If I hear “Mom, what’s for snack?” one more time, I might tell them locusts and honey and see what they say. They’d probably go for it.
You’re here because it’s summertime and the livin’ is supposed to be easy…but you’re overdone with all the daily maintenance.
Cooking. Cleaning. Laundry. All.The.Stuff that has you blinking at the clocking, thinking, “how’d it get to be supper already?”.
Wanting some easy tips for summer? A way to find that downtime and a chance to relax without having your house being featured on Hoarders and having your kids thinking Cheetos is an entree?
Read on for 11 tips and tricks that have simplified my summers (and the rest of the year) while dealing with chronic illness and a boatload of loveable kids.
You can’t try all of them at once without asking for burnout (for you & the kids). BUT you can pick one tip to try, work on it until it’s a habit, and then move on to another one. It will soon snowball into a buffet of free time!
appetizing tips to Simplify cooking
I’m not a natural cook. It’s not my gift, shall we say? But I try.
For example, one time I slaved over this new exciting recipe and presented it proudly to my kids…and overheard my oldest daughter whispering “it’s okay, let’s eat it as a sacrifice we can give to Jesus”. 😂 Sooooo not a total loss? Right?
1. Kids Cooking:
- I book in a cooking class on Fridays or Sundays. We learn a new skill or work on a new everyday healthy recipe beyond muffins and cookies (ie: meals they’ll fall back on in their college days).
- Then, I repeat these new recipes throughout the month until they can do them independently.
- They have their own recipe binder with easy instructions. I also make sure they have easy access to all the cooking tools and ingredients.
My 11 y.o. makes one supper a week and volunteers for making dessert often, happy days! The 8 y.o.s cook most lunches during the summer weekdays (soups in the Instant Pot and easy stovetop recipes). And my 6 y.o. & son w/ special needs are in charge of breakfast smoothies/cereal/sandwich days and filling up my spice & dressing mixes.
It’s soooo helpful for my less-than-good-health days and they beam as they present the family with “their” recipe.
2. Healthy Eating tips:
- While we love s’mores and lemonade, I’ve taught my family through the Healthy Kids Bundle how much daily sugar they should have and how to make healthy choices (ie: do you want this high sugar granola bar or dessert later?).
- We have occasional fun challenges, where they are in charge of packing a healthy lunch or creating a meal to expand their creativity. [See my post on 3 Healthy Eating Challenges to empower your child here]
3. Meal prep:
- I pre-cook and pre-cut everything I can the day or day after we get groceries. For example, I chop the onions then freeze them in indiv. containers.
- Batch cooking has worked for me these days. There’s a natural break during our day at lunchtime that lets me prep supper, bake snacks for the week, delegate a mix or salad dressing to one of my kids, etc. Getting everything done in one short burst seems to save me time during the rest of the day. All the ingredients are out, one clean up at the end. Lovely.
- I run out of energy by suppertime so I live for casseroles and instant pot meals. Usually, I can make-ahead (at lunchtime) suppers in the slow cooker or I.P. and life is peachy.
- Lastly, I budget in 1 freezer meal per week. My kids assemble for me on grocery day and I save it for a health-emergency or when life blew up and I couldn’t get to my kitchen that day.
4. Meal plan:
- You hopefully don’t have the same health issues that I do, but everyone’s a little decision-fatigued these days, huh? So I meal plan everything down to snacks (and I plan things the kids can make). Saves me on groceries, I don’t have to compromise healthy foods, and the kids get a chance to practice their go-to and new recipes.
- I’ve gone digital for my meal planning. Google sheets is easy peasy for me to keep it organized and flexible.
- I make drop-down themed menus in my spreadsheet. I’ll focus on chicken meals one week so I only need to prep/cook it once with a drop-down menu has all my go-to chicken recipes listed to change it up easily. I have a drop-down for meat, salads and soups. Then, as I find a 5-star recipe, I’ll add it to the list.
5. Shopping tips:
- I’ve been doing click-and-collect way before COVID. It saves me boatloads of money from avoiding impulse buying because I can save all my regular purchases and just add the extras. As a beautiful result, it saves me so much time shopping!
sparkling tips to simplify cleaning
Cleaning. Ugh. It never ends, eh? I’ve had some readers ask me for some quick tips on how to stay (or get) motivated to keep up, so I thought I’d gather all my tips and weekly routines that work for my family of 7.
I aim for a content, manageable home, not a show home. This means I want to be able to wake up in the morning looking forward to my day, and have it clean enough to reach my Beloved Coffeepot without stepping on Lego or needing the bobcat to clear a space to it.
