Cleaning With Your Kids

It’s no secret how much children love playing games, so why not apply that to chore time? Try using painter's or washi tape to make a square on your kitchen floor and challenge the kids to sweep all the crumbs inside. Want to up the ante? Set the timer, or see if they can finish before you are done with the dishes.

One thing we (as parents) have going for us is that kids love doing things themselves. The more freedom the better, but letting kids use cleaning supplies is risky business. Unless (of course) you opt for an all-natural, nontoxic cleaner, which makes it safer for them to do the squirting.

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Kids love being like mom and dad, but sometimes our tools and accessories are hard for little people to use. Next time you are at the store, grab some cleaning supplies in smaller sizes like a broom and dustpan, squirt bottle, apron and rubber gloves. If you can’t find a small apron, try tying a half apron under your little one's armpits. It will keep his clothes clean and look really cute.

It's always more fun to clean with someone else, but if you send two kids up to the playroom to clean, one of them is bound to claim the other isn't pulling his own weight. Instead, try assigning specific tasks. “Espen, you clean up the legos. Tilly, you put the books away.” No more tattling.

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We work out to it, sing in the shower to it and relax to it. Music makes everything better—including chore time. So, if you are having trouble rallying the troops to chip in, press play on a dance mix, turn up the volume and don’t be afraid to bust a move. No one can be mad at mom when she’s dancing. Even if she’s making you do chores.

It's easy to sing the praises of a 3-year-old doing chores. However, once kids are older, expectations change, and praises can easily turn into nagging. Nagging is exhausting. To encourage while correcting, try the sandwich method: Encourage, correct, encourage. It sounds like this, “Wow Ozzie, you are doing a great job organizing the dishes in the dishwasher, but a couple in there may need to be rinsed again. Everything else looks great. Thanks for being such a rock star!"

Raise your hand if you want to be better about having your children do chores, but would rather not keep a chore chart … me too. Try making a chore jar. Grab a colored piece of paper for each child, and write age-appropriate chores on it. Cut out, fold in half and throw in a jar. When it’s time to help out, have them reach in and grab a piece of paper (or two) that's their color.

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After a certain age, most kids will try and get out of chores. Their greatest weapon is complaining incessantly until you are so fed up that they win. Instead of taking the bait when they start nagging, agree with them. Without sarcasm, say things like "I know. Chores aren't my favorite either," "such a bummer, isn't it?" or, "if you would like, I'll trade chores with you." Works amazingly, and eventually they will stop whining.

Half of the challenge to getting help around the house is knowing what you need help with and who can do it. Take 30 minutes and write a list of chores that need to get done. Then start a running list for the kids by copying age-appropriate tasks from your list onto theirs. Next time you feel overwhelmed trying to get the house ready for guests, check your lists and start assigning chores!

I've heard many moms say, "it's so much easier to do it myself!" While that might be true today, it isn't in the long run. If completing chores means they get to play with a friend or receive an allowance, they will do it. Just make sure you are willing to cancel a playdate or not buy their candy for the movie when their chores aren’t done. This part is not fun, but totally worth it.