Cleaning A Family Activity

Embarrassed to have people drop by your house unannounced? What would Jesus think if he came to your house? Are you taking care of the things God has provided for you? These thoughts had me thinking that I need a better plan to maintain my house with help from my family.

Okay, so my character might look a little sinister, but I really want to talk about this website called Chore Wars . I came across this site while looking for a way to keep motivated to clean. It's a website where you make your own characters, parties and adventures. You pick the adventures (where you clean), how many points, any treasures (you make up treasure names) and any monsters (you make up the monsters).  Wow!! Now I have a plan. My husband is an avid gamer and sci-fi lover. We rarely clean together or help each other clean. Bam! The light bulb came on. I immediately emailed my husband the site and set up our family an account.

Now instead of nagging each other do do chores, we are often "battling" over who gets the points for doing the dishes or making the bed. It has also helped me to stay focused because we added the adventures (cleaning areas) that we want to tackle every day or week. The best part is that my husband gets to see what I am doing throughout the day and I feel more appreciated.

CHAOS (click here to learn more)

Another website I really like is FlyLady. Her motto is really encouraging "You are not behind! I don't want you to try to catch up; I just want you to jump in where we are. O.K.?" That was what really got me hooked on her "program". Baby steps and more baby steps. Let's be honest, with two young children there are days I do not have more than a few minutes to clean. I follow her "focus" on the days I have time (or remember). I've already seen results and I do not follow her list every day.

I have the flylady app on my smartphone, so I can plan my cleaning or quick check and see what she suggests for the day without having to go to my computer. I wish there was a phone app for Chore Wars. I think that would make it even easier to use. 

So between these two sites, I have been able to maintain a cleaner house, lessen the conflict with my husband and feel more "worth" in what I get done in a day. I can SEE the points I get for doing my chores every day! And I like to read the fun adventures when I encounter a "monster" while cleaning. This morning I chose the adventure "Evacuating the Kitty Krunchies" (cleaning the litter box). While doing that I encountered the monster Hairball of Horror. I ultimately defeated it and gained myself some experience points and gold coin. Not too bad for a few minutes of work.