Cleaning Games. I play cleaning games in my head whenever I look at the stack of dirty dishes that invade my sink like clockwork morning, noon and night.
Do I want to clean this?
Cleaning Games. I get in a mental tango with the stack of clean clothes that need to be folded and the stack of dirty clothes that need to be washed.
Do I want to clean that?
Meanwhile, one child is happily running around in circles in the living room, while another looks as if they are about to….poop?
That’s something else I’ll have to clean up later. If only I can motivate myself to do so.
That’s when cleaning games come in handy. {No, not the online games!}
Whenever, I feel the need to crawl under a pile of freshly laundered sheets and take a nap. I buckle down and play cleaning games, and I include the two year old in the process. He’s always eager to help {even when I’m not}, and so he’s always up for a cleaning game. I outline my index card system, an elaborate cleaning game to keep me on track in this series of posts (It’s an eight part series. Here’s part 1, part 2 and part 3 to get you started.), but sometimes my motivation to wash another dish wanes razor thin. Here are a couple of ways I motivate myself and corral the children into cleaning submission:
Cleaning Game #1 – Musical Clean Up Play some fun, upbeat children’s music and move as fast as you and your children can to clean up an area of the house. When the music stops and the next song is played, switch to the next cleaning task. For this game, I like to play the Music Together Family favorites CD. The children and I love it.
{Disclaimer: Don’t try this at home.}
Cleaning Game #2 – Dash for Trash Instead of music, set a timer and make it a race to see who can run through the house and clean up the trash and toss it. This is a great game after dinner when clean up feel like the never ending story. The faster you move, the faster it will move.
Cleaning Game #3 – Baseboard Race I personally disdain the actual act of getting on my hands and knees and cleaning a baseboard. So why not make the children do it 😉 If you have two or more older children have them race. Set them each at opposite ends of a baseboard, whoever reaches the end first wins a prize.
{Disclaimer #2: My floors aren’t this shiny.}
Cleaning Game #4- Pay Yourself for Chores {Yes, you, mama. Get paid for cleaning} We all know about the notion of setting up chore charts for children and paying them an allowance for completing a chore. Why not create your own chore chart and pay yourself? Of course, you have to be accountable to someone here to make sure you’re not overcompensated, but if the children get paid, you should too. At the very least, you deserve a cup of Starbucks Tall Mocha Latte at the end of the day for all your hard work J After all, you’re the Chief Home Executive.
These strategies to clean get me out of a rut. Try them and see if you can wake up your inner clean.
Grab my button and share it on your blog!
Leave a Reply