their allergies act up or they get sick.

Most information I've found on remembering to take medications involves making it part of your routine; setting an alarm, putting it next to the coffee pot, etc. But I need something more than that. Something that throws it at me yelling, “Take this pill!” would do nicely.

Unfortunately I haven't found anything like that yet, but I did find a couple of handy tricks. Like this one:

Use a rubber band to attach the medicine bottle to your toothbrush. I can do the same with the oral syringe for the kids' meds. If you have more than one pill to take each day, you could use a pill box instead. Most pharmacies sell them for about $1.

The kids' antibiotics are usually twice a day. The toothbrush trick should work well for that, but I can never remember when I gave them their last dose. Evenings are especially crazy with everyone home, so sometimes Hubby helps out and I'm always afraid we'll accidentally double dose them.

I was excited to find this post with a tip for remembering those pesky extra doses.

pic by landeeseelandeedo.com

Write it on the bottle! Definitely a “Why didn't I think of that” moment. Now I just have to wait for someone to get sick so I can try it out. Unfortunately in this house, that shouldn't take too long.

Check back next week for tips on another household chore.

Getting A Routine, Part 2 – Delegating and Imperfection

So the to-do list is made and I know my priorities. But before I let all this enthusiasm sweep me away, I have to be realistic. In a few days (maybe a week) I won't be nearly so excited about doing housework. Time to make things reasonable.

I certainly didn't make this entire mess by myself. Why should I clean it all by myself? It may sound childish, but I really am going to need help to get this house the way I want it (and keep it there) without becoming a slave to it. I need to delegate.

First up are the kids. The worst offenders. The older ones should be able to handle some basic chores, and even the toddler can “help” until she's bigger. I've put off assigning chores because of my oldest's (suspected) Asperger's, but he should be able to handle it now. And with summer vacation only a few weeks away, it'll help fill some of their free time (so they'll have less time to fight with each other).

The kids already are expected to pick up their own toys, put their clothes in the hamper, etc, but it's definitely time to tack on things like putting their laundry away, wiping the table and counters... things that will actually help me. After all, they live here too!

If you're looking for chores for your kiddos, this post has great ideas for young children. They can handle more than you would think.

Along with this delegation (especially the chores delegated to the kids) comes the other part of staying sane: dealing with imperfection.

The kids are not going to do things perfectly. Their clothes will get rumpled a bit when they put them away. That's okay. They're kids. Their beds will not be perfectly made. That's okay. They're kids. It'll take a while for them to get the hang of things.

The harder part of dealing with imperfection is dealing with it in myself. I can tell you right now I am not going to finish all the chores on my list today. That's okay. As long as I get at least the 2 mandatory ones done (meds and litter box), we will survive to clean another day. I feel sorry for anyone who appears at my door today, but they'll live too.

The chore list I created isn't meant to start me off doing every single thing on it. It's a priority list. The things that need doing the most are at the top. If I don't get to the bottom, that's okay. If I can do at least one lower priority chore (lower than Weekly) every few days, then I'll slowly shrink the list. If I can do more than that, wonderful! I'll shrink it even faster. And without feeling like I have a mountain to demolish every day.


So now the list is made, chores have been delegated, and I'm prepared to deal with things not being done "perfectly" every time. It's finally time to start my routine!


The next little series of posts will be tips and tricks for the daily chores on my list. Anything to make a chore easier!

Getting a Routine, Part 1 – What and When

Before I set off on the road to an immaculate house, there were a few things I needed to have set up. I did this a day or 2 before I wanted to start my routine.

The first step was to get my chores in order. The hardest part (for me at least) was prioritizing them. But figuring out what takes precedence over what really isn't too difficult.

First I figured out how often different chores need to be done. I made some basic categories to file my chores into. I started with just Daily, Weekly, and Monthly categories, but you can have any categories you want.

Now it was time to sit down and make a list of things that need to be done routinely. Washing the dishes, litter box, laundry, etc, etc. To start, I concentrated on just the chores I do (or at least try to do) all the time. I can add “fancier” things like alphabetizing the bookshelves later, after I've gotten the day-to-day stuff under control. And I can always change things later on. Since my laundry hamper looks like this at the beginning...

 *blood-curdling scream*

And yes, that is my real closet.

...then I should start of with “Laundry” in the Daily column. Once it's under control, I can move it to something more appropriate. And, vice versa, if the category I picked for something just isn't often enough, I can move it.

If you're somewhat OCD like me, then you may want to have sub-categories as well. My “Daily” chores have 2 sub-categories; “A-Daily” and “B-Daily”. The “A” category has things that absolutely cannot be skipped; medications and the litter box. (Trust me, you don't wanna skip the litter box even once in this house.)

 Their revenge is a carpet served at body temperature.

With all the chores now in their most appropriate categories it's easy to prioritize them. I just put the categories in order from most to least frequent.

I use a database program, but you could easily do this with a clipboard and separate papers for each category. Either way, the chart prioritizes for you.

So, once I've gotten all my duckies in the right categories and the categories sorted I'm ready to clean, right? Almost. To make sure nothing sidelined me when I began my mission I needed to do 2 more simple things.

One was to check all my cleaning supplies. Do I have enough for a while? Nothing's worse than starting a chore (or even just being mentally prepared to dive into it) and not having what I need to get it done. Major motivation buster. So just do a quick inventory to see of I needed anything before my next regular shopping trip.

The other thing I did was get some music ready. Especially if you dread housework as much as me. It makes the time go by much faster when I'm belting out “I Will Survive” than to do it in silence. And, for me at least, the music is a bit of a reward in itself. In general, I only get to listen to it when I'm cleaning. Plus, dancing to “If I Were A Rich Man” is something I only have enough guts to do when it's just me and the toddler at home.

I've got moves like Chaim Topol. (credit)

The next post will go over the last preparation for starting the routine; Delegating and Imperfection. I didn't make the mess on my own, so I'm not cleaning it up on my own!

A New Leaf

Starting this blog, I had lots of energy and enthusiasm for getting things organized and making my house immaculate.

Heh... well...

Obviously, it didn't last. I wouldn't say I fell off the bandwagon, so much as I was thrown from it and then run over by it...

*B-horror movie woman screaming*

...repeatedly.

Rather than make excuses for why I failed, I've decided to start over. But this time, I'm getting organized about it. And that means a routine.

Now like any good geek, I've made up a little database to help me with this task. What can I say, I love my charts. Not only do they help me on those apathetic days, but the show me what I should be doing on enthusiastic days too.

So, over the next few weeks I'll be delving into my routine; going over how to prioritize, get started, and not overload yourself. My motto for getting my house in shape is “Slow and Steady” and hopefully I won't get burned out so easily this time.

It's not gonna be pretty, but hopefully I can show that it IS possible to have a nice house without feeling like a slave to it!