Parents know that regular cleaning of the home helps keep germs at bay and prevents kids from getting colds, influenza, and symptoms of allergies.
Sometimes, parents need a little help when it is time to clean the house. While you may not expect children in the toddler group to put away toys each time they finish playing, an older child, say, aged six and above, can start making those first steps towards becoming Mother’s Little helper.
How to get the help you need to clean your house
- Telling the truth: Do not try to trick children into cleaning the house. Armin Brott. Children are not as motivated to clean the house as adults. Brott knows. Under the alter ego of Mr. Dad, this California father of three authored seven parenting books and appeared on shows as diverse as Today and Politically Incorrect. Brott suggests that you use logic instead, but a small quantity of explanation goes a long way. He suggests saying something like, “This is how we, as a household, prefer to live in the house” rather than “Because I told you so.”
- Turn chores into games. Kids want to win, and they like to feel proud. You can say, “Let’s race to see who can put the most toys away — I’ll beat you!” and then they will feel proud and want to repeat it. If they are racing against you, then you can throw it. You could have them working together to achieve a goal instead of sabotaging one another if they are racing each other. You could say, “OK everyone, you have to clean up!” If you and your two children can clean up the whole house in just five minutes, we will go for ice cream.
- Keep your promises. Parents must follow through on rewards, such as ice cream or money for cleaning the house.
How to Complete House Cleaning in a Timely Manner
- Time it. He says he does this for his little boy all the time. I will tell her, “Look, you are dithering, and we need to get out to go to the school. I will set the timer in the microwave. That means she must go as fast as she can. She does not know what two minutes or five minutes are.
- In her book Laid Down the Law, Ruth Peters, Ph.D., a clinical psychology and parenthood expert in Clearwater (Florida), suggests using two timers to remind a child when they are doing the chores in another area of the home. Give one to your child and keep the other. She writes, “This removes the ambiguity from parenting.” The task is either done on time or not, and children quickly learn that there is no point in arguing about it — their parents have already moved on!
- Break up household chores as kids age. It is fine for one child to set the table and another kid to unload the silverware out of the dishwasher. Children as young as six can clean the litter box and feed the fish.
- Brott, a WebMD spokesperson, says it is important to give kids more challenging chores as they age. Children feel proud when they are given chores that can only be done by kids their age. Families can meet to discuss changing the duties if kids become tired. Brott remembers determining with his older children how long certain chores would take — seven minutes to clean the dishwasher, a minute-and-a-half to remove the garbage. We said, “OK, there are five of us, and we have a total time of 25 minutes. So, each of us has five minutes. Which chore(s), do you want to complete?”