One of the most frustrating things as a parent is having the kids clean up for themselves! You always find toys everywhere, clothes everywhere, crafts everywhere, and dishes everywhere. Then what do you do?
If you’re like most moms, you’ll probably whine and wince and clean it up yourself. From time to time, though, you’re likely to explode out of sheer frustration.
There is a better way. With these three tips, you can keep your kids cleaning, your house sparkling, and you smiling. Here are those strategies:
1. Do a cleaning routine.
Programming takes the frustration out of most things. When children know that they are going to have to do something every day, they stop complaining.
Try to set three specific cleaning times a day. Try first thing in the morning, as soon as the kids get home from school (perfect for packing lunch), and right before bed. Alternatively, you could do a massive cleanse right before dinner. Having multiple cleanup times helps kids remember to put things away right away, and often it doesn’t take much more than five minutes. Set a timer for ten minutes and see how fast they can be done! They will probably surprise you.
However, whichever route you choose, remember that it will only work if you do it every day so that it becomes a routine. If you do it randomly, the children will start to complain and try to get out of the jam. Make it regular and they will.
To institute these “orderly times,” simply tell the children that nothing else can be done until the place is clean. No computer, no TV, no iPod, no games. There is also no food. And you CAN enforce this, even for older kids. You are the boss. Those iPods are not rights and they can be taken away. You have power!
I recently had to ban my daughters from the computer and game boy until 5 pm because their rooms weren’t cleaned and there was no piano practice. I consider computers and gameboys to be privileges, so now we have things that they have to do first.
The main thing is to choose a method and stick to it. Deny privileges and concessions if they are not met and respected. It’s hard work, because being consistent is always hard work.
But is it worth it! Now here is another method:
2. Use a Jubilee Box.
In the Old Testament, every fifty years the Israelites had a year of jubilee, where all seized property was returned and debts were cancelled. I think they actually only practiced it once, but it’s a good idea.
You can too! Keep a basket in your room where things left around the house are placed, whether it’s iPods, jackets or the Wii remote. And then every Sunday can be a day of jubilee when they get it back. But if they want to redeem it earlier, they have to pay you something, depending on their age. It could be a quarter, a dollar, or whatever works in your family.
You’ll find that you don’t need to use Jubilee’s methods very often. Once you start, they will notice. And if you have regular cleaning periods, it’s not too bad.
The key to both is CONSISTENCY. If you stick with it one week, but give up the next, you’ll ruin all the work you’ve already done. Make it a routine for yourself, too, and it will become a routine for them.
One final note:
3. Make it easy to order
Make sure your children have appropriate furniture with plenty of drawers to store their things. Sometimes kids don’t clean up because they honestly don’t know where things go. You may need to take a week or two and help them organize their bedrooms and playroom so you feel like everything has a place. And if you find things without places, create places. Label the drawers if necessary. So they know what to expect.
When children have places to put things, tidy routines, and consequences when they leave things lying around, you’ll find that your home stays much neater.
However, like all things in parenting, it requires you to work hard and enforce routine. Once it becomes a habit, your whole family will feel calmer. So take a deep breath, get up and have the kids clean up. You will not regret.