You didn’t make the house dirty on your own, but you’ve grown into the role of being the primary housekeeper. Housecleaning is a frustrating job that many people find tedious and unpleasant.
Almost as soon as you finish doing the dirty work spending several hours cleaning your house, you’ll inevitably notice dirt and clutter. The good news is that you don’t have to do all of the cleaning yourself.
Everyone in your family can do their fair share on cleaning day. Even pre-schoolers can get in on the action and help with small, safe tasks. So, how exactly do you involve the whole family in cleaning your home?
Why Family Cleaning Matters
Cleaning shouldn’t fall on one person’s shoulders when multiple people contribute to the mess. Everyone needs to take ownership for their share of the mess. Family cleaning is more than about being fair, however.
When everyone chips in, they gain a better understanding of how dirty the space gets and the time and effort it takes to clean. Children and teens will also learn valuable skills and habits that they can fall back on when they grow up and have their own homes. Plus, family cleaning is a bonding experience. Everyone comes together and does what they can to improve the family’s living space.
Create a Simple Cleaning Schedule
Each task needs to be done at different intervals. For example, taking out the trash is necessary on a daily basis in most homes, but you only need to vacuum once or twice a week.
List each chore required on any given week or month. Mark a calendar with the chores based on the best interval, and assign each chore to someone. Make sure this calendar is easy for everyone to view. Posting it on the refrigerator is a smart idea.
Make Cleaning Fun
Cleaning may be a chore, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a grind. Everyone will grow fonder of doing their chores when you make it a fun experience. If everyone is doing chores together on a weekend day, turn up music that everyone loves. Make a dance party out of the cleaning session.
For smaller chores, such as putting toys away at the end of the day, put on the timer and see if the kids can beat yesterday’s time. You might find that the kids make fewer messes during the day because they want to “win” at this chore.
Assign Age-Appropriate Tasks
You might think that your little ones are too small to help out. After all, you certainly don’t want them cleaning a grimy toilet or messing with dangerous chemical cleaning products. However, there are safe tasks for young ones to do.
For example, you can ask smaller children to sort socks by color and shape. They can also help by putting away pots, pans, and other non-breakable dishes located in the lower cabinets. As they get older, they can help with dusting, sweeping, vacuuming, and other chores.
Encourage Teamwork and Consistency
The last thing that you want is for your housecleaning chores to feel like actual chores for the kids. In addition to making cleaning fun and assigning tasks that are suitable for your child’s skills and age, you should consider rewarding children for their consistency and teamwork.
For example, little kids love a sticker-based reward system. Track the completion of each task using a sticker chart. When the kids get a certain number of stickers, reward them with a small treat. This is a smart way to instill a solid work ethic as well.
Housecleaning isn’t fun for anyone, and it could take more time and energy than you and your family have available. For example, if you’re running the kids around to their after-school activities in the afternoon, nobody in the home may have time for even basic chores.
Rather than everyone in your family getting stressed out by chores that they can’t squeeze into the day, consider booking home cleaning services from BetterClean. At BetterClean, our pros won’t stop until your home is cleaned to your satisfaction. Book your next service with the BetterClean team today.
