Getting your kids to clean is sometimes a HUGE task, and I think overwhelming to most Moms. It's just easier and quicker to do it ourselves. But, let me tell you...for me, I've learned (through much prayer!) that teaching my kids to help clean is THE answer to a more peaceful home, and THE answer for me to get it done. And not only that, it helps them in SO many ways - it teaches them how to clean, it teaches them responsibility, it gives them a sense of accomplishment, it helps them to learn how to think of others (how good it will make Daddy or a guest feel when they come to our home - I teach my kids that it helps people to feel welcomed and honored when they enter our home), and it helps them to feel what peace and order feels like so they can begin to crave that. Now, I realize, that for some with itty bitty's (kids under two), this is not going to happen and it really is up to you to do everything...remember, this is only a season...it does get better! First of all, I'll tell you who I've got working for me. I've got a 7 year old son who literally did not start cleaning until last year. I just could NOT get the boy to focus - he's like me - details, details. It wasn't until I learned to clean, that I could teach him how to clean. Then, I have a 3 year old who is GREAT at cleaning - most days. She still gets distracted - but is WAY better at it than my boy ever was. So, here is what I did:
1) For my boy, I wrote out a "To Do" list (this works well for husbands too- must be a boy thing?) He couldn't read, so I drew pictures of what needed to be done. It went like this only with little pictures with squares beside the pictures that he could "check off" (which he loved): Pick up all clothes off floor (draw a picture of a shirt), Pick up all trash off the floor (draw a little trashcan), Pick up all books off the floor and put them in bookshelf (draw bookshelf), etc. It sounds like a lot of work, but it is worth it. You could just draw it one time and then put it in a plastic protector sheet (like you put in notebooks) so you can use a wipe-off marker to do the "checking," so you can use it over and over again.
2) Walk it through with them a few times so they know exactly how to do it.
3) Start small. Maybe start with 10-15 minutes at a time. Maybe put on the same "cleaning music" to cue them that it is ready to clean. Also, a timer set for 10 minutes helps them to hurry and do as much as they can in 10 minutes, and, it helps them to know that there is a definite end to this cleaning!
4) Help them at first until they feel confident to do it on their own. But, don't do it for them - do it with them. Even hold their hand and pick something up with them and walk it to where it is supposed to go in a cheerful manner - believe me, this does NOT work if you are too firm (I unfortunately know from experience that this only creates resentfulness and not the desire to want to help Mommy)!
5) Praise their efforts ALOT!!! Give them big hugs and tell them what a big boy/big girl they are and how they are really helping you so much!
Part 2 will be coming soon with more details!
Showing posts with label Peaceful home tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peaceful home tips. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Getting your kids to clean - Part 2
I may have a part 3 and 4 and 5 by the end of this year because my tactics seem to have to change because my kids HATE to clean (as do I when I'm trying to get THEM to clean!). Anyways, here is the latest of how I got my kids to clean on just about a whole half of a day (which is a LONG time for an 8 and 4 year old). I had to do it though because my house was driving me crazy it was so horrible, my husband was out of town, and I had no other option other than to slave-drive and bribe (I mean, give them incentives) to help me!!!!
1) Prepare them. First, I told them the day BEFORE to get ready, because Saturday, for most of the day, it was going to be a CLEANING DAY. And, after we cleaned, we were going to do something fun (it was going to the park to listen to music, but then it changed to riding bikes on the street - which they love!). And, this will be chores they were getting PAID for (which definitely interests my 8 year old).
2) Make a good & filling breakfast that morning. Otherwise, you'll have to stop a million times to provide snacks if your kids are like mine and eat every hour or 2 - good grief. This actually happened, so next time, I'm going to make a BIGGER breakfast - like pancakes that they can eat on all morning.
3) Make fun little GLASS containers with their names on it to hold their chore money. This is actually a big part of it, because kids like something special that is theirs, and they LOVE that cha-ching sound when the coin hits that little glass container. We used jelly jars.
