Cleaning & Organizing
Sxia
member
Samantha Skye - Aug 30, 2006 AND Maxwell Griffin - April 14, 2009
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
What do your kids do
As far as chores?
How old are they?
DD is 5 and son is 2 1/2. They both will help cleaning at school. Really great about putting things away before eating, nap, etc. DD will wipe down the tables for a week at school, has other "duties".
At home, her room is always a mess. Her little bro helps mess it up. Often they fall asleep on the couch with dad, and thus don't clean their room. Frequently they take such a long time cleaning their room (if I make them) that we don't spend any time playing/etc.
Ideas?
Samantha Skye - Aug 30, 2006 AND Maxwell Griffin - April 14, 2009
Re: What do your kids do
When I was five, my mom or dad sat in my room and watched over me while I cleaned. I think at that age, it's still really easy to get off task, and some kids do better with that extra guidance. A messy room can seem overwhelming, so if you are there, you can break down the tasks for her, and give them to her one at a time.
As for your 2 year old, I'm at a lost. DS is good about getting a towel and mopping up a spill, or grabbing the dust pan and helping DH or me sweep, but he's really bad about picking up his toys. It's a pain to even pick up his toys myself if he's in the room, because he immediately wants to play with whatever I pick up, and then there's crying and whining.... I'm looking forward to hearing some suggestions for toddlers.
At 5 and 2 1/2, my kids didn't have any 'duties' around the house. I don't think you can really expect those ages to tidy up on their own. JMHO. And 'making them' do it just makes everyone miserable. At that age I was making it a fun game, having the kids help me tidy up...
My kids are older now and we don't have designated chores. They do both get allowance. The way we handle is that they know the expectations...like put your dishes in the sink/dishwasher, put your clothes in the hamper, hang up your towel etc They've even started taking the initiative...like noticing the dishwasher is clean, and emptying it...or seeing folded laundry on the kitchen table and taking it upstairs and putting it away. When I need them to do something for me, I ask them to do it. They're to do it without complaining. So far, so good. So it works for us.
My four year old niece will set the table when reminded but is loathe to pick up her own toys.
DS is only 2 so he doesn't really have any yet. I have him help me clean up his toys, move the laundry from the washer to the dryer, throw things in the garbage - all this more for him to learn how to do things than to really accomplish anything.
Your five year old is capable at picking up at home as long as the type of pick up you need her to do is developmentally appropriate.
It's one thing to tell a child "Clean up your room"
and an entirely different thing to tell the child "All the play food goes in this bin"
Take a picture of a cleaned up room.
Label bins with photos of what you want in the bins.
One bin for cars.
One bin for doll clothes.
One bin for play food.
One bin for duplo.
etc.
At that age she needs visual guidance and small tasks.
You can do it with her clothes and shoes as well as long as there is a place for everything and you are specific about what goes where.
My 3 year old can make his bed (not well, but that's ok with me), put his toys away, and he's recently started helping me put his clothes away. When we clean up his toys, it helps to make it a game. His favorite is "Beat the Timer!" We set a timer and then try to clean up all the toys before the timer goes off. He also works harder if I'm helping him. For example, this evening we were cleaning up his room. I put his books away while he put his toys away. I've heard it said that a child should have one chore per age. The chores should be simple, though. DS2 is 1, so his only "chore" is to brush his teeth, and of course he has help. I disagree with most of the pp, and I think a 5 year old is perfectly capable of putting her toys away on her own.
Wife to J since 2005, Mommy to T (10/08), L (08/10) and C (02/13).
Make a pregnancy ticker