Are you tired of nagging your kids to clean their rooms? Are you tired of asking your partner to clean out the basement? When you’re exhausted from nagging, reminding, and pleading, it’s time to resort to other tactics. Here are a few ways to motivate your family to clean house.
1. Stop playing pick-up. Don’t clean up after your family members. If you’re the type who goes behind your kids picking up the trail of endless clutter they leave like bread crumbs, stop doing it. As long as you continue to pick up after them, they’ll continue to be lazy and messy. Why bother cleaning up after yourself when you have someone else to do it for you?
RELATED: Click to Download Our Free Chore Chart!
2. Stop cleaning their rooms. Are you still making your teenage son or daughter’s bed? If your kids are old enough to clean their rooms, by all means, let them. Parents often continue to clean up after their children into their children’s teenage and adult years. This is something that you should stop doing. If your kids are old enough to clean up after themselves, then allow them to do so.
3. Take a day or two off from doing housework. This may not sound like an appealing idea especially if you detest a messy house, but it’s an effective way to motivate your family to help out with the household chores. When your daughter’s favorite jeans are still in the hamper and your partner can’t find that report they need for work, they’ll get the message. The point is to get them to stop taking you for granted and get them to appreciate all you do for them on a daily basis. Sometimes that only becomes apparent once your loving family members have to become responsible for their own belongings and living space.
4. But you don’t have to let the whole house become a total disaster in order to enlist the assistance of your family members. It usually doesn’t have to go that far in order to get your message across. Consider it your way of giving your family a gentle nudge. After all, it beats nagging, yelling, and stomping your feet to get anything done. Once you get your family motivated to clean the house, thank them for their help then give them a gentle reminder that housework is not just a one-time event. It’s an ongoing process. Even more so, it’s a family affair.
5. Show your family that housework doesn’t have to be all drudgery. Make it fun. Turn on some music and dance while you clean. Create games such as having the kids search for missing household or personal items in a sort of household treasure hunt. See who can clean their room the quickest. Create incentives like an increase in allowance, an extended bedtime, or an outing. Be creative. Use your imagination. Getting the whole family involved in housework can be more fun than you imagined. Chores will get done faster and everyone will have more time to relax.
For more on this subject, check out these books:
Winning the Chores Wars: How to Get Your Child to Do Household Chores
Have Your Children Help – The Move and Save Method
The Ultimate List of Age-Appropriate Chores
The Reason Children Should Do Chores is Because it’s Good For Them
Or try these apps for Android:
