A Mommy’s Little Helper Guide: Let’s Make Cleaning Fun
As a mother of three children I quite often find myself overwhelmed and behind when it comes to the house work. Some days I get really ambitious and tackle an entire room, only to find that my children have wreaked havoc in another one. Then there are days where I am constantly following behind children, pleading with them to get their messes cleaned. It has become abundantly clear that simply telling my children to clean and nagging them when they don’t Isn’t officiant (plus I was getting pretty annoyed with hearing my own voice all of the time.) I needed to set clearer goals and somehow find a way to make cleaning fun. After much trial and error, I have discovered what works best and why my son loves being mommy’s little helper. All it took was taking a boring task and transforming it into something fun and rewarding. 
I am a firm believer that responsibility starts at home and it is my job as a mother to show my children how to practice this important quality. I can’t and will not always be there to tell them what is the responsible thing to do, so I try my best to inform my children of ways to practice this. Whether they are at a friends house, school or the playground, I want them to feel compelled to clean up after themselves without being told to do it. I want them to feel the pride of being a responsible person! Introducing them to cleaning around the house has been a great start to preparing them for being responsible people when out in the world. 
My four year old son loves to make a mess and is by far the most difficult child to get to clean up. He will lay on the floor shouting in agony that his belly hurts, or he is too tired. He will look to his older sister and beg for her assistance. This child has tried every trick in the book to get out of cleaning and it was getting very exhausting putting so much effort into persuading him to clean his messes. I decided it was time to start a chore chart with a reward system, as he just loves to be praised for a job well done.
Here is a simple guide to help make cleaning fun while encouraging your child to be a mommy’s little helper:
- Create a kid friendly chore chart: whether you use a dry erase board, a chalk board or create a chart on paper, make sure that your child is able to see their progress. Stickers or check marks work well, always let your child fill in the squares once they complete a task. As the week progresses and those empty spaces start to fill, your child is going to find so much pride in the work they’ve accomplished.
- Set a clear goal for your child: make sure you are rewarding your child at the end of the week! This doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated, just have something special for them at the end of the week so your child understands that responsibility pays off. Head to a dollar store and buy small toys, stickers, crafts or whatever you think your child will like. You could even have a prize box so your child can get a peak at the other prizes they could earn and in turn, they are going to work even harder the following week.
- Be consistent: life get’s busy, trust me, I understand that! But this really is only going to work if you make it apart of your daily life and are consistent with your weekly chart.
- Praise your child: Tell your child how great they are! Let them know what a fantastic, amazing, super duper awesome job they did completing their tasks. Be over dramatic, cheer, hop up and down in excitement! Well maybe you don’t have to go that crazy, but just make sure you let your child know what a really great job they did. Children love positive reinforcement and they are going to want to make you that happy every time they make a check mark on their chore chart.
Windex® has always been a favorite product of mine and I use it in so many ways! We moved into our new home last February and there is a vast amount of windows in this house. I am talking windows that reach the floor and stretch to the ceiling. There are always adorable little hand prints displayed on the windows and as cute as they are, they have to be cleaned. Windex® is such an effective product, allowing me to get those windows cleaned efficiently and effortlessly. The last thing I want to do is spend an entire day cleaning windows, Windex® helps significantly with getting the job done fast. I have also been keeping my furniture and surfaces clean from sticky messes and dust with a few of my favorite Pledge® products. Pledge® for multi surface and Pledge® furniture polish is incredibly easy to use and their products allow me to show my children different ways to clean around the house. The products do such a great job cleaning up messes and making the home look sparkling clean that my children actually enjoy helping me around the house. I truly believe that being able to physically see the difference they can make cleaning the home plays a major role and if not for the cleaning power behind Pledge®, they wouldn’t otherwise be able to see the difference.
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I would love to hear how you are encouraging your child to be a mommy’s helper and what has worked best for you! #InstaClean #CollectiveBias
