Help! Around the House 13

"Some important things to remember:

• Start Young!...
• Be Nice! ... "Say please." Just about every human being responds better to suggestion and motivation than to threats and orders. Most of us know better than to approach grownups that way - don't let your standards down just because you're dealing with youngsters...
  
• Start Small Don't give kids too much responsibility right off the bat. Make sure chores fit their physical strength and skills, and don't give a child more than he can handle. We all like, and want, to succeed! For younger children, you can break jobs into parts or stages. Don't ask them to "clean their room" - start with just one specific part of the job, or corner....
  
• Keep Cleaning Sessions Short Kids bore easily, so keep it short, ten or fifteen minutes at a time.... A book about housework was published many years ago with the title Never Done. That is exactly how we don't want housework to be viewed, as work that never ends. Cleaning in smaller installments, even time fragments, is much more appealing because you can "be done" any minute....[Try using timers, ten-minute pickup w/a couple songs, a finite number of things to pick up, short-term goals, etc.]
  
• Make Sure Your Helpers Know What You Expect...
• Remove distractions if Necessary This may mean draining the swimming pool, hiding the remote, shutting down the computer, and taking the car keys....
  
• Don't Forget: They're Not There to Help You Remember always, in your speech and actions, to avoid creating the impression that the other family members are there to help you. The appearance and comfort of a home is of concern to everyone, it is "ours" - every member of the household has ownership in it all, even those garbage cans!...
  
• Be Consistent - Stick to Your Guns Few revolutions happen overnight-they take time to accomplish....
  

Beyond [these] basic principles, successful housework-sharing parents have devised an amazing variety of ways to help assure that young people become enthusiastic members of the family team. Creativity often blooms when the stakes are high, and our hard-won knowledge of child and adult psychology - what turns people on - can be a real assist here... Make work seem like play, and it will be! . . . [You could try] games, races, skits, and music [among other things . . . One fun idea that has worked is to] make it a treasure hunt... [For example you could] hide little construction paper shapes, treats etc under things that need to be picked up and put away. The kids get to keep whatever they find. Weeding becomes fun when you hide treats in the garden. [Another reader shares that they] hide coins around the room in places that they will not find unless they do the job properly."