Girl Mom: Cleaning Rooms

It's Tuesday, and I'm way overdue for another Girl Mom post! Every so often, I share a sneak of what it's like to be a mom to three girls! 

Being a mom is one of the most challenging and rewarding experience of my entire life! God's given me the opportunity to raise these girls as He would see fit. And, every single day, I feel like I'm failing, but we also have incredible moments as well! Thus is the life of a Girl Mom!

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I am very Type! (If you know me personally, you're laughing out loud right now because you know it is SO true!) I'm stubborn and hard headed, I want things done, I want them done now, and I come by it honestly! (Grandma, I'm looking at you!)

Because of my "get it down now" and "it's easier to do it myself" attitude, I've gotten into a downfall with the girls. I've let the girls grow up with out a lot of responsibility and chores around the house. As they are getting older, I've realized that they must learn and that they must help out more. 

Over the last several months, we've added in an increasing amount of chores for the girls. They are now helping to unload the dishwasher (even Adalyn who's only 1 year old) and putting away their laundry, shoes, backpacks, lunch boxes, clearing the table, and picking up the living room. 

We've come a long way and every time they help out (even through their grumbles) I know that we're making progress. 

However, we are still struggling with cleaning bedrooms. Throughout the week, the girls pick up the living room and they pick up their bedrooms before bed. Since they're cleaning a little bit each evening and gone most of the day, the picking up is much more manageable. The problem comes when we are home for a weekend and the girls do nothing but play Friday night through Sunday afternoon. 

A few weeks ago, I sent the girls to their rooms to pick up while I cooked dinner. They had about an hour to get their rooms picked up. I felt that it was more than enough time. Megan (my 3 year old) was able to clean up her room, while Gretchen (7) spent the hour playing. 

We let them her take a break at dinner, gave the girls baths, and sent them back to finish anything that wasn't cleaned up. Again, Gretchen continued to play and not clean up. 

Often times, DJ and I will tell her that if she doesn't clean up her toys, then we will clean them up of her and throw them away. 

That night, we collected 7 trash bags full of toys. 

Now, we aren't total crazy people! That's a lot of money and a lot of toys! She was pretty devastated, but we needed to make an impact on her. A big one. 

This was one of those tough parenting moments. It was hard on her, but it was really hard on us too! 

It's been just over a week, and her toys are still in the closet under the stairs. Over time, as she continues to show that she can clean up her room without complaining and whining, she'll earn her toys back. 

As she earns her toys back, we'll go through them and decide the toys that she really does need to keep, and the rest, we will get rid of. 

Listen, this may not work for your family, and you may think that it was harsh. It was! Gretchen is teaching me a lot about parenting, and I'm starting earlier with the other girls, so we don't fall into this habit when the other girls are 7 years old! In a few weeks, I'll update and let you know how this has worked out!

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When I am able to devote time to helping Gretchen clean her room, we play a few little games to help her along. I'll give her a number 1-10, and she has to clean up that many toys. When she's done, she gives me a number, and I pick up. We go back and forth giving each other numbers. Sometimes they're high and other times, I give her a break and make them lower. 

Now that she's in 1st grade and working on addition and subtraction, I'll give her an math problem, and she has to clean up the sum. So, if I give her 5+3, she has to clean up 8 toys. In this game, we don't take turns, I just give her a math problem, and she picks up. 

I also assign her "zones" in her room to clean up. One area is her Barbie dream house. One zone is between her bed and toy shelf, another is in front of her bed, and then the other is between her bed and dresser. Her bedroom also houses are play room, but her dresser separates the spaces. I take care of cleaning up that side of the room, and then i'll help her in the zones she's not working on. 

What are some of the tips and tricks you use to get your kids to clean their rooms? I'd love to hear them!