Cleaning With Children
You clean up, they may mess it up.
I do not expect my home to be spotless all day. I'm a homeschooling mom of our four boys. Need I say more? :)
alhamdulilah but through the day I do teach the children lessens in keeping order. I am not the most organized person. I would love to be inshaAllah. I am on the road to doing that, and the children are learning along the way.
There are a few things that work for us when cleaning with children:
1.) Everything has a place- The children know everything in the house has a home. The toys have a home, their books have a home... and if its in the middle of the floor, it's lost and needs to go home. Yes this works with the children mashaAllah. My four year old said the other day after I asked him what he was doing "putting the toy in its home" I was so happy he understood that his toy did not belong on the floor (if he was not playing with it) and knew where it went! if the items in your home do not have a specific place, inshaAllah it is good to figure out where everything belongs. Less chaos if everyone knew where everything went.
2.) Clean as you go- This works for us mashaAllah, try not to leave from one room to the next, without taking an item out to put it in its proper room. Dishes in the living room? Don't just leave them, take them out as you leave the room and put them in the sink. My rule for myself is every time I go in the kitchen wash three items, in the sink. With all the children up, I may not be able to knock out dishes in one go, but I can do a few at a time until its all done.
3.) Routines- lately before heading to the bedroom the boys and I have been cleaning the living room before we exit. Thank Allah it has been helping me. They love to help and with the four of us we get it done faster, we race to see who can pick things up and put them in their home the fastest. The boys are getting adjusted to doing this and after its done we proceed with our usual story time/ bath/ bathroom/ brush teeth routine. Little children love to help, I lost count how many times the boys asked to wash their own clothes on the wash board lol.
4.) Pick a chore, any chore- alhamdulilah everyone chips in. The boys- one may put the toys away, the other may put the books away and everyone is doing something. I laughed because the youngest son, he pulled down the books and my two yr old said "we just cleaned that up!!" he had a "are you serious" look on his face LOL he was not pleased with the baby. I think he understands the time it takes to clean up and how it feels after having done something and someone comes and makes a mess. Life lessons at home 101 !
5.) Children are children- I really don't get bothered or get upset at how they play with their toys and love to enjoy themselves. After all they are not robots, they are young children who love to play and I love to watch their happy faces mashaAllah. We have to be realistic too :) I love to play with them and what is important is that when things are not in use it has to... read number 1 :)
InshaAllah if you have any special tips that has worked in your home please do leave a comment :)
I do not expect my home to be spotless all day. I'm a homeschooling mom of our four boys. Need I say more? :)alhamdulilah but through the day I do teach the children lessens in keeping order. I am not the most organized person. I would love to be inshaAllah. I am on the road to doing that, and the children are learning along the way.
There are a few things that work for us when cleaning with children:
1.) Everything has a place- The children know everything in the house has a home. The toys have a home, their books have a home... and if its in the middle of the floor, it's lost and needs to go home. Yes this works with the children mashaAllah. My four year old said the other day after I asked him what he was doing "putting the toy in its home" I was so happy he understood that his toy did not belong on the floor (if he was not playing with it) and knew where it went! if the items in your home do not have a specific place, inshaAllah it is good to figure out where everything belongs. Less chaos if everyone knew where everything went.
2.) Clean as you go- This works for us mashaAllah, try not to leave from one room to the next, without taking an item out to put it in its proper room. Dishes in the living room? Don't just leave them, take them out as you leave the room and put them in the sink. My rule for myself is every time I go in the kitchen wash three items, in the sink. With all the children up, I may not be able to knock out dishes in one go, but I can do a few at a time until its all done.
3.) Routines- lately before heading to the bedroom the boys and I have been cleaning the living room before we exit. Thank Allah it has been helping me. They love to help and with the four of us we get it done faster, we race to see who can pick things up and put them in their home the fastest. The boys are getting adjusted to doing this and after its done we proceed with our usual story time/ bath/ bathroom/ brush teeth routine. Little children love to help, I lost count how many times the boys asked to wash their own clothes on the wash board lol.
4.) Pick a chore, any chore- alhamdulilah everyone chips in. The boys- one may put the toys away, the other may put the books away and everyone is doing something. I laughed because the youngest son, he pulled down the books and my two yr old said "we just cleaned that up!!" he had a "are you serious" look on his face LOL he was not pleased with the baby. I think he understands the time it takes to clean up and how it feels after having done something and someone comes and makes a mess. Life lessons at home 101 !
5.) Children are children- I really don't get bothered or get upset at how they play with their toys and love to enjoy themselves. After all they are not robots, they are young children who love to play and I love to watch their happy faces mashaAllah. We have to be realistic too :) I love to play with them and what is important is that when things are not in use it has to... read number 1 :)
InshaAllah if you have any special tips that has worked in your home please do leave a comment :)
Assalamu alaikum
ReplyDeleteGreat tips. I would not consider myself to be the best at being organized but Ive come to appreciate it a lot more now as a mom with a toddler and one on the way, Alhamdulillah.
A working home is almost never "spotless" and I dont believe its realistic to expect it to be particularly with young children around BUT in keeping it organized and clean (dusting, etc.) it makes life a lot more easier in the long run.
Insha'Allah we'll only improve in these qualities :)
Salaam, thank you for this post. I used the 'lets put the toy in it's home' phrase today with my eldest, and it really worked! I've never seen him so enthusiastic about tidying up! jzk
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