For many people, a clean home helps them feel safe and well taken care of. But if you have small kids at home, it can be a real challenge to try to find the balance between letting your kids be kids and keeping your home in order. Luckily, there are ways that you can accomplish both of these goals. To show you how, here are three tips for keeping your home clean when you have small children around.
Create A Cleaning Routine
As with most things with children, cleaning your home is going to work best if you create some type of routine. Kids crave routine and structure, despite how much it might seem like they fight against it. So if you’re wanting your kids to help you keep your home tidy, try to find a way to make it a routine that will work for your family. According to Lauren Hufnagl, a contributor to Apartment Therapy, this might include picking up for five minutes before each meal of the day or making sure that one activity is completely put away before a new one is started. Once you’ve made these things routines, your kids will begin to naturally do them, which can be a big help in keeping your space clean and organized.
Make Housework More Fun
If getting your kids to clean up anything is a huge power of wills, you might want to think about ways that you can make cleaning more fun and less of a “chore” for your kids. According to Madonna Behen, a contributor to Parents.com, music and dancing can be a great way to get your kids up off the couch or away from their toys or games long enough to have them help with some cleaning. If you can look like you’re having fun, they’ll likely want to join in as well. For families who aren’t interested in dancing, you could also try things like timing your kids to see how much they can do in a short period of time or making it a competition for some type of small prize.
Pick The Right Home Decor
If you feel like your home is always in disarray regardless of how much cleaning you or your kids do, you might want to reconsider the type of home design or decor you have. By keeping things simple, you’ll give your family less to do with regards to cleaning or chores. According to Nicole Fabian-Weber, a contributor to PGEveryday.com, try picking home decor that can more easily hide a bit of a mess, like darker colors or patterns. Additionally, try to pick pieces that will be easy to clean small messes or spills off of. While you might not get the exact look you’ve always dreamed of, you may be able to save time and let go a little more around your kids.
To help you and your kids learn how to work together for the upkeep of your home, consider using the tips mentioned above to help encourage your kids to keep their space tidy.
Originally posted on August 10, 2018 @ 4:53 am
