I have one very important word for you today…….SWIFFER!
I don’t care if you have one child or ten….your house gets dirty! Someone needs to clean the house….let it be your kids!
In case you are unfamiliar with the Swiffer, it is a dust mop with replaceable microfiber cloths. It picks up EVERYTHING!
For the past two years while my 7 year old daughter was in school and my 2 year old son was doing baby things I had my 5 year old son swiffering the floors for me. This summer with everyone home and the baby not a “baby” anymore everyone is getting in on the action!
It sets me on edge when my kids start arguing but when they start arguing about who’s turn it is to swiffer… it is almost like a sweet melody to my ears! (I have learned to set the timer so everyone gets their fair share of the glorious dust mop!)
I’m not going to lie to you and say this is “hours of fun” for your kid and you can go sit down and read a book while they clean the house. It’s more like 15 minutes of fun for each kid before they’ve had enough.
The best fun is taking the cloth off to throw in the garbage. We all stare at it in amazement at how much filth accumulates on the floor in such a short time (we swiffer a couple of times a week).
After that, I give the kids a high-five, thank them for their help and send them outside to play in the dirt so they can track more filth into the house so we have something to swiffer up later on!
Cesar, the almost 2 year old, swiffering
Lol!!! I’m wondering how I could fasten those microfiber cloths to my posse of dogs so they aren’t “left out” of the cleaning process as well, seeing as they are responsible for most of the filth. Any ideas? Rubberbanding them on would possibly cut off their circulation…Twist ties would be easy for them to get off… Anyway, this great blog has my idea juices flowing! Thanks.
All of those cute dog outfits should be made out of microfiber cloth. When the dogs lay down and roll around they could be picking up all the dirt…at the end of the day, throw it in the laundry and put a new “outfit” on in the morning!
Both kids and dogs need to know that they are earning their keep. How wonderful that you’ve found a way to accomplish this that even a toddler can handle. Next: the laundry. Kids love to learn how to run the washing machine. Mine started when they were four years old. By the time they were eight, they were totally surprised that none of their friends knew how to do the laundry. Now if I could just figure out how to teach a teenager how to enjoy washing dishes. Hmmm. Thanks for this lovely post–Barb
Thanks!! We are working on laundry too! We finally got the front loading washer recently so the kids can reach the buttons! They just aren’t completely trustworthy with sorting yet!
Thanks for stopping by and reading! Love your blog as well!
Any chance I could get teenagers as excited as that about cleaning?
Good luck! I don’t have any teenagers but I remember myself as a teenage so…….!!!
Um, that is amazing! I will remember this…
Thank you and thanks for reading!
I agree! Get them working for you I say! My kids love the water squirter and a cloth…they clean anything standing still!
Love it! Eventually we’ll be able to kick our feet up and let them do ALL the work….LOL
Thanks for popping by and “liking” my post today. I love this – and I’m glad I found your blog. A Maui mama friend of mine was just boasting about how her kids help her clean…I am SO looking forward to that! But first, I have to give birth and raise him for a few years…
You’re welcome! I’m not to the boasting stage yet…I’ll do that when they can clean the bathroom from top to bottom…baby steps! Good luck on everything! Thanks for reading!
My daughter is only six months od, but we did this stuff when I was a kid! I am the oldest f six, and my mom had us split into teams of 2 kids each. When we were really young, we sorted laundry and folded the socks together with my mom, and she would help us clear the table and load the dishwasher. And we got to help take the trash out. Haha! By the time we were older, we did almost all the daily chores on our own, and we rotated the teams. I don’t think my mom could have survived if we hadn’t done the chores (she had enough on her hands!)
It ALMOST makes me want to have a few more kids so I can have a couple of teams! That’s really cool! The oldest of six??? You MUST be the responsible one!!
Haha, well I WAS the responsible one…. I want to have a big family too because they really are a lot if fun. But maybe not quite so big… Not sure yet… But anyways I habe to take it one step at a time 😀
Whooooooa there lil lady… We are just fine with the three we got now… If we need to even out the teams, I am sure that one of us (that means you) can sub in… 🙂