In my article titled, “Using Self-Talk to Beat Clutter” I offer a unique technique for adults to overcome struggles with good cleaning habits. I slightly touch on the kids, but as an ADD/ADHD parent, you really need a dedicated article.
Here are a few thoughts, as a parent, to help your kids learn to be more organized.
Table of Contents
- Be in control of the number of toys
- Apply spatial awareness and reasoning
- Schedule regular cleaning/pick-up times
- Keeping ahead of the clothing
- Teach them while they’re young!
- Conclusion
Be in control of the number of toys
When your child has friends over, instead of letting them hang out in the child’s room, take out some toys they can play with and designate an area in the living room or common room where they can play.
The reason for this is that when you put two kids together in a child’s room, whether they are boys or girls, they will more than likely pull all the toys off the shelves and create a huge chaotic mess that will take forever to clean up. In the same vein,teach your kid to play with their toys one at a time.
From the age of about two, introduce a rule for your children that they can only get a maximum of three games or books out before they put something back.
Many kids simply have too many toys. In Diana Rene’s Decluttered Mom Podcast, “The average child has around 70-200 toys. Try the ‘one in, one out rule’. Ask your child to be honest about what toys they don’t like. Suggest they take them to a charity shop and it will also teach a positive lesson about giving.
Apply spatial awareness and reasoning
In the article, “Using Self-Talk to Beat Clutter” I talk about how spatial awareness affects and other positive self-talk forms the ability to clean. Using these techniques and reasoning can be helpful to kids, as well.
First, emphasize that keeping a room clean is important for everyone, and is an important learning step for kids at this age. Explain that a neat bedroom lets the owner find school clothes, homework assignments, or an escaped turtle more readily than a room that is in disarray. Showing your child that this task serves his or her interests may underscore personal investment in seeing that it gets done.
A neat bedroom lets the owner find school clothes, homework assignments, or an escaped turtle.
-Renee’s Rabbit Hole
Also explain that keeping a room in order is an early indicator of maturity. As your child grows and begins to assume increasing levels of responsibility, privileges like driving, staying out later with friends, and attending social events will become attractive lures.
Parental approval for these activities can stem from observing a child’s responsibility toward things like an organized bedroom. Let your child know that this is an important step toward proving himself or herself ready for additional responsibility.
Some children may need more guidance with cleaning. My son found the whole thing quite daunting, so we broke his tidying into tasks. To make things more fun and to keep him interested, we had races to see who could feel up a toy tub first or put their pile of clothes away first.
Schedule regular cleaning/pick-up times
Teach your children to pick up their toys or rooms every single night. Whether it’s toys or clothing, kids should put them where they need to be before going to bed. The reason a room gets so messy is because when toys, articles of clothing, and the misc. items are left behind on the floor, the mess quickly begins to accumulate.
Buy your kid a mini-shopping cart. At the end of the day, ask them to help tidy up by going “shopping” for the toys and misc. items lying around on the floor.
Schedule clean-up time every day so kids get into the habit. Choose the 10 minutes before their favorite TV program – or during an ad break – to get them focused
Don’t clean for your kids, clean with them. Experts say that when they do things for themselves, it builds self-esteem. The buddy-system just supercharges it. Remember that by the time children are five, they are able to pick up clothes, put dirty ones in the laundry, straighten bed covers, help set and clear the table and put away toys.
Don’t clean for your kids, clean with them.
-Renee’s Rabbit Hole
Keeping ahead of the clothing
I remember visiting the house of a mom who kept two clothing baskets under each bed. She proudly told me that she doesn’t put clothes away anymore. Her kids used the “basket system.”
I have to say, I quite agreed. First of all, the follow-through sucks. I remember hating it as a kid to put my clothes away in the proper spots. I’ve finally gotten over that as an adult by putting away the stacks immediately after each folded load. Then they are not so daunting.
Other versions of this is clothes storage in the laundryroom and NOT the bedroom. Novel idea, right?
Another mom used the strategy of preparing matched outfits for the week. She put a week’s collection of clothing in each box: 3 decent outfits, a church outfit, a chores outfit, underwear, 6 pairs of socks and sweaters to match.
She also gave her kids options – she wasn’t a complete dictator. If they grew sick of the clothing choice, she allowed them to trade one box for another collection. I kind of like that idea, that way you are not stifling your children’s creative freedom.
I’m sure the clothing insanity goes up the more kids you have. Survival mode has to kick in, so do the best you can!
Clothing rotation
Hands down, even next to putting away clothes, was my disdain for clothing management. When the kids outgrew clothes or the seasons changed, I needed to rotate and bring in new, bigger sizes. We can’t have high-water pants, after all!
My daughter-in-law has used the totes system. They are all clearly marked for size and season. Seems to work for her, maybe it will for you, too.
I remember mom shopping out of the Sears and JCPenny catalogues. There were no store visits for us. Each kid would have a “private conference” where she measured us, and we leafed through the kid’s clothing section, offering her feedback on what we liked.
One week later, the most humongous box we had ever seen would be delivered to our door. We were set for the upcoming school season!
The clothing insanity goes up the more kids you have.
-Renee’s Rabbit Hole
Teach them while they’re young!
Cooking is such a great activity to do with your kids. But with cooking comes cleaning. Kids should be able to set a table, and help clear it off. A dishwasher is naturally at an elementary school child’s height.
Engage the child with routine kitchen cleaning activities. There are loads of child’s safety step stool for kitchen activities, my daughter-in-law has one. This puts the kids in a safe place to start helping with meal prep and washing dishes.
I see that my mom geared me up with toddler vacuum cleaners and sweepers in family photos. There is so many cute “mini-me” stuff to start having them begin cleaning with equipment that is made for their size.
Don’t forget taking care of the family pet(s). There are opportunities to learn responsibility, beginning with feeding them daily. In fact, that is a common childhood chore.
I never thought twice about teaching my kids to do laundry. By the time they were early tweens, they were responsible for washing their own laundry. My kids were shocked when they got to college, the number of kids that were clueless.
Conclusion
How you train your kids now, prepares them for the future – your future. This means teenagers that can cook and clean and be a real help when the time comes.
It also lessens the anxiety you feel when you send them off to college, knowing you have preparped them well.
You can do this! #inthistogether -Renee
