I’ll be honest, I like a clean house. Too much clutter around gives me anxiety. I like my home to be lived in but not a constant disaster. With a busy family, it’s tough to keep up with household chores. Even as a stay at home mom, you’d think I’d have tons of time to get some cleaning done, that’s what we do all day right?
I think the fact that I work from home adds to my need to keep the house as clean and clutter-free as possible. I can’t completely focus on working when I know I have to pick up the house or clean the kitchen when I’m done. During the week, I usually just have time to clean the basics and pick up daily clutter. The deep cleaning often gets put off until later.
We’ve never been parents that are strict about having the kids doing weekly chores. They have always had a desire to help here and there and I’ve always let them as much as possible even if they do a so so job. I know not every child has this desire to help around the house and that’s ok. But comes a day when cleaning just HAS to get done and it goes much quicker if that whole family can pitch in and help.
So, I’m sharing with you some tips we use when we need to get some cleaning time in. Most Sundays, we try to make time as a family to have a quick cleaning session. We decide what needs to get done and each choose a task to handle. My girls are 4 and 7 and can do most basic cleaning tasks, and do them fairly well.
Here’s the scoop on how we do it.
Keep Expectations Low
If my 4 year old wants to dust, I need to be realistic in the fact that it’s probably not going to be perfect. She’ll probably miss a few spots and that’s ok. Sometimes I’ll let her do some and kindly show her maybe some spots she missed or just let her do her best and touch up the missed spot myself later.
Set a time limit
We don’t expect to be cleaning for hours on end. We set maybe an hour TOPS as a goal. If you have young kids, you know that they lose interest and get sidetracked quickly. This cleaning session isn’t meant to drag out all day. It’s really meant to focus on what’s most important that maybe has been neglected and needs to GET DONE!
We, have the little ones choose one task and focus on that one thing before asking for another. A list of chores that need to get done that day is great to have so you can check them off as you go.
Make It Fun
We play some music we all love and have a good time with it. Don’t leave the TV on, because that can become a distraction. Some fun tunes get your mind off of maybe a not so fun task and before you know it, it’s done.
When you all work together as a team, it’s really amazing how much you can accomplish. We can usually get things dusted, windows cleaned, floors swept and vacuumed, trash
PRAISE, PRAISE, PRAISE
Make sure you let them know what a great job they did, even if it wasn’t 100% perfect. Thank them for helping you. And, if you need to finish a job they were doing, don’t immediately do it in front of them.
Kids naturally love to help. If you make it fun for them and don’t get upset if it’s not perfect, they’ll help more often. Cleaning as a family shows them that we are a team. It also gives them a sense of accomplishment when their jobs are done. They’ll learn basic life skills to keep a clean, healthy home for themselves one day.
If you make this a weekly routine, then the whole family will know it’s coming and it won’t be such a shock when it’s time to clean again. I think the routine of it is the key to keeping this something that continues week after week.
You can download my cleaning checklist to try with your family. It has the basic cleaning tasks so you can try this out one weekend. Hopefully, you’ll find it creates an easier start to the week!
