Helping Your Children Keep Things Organized

There are many times during the year when I find myself wanting to clean up and thin out. This usually happens when spring first hits and then again before the start of the school year.

I'd like to offer some tips in helping your children to keep their living spaces organized and manageable:

1. Ask them to invest ten to fifteen minutes every day picking up and cleaning up. Having the end in sight makes starting much easier for kids.

2. Suggest that your kids tackle just one shelf or one drawer at a time. If need be, allow them to work on one drawer over a two day period. On day one they can take everything out and throw out what they no longer want and on day two they can put those things they are keeping back in, in an organized fashion.

3. One week per month should be devoted to cleaning. This might include washing windows, cleaning blinds, changing sheets or vacuuming. Remember, this is all being done in ten to fifteen minute increments. So window cleaning might only happen every four to five months. Sheet changing might occur twice in a month.

4. Depending on the age of the child, you might need to help them when it comes to cleaning out their closet. We make a few piles: throw it away and give it away. If they've outgrown it, we put it in the give it away pile. If it's completely worn out, we put in the throw it away pile.

5. If your child is old enough they should be doing their own laundry. While laundry will take more than ten or fifteen minutes, this can be their cleaning for the day. My rule is they must wash, dry and remove from the dryer all in the same day. I don't want clothes sitting in the dryer for two or three days.

Messy children's rooms are a sore spot for many parents. Use these tips and see if room cleaning can go from a fight to a daily routine.