I am getting all my day's confused at the moment. This morning I woke up wondering where I was and what day of the week it might be. I kid you not! We were only away for 9 days but it felt like much longer than that. I have a lot to do today to get the house back in order and some lists to write to make sure I will get everything done that needs to be done in the next 5 weeks before we move.
Keeping on top of housework is definitely going to be a challenge amongst the packing, organising, christmas parties, travel to and from Adelaide and myriad other things I have to do. Friday's Mumvember task was a timely one for me!
The task was to set a timer, put on some music and get busy with some cleaning for 30 minutes. Because I knew that we would be away yesterday I actually had some fun with this task last the week before!
With four kids it is unrealistic to expect our house to be clean and tidy from top to bottom all at one time other than on the rarest of occasions, I do love it when it is though, it gives me a very real sense of accomplishment. I don't think I ever expected I'd be so excited by a clean house....that said I'm more than happy for someone else to clean it well for me!
So, with a million things on and trying to get organised to unexpectedly be away for 9 days I shared this task with the kids! I thought that 30 minutes would be a bit too long for the kids so we went with 15 minutes and then added an extra 5 at the end because we felt comfortable we could all happily do some more.
We chose some energising 'housework music' that would keep us feeling happy while we cleaned.
Everyone was allocated a room and to be honest I was thrilled with how much we achieved in our 20 minutes. At the end of 20 minutes I gave each of the kid a small treat.
Charlotte was number one for being finished her room first
Lil was number one for super duper cooperation (she had J as a helper)
S was number one for awesome trying really hard
and J, well she was number one for being cute and not making more mess as Lilli tidied up. She actually snuggled under the covers in her freshly made bed and sang songs.
Over the years I have learned many things about getting the kids to help out around the house...
- Making it fun makes a big difference!
- Don't ask your child to 'go and clean your bedroom' (for example) the younger they are the more specific the tasks need to be. Ask them to do one specific job at a time and you will see great results, they'll have a great sense of achievement rather than feeling totally overwhelmed.
- Spend a specific amount of time and then carry on with playing.
- Let them use the 'tools of the trade'... for Charlotte finishing cleaning her (shared with Lil) bedroom by vacuuming the floor is almost like a reward in itself (she clearly is my daughter in more ways than one!).
- Have a specific time each day or days of the week when you all have a tidy up together, it becomes more routine and the kids know to expect it.
- There is nothing wrong with a reward, be it a treat, a coin or a cuddle.
- Praise, praise, praise. Focus on what they have done well, not the things that haven't been done quite to your liking. Tell them they have done a great job of making their bed but save talking about 'shoving everything under your bed not being quite the same as cleaning' until later.
Do you get your kids to help out with the housework? What sorts of things do you get them to do? What are your best tips for keeping it fun?
Have a great week. Here's to me getting organised again sometime before the weekend!
Tatum xx
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