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My daughter is the same way but I have found if I give her an activity that is"helpful" in the same room that I'm in she does great. It sometimes provides a little more work than if she would just cooperate but at least I can get stuff done. For example, in her bedroom I give her a pile of clothes and let her put them from one basket to another. I tell her to "sort" the laundry like I do. (They are clean so it doesn't need to be done and I have to refold them but while she "helps" I normally can vaccuum, dust, and change her bedding.) It takes a little creativity and lots of patience. Sometimes I give her a bunch of socks and have taught her how to roll them ... they of course are not matched right and have to be redone later but she is happy and I get stuff done.
If all else fails.... I clean when Daddy is on duty! |
| posted by Katie on 05/31/2008 08:49 PM
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| I think at some point, unless you can hire an outisde cleaning service, we have to be ok with a messy house. Mine is never 'all cleaned'. The kitchen is clean one day, the livingroom the next, the bathroom one day. I now have two little ones, and I have found two things that help. First, I schedule things. For example, I will play for a while, then tell my almost 3-year-old that before we do the next activity, we need to clean up the kitchen, or the livingroom, etc. I do it as quickly as possible and include her in the process. It is not spotless, but the dishes are done and the countertops wiped. Later I might mop the floor and put the dishes away. The other thing that helps a little is to clean up the room we are playing in at the time. So while we are playing puzzles in the playroom, I will be putting the toys back on the shelf and the play food back in it's basket. it may not get totally clean before we move to the next room, but I can do a few things in the next room as well. Even though it doens't get totally cleaned, it seems to keep each room from getting away from me. I also try to remember that everything is a season, and that all too soon my house will be clean all the time, and I will be bored without my babies at home! |
| posted by JDT on 05/31/2008 08:54 PM
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The best way for me to get anything done is to involve my toddler. When I am doing laundry, he helps me put clothes into the dryer, put dirty clothes into hamper. It takes a little longer, but he's happy, we're having fun, and it's better than not getting anything done. He also likes to help put groceries away, pick up his toys, set and clear the table.
There are days when he doesn't want to clean up at all. That is when I make it into a game. I sing songs, or tell him I'll pick up the puzzles while he picks up the blocks. Most of the time that works. |
| posted by Marcia on 05/31/2008 09:06 PM
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| it is very hard to keep it clean around here. i have an almost 4 year old girl and an 18 month old girl and i am due sept 3rd with our 3rd girl and i have to wait until they take a nap or my husband gets home to do anything around here. they are getting better at playing with each other so it is getting easier for me to do more around here during the day. |
| posted by Trisha on 05/31/2008 09:58 PM
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hi guys, gosh have not been on here in a while..
My kids are 2 in half and my five year old just turned 6 so I will tell you it has been crazy the last few years with hosue work. It is getting better... Try to establish a cleaning routine early on . What I have tried to do not always ,but aspire to do on a daily basis... Anyways, before we mess up another room we need to clean up the room we were in first.. That is helping me...
Also, I use timers sometimes and that helps and I also sing the clean-up song.. My son is getting a little old for it.. But my daughter sings it with me.. Everybody clean-up clean-up everybody do your share.. It helps make it fun.... Also, have them do ing little activities, set them up for me I will have one building legos and the other one doing a simple art project and then I will try to tackle something.. it is not easy and sometimes I have to wait until my husband is home but with is schedule sometimes he not home for a few days so I try to stay on top of things, but tonight I am def. looking around a mess so maybe tomorrow I will practice what I preach.. Good luck it does get easier....
My kids always seem to destroy a room while I am cleaning but I look at it this way, if I can get the bathroom and kitchen done and they destroy the playroom but they are having fun then we have fun together and help clean up together... not too bad...
for a while early on I would knock myself out cleaning all the time and then I went to my friends houses and I saw the messes and I thought you know what it is hard with two small kids to have this perfect hosue without exhausting yourself all day long so you have to find a balance... My house with two kids is not perfect but I do try to teach the kids the importance of cleaning up before they destroy another room..... .
I always say, "Mom needs your help to clean this quick so I can read a story to you or play with you" somedays I feel like all I do is run around cleaning behind them as they destroy stuff and I have to stop myself.... I have really changed and learned to let things go at least for a few more years...
HEIDI
HEIDI
HEIDI |
| posted by heidi on 06/01/2008 12:28 AM
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| i have a 22 month old daughter and we make cleaning the house into a game. My house is clean but it would not pass my mother's inspection as she is a cleaning person but it is celan to my standars. the dishes are done the food put away the animals are feed and the litter box is cleaned out and the dog poop is picked up daily. but i am a luckey lady and my husband dose a lot of the leaning with me. we will take one weekend a month and clean the whole house top to bottom and it will stay that way for a day or two, but now that my daughter is getting older she is ppicking up after herself and she does simple chores around the house to earn a new toy at the end of the month. |
| posted by JAIMIE on 06/01/2008 05:47 PM
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| what is a clean house? lol! my house is ever clean, but ironically, it is my thirteen month old who is the most helpful! He wants to do what I do and tries to wipe things up, vacuum, picks up his clothes, and his 2 and a half and five year old sisters want to do nothing! I think that all our husbands need to get us maids.. we work hard enough! Seriously, I need tips more than anyone on getting kids to help around the house. Now that my second is leaving toddlerhood, although she hasn't quite left yet, they really don't want to help! But she messes it up less. Good luck to you all. |
| posted by jackie on 06/01/2008 07:34 PM
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| I clean 1 room a day. I give my daughter something to "help with” like a laundry basket of laundry I have yet to fold or a clean cloth to "wipe" things with. She mostly plays, but feels like she is helping and it prevents me from redoing anything. I mop when she sleeps...or if she didn't nap, when daddy is home. She is terrified of the vacuum. So that gets done when daddy is home. Sometimes...I will clean my entire kitchen top to bottom when she is having a snack. She can see me and I her as she is in the kitchen with me. I do commentary for her in funny voices so she is entertained. It has worked for us. Good luck. |
| posted by DB on 06/02/2008 08:35 AM
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| make it a game for her have her help you pick up the living tell her we are going to play a game see if you can pick up more than mommy |
| posted by judi on 06/02/2008 10:16 AM
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You'll have to find what works best for you, but here's what we do: I have a cleaning routine that runs daily and weekly. Such as, Tuesdays are general vacuum and dust and upkeep, Wednesdays are laundry days, and once a week any day I can find time, I do a deeper cleaning with disinfectant sprays and mopping and the like...My son does pretty well, because he gets to follow along and watch me and he ends up "pretending" he's doing the same. Sometimes I give him his own "dustcloth" and ask him to "help mommy clean" and he loves it! Sometimes he just gets all his toys out in his room or the living room and plays his heart out.
Another thing is, though, only 2 times a day do his toys ever get truly put away: at naptime and at bedtime. Other than this, it's okay to be messy...though not destructive. If it's getting on my nerves by the sheer amount of mess, then I just put away a portion that makes it feel better.
Most of all, make sure that the majority of your day is NOT spent cleaning. Our children want us, not a clean house. They need us, not a clean house. So, if you're in the middle of doing the dishes or making the bed and your daughter is at your heals crying for some attention, then let me encourage you to put down that dishrag and pillowcase and go play! It's a great stress reliever and your work will always be there when there's time...your daughter will only be this age now. Enjoy her...and relax. |
| posted by Kelly on 06/05/2008 03:24 PM
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