by Christina Rivas

Created on: November 21, 2010   Last Updated: November 22, 2010

As I am sure that many parents know, getting our children to clean up is not always an easy task. In fact in most cases our children usually try to ask us if they can clean up at a latter time, or leave it for another day all together. While I am all for giving kids a break, allowing them to postpone the cleaning, is only going to hurt them in the long run. I have tried a lot of different methods, but I have found that one seems to work better than anything else. It helps if you start fresh, that might mean that for the first time around, you might have to organize things so that they are easier for your child to put away.

Now if your kids are anything like mine, they have about a million toys, at least half of which they don't really play with. I am talking about the toys that get pulled out of the toy box and left out, while your child plays with another. Seeing how much time and space these toys were taking up, made me decide to get rid of a few things. There are always children in need that can find a better use for the toys and if you don't need them, you should try to donate them. Getting rid of the less used toys, allows your child to concentrate on the toys that they do like to play with, and decreases the mess left behind after. I have made it so that my children play with one thing at a time. That means that if it is time to color, the other toys in the house get put away first. This makes it so that your child doesn't feel overwhelmed by the task of cleaning up, and also helps to make it less stressful for the parent trying to get them to clean up.

Now I am not going to lie, it does not always go as smoothly as I would like, there are times when my children just don't want to clean up, that's generally when I have to take the next step. I have taught my children that if they would like to continue to play with their toys, they have to be responsible and clean up after themselves. However I have also told them that they do have a choice. It's simple, the toys get cleaned up after ever use, or some of them get taken away. I know that there are some parents that might feel that this is a little harsh, but I'd like you to consider this: If you don't teach your child these good habits early in life, they aren't going to use them later in life. I personally would rather be a meanie every once in a while, than to teach my children that it is okay to live in a mess.

Another method that my husband and I have used is alternating toys. If the children behave and they clean up after themselves, they get to pick out toys from the spare toy room, to bring up to play with. This gives them the incentive of having something new and interesting, if they behave and take care of their things. I hope that this will help other parents whom are having difficulty with the child's cleaning habits.

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