Tidy Rooms by Choice

This is part one of a new series that I'm affectionately calling:
"Keeping the house clean. . .ha ha ha!. . ."

Part One: Tidy Rooms by Choice

Okay, so I think that mothers of large families should band together. It's them against us, and sometimes I don't think it's fair at all! How in the world can one woman keep up with seven children who can't even put the hairbrush back in the drawer after using it? (That is, if they even remember to brush their hair!) Sometimes I feel like I will never be able to get ahead!

I read once "Keeping the house clean while children are growing up is like trying to shovel snow during a storm." AMEN! Do you ever just feel like you are going to go crazy? Like when you get one room clean, another is getting destroyed, and then while you are going to do that room, the original one is messed back up again? I SURE DO!

Well, I have actually come up with some solutions. Now don't think you'll live in a palace, but it will definitely be more manageable with a few ideas. Over the next few posts I will talk about some of the things I've found that work (as long as you consistently do them, which I don't always do, and then the house is a mess!). Hopefully you'll find them helpful.

The first is the idea of tidy rooms by choice. I made a simple chart on the computer which lists all the rooms in the house (including the yard & garage). I put it in a clear, smooth, plastic sleeve (like the kind you use for scrapbooking. This way it can be written on with dry-erase marker and erased each day). After dinner, I call out how many "tidy rooms" they have to do. It's usually 2 rooms each, unless someone's missing, then they may have to do more, or if some rooms are already clean, they will have less to do. It's great, because no matter who's home, you can get this done. If it's just me then, well, I watch TV! (hee hee!)

They each "get" to choose one room as they finish up their kitchen job. (Notice I said, "get", because this is better than being "assigned" a job). If two children get to the chart at the same time, then the younger one is first by default. They pick their room by writing their name next to the room on the chart with a dry-erase marker. Then they go tidy up the room.

Now here's the most critical part: after getting it cleaned, they come get me and I "inspect" the room. I try to pick out something really good about the room, such as, "Wow, the floor looks nice!" (or sometimes, "Gee. . .give me a tour and show me what you did!". If needed, I point out just one or two things more to do. Sometimes it will be to wipe off a mirrior, sometimes to pick up under the furniture, sometimes it will be to vacuum the floor. It just depends how the room looks and how old the child is who did the work. Obviously I expect more from the 15 year old than the 3 year old.

The key to this is that they have to finish their kitchen job before choosing, and they have to have each room passed off before they can pick their next one. So those who go quickly are rewarded by getting to choose what they think are the "easy" rooms. It's interesting how each child finds an area they like to do the best. I can often now guess who will choose what. Those who go slowly get the "worst" jobs, or what's leftover. No one likes that, so often it will get done quickly. Sometimes I'll chip in and do a room also, but usually all my time during this tidying session is spent inspecting and keeping everyone on task.

If you have a large family like I do, one good way to not run yourself ragged when trying to have everyone work at the same time is to check on the children in order, oldest to youngest, then rotate around again. I use this same rotating approach for helping with homework, instrument practice, anything really. That way you're not nagging the same ones over and over again and forgetting to check on the quieter ones. When you check on them, give them a compliment, or help them for a few minutes. (Unless they're caught lounging, in which case you can choose to bite their head off or give a gentle reminder!)

Funny, this brings to mind when they were littler, I got so tired of hearing "MOM!MOM!MOM!" (imagine the seagulls on "finding Nemo": "Mine! Mine! Mine!") that I actually had them "Take a Number!" I made little index cards that had numbers on them and when someone wanted to talk to me, inevitably at the same time as another child, I handed them a number. They had to wait until I called their number before I dealt with their issue! Funny, the things mothers have to do. I swear, we have to be the most creative bunch out there!

So anyway, this has worked really well for us, as far as keeping the house clean, as long as we do it EVERY NIGHT! You can miss once in awhile, but it only takes a group of children, working together in conspiratorial silence, about 30 minutes to make a clean room look like it went through a hurricane! So. . . it's really important to do this regularly if you want things to be generally tidy. That's the key, and the thing I struggle with sometimes. Being consistent! But when you do, this method works really well.

There have been other things we've tried, some with more success than others. I'll write about them in the next few posts. For now, good luck getting your home in better order! :) And I'll try not to laugh as I write that last line. . . (snicker, snicker. . .)