Involve the Whole Family in the Cleaning Process

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Cleaning is never fun, admit it. And most of the times it can also be a really hard and tiring task.  Especially if you have to do it on your own. And the very fact that it has to be done on a regular basis makes it really mundane and tedious. A way out of this is to hire a professional cleaning team to take care of matters, but this involves spending a good amount of money. And this is not a good idea, especially if you are on a tight budget. And why hire such a team when you and your family can be just as effective as a cleaning brigade. This will be not only fun, but in a way will also bring the family together and is also sure to teach your children a thing or two about responsibilities. In order to make the other members of the family help out, you are going to have to be smart about it and make sure there is something that will make them want to help cleaning. However, giving them the opportunity to clean all the cobwebs in the attic is not good enough of a reason. You are going to have to be smart and think of making cleaning fun. So, here  are some ideas how to make the cleaning activity fun and involve the whole family into it.

1.Do everything together, at the same time. You know, the more, the merrier. While you clean and chat to each other, time will pass faster.

2.Try to separate the duties into separate tasks, which are to be taken care of a couple of different teams. If you are a big family, form three or more teams. Otherwise, split into two teams and deal with different duties. For example, one team can clean the attic, while the other ones is taking care of the living-room.

3.Turn cleaning into some sort of a game. After all, everything is more fun when looked at as a form of an entertainment. Making a competition out of it is still a good idea. With small, complementary prizes for the winning team. And if the 'teams' involved love competing and have their eyes on the prize, the process will be sped up dramatically.

4.Put some music on! Everything is better when you have some nice music playing. If you can't compromise on exactly which tunes should be played, take turns choosing the bands/singers. While singing along to the music, you will not even notice when you will have already cleaned your whole home.

However, making the children help is tricky and a bit more difficult. Actually, the younger they are, the easier it would be to get them to join the cleaning brigade. Just find the proper approach. In most of the cases they will be glad to help, once they know they are relied on and treated like adults.

A good way of making the children involved is to offer them a small treat in return for what they have done. Nothing TOO big, though, for they need to learn that cleaning is their duty. Going to the movies or a trip to the zoo will do just fine. Extended PC/TV time or a chocolate bar is also a  smart option. In order to be sure that your son/daughter will stay safe while cleaning, do it all together. This will also work good on your parent-child relationship.
Cleaning does not have to be a tedious chore. You just need to know how to approach the task and think of ways how to entertain yourself even while doing something as monotonous as cleaning the bathroom.

Philis is a stay at home mom and a devoted wife who loves to indulge her beloved men and who galdly provides tips and ideas on how to deal with the pesky household cleaning.