As much as we adore our kids, not letting them participate in house chores will not set up for success.
Luckily, you can begin giving them cleaning responsibilities as early as toddlerhood. It is just a matter of giving them age-appropriate duties.
But what is toddlerhood has passed? How can you encourage your children to help you clean the house?
1. Give them allowance
If you have the financial capabilities to do so, you can always encourage your kids to do household chores by giving them an allowance. However, this tip is only ideal for pre-teens and older.
If you do this system for the younger ones, they may grow up thinking that they need money to function, which is not entirely true.
Nonetheless, it’s critical that you communicate the rules and don’t renege on your offer once things are there. You can use the allowance as a baseline for rewards and consequences for your older kids, too.
2. Make it playful
Concentrating on a task can be tricky for younger kids. Therefore, it would be best to make household chores as playful and fun for them as possible by being creative.
Of course, you’re going to have to keep up the energy, but that’s par for the course of being a parent, especially of younger kids.
With that said, there are different ways you can make chores playful for your kids. If you want them to assist in cleaning the house, you can make it into a dance party. You can each take turns dictating what music to dance to while cleaning.
If you want to have your kids assist you while cooking, you should make it fun by letting them decide what to make. Of course, you still have to be careful and don’t assign any dangerous tasks to your kids.
There are multiple ways to make it fun for them to don’t look at chores with too much trepidation.
3. Start with simple tasks
When you’re starting to want to involve your kids in accomplishing household chores, take things slow. Don’t spring it on them immediately and out of nowhere. After all, it’s a massive change in their everyday life.
By taking things slow, you can help them transition into this sense of responsibility better.
Aside from taking things slow, though, it’s also crucial that you start with more straightforward tasks. After all, they’re young and are still getting used to doing household chores.
At Cleaning Exec House Cleaning NYC, our advice is to give simple cleaning tasks to your kids first. It would help if you were discerning which tasks are simple enough for them. What might seem simple to you might need more clarification or clearer directions to them.
Thus, it’s a good idea to be communicative during the first few times they do these tasks.
There are several simple household chores that your kids can be responsible for. For example, they can be responsible for clearing out the table after dinner.
All they need to do is put the dinnerware in the sink or dishwasher. They don’t even need to turn on the dishwasher. If you want it to be even simpler, you can delegate the table-wiping to them.
What’s important here is that you build a foundation for that sense of responsibility by establishing a routine. This routine should be easy-to-remember tasks, so it’s easier for them to understand and accomplish. Plus, you won’t feel disappointed or add on more work for you should they fail, especially at first, since it’s not anything complex.
4. Be willing to negotiate
Too many parents believe in the supremacy of the parents’ decisions and commands above all. Although you should be the person that they respect and follow, you still need some leniency. After all, respect begets respect, especially with your kids.
Thus, it would help if you were willing to negotiate with your kids regarding their responsibilities. It would help if you learned to compromise and listen to why they are asking for a negotiation.
This small act can teach your kids that their voices deserve to be heard. It will teach them at an early age that what they say matters, and they will appreciate you more because you showed them what it means to respect people. At the same time, they’ll be more receptive to you because you’ve shown that you treat them with respect.
For example, it’s the weekend, and your kids would rather play than do the chores. In times like this, you should be open to negotiation.
5. Do it as a team
When you’re assigning your child to be responsible for a particular chore, you shouldn’t just tell them to do it and then leave them be.
Again, it’s vital that you make that transition very clear and also smoothly. Otherwise, there will be some friction, and the task might end up abandoned or done wrong.
To start with, you should demonstrate how to do this chore well. At the very beginning, you should do it yourself, but as time goes along, bit by bit, you should let the child eventually take over.
That way, you know that they know how to do it right, and you made it easier for them to fulfill the task that you want them to do in the right way.
Again, it’s all about making it convenient for them to do the tasks they need to do and setting them up for winning. Plus, it helps to know that you’re doing it as a team.
It will feel much better to know that you’re all in this together when making a cheerful household for everybody in the house. It will be even better if you show it to them by ensuring that everyone in the house is responsible for a household chore.
The parenting tips listed above can help you get your children involved in maintaining home cleanliness. At the same time, you are teaching them to be self-reliant and responsible. And this is how you can set them up to be successful.