An acquaintance of mine was asking me how to get her son to keep his room clean. I say acquaintance because she obviously doesn't know me or my children very well.
She was having guests come and she wanted the LEGO mountain in her son's room to be a little less mountainous when her friend arrived.
I gave some suggestions...
- Label drawers and containers with words and pictures. This helps children be able to sort items on their own.
- Keep only a certain portion of the toys out. Rotate toys so that there's always something "new" to play with.
- Require that a room be clean before the day's fun activities be started.
- Create a chore checklist (think public bathroom checklist) that can be checked off one job at a time. Breaking the chore down helps kids that get overwhelmed.
- Simplify kid's bedding. Make it easier for them to make their bed.
- Let them choose "clean up" music that they like. It makes the job easier and more fun.
She asked me if I thought that it was right to make him clean his room. She felt that maybe it was his space, and as such, he should have control.
In a way, I agree. But our kids are looking to us to teach them good habits. If we used the same rationale, I wonder if my kids would ever choose to eat the food on "their" plates. I know they wouldn't choose to shower "their" bodies. I'm fairly sure that, given the choice, "their" education would suffer.
I don't think chores and room clean up are that much different. Teaching kids at a young age how to keep their room semi-neat and organized makes good sense. We're supposed to teach them. Someday they'll have much more to keep clean. Those early principles will help.
At least that's what I tell myself.
It also makes sense because that room is the one you have to walk in, occasionally.
Ever stepped on a billion tiny legos while you were trying to tuck your kids in at night?
They hurt.
Seriously, best torture device ever invented.
---Teaching my kids to keep their rooms clean isn't always easy, but it works for me and my feet. For more WFMW tips visit Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer.
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17 comments:
Great suggestions! Breaking the chores into a checklist will help my dd to not feel overwelmed & I can also see it keep her on track too!
Abby
I agree with you. I don't require constant bedroom perfection, but I do expect daily straightening. Anytime we teach our kids to do a chore, we are equipping him for adulthood. And that is one of our biggest jobs as parents. I want my kids to be functional adults who aren't afraid of jumping in and working...
Mary, mom to 10
I'm guessing your acquaintance has one child? If I did not teach my five kids to clean up after themselves...I can't even go there! In the Land of Pink, nobody has their own room, so nobody has their "own space'. It's communal property around here...much like the rest of life. We all are responsible to the people around us to try to keep order.
Yeah, my kids pick up after themselves...from the oldest down to the youngest...works for me too ;)
I don't know. I'm kinda conflicted about this. Stuff strewn about seems to say "creativity" "pretend" and "entertaining themselves."
But maybe it's because I'm too lazy to do commit the initial heavy-duty supervision/follow-through this would require.
My sister recently told her girls they could keep their room however they wanted all week, but every Wednesday it has to get real clean.
Good compromise, maybe.
love the ideas you've posted. i do NOT like stepping on those leggo pieces :)
blessings...lylah
Enforcing it all is another post in itself.
You should have us each take a pic of our kids' rooms and then host a carnival. I'd participate..I'd be embarrassed, but I'd participate.
We have a checklist at our house and it works for everyone who can read! :) I think that it does teach responsibility and future cleanliness. This is not something we enforce on a daily basis mind you and I kinda like what Jane said about her sister. Maybe if there was one day a week when there rooms had to be clean. In big families it seems like kids have quite a bit of responsibility and chores outside of their rooms. AND we aren't that picky about their rooms in the first place.
We have a checklist at our house and it works for everyone who can read! :) I think that it does teach responsibility and future cleanliness. This is not something we enforce on a daily basis mind you and I kinda like what Jane said about her sister. Maybe if there was one day a week when there rooms had to be clean. In big families it seems like kids have quite a bit of responsibility and chores outside of their rooms. AND we aren't that picky about their rooms in the first place.
Great tips! I don't have assigned chores yet as the kids are a bit young still, but I do have them all work to clean up every day and chip in on things. I like the clean up music song idea... will incorporate that one. I have plans for doing a toy binge this month to rid ourselves of a lot of the overhaul making it easier for them to maintain... I hear you on the legos... killer, I tell ya!
A reward system doesn't hurt either. I adopted a system my friend Debi uses...marbles in a jar. For every chore they do they get marbles. When they get in trouble they lose marbles.
Brandi
P.s. did you get my email?
Great suggestions! My husband is the kind of person who doesn't care if the kids' rooms are clean or not, as in, it's their space. I so totally disagree. It's part of teaching them self-respect, self-control, working for the greater good, pride in an accomplishment, and so on. Great ideas!
I forgot to mention we have a commission system. I have a weekly print out of required items as well as optional items. Each item is worth $1 for the week. For example Clean room twice= $1. (Cyra has 6 jobs, Kenady has 4, Campbell has 1) They never do all of them though.
They put 10% in their church fund, 40% in savings & the other 40% can go where ever they want, but it's usually in spending.
We follow Dave Ramsey's idea of calling it commission instead of allowance. Trying to teach our kids that allowances will not be made for them in their lives. It works for us!
Yeah, that doesn't equal 100% - but you all get the idea right?
I have my kids clean up before starting a new activity and I also have them clean up at the end of the day. After they go to bed it is time for Hubby and I to be alone and the last thing we want to have to deal with is toys. Great suggestions!
Okay so I visited you during BlogHop and I wrote down your AMAZING SNICKERDOODLE RECIPE!
OMG... I just made them and I'm like snarfing them down. SO GOOD! Thanks for sharing the recipe!!!
And this blog post was awesome! I really need to implement labeled toy bins. I make my kids clean up EVERY mess they make. I tell them, "I did NOT make that mess." Or if they want something, "You have legs, you need to go get it yourself." Ahhhh... breaking the co-dependence. Shucks, they're only 3 and 16 months!!!
Stepping on legos is the worst!! We now keep them downstairs for that very reason. No more legos in the rooms!
My kids have minor chores right now. Boo is 6, she cleans her room, puts away her laundry and "helps: with the dishes.
Hunter is 11, and he cleans his room, puts his clothes away and cleans one of the two bathrooms. Which one is up to me, depending on behavior.
So many of Boo's friends don't even have to clean their rooms, and that bothers me. Kids need responsibility or they will never know how to take care of their own things.
We just "updated" our chore charts recently to match our kids' ages better. I agree with you!
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