6. Cleaning their room:
- My kids vacuum & mop their bedroom floors every Saturday. The weekly consistency has been fabulous. I plant seeds through the weekdays how it *might be faster to get’er done on Sat. if they put their toys/clothes away throughout the week – and it’s working!! They have to keep their floor clean to be able to vacuum, so it’s a roundabout way of cleaning their rooms.
- They also need to “clean 10 toys” before breakfast on weekday mornings. This helps tidy the areas where they picked up stuff from the floor and plopped on a higher surface 😉
- I keep a donation box on the top of the stairs. My 6 year old came up to me last week, and without any prompting, informed me she was giving some of her toys away so she wouldn’t have to clean as much next week. Fist pump moment!
7. tips on Laundry:
- Have I mentioned how all my kids do their own laundry? My youngest was 5 when I taught her how to do it independently and it saves me so.much.time.
- My kids have a minimal amount of clothes in their dresser. I vacuum seal the off-season and off-sized clothes. This way they don’t have excuses to skip it. They have their own designated LaundryDay for clothes and they wash their bedding every second week (there’s always cheers on the “no bedding” week).
- We don’t sort colours (gasp!). We’re real rebels here on the Canadian prairies. And it’s turned out just fine.
8. Dishes:
- This was the very first chore I got them to do. They have their own set of dishes we keep at the table (you can use different patterns or put a dab of nail polish on the bottom to differentiate). They’re in charge of washing their dishes after each meal.
- It’s very easy to see who forgot to wash something and to give a quick reminder. My rule is I only put food on a clean plate, which is motivating enough, don’t you think? 😉
- They did not appreciate this in the beginning, but nowadays it’s a habit and they automatically bring their dishes to the sink after eating.
- I also added a “dishes” chore to my rotating evening chore list. They either empty the dishwasher (it’s always full) or help wash the supper pots & pans.
9. Motivating myself:
- Listen to podcasts while doing unfavourite jobs. Over the weekend, I was listening to the hilarious “This is Jen” episode of the tooth fairy giving her kid beef jerky…and I can’t say I’ve ever had tears of laughter running down my face when having to do laundry before. The job was over in no time!
- I put artwork or something I “delight” in where I do chores. (Thanks for the tip, Marie Kondo!) Buying some gorgeous artwork from a pre-COVID trip to Nova Scotia in my laundry room brightens up the space and I also have Scripture verse posters and religious statues/art where I need the extra boost.
- Chores become a prayer. I pray for my husband as I fold his clothes. On another occasion, I’ll lift up in prayer all the little feet that track dust and dirt as I vacuum the kitchen. (It still doesn’t make chores more enjoyable per se, but having a bigger purpose to them lightens the load, don’t you think?)
10. Finding the time to clean:
- I have a monthly list of chores that I’ve broken up into daily tasks. And I’m flexible with myself. With 5 kids home from COVID and chronic illness, I know I’ll get to the chore next time if life comes up.
- I use time blocking to put daily cleaning in the calendar. Micro manage much? Yep. But if I don’t visually see that I have to do it, I forget or push it back until it never gets done.
- Consistent cleaning really does make it easier. Less elbow grease needed, you know? A task that used to take me an hour now takes 10min. because I’ve kept on top of it.
- I totally bribe myself. I can have that desperately-needed cup of coffee or iced tea after my cleaning sprint.
11. Training the troops:
- You’re not lazy if your kids help out with housework. These are valuable life skills that will give them huge advantages when they’ve grown up. But don’t overload them with all these new chores and cleaning schedules. My kids built up to this level of helping out (and we’re not done yet).
- Let me (re)introduce you to the Snowball Effect Technique featured in my Strategic Chore Workbook. You pick just one area of cleaning that drains your energy and joy. Dishes? Laundry? Snacktime? Teach that one task to your kids (and break it down into steps to teach if needed). Have them do it consistently until it’s mastered and a habit. Then use that free time to teach the next area you need help with.
- One tip, one skill at a time will slowly build your energy back up, which you can give back to your kids. In other words, when you’re not working or cleaning on your own, you have the freedom to play and connect with them again.
Was there one tip that sizzled for you? Trust me, starting with just one of these easy tricks can revive your summer days and set you up for easygoing success all summer long. Book it in to start, teach, and practice – soon it will be just as much a habit as serving watermelon and iced cold lemonade 🙂
read more:
- Are chores actually good for your kids? Discover 9 benefits for the family that prove it!
- How to set up successful family chores? Without the arguments? These 3 tips will transform your family chore time.
- How young is too young to start helping in the kitchen? Read 5 surprising cooking skills your pre-reader learn today.
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