Mom Pains: How to get your kids to pick up after themselves!

Do you struggle to get your kids to keep their rooms clean? Beds made? Clothes put away? Do you feel like you are always getting on them about picking up after themselves? Well I know I am! I feel like I spend a majority of my day being frustrated by the lack of “care” by my children.

After spending so much time being frustrated and feeling at my whits end at how to get my kids to actually follow through with their responsibilities I decided it may be time to take a look at my own life.

Oh boy was that a joy – not really! I very quickly realized that my kids lack of cleaning, maintaining and attention to detail may be a reflection of my own example. I often times tell myself and my family that my “failure” to keep up on the house keeping is because they are not doing “their” jobs. However, if I really dig deep and keep it real – the truth is my kids and family are mirroring my own example.

If I do not take the time to keep up on the laundry and fold and put away my own stuff – why would my kids think that when I tell them to do theirs I mean it or that it even matters. If I don’t take the 3 minutes each day to make my bed – why would I expect my kids to do the same. If I am too “tired” to do the dishes at the end of the night – why would I expect my kids to see the importance of picking up their dishes at the end of their meals or snacks?

Ok I think you have gotten the point. So the question is how do I change this?

My plan – make my priorities! Wake up make my bed. Like I tell my kids everyday it takes 3 minutes – NO EXCUSES! The same goes with the dishes at the end of the night, they will not get out of hand if I make sure to take the couple of minutes to either put them in the dishwasher or wash and put them away after each meal.

By making a change in my own behavior – I expect my kids will soon see my example and be more willing and understanding as to WHY they must follow through with their own responsibilities. At the end of the day if we all do our part, the house will be more clean, less stressful and we will all be more happy!

6 Five Minute or Less Cleaning Tasks to Make Your Home Feel Homey!

• Make the bed.
• Put dishes immediately into dishwasher or washed onto drying rack.
• Vacuum main living spaces.
• Immediately fold laundry into each persons laundry basket (directly from the dryer).
• Put clothes directly into dirty clothes hamper.
• Pick up your stuff when you are done with it!

***I know these all sound so simple – but that’s just it! They are so simple, we tell our kids daily they need to do it and it’s not that hard – so let’s follow suit and SHOW our kids how easy it can be done! If you add up the time it takes  to do ALL of these tasks daily at most you will spend less than 30 minutes a day “maintaining” your home! As of now I spend more than that amount of time just begging my kids to do their part!

Checkout my post on “How To Create a Cleaning Schedule that Works for YOU!“ and print this Master Cleaning Schedule