4) Give your children 2 choices, and only 2. Ask them, "Do you want to gather the trash and put the trash out, or do you want to gather up the laundry to put downstairs?" This helps them feel like they at least have a choice in the matter. :)
5) Start with the hardest task and move to the more detailed. Or, vice versa, depending on how your children operate. My kids operate best when doing the hardest thing first. That first thing may take a LONG time to get done, but I find that after they've accomplish that really hard thing, they feel good about it, and get motivated to do something else and make a little bit more cashola! Or, it may be that they need to do easy tasks first to feel more confident - try both ways!
6) Give small amounts of change for each task done and give to them to put in their jar! (Example, 25cents for watering garden that takes a bit of time, 1 cents for putting away shoes, etc.) I give the amount based on how hard it is for them to do also.
7) Find out who your detailed kids are and put them on a detailed task. A detailed task such as, "organize the bathroom" sounds really fun to these types of kids!
8) Remember: "Something is better than nothing!" It is better that your child do something half-way as good as you would and help them to learn responsibility and the how-to's of cleaning than for you to just do it yourself 100%. And, maybe you don't have the time or energy to even do it - so remember the slogan!
Here are some of the jobs I give my 4 year old daughter:
Gather up her shoes and put them in her shoe drawer
Pick up all the toys in the front room and put them in your room
Pick up all dirty clothes and put in hamper
Gather all the dirty clothes and throw them down the stairs (see, definitely not perfect!)
Find all dirty dishes and bring to put on counter or in sink
Scrub dishes in soapy water (sometimes this can be so fun for a 4 year old!)
Put away clean clothes from box
Clean room (put away play/dance clothes in box, pick up books to put on shelf, put toys in bins, etc).
Here are some of the jobs I give my 8 year old son:
Clean room
Gather up all trash, consolidate and bring to big outdoor trashcan
Sort laundry into piles to wash downstairs
Put away clean clothes
Pick up all off floor in room & sweep room into a pile (I usually do the rest)
Take out the recycle to big outdoor recycle trashcan
Water the garden
Organize bathroom (he's my detail-lover!)
Organize books under coffee table
Help your sister put away her clean clothes (chuckle)
I hope this helps you to help your kids HELP YOU clean your home!!! If you clean on a Saturday, they will feel so good the next day when you can enjoy your day of rest in a clean & peaceful home! Please share any other tips you do with your family!
1) Prepare them. First, I told them the day BEFORE to get ready, because Saturday, for most of the day, it was going to be a CLEANING DAY. And, after we cleaned, we were going to do something fun (it was going to the park to listen to music, but then it changed to riding bikes on the street - which they love!). And, this will be chores they were getting PAID for (which definitely interests my 8 year old).
2) Make a good & filling breakfast that morning. Otherwise, you'll have to stop a million times to provide snacks if your kids are like mine and eat every hour or 2 - good grief. This actually happened, so next time, I'm going to make a BIGGER breakfast - like pancakes that they can eat on all morning.
3) Make fun little GLASS containers with their names on it to hold their chore money. This is actually a big part of it, because kids like something special that is theirs, and they LOVE that cha-ching sound when the coin hits that little glass container. We used jelly jars.
4) Give your children 2 choices, and only 2. Ask them, "Do you want to gather the trash and put the trash out, or do you want to gather up the laundry to put downstairs?" This helps them feel like they at least have a choice in the matter. :)
5) Start with the hardest task and move to the more detailed. Or, vice versa, depending on how your children operate. My kids operate best when doing the hardest thing first. That first thing may take a LONG time to get done, but I find that after they've accomplish that really hard thing, they feel good about it, and get motivated to do something else and make a little bit more cashola! Or, it may be that they need to do easy tasks first to feel more confident - try both ways!
6) Give small amounts of change for each task done and give to them to put in their jar! (Example, 25cents for watering garden that takes a bit of time, 1 cents for putting away shoes, etc.) I give the amount based on how hard it is for them to do also.
7) Find out who your detailed kids are and put them on a detailed task. A detailed task such as, "organize the bathroom" sounds really fun to these types of kids!
8) Remember: "Something is better than nothing!" It is better that your child do something half-way as good as you would and help them to learn responsibility and the how-to's of cleaning than for you to just do it yourself 100%. And, maybe you don't have the time or energy to even do it - so remember the slogan!
Here are some of the jobs I give my 4 year old daughter:
Gather up her shoes and put them in her shoe drawer
Pick up all the toys in the front room and put them in your room
Pick up all dirty clothes and put in hamper
Gather all the dirty clothes and throw them down the stairs (see, definitely not perfect!)
