At our house, if the family members don’t pitch in and help, the house can get messy quickly. So, we have some rules and assignments to help keep things running smoothly.
Chores are spread out among all the children, depending on their ages. They all have to clean up after themselves (except the baby, of course). This helps to minimize the work for everyone else.
We also have ‘micro rules’ such as using only one glass per day.
They are to keep their glass at their spot at the table all day and put it in the dishwasher at the end of the day. Can you imagine eight people getting a new glass every time they wanted to get another drink throughout the day? That would be a lot of glasses! Another ‘micro rule’ we have; each family member is only allowed to have up to two pairs of shoes in the mudroom at one time (16 pairs of shoes, think about it).
Chores like walking the dog, sweeping, mopping, dusting, vacuuming, washing dishes, etc. are rotated. They are each given a short list of chores to do every day/ every other day/ once a week, as needed. A list might include: Vacuum upstairs, Dust the Family Room, Clean Boy’s Bathroom, Sweep Kitchen Floor, Unload Top Dishwasher. I try to rotate these kinds of chores among the 5 older children, my husband, and me so they all get done and no one gets bored of doing the same chore every time.
Chores like washing dishes (that need done every single meal) are handled in a different way. Everyone puts their own dishes in the dishwasher.
The kids, as well as the adults take turns (rotating days) washing the pans, cleaning the floors, washing the table and counters, etc.. In this way, things get done quickly and efficiently so we can all enjoy some free time.
Other chores that need done once a week on a regular basis, like watering the plants, emptying the small trashcans, taking out the trash, etc. are assigned to a specific person to do once a week.
The kids are each responsible for keeping their own rooms clean. We have nightly ‘room checks’ to be sure their rooms are “age appropriately tidy”. If they need to put something away, they do it before they go to bed.
Everything in their rooms has a place, if there is something that doesn’t, we get rid of it or something else to make a place. We will donate to charity, have a garage sale, or put it in the attic for future use by a sibling or by the same child rotating it with other items.