How do you encourage your children to clean up after themselves?  Do you insist that they help with the cleaning or do you find it easier to just do it yourself? Personally, I am all about encouraging the kids to clean up after themselves and the rest of the household.

I try to remember that not only am I raising boys, but I am growing men and I want these men to be capable of looking after themselves and their loved ones and if this means that sometimes I have to “nag” at them to clean up, then so be it.  I wish there was a magic potion that I could slip into their food which meant that they cleaned up with no encouragement from me, but alas, I have not found it yet.  However, I figure that it will be all worthwhile in the end.

We seem to go through stages where they are more helpful than others. When they were little, they loved joining in and we had a special cleaning song.  Now my pre-teens take a little more reminding than they used to.

Ways to Encourage your Kids to Clean up

Make things accessible – This is a biggie for me.  I hate it when they come to me and ask where things are, so I make sure that they know where the cloths, cleaning products and tools are.

Do it with them – Often we have a mad 10 minutes as a household where we all cleanup.  I put the music on loud or set the timer on the cooker and we all do it.

Let them know what is expected – My friend Cass at Diary of a Frugal Family’s kids have a chart which clearly states what is expected of each of her children each day.

Incentivise them – My boys have certain things that they do for the good of the family, however, for other things I pay them.  I never used to, but have found that at this age money is king!

Show them what to do – I have been so guilty of saying to Mini “Go and Clean your bedroom” and then gone and took a look and been horrified.  I really needed to clarify with him and show him what I wanted him to do.  So make the bed, put his toys away, put any clothes away, vacuum and take drinks downstairs.  Once I had shown him, he understood the steps needed to have a clean room.

What NOT to do!

The biggest mistake you can make when encouraging your kids to clean up.  Is taking a job off them because they are going too slow or not doing it to your standard.  How will we ever get them to do it if we always end up taking over?

Do they take forever to vacuum? Do they miss bits?  Perhaps you have really high standards and you need to change your expectation of them and let them do “their” best job.

I am not going to say that I have all the answers, but what I do have is boys that are mostly willing to help, that will pick up the vacuum when asked and that put their dishes in the right place in the dishwasher!

Win a Bissell MultiReach™ Ion 18V cordless vacuum cleaner

The Mini Mads have been testing the Bissell MultiReach™ Ion 18V cordless vacuum cleaner and I have to say that I love the fact that it is so easy for them to use and that it has a 2-way handle which makes it easy to vacuum under our sofas.

The MultiReach™ Ion 18V cordless vacuum cleaner is cordless, light and powerful, making vacuuming quicker and easier. It really is the perfect vacuum for the kids to use.

The lovely people at Bissell have given one Mum in the Mad House reader the chance to win a Bissell MultiReach cleaner of their own. To be in with a chance of winning simply comment on this post with how you encourage your kids to help with the cleaning.

Once you’ve left a comment, don’t forget to complete the Gleam widget to confirm your entry – bonus entries are available.

The winner will be chosen at random from all eligible entries after

Good luck!

Win a Bissell MultiReach™ Ion 18V cordless vacuum cleaner

Terms: Entry is open to UK residents aged 18+ and one winner will be selected at random from all eligible entries after midnight on the closing date of  16 December 2016. Entry must be a comment on the competition blog post. Bonus entries are available. Winner will be contacted via email and details available on this page within 14 days of the closing date.