In this vlog I show you the butter cake that I love to make for the children.
I make the ‘Brown Gravy Stew’ from the new Trim Healthy Table cookbook.
I show you my ‘chore alarm.’
I unbox an order from Koorong bookstore and explain why I decided to get the children more meaningful gifts for Easter this year instead of just chocolate.
Lastly I take you on a mum and son date with almost 7 year old Arrow and share with you why I believe a good relationship with your children is so important.
Here’s some exciting news – I have begun a Youtube channel! You can now watch 2 Punks Had a Bunch Of Kids on Youtube! After being inspired by some other fellow mum Youtube vloggers – I decided to give it a go myself. And thankfully my husband is a Tech nerd and also has a Youtube channel Beard Tech, and has been teaching me how to edit videos and helped me set up my channel. It’s a work in progress, but I’m having so much fun!
In this vlog I demonstrate my weekly laundry routine.
This is the plan:
Monday: Wash dirty clothes from basket in boys room
Tuesday: Wash basket in Mine and Luke’s bedroom
Wednesday: Wash basket in girls room
Thursday: Washing basket in laundry room
Friday: Wash sheets and other linen.
Saturday: Wash boys school uniform.
I hang out the washing outside after lunch and fold the previous days dry washing straight off the line.
I then sort the washing into tubs – one tub for each child and one for me and Luke.
The older 3 children put away their own washing into their drawers and I put away the two little girls washing and mine and Luke’s.
It’s doesn’t always work out when I have a few busy days in a row where I have to do lots of running around to appointments and other errands. You’ll see in the video what happened on that particular week that threw me off course and why I needed to spend Saturday bringing it all back together again. I hope you enjoy getting a glimpse into our home. Don’t forget to like and subscribe to the video and leave me a comment below if you would like to see more videos and what you are interested in seeing/hearing about.
My three eldest children are now aged 7, 6 and almost 5. I felt at the beginning of this year that they are old enough to be doing chores now. They’ve been helping me out with bits and pieces around the house since they were toddlers (mainly just tidying up toys or carrying groceries in from the car) but I thought it was time to make chores an official part of their days. I have chosen a few chores each based on what I feel like I need help with the most and what I believe would be achievable for them. I want them to be a little challenged but not to the point that they are overwhelmed by their tasks. I really want my children to grow up understanding what it takes to run a household. By giving them chores they are developing character while learning good skills that they’ll need for the rest of their lives.
This is the current chore list and later I’ll share what I do to keep them motivated.
7.5 year old son:
Put away all the clean dishes from the drying rack
Take the recycling out to the recycling bin
Put away clean washing
6 year old son:
Tidy up shoe racks
Empty and rinse out the compost bucket
Put away clean washing
Almost 5 year old daughter:
Clear off the breakfast table
Put clean washing away
These are their daily chores. They put their own washing away after I deliver it folded and placed in their rooms in plastic tubs a few times a week.
Lets face it sometimes children, (AND adults!!) are in a stinky mood or are occupied by something else and really don’t want to do their chores. To attempt to conquer this problem and to make daily chores fun I made up a simple chart. It is just a piece of A4 paper with their names on it.
If they do their chores…
Straight away without being distracted
Well
Without any whining or complaining
They get a tick on the chart. When they get seven ticks I give them a chocolate bar, Freddo Frog or a mini pack of Maltesers!
This is working at the moment! What a blessing it is to have the children helping out! I’m thinking of introducing table chores for everyone to help clean up after our evening meal. I’ve been putting it off because the children (and myself) are usually pretty tired and grumpy by this time of the day but it is usually daddy who cleans the whole kitchen by himself after tea while I get the baby and toddler ready for bed or help the older ones have showers. It might be time to change up our schedule in the evening a bit to share the load of the evening kitchen clean up.
Do your children have chores?
Do you give them any rewards or allowances? Leave a comment and share what’s working …or not working for your household.
Goddard Family 