This monthly article will be a helpful reminder of irregular work. Some of the chores are 5 minute chores for one person; some are family projects that might take a couple of hours. Some are done monthly, some seasonally, biannually, or annually. Some are for the safety of you and your family, some save you money in the long term. Some won't affect you and your life due to your home, climate, appliances, etc.

The chores are matched to the area of the home you are already scheduled to work in for the most part, or are planned to correspond with the "day of the week work", according to the yahoo group announcements. If it doesn't suit you then schedule it for a different day but do your best to fit it in sometime.

Remember, when you have a big project scheduled, get a good night's sleep, plan a crockpot meal and a period of rest afterwards. Assign different tasks to your children, they will take ownership and pride in their contribution to the family. Don�t cheat them of this; they are learning to be responsible adults when you include them in this type of work. They won�t be left in a quandary as untrained adults.

Do not play catch-up except with checking the fire alarms, these tasks will come around again.� Start right now with today and move forward.

December Seasonal Work

December

Week 1

������������ ������������ Laundry Day

Get the laundry caught up, especially the dress clothes. Be sure to do the ironing to avoid last minute ironing before an event.

If you haven�t already, plan holiday event clothes for each person-dressy, semi-dressy, and casual. Add to the Town Day list any needs. Assign these clothes a special place so that they don�t get mixed in with the play clothes. Have a child make a tag or card for the hanger or shelf place that labels it �dressy� etc. When you get home from events, hang up the good clothes immediately. Explain the system to all of your children. Review the system with on the day of each event and remind them to rehang their clothing in the special place. If they have gotten their clothing dirty make sure they know to inform you so that they get through the wash immediately.

������������ ������������ Kitchen Day

Do some holiday baking and put it in the freezer to pull out at a moment�s notice. Cookies and quick breads freeze well and are welcome additions to any gathering or as gifts for the neighbors.

Make a LARGE batch of mashed potatoes and freeze for future event meals.

If you didn�t make a LARGE batch of stock in November for future meals and sickness then do it today. This can simmer all day on your stove while you do other work, then at the end of the day, strain and freeze.

������������ ������������ Office Day�

Set up a gift wrap center-use a new tall trash basket for portable wrapping paper storage, tuck in a clear plastic box of ribbons, tape, name tags, scissors, pens. A really cute gift paper idea is to roll out art paper and have your children decorate the middle of it (the edges will be hidden when folded so no need to do art on the edges) for gift wrapping paper.

Make place cards for the Holiday table- employ the children, add seasonal stickers, scripture verses, or quotes.

Create your menus for the month taking into account nights when you need to have a quick meal before leaving for an event, holiday meals, and special family meals. Make your grocery list for Town Day.

 

������������ ������������ Town Day

This time of year, the stores are especially crazy, even the grocery store, so plan to go very early in the morning when they are quiet and your children won�t get lost in the shuffle. Avoid the weekends and after 5 o�clock! Make a plan and go through the store methodically, there are probably some odd things on your list and you don�t want to make your little children�s legs worn out through lots of backtracking.

Buy an air filter.

������������ ������������ Cleaning Day

Do your best to keep up with the cleaning. Do a thorough dusting in the public areas weekly. Lots of company makes for more dust.

Change the air filter on furnace.

������������ ������������ Gardening Day

Put up the winter d�cor.

������������ Week 2

Laundry Day

Check on the children�s dressy, semi-dressy, and casual clothes. Don�t forget to locate tights and check on their condition.

������������ ������������ Kitchen Day

Make some breakfast casseroles and put in the freezer for special mornings.

������������ ������������ Office Day

If you haven�t done your Christmas letter/cards, do them now! And if you haven�t bought postage for them add that to your list for Town Day.

������������ ������������ Town Day

Buy postage for your letters and mail them.

������������ ������������ Cleaning Day

Do a thorough cleaning of the area for the week and a good job of vacuuming and dusting the public areas of the house.

������������ ������������ Gardening Day

Make sure that the front porch and walk are nice and swept or shoveled for guests. Assign one of the children to do this after every fresh snowfall.

 

������������ Week 3

������������ ������������ Laundry Day

Once again, check on the children�s clothing for any upcoming events. Iron the things that need ironed now!

������������ ������������ Kitchen Day

Make appetizers that can be frozen ahead of time.

Do you have a tradition of decorated cookies or gingerbread house making with the children? Do it this Kitchen Day.

������������ ������������ Office Day

Plan an evening with close friends or a neighborhood open house. Make the calls, plan the food (if your freezer is stocked with goodies this will be a cinch), plan a game or activity.

