You race around all day running errands, cooking, picking up and dropping the kids off.
At the end of the day, you plop down in your bed - exhausted and feeling as if you did so much, yet accomplished so little.
Sound familiar? A disorganized schedule can lead to stress, frustration, anxiety, and quarreling with loved ones.
Fortunately, hope exists for families with extremely busy schedules that usually leave the burden on Mom.
One of the easiest and fastest ways to take tasks off Mom's hands is to assign those tasks to the children.
This not only helps Mom in clearing her schedule, it is also an extremely important means of teaching your children responsibility and domestic skills.
From the time that I could remember, it was almost an unspoken rule in my house that if my older sister swept the floor, I'd have to mop it.
Likewise, if I did the laundry, she'd have to fold the clothes.
Nowadays the dishwasher automatically washes the dishes.
But I remember while growing up, my sister and I traded dish washing nights.
One night it was her turn to wash the dishes and the next night it was my turn.
Until this day, I can not go to bed with dishes in the sink.
So the habits my parents instilled in me have stayed with me through my adulthood.
Start teaching your children about chores at an early age to help them form the habit.
Show them what and how you would like them to clean a certain area.
You can start out by teaching younger children to pick up their toys.
As they get older you can move to teaching them how to clean their entire room.
Then move to bigger areas as the child gets older.
If you have teenagers, appoint them to run errands to the store or to pick up/drop off younger siblings.
Teenagers will jump at any chance they get to drive.
This not only teaches them to be independent, it lets them know that you trust them.
Set up a reward system.
However, use rewards carefully.
You do not want to give your children the idea that cleaning and helping around the house is only done to get something in return.
You know your child better than anyone and you know what works for him/her.
Make household chores fun for them.
Crank up the music to their favorite CD or radio station.
My sister and I would turn up the music on a Saturday morning and dance around the house while we dusted, swept, wiped, and cleaned the house.
These days I look forward to singing my heart out to the world while I clean my house because it brings back fond memories of those days.
While your kids won't necessarily enjoy doing chores, I guarantee that they will thank you in adulthood.
It will be difficult at first, but will be all worth the while.
You'll be able to free more time for yourself while teaching your children lifelong skills and responsibility.