Seriously. As soon as your kids are old enough to pick up their toys, make them do it.
I am the product of "nice" parents. They never wanted to MAKE m do house work. Sure they would tell me to clean my room now and again, but when I didn't do it they would do it for me while I was gone. Guess what? I keep leaving, but my house is never clean when I return.
They never taught me how to KEEP things clean. Or how to really clean things. Sounds silly that someone would need to be taught how to do those things, but I have no idea and I am not a total dummy.
To this day I have a hard time motivating myself to clean. I put it off day after day, until I just can't stand it anymore. I forget about your less-than-obvious things, like the baseboards and windows. I stink at folding clothes, and can we please not talk about the dishes? Ugh, the dishes.
I know, however, that if I had have grown up doing chores and having a fair share of responsibility it would NOT be this hard for me.
SO! Make your kids help you, don't hurt them like my parents did.
But DON'T slave drive them, either! Once I got out on my own and realized that I didn't HAVE to have a room inspection every week and do the dishes all the time, I was like, yippee! Freedom! And now, despite me being uber organized, OCD, and color-coded at work, my house is almost always a wreck.
ReplyDelete