The desperate demand, “Clean your room!” is shouted down hallways around the world by frustrated parents. It is a seemingly impossible task to get your child to keep his/her room in order, then even harder to maintain it once they finally relent. If there is one thing all parents have in common, it is the desire for a neat, tidy, and organized kid’s bedroom. Well guess what, this dream is not just a fantasy.
There are ways to make it tips and tricks to make it happen.
Interested in learning more? Read on to learn 6 hot tips for ensuring your kid’s bedroom gets clean and stays clean.
Get on their level
Seriously, get down on your knees to your child’s eye level, and try to clean up the room. You will be surprised at how challenging it is! Closet handles are high, baskets and buckets intended for organization or placed high on shelves, dresser drawers are sticky and difficult to open from the lower vantage point.
Step one – design organization strategies for a pint-sized human rather than adult sized systems. Start with some floor-level storage containers or open baskets. Things that make it easy for your child to pick up toys, toss them in the container, and move to the next task or play area. If you want to empower your child to take control of the cleaning of his/her room, set them up for success.
Reset the Rules
Most of you parents out there have good intentions.
I often hear mums say they can’t believe how out of control the messy room has become, and how difficult it is to get the child to participate in the clean up. If this sounds familiar, you are not alone. But it is never too late to reset the rules. Sit your child down and let them know that from now on, new rules are in place for how toys are played with, and how to maintain a clean room.
Set rules like the child has to put away one toy before getting out another.
If they don’t, you ask them to do it once. If they don’t comply, that toy goes away for a month. Some parents take a harsher route and threaten to get rid of the toy all together. Up to you how severe you want to get with the rule setting. However, setting clear rules and communicating them will help develop better cleaning routines.
Don’t Cave
Kids have an attention span of about 5 minutes.
I get it. It is really hard to get them to have the focus to put one toy away before grabbing another. But this is learned behaviour, and will become habit over time. The key is starting it, and sticking to it. If your child is being defiant, don’t cave into it and just clean the room yourself. Remember the rules you set and stick to them. Like anything else in life, you have to work hard for the results and reward.
Make it fun
My favourite way to add some pizzaz to the clean up is to turn it into a dance party, with a healthy dose of competition thrown in. Put on a song sure to get everyone wanting to dance, then say “get all the toys put away before the song is over!”. Watch your little run run around laughing and getting all toys in the baskets.
Model Behaviour
Do you hate doing chores?
Do you roll your eyes whilst mopping? Scowl at your husband when doing the dishes? Sigh over a pile of laundry? If so, then stop it! You are going to have to pull off some good old fashioned “fake it till ya make it” to set a good example.
If it appears you hate tidying up, your child will notice and follow suit.
So, practice what you preach and ensure you are doing the tidying of your own. Maybe you should turn music on of your own during chore time to make them more fun 🙂
See the bigger picture
Getting your child to clean his/her room is not only about having to nag less.
I know it feels great to have a tidy room, but the bigger picture lessons you are teaching your children is incredibly important. Empowering and inspiring your children to clean their rooms develops a sense of responsibility and respect for belongings.
It creates discipline and order.
It truly builds healthy habits that will extend to adulthood. Yikes, no pressure or anything! But putting in the effort now will make a difference for a lifetime.
If a constantly messy child’s room has you feeling frustrated and helpless, it is time to take a step back and take some deep breaths. It is your role to set your child up for success by making cleaning of the room feasible and fun. Those perfectly lined up organisational baskets on the shelf you use to sort out toys. Those are not helpful for your 4-year-old boy. Get those big, open, storage containers at eye and hand level and watch as your wee one feels pride in orgasing in his/her own way. Best of luck mums, you can do this!
