How to get a child to clean?

"I will not clean the room, it's my room and I do not want to clean up here!" Sounds familiar? Sometimes children do not have the slightest desire to subordinate to the will of their parents and follow their instructions - especially when it comes to cleaning!

Developing habits from a small one
It is very important to develop a habit of cleaning in your child from an early age. Even a two-year-old child can clean up! Of course, this will not be a real cleaning - it can, for example, throw blocks into a bucket or collect toys from the floor.

You have to reckon with the fact that a small child can do a lot of damage during cleaning - he can, for example, break the plate given to him, but also can clean up inaccurately, do not reach certain places. Nevertheless, you will create a habit in this way! It will be much easier to persuade the child to clean up in the future.

Older child
Older children (three-, four-year-olds) undergo a period of rebellion and are usually "no." However, it is worth making a child do something - you can not clean his toys for it! Pre-school age may also result in non-cleaning problems. What to do then? See how they dealt with this Mom!

Bart's mother
"My son did not want to clean up - even when I told him to go to the room and pick up the pads - he did not want to go in. He went to the room, but he did not clean - he played or went to sleep, I asked, I threatened - nothing helped. to fury!

As we sat with her husband in the living room and waited (in vain) until the son finished cleaning up, Bartuś came to us, asked if we love him, if we give him a kiss or we get angry. He was so sweet that he could not refuse! And then we enter his room and what? And all his toys scattered on the floor like before.

Nothing helped - pleas, threats, bans to watch bedtime stories, and finally ...

We decided to be radical with my husband. We told Bart that if he did not clean the toys, they would land in the basket and not play with them. Of course - he did not clean up. So I went into the room and collected everything I had to clean up. I picked up the toys in the bag (up to two basically) and put them in the basement.

Then there were quiet days - our son cried, shouted, demanded the return of toys, threatened us that he would run away, he said he did not love us. After 4 days of despair - we have softened. We told him that the toys would come back as long as he promised us he would clean up. Of course he promised. And I think he was so embarrassed (back toys) that he's actually cleaning up everything to this day.

I've never been a fan of such radical solutions, but it really helped. "

Julia's mom
"Julia was a golden child when it comes to housekeeping, but unfortunately she changed hers, and although she helped me - for example by hanging laundry, she did not want to clean up her room. She shouted that it was her room and we had no right to move her stuff.

We were not even angry at her! We did not know what to do. We tried the system of penalties and prizes - for a cleaned room, it could watch longer tales or play with children on the playground for longer. For punishment - a barrier to television and no reading for a goodnight. It's just that Julia was cleaning up, as she knew it would be a cool tale on TV. Not when we asked for it. She also cleaned up when she sat with her in the room and showed her what to do. Yes, she did it then, but at the rate of a turtle.

In the end, my mother said to give her an example - go to her daughter's room and start cleaning herself with a cry: "Hurray cleaning! But it will be fun! Who will clean up first - you or me? "

The idea seemed ridiculous to me, especially since after my first attempt - Julia did absolutely nothing, except that she ran around me and laughed. Mama said to repeat this ritual. And in fact - at the 4th time - Julia jumped up and ... cleaned up everything in front of me.

It worked! I was (and still am) satisfied with this method. Better than screams and threats! In addition - Julia also began to clean up herself. And with a laugh on your lips! "

Agata's mother
"Agata was outraged when she told her to clean up, she liked to look at her as we cleaned her for her, our fault - we did not teach her how to clean up since she was small, she always sat and watched, which is probably why she pretends to be the princess.

We decided with my husband that we would not do anything for her. Absolutely nothing - if he wants to have a mess in the room, we will agree to it.

After 2 weeks, her room looked like a bargain. Dirty clothes on the floor (we asked her to put dirty things in the bathroom basket), lots of toys, dust that I was afraid to check.

And after these two weeks Agata begins to cry, she can not find a toy, she does not have her favorite blouse, she lost her kindergarten book. I sat down with her and explained that if she did not clean up, many other things would die. That's why the order is important - that everything is in place, clean and ready to use. A miracle happened - my child entered the room and started cleaning! I wanted to help her, but my husband said that if we help her now, she will not learn anything and will not want to clean up afterwards because she will know that her parents will help anyway.

At first she did not clean much - she took out clothes for the bathroom, put the toys together. The next day, I vacuumed her in the room and covered up the chicken (as she was in kindergarten). And, surprisingly - he keeps order until today! "

All the best,

Amousewithahouse