Do our kids have it too easy? A recent survey by Vileda showed that a quarter of our children aged between five and 16 do nothing to help around the house*. One mother of two was so fed up with being taken for granted that she went on strike, and whilst the experiment wasn’t a raging success, the guilty parties did eventually start to recognise the amount of work that goes into keeping the household shipshape. Albeit after the kitchen sink resembled a science experiment and the entire house was decorated with dirty clothes…
Sometimes it’s the sneaky way of getting parents to do it: if the guilty parties do a bad enough job of cleaning something up then we’ll intervene and do it ourselves to ensure its done properly, grumbling along the way.
However, extreme measures aren’t always necessary, just a few simple strategies that can be built into the day can go a long way to developing a bit of order in the household. It’s important to ensure that these strategies are followed through each time – the best way to change behaviour is to stop intervening so that the consequences are recognised by everyone else.
Decide who needs to be responsible for what
Let everyone know that they need to be responsible for contributing; for example laundry days will be on certain days of the week and if laundry isn’t in the basket then you won’t be begging them to bring down their dirty clothes all week.
Pack the school lunches but only if a clean and empty lunchbox is provided each day. Cook dinner but only if the dirty plates are washed afterwards, or put in the dishwasher.
Warning!
Make sure that everyone knows what is expected of them, explain the rules and the subsequent consequences that they’ll face should their responsibilities not be carried out. Ensure that these new rules are crystal clear and understood by everyone.
The consequences…
If toys aren’t put away then let it be known that anything that remains on the floor will be placed off 
limits for a couple of days. If a lunchbox is left to fester in a school bag all weekend then the guilty party will be responsible for packing their own lunch. If the kitchen counter is covered with everyone’s dishes then dinner can’t be prepared until everything’s clear. Intervening in these areas will only demonstrate that you’re not serious about the rules, so be strong and it will pay off in the end by introducing routine and responsibility.
Whilst drastic measures such as going on strike can show everyone how much effort goes into keeping a house organised, teach the kids that you having to keep cleaning up after them is a lot harder and time consuming than they think.
Make sure that you follow the rules you set and you’ll find that a few days in dirty gym clothes or without their favourites toys won’t necessarily affect their wellbeing, but it will get them to clean up after themselves!
To read more tips on organising your home, click here
*Source: Vileda: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2160855/One-children-aged-5-16-help-parents-house.html