Find all dirty dishes and bring to put on counter or in sink
Scrub dishes in soapy water (sometimes this can be so fun for a 4 year old!)
Put away clean clothes from box
Clean room (put away play/dance clothes in box, pick up books to put on shelf, put toys in bins, etc).
Here are some of the jobs I give my 8 year old son:
Clean room
Gather up all trash, consolidate and bring to big outdoor trashcan
Sort laundry into piles to wash downstairs
Put away clean clothes
Pick up all off floor in room & sweep room into a pile (I usually do the rest)
Take out the recycle to big outdoor recycle trashcan
Water the garden
Organize bathroom (he's my detail-lover!)
Organize books under coffee table
Help your sister put away her clean clothes (chuckle)
I hope this helps you to help your kids HELP YOU clean your home!!! If you clean on a Saturday, they will feel so good the next day when you can enjoy your day of rest in a clean & peaceful home! Please share any other tips you do with your family!
Saturday, December 18, 2010
How a challenged homemaker decluttered her home
To preface this post, I want you to know that I am generally a "messy" person (this pains me a bit to admit), which means, I tend to leave a lot of clutter out and about and tend to leave a "trail" of things wherever I go. Ouch, yes, I said it! I blame that on my creative side who is very easily distracted and likes to go with the flow. I don't like to be "forced" into cleaning up after myself in a robotic manner. It is VERY against my nature! Also, I'm very detail-oriented. The first 8 years of my marriage, I really did not know how to clean. I would pour my energies out for HOURS "cleaning" and my husband would get home and wonder what in the world I've been doing all day. The house looked FAR from clean, and he would feel stressed out and cluttered himself when he would come home from work. And of course, I didn't understand why he didn't appreciate how sparkling clean and organized the kitchen drawers were!! I'm detailed, detailed - and my husband is big picture, big picture. After many years of angst in this area of our lives, my sweet husband, had to literally TEACH me how to clean, and it has helped me tremendously! Honestly, I realized that I needed help and wanted my home to look clean, orderly and peaceful. So, if you are anything like me, read on! This is what I did:
1) Most important thing - GET THE CLUTTER OUT! You are fighting a losing battle if you just plain have too much stuff. And, we did. So, I went through each room with bags ("giveaway*", "yard sale", "goes in a different room") and left NO spot unturned. If it was an area with just a bunch of paper junk, I put it in a big plastic bin to go through later - just get it OUT - and put it in some kind of storage area. Try to commit to do this as QUICKLY as you can so you can IMMEDIATELY enjoy the benefits of a cleaner and more "lighter" home. That is such an energy-booster!
*"Give-away" can be tricky. If you are like me and can think you can give this to little Harry, and this to little Sarah, etc., etc. and I'll just put one in this little bag, and another in this little bag - STOP. Just put it in a yard sale. You're making it TOO complicated. Invite all your friends to the yard sale and when they come, you can just give it to them for free.
2) Find some good, loud, upbeat cleaning music. This is important to help keep you on task. It is especially helpful to use a particular kind of music for just this purpose and only play that CD for cleaning! This is when I have to give up my love for folksy, melancholy music that only makes me go slow. This is especially helpful for kids too, which I'll talk about it my next cleaning blog post.
3) Had a HUGE yard sale. I love making a little bit of money and decided I was going to use the money to buy ORGANIZING things! (Which I LOVE!) Also, it is helpful to invite the person in your life to the yard sale that is on a mission to help you get RID of things so you won't overprice things because you secretly don't want it to go or you think you're junk is a little too special (thanks sis)!
4) Then, I brought organized-type people (thanks again sis!) into the rooms and had them come up with ideas of how to help the room. This is VERY important if you're someone like me. It helped me tremendously! Then, I figured out what organizing item(s) I needed to use there, and if I didn't have anything, I could buy some fun organizing item (this was very motivating for me! I know - I'm a bit weird). If you don't have money to buy organizing things, think up ways you can change something around (shelves, etc.) to try to give it a fresh change.
