Help! How do I get my child to clean their room?!

Hello, Parents, Guardians, and Care Takers!

I know how frustrating the battle of trying to get your child to clean up their room can be.  Depending on how resistant the child may be you may have to break it down even more.  But I'd like to share what has worked for me.

Some awesome tools anytime a child is resistant (or even for yourself) to anything is to set a timer.  Lets say your child's room is a disaster, the bed is not made, you didn't even know they had this much toys and you can barely see the floor underneath, and that pile of clothes, well you are really not sure, but you're betting its dirty.  And you try so hard to get them to put dirty clothes in the hamper!?!

Depending on the age, how messy their room is, and their resistance, using a timer is a fantastic tool.  If they are super resistant, it may be a good idea to help them.  If you do help them, I'd make it a "race" to see who can pick up the most things, or let them be the "boss" and let them tell you what they want help with.  DO NOT do anything on your own or for them, this will just teach them that if they act helpless, or act out enough that they don't really have to do it.

If you really have no idea how long it might take, or not clear on their resistance level, I'd start at 10 minutes for ages 6-8; younger, 5 minutes, and older I'd start with 20 minutes.  Put the timer somewhere that they can see it count down, and then set a goal.  For example "Lets see if we can get this floor 100% clean before the timer goes off!"

Then when the timer goes off or you get the floor clean celebrate, give them a high five, let them pick a fun game to play with you, or even take a picture of them showing off their clean room.   The celebration part is important, you want them to recognize their own success, and be in that moment with them of feeling proud.  

Then to truly improve their habits, each time they change activities make sure they clean up what they are now finished with, you can set a timer for 5 minutes, or just make sure they put it all away.  Again this depends on how big the mess is and their resistance level.  Or maybe at bed time, right before reading stories, now you/they spend 5 minutes tidying up their room.  Just make it a new daily habit, however it works best for you.

I do this for myself too, right before getting ready for bed, I spend 10 minutes tidying up my home, however it may be, filing away some papers, finishing up something I was working on earlier in the day, finishing up dishes that I didn't have a chance to finish earlier...  If I'm that on top of everything that day, I will spend those 10 minutes doing something to prepare myself for the next day.

Make this a consistent habit, and you will see an improvement; There will be less struggles, and more happiness and hugs!

With love, Jessica