I wonder how many times I've uttered THOSE words. "Go. Clean your room. Now."
I said, "Now."
I mean it. Get going.
Go clean it.
Stop dilly-dallying.
Fine, if you want to take all day, go right ahead.
But you're not coming out until it's clean.
I mean it. Get going.
My kids got to be pretty good room cleaners as they got older, but there were many times they would stand in the middle of a messy bedroom and not even know where to start.
Kinda like what I still do sometimes.
I found the best way to help kids learn to clean their rooms is by breaking the job down into Small Things. Big surprise there, huh??
For children who are readers, a short checklist with boxes that they can check off can do wonders to keep them on track. For younger children, it works best to give them one job at a time. And you'll most likely have to help them at that.
- You could say something like, "Pick up anything that is blue," and make a game out of it.
- You could say, "You pick up the army dudes while I pick up the legos," and make it a team effort.
- You could set a timer for each task and see if they can go for a World Record.
- How about playing this silly song for them and seeing how much they can get done before it's over?
- Or, you could just be really grumpy and frustrated because these kids make your life a living hell.
Teaching children how to break big jobs into manageable pieces is an important life skill. Most kids don't enjoy having to work very hard, but all kids like the feeling of pride that comes from a job well done. You can help them by offering lots of encouragement, letting them overhear you brag about their efforts, and giving them appropriate rewards. Well, sometimes discipline comes in to play, I'm not gonna lie to ya, but it's worth the effort to keep expecting cooperation.
POINTS: 40 for giving your child(ren) one or two manageable tasks in their rooms.
For those of you with no kids in the house (or with babies who can't clean yet), earn 40 points for assigning yourself one or two manageable tasks in your own room.
And don't come out until it's done.