������������ ������������ ������������ ������������ ������������

������������ ������������ Town Day

Check your menus and lists, pick up any last minute items. Remember to go EARLY!

������������ ������������ Cleaning Day

Launder mattress pads, pillow covers, spreads, and covers in hot water to kill dust mites, this will help a lot of allergic children.

Do an extra good vacuuming and dusting on the public areas of the house!

������������ ������������ Gardening Day

Do you have a neighbor who needs help with their walks? Teach your children servanthood.

Go make a snowman with your children! Or at least play outside with them a bit! Then have some hot chocolate and some of those goodies you�ve been making.

 

������������ Week 4

������������ ������������ Laundry Day

Once again, check on the children�s clothing for any upcoming events. Iron the things that need ironed now!

������������ ������������ Kitchen Day

Check on your stock of goodies that you have frozen. Is someone asking for a special thing that hasn�t been made yet? Or maybe you�ve eaten it already and they LOVE it. Make this a fun day to fulfill requests.

������������ ������������ Office Day

Have you received cards from people you didn�t send one to? It�s not too late to reciprocate. Spread some love and joy around!

������������ ������������ Town Day

Do you really need to go to town this week? Keep it short so you can enjoy family time. Play with your kids!

������������ ������������ Cleaning Day

Do the cleaning that needs done quick and then have some fun with family!

������������ ������������ Gardening Day

Add to your snowman family. If you live in the south, ummmm, do whatever you do in the south with no snow.

 

 

Everybody has different traditions of when they do what around Christmas. This year, Christmas Day falls on Sunday to add some more interesting twists in scheduling around the holiday and gatherings that go with it. The strategy below is for a dinner but you can apply it to a breakfast, an open house, cocoa and carols, and more. Make an exhaustive list of all the details that need done and spread it out among the days preceding the event.

 

Christmas Dinner countdown for the hostess (Depending on what day you hostess Christmas, Sunday will fall on one of the days, simply spread that work to the day before and after):

Day 7

Make your table centerpiece with your children.

Day 6

Make pie crusts and freeze. Or a frozen dessert. Or freeze a Happy Birthday Jesus cake.

Day 5

Put the meat in the refrigerator to defrost. ~5 hours for each pound.

Day 4

Iron the cloth napkins and tablecloths.

Day 3

Plan easy meals for the next few days when you will be doing double duty in the kitchen. Use your crockpot for supper so you don�t have to think about �what�s for supper?�

Day 2

Make the cranberry sauce if you serve that for Christmas (I love it and think the red is beautiful on the table). The flavors blend and enhance when made ahead.

Dry out bread for the stuffing.

Day 1

Determine seating arrangements. Set the tables if you can. If the tables are needed before the meal, then talk to the table setters and prepare them for what to get out and how to set the table tomorrow.

Buy your fresh produce so they are at their best appearance. Wash and cut immediately so the prep time will be fast tomorrow. Save the moist veggies (cucumbers and tomatoes) for cutting immediately before serving.

Fill the sink with hot soapy water and wash as you work, or assign the children turns at the sink.

Prepare the stuffing and refrigerate.

Defrost the pie crusts, make the pies, and bake. Or do the cake decorating.

Defrost the mashed potatoes you made earlier in the month.

Defrost stock that you made earlier in the month for any casseroles or gravy needs.

Assemble other dishes such as casseroles and refrigerate until tomorrow.

What time are you planning to eat? How much prep and cooking time are needed for your meat? Count backwards to determine what time it needs to go in the oven.

Assign the children tasks ahead of time and post them with the time schedule for the tasks on the refrigerator for tomorrow.

 

Christmas Dinner-remember to have your children help!

Chill your beverages.

Count backwards from your eating time and plan when to put what in the oven. Usually, there�s not enough oven space for everything and you need to employ crockpots for reheating the mashed potatoes, baking the casseroles, etc. Make a chart of what time things should be turned on. Remember that with prepared food that has been refrigerated, you will need to add time.

Prepare coffee but do not turn on until 20 minutes before dessert time. Push the button, last thing before sitting down.

Have the children do table setting chores.

Fill the sink with hot soapy water and wash as you work, or assign the children turns at the sink.

Set out appetizers that you made earlier in the month for guests.

Put the lettuce salad together.

Let your meat rest.

Make the gravy.

Heat the dinner rolls.

Call the men to carve the meat.

Set out the food.

Call the guests.

Turn on the coffee pot and put the pies (if you�re having pie) in the oven to warm.

Give thanks!

Feast and Fellowship!

Date: 12/05