Clean-Up Party

I have finally found a way to maintain a relatively clean home.

And when I say finally, I mean FINALLY.

No, I didn’t hire a maid. But I seriously considered it.

Because I have searched and searched for ways to make cleaning and maintaining a clean home with the help of my children a reality around here.

I have tried various chore charts.

I’ve even made my own chore chart for my children.

I’ve read blog posts, magazine articles, and heard advice from friends.

But nothing has worked.

Until now…

I got the initial idea from Courtney at Women Living Well Blog.

Then I made lots of changes and adjusted it for our family.

I made a list of all the chores that my girls and even Will can help with.

Part of the list was written down and I’ll be honest….parts are only listed within my mommy brain….but it is a list nonetheless.

Every morning my girls are given four…only four…chores that they are responsible for.

Getting dressed

Making their beds

Brushing their teeth

and

Brushing their hair

That’s all…this has become quite routine. They do it every single day without fail after breakfast.

It has become so routine that I can send them upstairs to do their morning chores and they know exactly what they are expected to do.

And then every afternoon at 4:00 we have a time of doing afternoon chores.

We call it a clean-up party.

Because everything is so much more enjoyable when you call it a party.

It may only be a matter of semantics, but these semantics make a huge difference in attitudes.

During the clean-up party, everyone stops what they are doing (unless I’m nursing the baby…that doesn’t stop) and cleans up.

The first chore the girls and Will are responsible for during this time is to clean their rooms.

And after that they are given “special chores”.

Again, they’re called “special” because word choice makes a huge difference in our home.

If you call a chore special, then it must be….special.

These special chores include…

dusting

wiping down the bathroom counters

putting everything in it’s right place (called a treasure hunt)

wiping down the breakfast table

taking out trash

cleaning the sun room

putting away laundry

Everyone cleans for one hour, and at 5:00 the cleaning stops.

Our “cleaning party” is actually a happy time that is looked forward to.

It helps that my husband and I clean up right alongside the kids.

And it helps that there is a definite starting and ending time.

My home is dusted and cleaned on a daily basis and I can tell a big difference in it’s maintenance.

How do you maintain a clean home and get your kids to pitch in with a cheerful heart?

Having a “clean-up party” works for us!

What works for you?

Post linked to: Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family