Housework: Clean Up Around Children or Get Them To "Help"?
Put music on as you do it. My girls dust and clean windows and coffee table ( to the best of their ability). We sing and dance as we go. I usually get them to put their folded clothes away. I sometimes wonder if I am doing the right thing by getting them to do housework though. I don't remember doing any at their age.
I give them little jobs like Efjay, but I do the majority. My DD1 is older so her jobs are bigger/harder/more effort than DS. I only vacuum in the late arvo though so that I can mop when they're all in bed.
Liebling picks up his things, puts washing away and sweeps the floor. He puts his dirty plates etc by the sink and can help load the dishwasher. He cooks one night a week (with help - he makes excellent sauces while I boil pasta). That's about it for now. When I clean, he helps or tidies his room.
I do most of it myself. I really lack patience and struggle with housework so it can get a bit fraught when they help. I prefer to give them easy jobs that they can't do 'wrong'.
If the house needs a tidy up after DS2 has been playing I'll wait until he has his midday sleep. It's easier that way.
As a rule I like to start my weekly clean early in the day (so I'm not at it all day), so teenagers beware.... I will do everything that I hated my mother doing: I open doors and vacuum under beds at 8am on a Saturday - by then I've been up for a couple of hours had breakfast and done my other bits. DS1 knows not to complain but DSS and DSD are not so obliging. If I can see you I will give you a job to do. NEVER SAY YOU ARE BORED. DS1 will help on occasion but mostly the kids make themselves scarce. When it's busy at work and I don't have time I will write out a list - they can pick and choose to do whatever chores they want and check them off the list.
I've also started with getting DS2 to help tidy up his toys. They are expected to do it at childcare so I try to do it at home too.
But what Zazou said.... I also lack patience and I like things done my way (which I deem the "proper" way of doing things ).
For the end of the day pack up or the in between pack up where we need to put away toys before getting any more out, I put on the Mudcakes song "Pack up time". It is such a fun energetic song and the kids race around trying to put away all their things before the song ends.
I don't really expect much from the 2 year old but her older sister (5yrs) is expected to be able to pack away her toys unassisted. The secret for me is making sure everything has a place so that the kids can follow the order.
As for other housework, with my kids I don't expect too much from them. If they offer to help I will certainly find a small managable job that wont cause more mess than it should . They do have age appropriate tasks but at this stage I find it easier to just keep them out of my way while cleaning or do it while they are not there.
Other than that, the only thing I try to stick to when getting them to help is to make the task clear and managable, eg. can you put all the lego back on the lego table, can you find all the scraps of paper and put them in your bin, you are in charge of putting all the puzzles back in the box etc. This works so much better than a general "Clean the room!"
Seriously though, check out "pack up time" by the Mudcakes! I found it in the itunes store.
BellyBelly Member
Housework: Clean Up Around Children or Get Them To "Help"?
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. They do have age appropriate tasks but at this stage I find it easier to just keep them out of my way while cleaning or do it while they are not there.
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