5) I asked my oldest WHY he never played with certain toys he did not want to get rid of. In our case, my son wasn't playing with these certain toys/games because he couldn't ever get to them (they were up in the top of the closet and he didn't know they were up there-out of sight, out of mind). So, we put games and things that were stacked up horizontally in the closet VERTICALLY on a big tall shelf so he could get to them. Months later, if he's still not playing with these toys/games when they are easily accessible, I will have more leverage to encourage him to pass it along to another child. I also LOVE those cardboard magazine holders - I like to organize "like" things in those such as, "educational games" with flash cards and things like that in one, small "readers" in another, etc. etc.
6) After you get the clutter out, it is important to clean your floors very well to make them sparkling clean! You will more likely want to keep them that way after you worked so hard. If you haven't gotten all or most things off the floor after your organizing, you are not finished. You need to get bins, shelves or something to collect anything that is sitting on the floor so you can more easily clean the floors next time. One of my favorite inexpensive organizing items is just those Sterilite drawer bins. I keep my craft supplies in them, and a ton of my sons toys, science experiment things, legos, etc.
7) Have a family meeting. Talk about how everyone can help keep it clean. Talk about the peaceful feeling you and everyone else in the family feels when everything is picked up. Get the kids involved. Now, I know, this is going to be a PROCESS. I think this has taken me about a year to finally feel like I've got something working! I will do a separate blog post on how I'm getting my kids to help!
8) Once you get the big stuff done, cleaning and decluttering on a daily basis is WAY easier and you will truly have more time to do things you enjoy! It doesn't take as long, and the kids can help if you have easier places to put things.
Now take charge of your home and wage WAR on all that stuff!! You can at worst make some improvements to make everyone's life easier, and at best, truly make a peaceful home most of the time anyways! If I can make improvements (if you ONLY knew how bad I am)...I KNOW you can too!!! Please feel free to add any tips to this - I am still learning and can always use other tips!
1) Most important thing - GET THE CLUTTER OUT! You are fighting a losing battle if you just plain have too much stuff. And, we did. So, I went through each room with bags ("giveaway*", "yard sale", "goes in a different room") and left NO spot unturned. If it was an area with just a bunch of paper junk, I put it in a big plastic bin to go through later - just get it OUT - and put it in some kind of storage area. Try to commit to do this as QUICKLY as you can so you can IMMEDIATELY enjoy the benefits of a cleaner and more "lighter" home. That is such an energy-booster!
*"Give-away" can be tricky. If you are like me and can think you can give this to little Harry, and this to little Sarah, etc., etc. and I'll just put one in this little bag, and another in this little bag - STOP. Just put it in a yard sale. You're making it TOO complicated. Invite all your friends to the yard sale and when they come, you can just give it to them for free.
2) Find some good, loud, upbeat cleaning music. This is important to help keep you on task. It is especially helpful to use a particular kind of music for just this purpose and only play that CD for cleaning! This is when I have to give up my love for folksy, melancholy music that only makes me go slow. This is especially helpful for kids too, which I'll talk about it my next cleaning blog post.
3) Had a HUGE yard sale. I love making a little bit of money and decided I was going to use the money to buy ORGANIZING things! (Which I LOVE!) Also, it is helpful to invite the person in your life to the yard sale that is on a mission to help you get RID of things so you won't overprice things because you secretly don't want it to go or you think you're junk is a little too special (thanks sis)!
4) Then, I brought organized-type people (thanks again sis!) into the rooms and had them come up with ideas of how to help the room. This is VERY important if you're someone like me. It helped me tremendously! Then, I figured out what organizing item(s) I needed to use there, and if I didn't have anything, I could buy some fun organizing item (this was very motivating for me! I know - I'm a bit weird). If you don't have money to buy organizing things, think up ways you can change something around (shelves, etc.) to try to give it a fresh change.
5) I asked my oldest WHY he never played with certain toys he did not want to get rid of. In our case, my son wasn't playing with these certain toys/games because he couldn't ever get to them (they were up in the top of the closet and he didn't know they were up there-out of sight, out of mind). So, we put games and things that were stacked up horizontally in the closet VERTICALLY on a big tall shelf so he could get to them. Months later, if he's still not playing with these toys/games when they are easily accessible, I will have more leverage to encourage him to pass it along to another child. I also LOVE those cardboard magazine holders - I like to organize "like" things in those such as, "educational games" with flash cards and things like that in one, small "readers" in another, etc. etc.
