Let's Encourage One Another to Put a Bit of Ideal into the "Real" of Our Homes! {Bag Challenge Invite and Free Family Work Time Printable}

If you've ever walked into my home, or even just looked closely at the background of some of the photos posted on this blog, one thing might be clear:  We live in a "real" home, not an ideal one.  But that does not stop me from seeking the ideal, one small baby step at a time.

To that end, this month, I am keeping the momentum going with a continual bag challenge.  Want to join me?  Consider yourself invited to the November Challenge where we commit to purge at least 30 bags of stuff from our homes throughout November. Grocery bags, trash bags, the equivalent thereof... To charity, to recycling, to trash, to another person... Anything goes! As long as the stuff goes out of the house!

For me, working to honor this commitment works best when my children are asleep or when my husband has them out of our home.  Yep, decluttering is not something I do well with the kids underfoot.  Although, sometimes, we do work on a space together as a part of our Family Work Time. 

However, at other times, I use Family Work Time just to get "hot spots" and regular tasks back under control.  Things like...

folding and putting away laundry...

vacuuming floors...

and  cleaning up the footwear explosion at our front door.

When we remember to take just 10-5 minutes daily on such small tasks, it is amazing how much better we manage to maintain what we've already decluttered in our home even as we plod forth with babysteps to finally declutter it all!

So, this month, in addition to my personal bag challenge, I am also challenging my family to rebuild our Family Work Time habit as daily thing!

To help us, I am printing off new copies of our old routine sheets to put in the children's in-the-making Routines and Responsibilities binders.  As I do, I thought I'd take a moment to share our routine with you as a free printable so that if your home, like ours, needs a little help, you might get your children to pitch in using Family Work Time.

The printable is purposefully simple in design with a wide margin between the numbers and the text on it.  When I first introduced the routine sheet to my children, I asked them to draw pictures to go along with the text on it.  They thoroughly enjoyed doing so and became more invested in the routine because of their part in personalizing the sheet.  Their drawings also helped my developing readers use the sheet as a reminder checklist depsite not being able to read.

I encourage you to do likewise with your children if you use the sheet.  Either take and print mini photos of them doing the different steps which you can paste onto the sheet or have your children illustrate each one.

Whatever you do, please, let's encourage and inspire one another to move towards more ideal spaces as the month continues on... 

What routines help you cut the clutter and keep your home maintained?

Linked at Fabulously Fun Fridays.