Clean Up, Everybody Do Your Share! pt. 1

You guys know you know the words to the Barney clean up song. If not, lucky you but you missed out on a wonderful way to get your 2 year old to pick up toys. :-p I find that as a single mom most of my weekday evenings are taken up by walking around the house constantly picking up things. Dinner time requires more time as a single mom: prepare the meal, fix the plates, feed the kids, then clean the kitchen. All while keeping the children entertained. Bath time takes time too: bath, getting dressed, settled, asleep then cleaning the bathroom.

If I don't clean clean clean and stay on top of everything the mess gets out of hand FAST. Who can relate? Show of hands. Yes we are fierce divas who can do anything but that doesn't necessarily mean we want to do everything. *Baby daddies did you hear that?!?* ...but I digress... Why do all the work? The kids make most of the mess. Now is a great time for us to explore creating a chores system. *Hold the applause now get your pads and pencils*

Creating a system not only will help us single moms stay relatively sane "Chores are beneficial for children - even very young ones" say Kristen Zolten, M.A. and Nicholas Long, PhD, Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences writing for parenting-ed.org. "Being responsible for doing chores teaches children many important skills such as cooperation and responsibility. Chores also teach children about fairness and commitment. The skills and values learned by doing chores will benefit children throughout their lives." So if your older ones gripe about doing chores keep on them it is for their own good. I say in every situation there's an opportunity to teach our children something valuable.

When is a good time to start assigning chores? When the child can make a mess. Something as simple as putting away a toy after they are finished playing builds good cleaning habits. I've worked in schools and daycares with kids of all ages, trust me even your 2 year old is cleaning, and using good hygiene at school. Don't limit them by saying what they can't do at home. Here's a handy article on age appropriate chores. as proof that even our littlest ones can help.

What happens if we limit our kids duties or feel sorry and help them with their assigned chores? Parenting-ed.org says "Parents should not do their children's work for them. If parents get frustrated and give in and do their children's chores, children learn a number of things. First of all, children learn that their parents don't mean what they say and will not follow through. Secondly, children learn that if they hold out long enough someone will do their chores for them. Parents should simply apply consequences until their children comply." In laymans terms "we all know when our children are playing us for the fool, don't believe the helpless attitude."

So we've determined that our kids ages 2-22 definitely need to help out around the house. Later in "Clean Up...pt. 2" I'll get into the specifics on choosing the chores, different tracking and awards systems parents can use. {OhKay Kay-Kay}