Easiest way to keep your house clean w/ 2 small kids?
Question:What are some time saving techniques and even "rules" for the kids for parents with little ones.
Answers:
Have toy boxes in the family room or bedrooms and encourage the kids to pick up and put their toys away a couple of times a day. When they do this have a chart with stickers give them a sticker everytime they help out around the house. When they get so many stickers reward them with something. Encourage them to help with carrying laundry etc. You would be surprised at how much they like to help with chores if you let them and encourage them. Makes them feel like big kids. Hope this helps.
i am not a parent but i was a nanny for a few years. if there is space have a playroom designated for all the toys, no toys in the bedrooms, except for a stuffed animal and books. buy shelving that is kid friendly and color code their things by group (leggos,barbies,cars,etc) at the end of the day spend 15 minutes with them cleaning up their toys, make it into a game for them. also if they nap take 5 minutes before the nap to pick up some of the mess. if you can keep it confined to one area (even if it is a toy box in the corner of the livingroom) teach the kids to take one thing out at a time and put it away when they are done.
There is no easy way to keep a house clean with small children, but depending on the kids ages one thing that you could do is have them help you with the house cleaning. Kids as young as 2 are great at picking up dirty clothes and toys. As long as the kids understand that you expect them to put there things away after they are done with them it shouldn't be to hard to keep your house 'sort of' clean.
I only have 1 small, but I have 4 bigger ones...I try to make them clean up their own messes...bribery works...make them do what you want them to do BEFORE they get what they want...if say the older ones were supposed to clean their rooms before going out to play, I wait until they get all the way to the end of the yard, then I holler and tell them to come back, and when they are in the house, I explain that if they'd do what needs to be done before going off to play, their play wouldn't be interrupted.my little one (he'll be 2 in a month) is still learning to pick his things up, but getting better all the time..Good Luck!
One thing that I felt was very useful (mom 0f 2 ) was that I had purchased mud buckets in 2 different colors each one of my kids picked their own color. I had them help me to pick up their toys when they were done playing. We usually made it a race which seemed to help. They each put their own toys in their bucket. things were picked up in no time. As for me I found that if I picked up everyday things didn't seem so messy. Of course there was always the regular household chores to do and I did those evey other day. I am sort of a clean fanatic but I got used to a little clutter.:(
flamethrower? (just kidding)
I have found a wonderful resource in Flylady at Flylady.net she helps you learn how to establish routines to keep the worst of it down to a minimum. I highly recommend her!
i have five children and since i started flylady.net she has great pointers and even a house fairy for the kids. it has helped us tremendously
have only certain amount of toys to play with and no eating or drinking out of the kitchen. show them that if they get something they need to put it back in its place
My children and grandchildren were always allowed to have only 2 toys each in the family areas. If they wanted to play with another toy they had to put the one they had out away. Also when they need a time out give them a bag and have them pick up garbage...or some small chore a child can do.Remember you have to show them how and even if you tell them 1,000 times maybe 1,001 they will get it! Good Luck!
baskets.assign everyone a basket and when playtime is over or at the end of the day i have everyone pick up what is theirs and put it in their basket.baskets go upstairs to proper room at bedtime...if stuff is not in their basket it is mine to hold for as long as i see fit. even the two year old can handle this rule. we pick up before bath time.
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