Kids and cleaning

[illudium_phosdex]

Ok, so my kids and I are generally the ones who do the house work. We have an hour each day after school and we start at our entryway and work our way around the house clockwise. Where ever we stop, we pick up there the next day and just continue in that fashion each day, Monday through Friday. In addition to that, I have about a half dozen chores that get done each day like washing the dishes, feeding the animals, wiping off the DR table, etc.... On Saturday we do a more deep cleaning for 2 hours which involves the dusting, wiping down door knobs, cleaning the bathroom mirror, etc...

This method generally keeps the house relatively strait. We wouldn't win any kind of Good Housekeeping seal or anything like that but it doesn't smell in here and you can walk through the house without having to worry about tripping over a toy or anything.

I've heard over and over that you shouldn't criticize a kid's attempts and that as they get older, they'll get better at doing things. Nor should you go back behind them and redo the job they've done for the same reason. Ok, I get that and I don't do it. I figure good enough is good enough. Plus, I really don't have time to go back over what they've done anyway. If I did, I'd just do it myself in the first place.

So what's the problem? My son, who is 9 1/2, is constantly trying to take shortcuts that just don't work or will do a halfway job. Like today I asked him to vacuum the LR. He made 3 or 4 passes over the carpet and then started getting the vacuum back together to put away. I went in there and it still looked really bad. I don't ask for perfect but I'd like to at least look like he tried and that's my deal. I don't think he really tried so I'm making him redo it.

What I want to know is, am I wrong? He looked really crestfallen when I told him that he needed to go back over it and do a better job. I even told him that I wasn't looking for an adult vacuuming job because I understand he's 9 but that I felt like what he gave me was a 3 year old playing with the vacuum job and that I knew he could do better than that. His pitiful face made me feel kind of guilty for making him redo it though. But that may have been what he was trying to accomplish in the first place.

 

[lucypevensie]

That doesn't seem out of line to me. A 9 year old should have a pretty good concept of what clean carpet vs. dirty carpet looks like. You shouldn't feel guilty for having him redo it. Now, I'm assuming you were kind in your critique and your request.

 

[blessedmomof5]

I think it's fine to correct him, you would'nt want him thinking that is the correct way to vaccum? LOL?

But you must have one BIG house with all that cleaning you and the kids are doing!!

My kids after school have homework at least for 3/4 hrs ok maybe 1 night not that long! And with sports and 2 Bible studies, and youth groups we work in shifts!!! But i do most! Although they do the wash if i get overworked!!!!

 

[illudium_phosdex]

Thanks guys.

Nah, our house isn't all that big. It's like 1500 squ ft I think. We have a German shedder dog so we have to vacuum about every other day and I don't have a dishwasher so dishes take a good bit of time. With me washing and one of them drying, that's about 30 minutes a day. They don't have homework because we home school but they do have activities each night of the week.

Honestly, I thought you guys would be like, you only clean and do chores 7 hours a week? I didn't think it was all that much at all.

 

[lucypevensie]

Yeah, I was also thinking that seemed like a lot of time, but I don't feel qualified to judge, based on the appearance of my own house at the moment.

 

[blessedmomof5]

I applaude you for homeschooling your children! It takes a strong SMART woman to do that!


Me ya, my kids would still be counting on their fingers!
I hear you with the pet hair! 3 cats and a dog!

Your children sound like they are a big help, you should be proud of them!
What i have learned with my 5 is that all that " stuff" can wait! I rather take the time and sit and listen to them , the dirt and the hair will always be there, but one day they will leave, and the dirt and hair will still be there!
So i take the time now while we have it and talk, and yea i cry when they tell me their problems, bc im there
Mom and it hurts me more then it hurts them! And they know that!

 

[FaithPrevails]

My 9 year old son was recently requested to clean the bathroom. I have shown him how I want it done and he has done it countless times. He did a particularly poor job this last time, so I went in and told him that he needed to re-do it. He started to complain and I simply told him that he needed to do it the right way or he would keep re-doing it until he did. It got cleaned correctly the second time around.

I have to ask, 1500 sq ft is a moderate sized house, so what do you do that takes an hour each day if you are "deep cleaning" on the weekends?

 

[illudium_phosdex]

Well, as I said, we don't have a dishwasher so the dishes take about 30 minutes with me washing and the kids drying. Then we usually take care of the daily chores like feeding the animals, picking up around the house, wiping down the bathroom, making beds... which takes about 15 minutes and the last 15 minutes is usually spent with me folding clothes while the kids either sweep or vacuum a room or two. Saturday, we do those things plus we go around the house dusting and wiping door knobs and mirrors and wiping fingerprints off walls oh and mopping and we might go outside and pick up around the yard a bit.

 

[FaithPrevails]

Ah OK, gotcha. I thought the animals and stuff were in addition to what you were doing for an hour.

My last house didn't have a dishwasher and I felt like I spent half my life washing dishes. lol

 

[EmilyF]

Our dishwasher is broken. It takes me about 15 minutes to do dishes. I takes my husband almost an hour (we take turns). We don't have quite an hour a day of cleaning if everyone does their part.

I will correct my children and they're younger. They're not going to ever learn to do it right if I don't show them the right way. My hope is that in another 3-4 years, they will clean everything and i can watch and eat bon bons

 

[blessedmomof5]

Umm i might be the minority here,

But how many fingerprints and how messy can doorknobs get in a week? And the mirrors?
I must be a slob, that to us is maybe a mthly thing ok not bathroom!

