When you have kids, it can seem impossible to keep a home clean. However, it is possible. Want to know that secret? You have to get everyone in the family involved in cleaning. I know that this seems simple, but today many kids don’t have any chores, let alone enough chores. Here are some tips to get your kids to participate in keeping the house clean.
Make Sure that Everyone is Involved
I know we just talked about getting everyone involved, but did you consider toddler when you read that? In order to make chores feel fair and to instill a sense of responsibility from an early age, it’s important to get even the littlest members of your family involved in cleaning. Obviously your toddlers and young kids can’t do as much as older kids and teenagers, but they can contribute. Make you’re toddlers in charge of making their beds, putting their dirty clothes in the hamper, or unloading the silverware from the dishwasher (once you’ve taken care of sharp knives), little chores that they can handle and where they can’t break anything or hurt themselves.
Clearly Assign Chores
Have you ever asked your kid to clean his room, only to find that he leaves a lot undone? Kids aren’t very good at recognizing messes and seeing what needs to get done. IN order to get them to really help, you have to be very specific in what you need them to do. don’t ask a child to clean the bathroom, instead give her a checklist: wipe out the sink, clean off the counter, wipe the mirror, etc. This helps her to feel a sense of accomplishment as she checks things off and makes sure that everything gets done.
Give Everyone a Say in Their Chores
Have a family meeting, and ask each family what their absolute least favorite chore is. Then, when you are assigning chores, make surest to give them their least favorite (this likely means you’ll end up cleaning the toilet, sorry). This way, kids feel valued and appreciate that while they may have to things they don’t enjoy, they don’t have to do things that they hate. You might even find that one child loves sweeping and mopping, while another doesn’t mind doing the laundry. This leads to a lot more harmony and less complaining while doing chores.
Come Up with Rewards
The best rewards for chores aren’t individual, but family rewards. This way, your kids don’t feel like they are competing against each other, but working together. Come up with a reward for a week or month’s worth of finished chores. Maybe your family will go out to dinner or go to the aquarium or any other reward your family will enjoy. However, you can only have the reward if everyone has time on Saturday because their chores are done. Rewards are a great motivator to accomplish things, and as a bonus, you get to spend some quality time together as a family.
Don’t be Afraid to Turn it Over to the Professionals
Sometimes there are chores that are too much for family member to complete. don’t feel bad, just let a professional handle it. Chem-Dry of Greensboro offers carpet, upholstery, and tile and grout cleaning services, and we’re happy to be added to your family’s chore schedule!
