Helping Kids Clean

I'm beginning to think this blog exists only for the purpose of linking up with WFMW. I'll try to post something riveting before next Wednesday!

Wouldn't it be great if you could tell your kids to go clean their rooms and they would actually do it? It took me a while to figure it out, but a kid's idea of clean is very different from a parent's idea. Sport will wade through Legos to get to his bed that's buried under a library shelf full of books and still insist that his room is clean. For awhile I would sit in his room and direct him step by step on what to pick up next. Let's just say this was not fun (especially when you consider half the reason I send him to his room to clean up is in the hopes he will actually decide to play with some of his toys while he's up there and give me a few minutes of solitude.

Enter the cleaning chart from MeckMom.com. When I first came across this post it gave me just the excuse I needed to go by the laminator I had always dreamed of. I made charts the next day for Sport and Spice. Since pictures are used, the charts work really well for kids who can't read yet. Spice still uses her chart, but Sport and I have gotten a bit lazy - mostly because it's hard to find all of the pictures when they're buried under books and Legos. Now I just make a list for him on his dry erase board. Here's a look at today's list:

1) Make bed.
2) Put away clothes.
3) All shoes in closet.
4) Clean up books.
5) Legos
6) Legos
7) Legos...

Twenty minutes later his room was much more in line with what I call clean! This idea works for me. To read more cleaning tips, head over to We Are That Family for the WFMW cleaning edition.