Weekly Cleaning ~ How to Get Full Family Participation

I don’t like cleaning but like to have a clean house.  Since I am “at home” and we live on a budget, hiring help is not an option.  However, we seem to have produced four little beings who like to keep their hands busy!  Additionally, we want our children to understand respect, responsibility and conscientiousness which can all be taught through chores.

Over the years I have tried various forms of bribery incentives but the solution lies not in the incentive but in consistency.  After the irritable child complains for 50 Saturdays, eventually he/she takes a week off to cheerfully help out.  Just like potty training another key component of my system is exuberance! Yes, we build up lots of excitement to our “Weekly Home Blessing”! Especially for the younger children excitement and a reward are indispensable.  We used to always make milkshakes after the house was cleaned.  With the whole house clean, it was the only time I’d feel like using the blender (because then there were all those blender parts to hand-wash!)….yes, I know they can go in the dishwasher, but my family makes enough dirty dishes in one day to fill the dishwasher for its nightly run.

If you are someone who rearranges the dishes in your dishwasher after someone loads it or refolds towels folded by your 5 year old, this next imperative will be difficult: leave perfectionism at the door. One could probably take any of my tasks and expand it into an hour long intensive cleaning session.  That will most definitely turn your child off cleaning as you keep putting them back to the same task and pointing out the spots they missed. The point is to get the house looking and feeling clean for your family’s enjoyment.  The President is NOT stopping by this afternoon.

1. There is a 1 hour time limit.  Use a timer. The irritable child will find him/herself in a room alone and chose to be unproductive, so you need to circle around, prod and if necessary click a few more minutes on the timer. Currently we usually work from 9am – 10am on Saturday mornings.  I begin a general kitchen tidy up earlier so that I’m prepared to participate fully.  It wouldn’t be fair for me to be cleaning up the breakfast dishes (which I do every day) while expecting the children to be doing the main cleaning chores.

2. Worksheet broken into 10 minute Slots. Before we begin I print the following spreadsheet and look it over to see if there is anything that needs to be altered.  Sometimes I just did something the day before so it gets crossed out.  If there is anything new that needs attention I’ll jot that in its place.

The first column lists 4 tasks that need to be completed in the first 10 minutes of our session.  The kids sign up for what they want, then go do it.  Once it's done they put a check mark on it. When the average of my kids’ age was in the young elementary school range, we had to take turns on who selected their job from the column first.  Now I’m working with 17, 14 & 9 year olds so they have learned not to sweat the small stuff.  I usually take up any gaps OR I select first the job that needs extra attention.

3. My math doesn’t add up: There are five 10 minute tasks for four people which should mean only 50 minutes of cleaning; or less when I began using this chart with myself and four children.  I have a few overrides that prolong our mission to an hour.  If a job was done poorly, I’ll click a couple extra minutes on the timer (during any 10 minute slot) and have the responsible party revisit their task. Sometimes the timer goes off, but after checking all the kiddos I’ve only just begun my task; well, I’m not going to move onto the next 10 minutes until I’m finished. The kids continue working or move ahead. 

4. Celebrate the teamwork! High-fives all around, dance, turn up the music. Recognize each helper individually for what they did well.  Let the day carry on.  Usually this investment in a clean house reminds the children not to drop their papers/books/sports equipment/socks etc. in a common area 10 minutes after cleaning; but if they do, let it pass.  Of course this is up to how tidy you personally like to keep your house and what you require of your children, but in my house I don’t want to undo any of the positive vibe we just created by working together.  A sibling may surprise you and tell the offending child “hey, pick up your boots and put them away, I just cleaned that floor!” or I’ll remember to gently remind the repeat offenders.  But for now I’m just going to enjoy my (not perfectly) clean home!