HOW DO YOU KEEP YOUR HOUSE CLEAN?
About a month ago I received a text from a friend, and it read:
“How do you keep your house clean?”
My immediate reaction was, “I don’t.”
Let me explain. My house is relatively clean… not perfect… but clean. It was the “I” that stuck out in this sentence.
The cleanliness of my house depends on the work of my team, AKA… my family.
My husband helps. Truly, he’s remarkable, BUT my girls also play a significant role. They have their very own cleaning caddy and are clear on their roles. In their caddy is a spray bottle, some Norwex clothes and a fun dusting cloth animal. They are responsible for all the mirrors and windows in the bathrooms and bedrooms. They also dust their rooms and the living room.
In addition, my girls fold and put away their own laundry. They have even created their own system for doing this and THEY MEAN BUSINESS.
I tried to help one day and was asked to exit the room. Honestly, this was hard for me to let go of. With the ownership of laundry, they then asked to to keep their drawers as they wish. After a few DEEP breaths, I thought this was a fair ask and I relinquished the control. So, their laundry, clothes and drawers are fully their responsibility.
They rinse their dishes after each meal and put them away. They empty and fill the dishwasher. Yes, they even put away the stuff on the higher shelves. This made me nervous, so honestly on the first day, I left the room. I knew I would interfere and “mom them.” So, I told them the task and let them be.
THEY NAILED IT. They felt so honored with such a big task that they figured out what stools they needed, which one of them was able to do what, ect. Now, I can watch and bite my tongue as they are jumping up on the counters. This took me a few weeks…
The girls will help with most anything such as sweeping with a broom, vacuuming, helping with the trash and more. These tend to be harder, so it is less frequent. The above is their set routines and what they are truly responsible for. They do begin their day with a morning routine that involves making their beds, so this is my win there!
Have I mentioned yet that my girls are only FIVE and SEVEN?
The times we clean are some of the best moments of the day.
Yes, you are reading this correctly. We play some fun music, and we all get to work, working towards a solid goal.
The goal is our home being a place of comfort and rest.
The bonus, with their help, MOM gets to do more fun things with the family. THIS MOTIVATES MY GIRLS. They find this role satisfying and take pride in their work. So, I do not always keep my home perfect, but I have one heck of a team that allows my house to be a home.