6) After you get the clutter out, it is important to clean your floors very well to make them sparkling clean! You will more likely want to keep them that way after you worked so hard. If you haven't gotten all or most things off the floor after your organizing, you are not finished. You need to get bins, shelves or something to collect anything that is sitting on the floor so you can more easily clean the floors next time. One of my favorite inexpensive organizing items is just those Sterilite drawer bins. I keep my craft supplies in them, and a ton of my sons toys, science experiment things, legos, etc.
7) Have a family meeting. Talk about how everyone can help keep it clean. Talk about the peaceful feeling you and everyone else in the family feels when everything is picked up. Get the kids involved. Now, I know, this is going to be a PROCESS. I think this has taken me about a year to finally feel like I've got something working! I will do a separate blog post on how I'm getting my kids to help!
8) Once you get the big stuff done, cleaning and decluttering on a daily basis is WAY easier and you will truly have more time to do things you enjoy! It doesn't take as long, and the kids can help if you have easier places to put things.
Now take charge of your home and wage WAR on all that stuff!! You can at worst make some improvements to make everyone's life easier, and at best, truly make a peaceful home most of the time anyways! If I can make improvements (if you ONLY knew how bad I am)...I KNOW you can too!!! Please feel free to add any tips to this - I am still learning and can always use other tips!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Learning how to clean and the "illusion of clean"
I feel that it wasn't really until last year that I really learned how to clean my home. What I mean is, cleaning it to make an IMPACT on the home as a whole. And I'm not talking about "cleaning" with cleaning supplies necessarily - I'm talking about the "illiusion of clean" as my sister likes to say. Because, really, you can't really clean-clean until you can create that "illusion of clean" by picking up everything so you really CAN clean. Here's how I had to learn to clean:
1) THINK BIG. Ask yourself, "What big items can I do in about 10-30 minutes that will make the most impact, or 'WOW'"?
2) Put some upbeat, loud and rockin' music on to get you going and get your clean on. I like to use the same CD to get myself in the cleaning mode. This helps my children too to get focused. If they stop and start playing, I stop the music to get their attention and tell them that we can't play our music if they aren't cleaning. (They love the music, so they get busy again cleaning when I make that warning).
3) Move fast. Try to get it done.
4) Clean before an activity that everyone wants to do so they will go faster. For example, we will always clean before a) going somewhere fun b) eating c) watching t.v. or a movie d) going outside to play or e) reading a favorite book.
5) Sometimes you just need to throw things in a box to get a kick-start on your cleaning. I know this drives some detail-oriented people (like ME) CRAZY - but, I've decided that it helps me not to feel so overwhelmed, and it gets FAST results. For example, all those papers and tiny toys, barettes, earrings, CPR cards you need to file, papers your kids did for school you'd like to keep, progress reports, whatEVER - just throw it in a nice little wicker bin to go through LATER. Remember, BIG IMPACT FIRST, DETAILS LATER!!!
1) THINK BIG. Ask yourself, "What big items can I do in about 10-30 minutes that will make the most impact, or 'WOW'"?
2) Put some upbeat, loud and rockin' music on to get you going and get your clean on. I like to use the same CD to get myself in the cleaning mode. This helps my children too to get focused. If they stop and start playing, I stop the music to get their attention and tell them that we can't play our music if they aren't cleaning. (They love the music, so they get busy again cleaning when I make that warning).
3) Move fast. Try to get it done.
4) Clean before an activity that everyone wants to do so they will go faster. For example, we will always clean before a) going somewhere fun b) eating c) watching t.v. or a movie d) going outside to play or e) reading a favorite book.
5) Sometimes you just need to throw things in a box to get a kick-start on your cleaning. I know this drives some detail-oriented people (like ME) CRAZY - but, I've decided that it helps me not to feel so overwhelmed, and it gets FAST results. For example, all those papers and tiny toys, barettes, earrings, CPR cards you need to file, papers your kids did for school you'd like to keep, progress reports, whatEVER - just throw it in a nice little wicker bin to go through LATER. Remember, BIG IMPACT FIRST, DETAILS LATER!!!
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