Does majority of the mess in your home come from your kids? Time to get the kids to help around the house? Here are tips on how to get children involved with cleaning the house.
According to an article at huffingtonpost.com, “Getting the Kids to Clean Around the House”
“1. Start by resetting the rules. Explain to your kids that you’ve made some new decisions about cleaning up, and you want to share them so that everyone knows what to expect. “When you’re finished playing with something, it’s important that you put it away completely before you move on to something else. If you forget, I’ll remind you once. If you still forget, that particular toy will go in a special box for a month.” Some parents tell their children that toys that are left out will be given away. Decide how harsh you want to be — but make sure that you follow through. If you deliver meaningless threats in the heat of the moment, your child won’t take you seriously.
2. Establish that no new toys can be taken out until whatever has been played with has been put away. Kindly remind your daughter if she forgets. And by all means, do not clean up her messes. If you cave in and do the job for her, you will have taught her that if she whines or procrastinates long enough, she won’t have to take responsibility. Acknowledge that you understand that she’d rather not put away her paints, or that it looks like it will take forever. By letting her feel heard and understood, you’ll ensure that her upset will dissolve more quickly — and help her accept that she simply has to get the job done.
3. Avoid turning on “Mom/Dad TV,” a phrase I use to describe the heightened reactivity, attention and drama that can actually contribute to further misbehavior by turning on an interesting “show” that fuels their resistance.
4. Whenever possible, make cleanup fun. Most children are much more willing to participate in a game of “Who can clean up the most toys before the three-minute timer goes off?” instead of simply saying, “Clean up this mess right now!” To read the entire article click here.
White Lotus is your trusted Reno cleaning service. To get your free house cleaning estimate, contact White Lotus at 775-856-2345 or visit WhiteLotusReno.com.
