10 Tricks to Get Your Child Help around the House
We are accustomed to the situation when children cause chaos at home, scatter toys and do not let us clean up the mess easily. It is the parents who should be blamed for the fact that the baby is happy with the mess. One just has to change the tactics, and you will not recognize your child. Below you will find 10 simple, but very effective tips for smart moms.
1. Do things together
A common mother’s phrase typically sounds like this: “Go and play, I’m busy”. It is a serious error in the process of breeding real assistants. Get engaged in household chores together. Let the kid stay with you in the kitchen, let him participate in shaping dough, chopping lettuce, or wiping the table.
Put a toy ironing board next to the real one and start ironing together. Do not separate your domestic affairs and communicating with the child; combine these processes. For example, during a joint cleaning you could tell a story about the things that were looking for their place, and finally, thanks to the little wizard, found it.
2. Celebrate success
Magic words that are perceived well both by children and adults are “only you can do it really well!” Realizing his/her own uniqueness and importance in the process of picking up candy wrappers from the floor or dusting the shelves, the child will be happy to get involved in the task he/she is known to do best.
3. Take into account the character
Try to notice the tendency of the child to deal with a particular activity and trust the child to perform exactly the tasks that appeal to him/her. Some children like global work – mopping the floor or cleaning the area around the house. Others prefer sorting books or toys, which requires concentration and thoroughness. Let each child do what he/she likes.
4. Play!
Boring everyday activities can be turned into funny games. Taming of the vacuum cleaner in a child’s room, washing magic dishes and the treasure hunt in the food bags that the mother has brought from the store – your children have never had such adventures in their life.
5. Let the help be meaningful
Involve your child in helping when you really need it, not just to occupy or distract him/her from playing.
6. Leave some space for a surprise
Children adore when their parents do surprises. Give them such a chance, making it clear how pleased you will be to receive this unexpected help from them. Let the washed plate, the fed cat or the bed made by the child be a surprise for you. Do not hide your joy and praise lavishly.
7. Do not expect perfect performance
Do not expect that the child will do the work about the house perfectly well. Never scold him/her, even if there is some additional garbage after the cleaning that you will have to deal with. Of course, you will have to redo a lot of things after the child at first, but it is a necessary step on the way to progress.
8. Let the child understand something on his/her own
If the child needs much time to do the work about the house:
do not interfere,
do not rush,
and especially do not scold.
Be patient and let the process be brought to finish. Otherwise the kid will get scared and will refuse to help next time, whereas the mom will always have to finish the child’s initiative: he/she will not understand that each initiated task should be carefully finished.
9. Work is not punishment
Work about the house should not be treated as a punishment for bad behavior. The child should not think that he/she needs to lay down the toys or remove other belongings just because he/she has done something wrong.
10. Do not divide household duties into those for “girls” and “boys”
Both boys and girls should be able to:
wash the dishes,
clean their room;
sew buttons;
and even hammer nails.
