Tips for Getting Kids to Clean Their Rooms
It’s a battle that is waged in millions of households across
America every Saturday morning. Mom or Dad or both say, perhaps gently the
first time, “Okay, guys. It’s time to clean up your rooms.” The kids whine,
dawdle, get distracted, or outright go on strike. As the morning wears on, the
reminders get increasingly loud and more demanding. “How many times do I have
to tell you to clean up this mess? You’ll get it done and NOW or ELSE!”
Parents feel they have to impose some order. Kids want their
rooms to be their own – messy – castles. The struggle escalates. Threats get
made. Kids comply a little. Parents scold a lot. Eventually everyone is in a
bad mood. Sometimes parents give up in exhaustion or do most of it themselves in
frustration. Sometimes the kids do it, or do it enough, if only to get their
parents off their backs, to avoid consequences, or to get on with things that
are more fun. Another Saturday, another round.
Why bother? Because it’s our job. Teaching our kids how to keep
their stuff in order, whether they have a room or a corner of their own, puts
important deposits in their bank of skills for being a grownup.
Establishing regular routines provides some predictability and
stability in life. Knowing how to make and keep order will stand them in good
stead during adult life challenges. Making a bed when in the midst of difficult
times may seem trivial. But knowing how to go through the motions and create a
place that is peaceful are important skills for getting us through hard times.
Insisting on putting things in order also teaches kids to be
responsible for their things. When we show them how to keep things safe, when
we teach them how to mend and repair things that are in disrepair, when we
encourage them to take the time to organize what they value, we are making the
abstract concept of “responsibility” into a concrete set of actions.
Whistling while we work teaches our kids that doing chores isn’t
odious; that there is pleasure in taking care of our things; that taking loving
care of what we’ve been given is a way to love back those who have given them
to us.
Those who are the most professionally successful tend to be those who know how to manage people, money, and stuff. Teaching our kids how to tidy up regularly, calmly, and eventually without prompting, contributes to mastery of one of these important three skill areas. Teach your kids how to organize today and you may be ensuring career success tomorrow.
Writer: Marie Hartwell-Walker
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