Please please do not take this the wrong wayPLEASE

They are only with us for so long before they leave, and us them! Not saying they should do nothing, but doorknobs and fingerprints weekly? Gosh i would love to have there baby fingerprints still around!!! Treasure it while u can, ans maybe suprise them one saturday with ice cream instead!
Remember don't sweat the small stuff it will always be there! It's the lessons in life out of Love for Christ we need to teach them!

I truley hope i am not out of line, if i am or have offended you in anyway it was so Not my intent! I said it all out of Love!

I will delete it if you like if i have hurt u!

Well, as I said, we don't have a dishwasher so the dishes take about 30 minutes with me washing and the kids drying. Then we usually take care of the daily chores like feeding the animals, picking up around the house, wiping down the bathroom, making beds... which takes about 15 minutes and the last 15 minutes is usually spent with me folding clothes while the kids either sweep or vacuum a room or two. Saturday, we do those things plus we go around the house dusting and wiping door knobs and mirrors and wiping fingerprints off walls oh and mopping and we might go outside and pick up around the yard a bit.

 

[Cute Tink]

I have no problem with correcting a poorly done job. Especially at 9 (I have a 9 year old who has the same issue), kids have a very good idea of how you want the job done and they are very capable of doing the job very well. They also seem to be developing teenage laziness at that point. Mine likes to see how much he can get away with not doing instead of getting stuff over with the first time by doing it right, as he knows how to do it.

Not that at any other age they are more inclined to put more effort into assignments, but at 9 they are certainly capable of doing something like vacuum correctly the first time.

 

[chelsea89]

I guess this is the plus of living with 10 people in the house (inlaws-5, and our family of 5) Other than laundry and picking up after the kids theres not much cleaning to be done.

 

[JaneFW]

I've heard over and over that you shouldn't criticize a kid's attempts and that as they get older, they'll get better at doing things. Nor should you go back behind them and redo the job they've done for the same reason. Ok, I get that and I don't do it. I figure good enough is good enough. Plus, I really don't have time to go back over what they've done anyway. If I did, I'd just do it myself in the first place.

I agree that you don't go back and fix the way something has been done, but I think it's okay to correct a child and even show them the correct way to do something.

So what's the problem? My son, who is 9 1/2, is constantly trying to take shortcuts that just don't work or will do a halfway job. Like today I asked him to vacuum the LR. He made 3 or 4 passes over the carpet and then started getting the vacuum back together to put away. I went in there and it still looked really bad. I don't ask for perfect but I'd like to at least look like he tried and that's my deal. I don't think he really tried so I'm making him redo it.

What I want to know is, am I wrong? He looked really crestfallen when I told him that he needed to go back over it and do a better job. I even told him that I wasn't looking for an adult vacuuming job because I understand he's 9 but that I felt like what he gave me was a 3 year old playing with the vacuum job and that I knew he could do better than that. His pitiful face made me feel kind of guilty for making him redo it though. But that may have been what he was trying to accomplish in the first place.

Sure, he's playing the sympathy violin of course. When you think you're done for the day and someone says 'eh, no' then I can imagine the disappointment .. BUT, I do the same thing. If my kids half do a job, they get to do it again until it's right. We have a house twice the size of yours (not bragging, just sayin') and if we all did a half-hearted job, it would be wrecked in no time.

Think of it as teaching them for the future, and remind them that one day they will have to shift for themselves in their own place, and if they don't learn how to clean, they will be sinking under the weight of dirt, bugs, etc. Oh yuck.

 

[illudium_phosdex]

Umm i might be the minority here,

But how many fingerprints and how messy can doorknobs get in a week? And the mirrors?
I must be a slob, that to us is maybe a mthly thing ok not bathroom!

Please please do not take this the wrong wayPLEASE

They are only with us for so long before they leave, and us them! Not saying they should do nothing, but doorknobs and fingerprints weekly? Gosh i would love to have there baby fingerprints still around!!! Treasure it while u can, ans maybe suprise them one saturday with ice cream instead!
Remember don't sweat the small stuff it will always be there! It's the lessons in life out of Love for Christ we need to teach them!

I truley hope i am not out of line, if i am or have offended you in anyway it was so Not my intent! I said it all out of Love!

I will delete it if you like if i have hurt u!

Nah, I'm not hurt. Maybe one of the reasons we're at it for an hour is because we do try to have fun with it. We like to put on some music on Pandora and dance around. So we might wash a few dishes, have a soap sud fight, wipe a couple of door knobs or a couple of finger prints and then a quick tickle fight. It's not like we get to work and for an entire hour we're hard at it or even on Saturdays it's not like that.

On Saturdays when we're done, we have several things that we might do. The kids love to go to the pool for free swim. This past week there was a swim meet so free swim was cancelled and we went to McD's and they played on the playground there for a couple of hours. There is always something nice in the works if we do a good job.

On Sunday which wasn't a cleaning day, we went to down town in our city and messed about which was great fun. We played a game where my daughter was an alien trying to get home but my son and I didn't want her too so we went all over downtown looking for pretend spaceship pieces and when we found one, we'd jump on it or smash it with our pretend hammers. The whole time, my daughter is trying to gather the pieces before we get to them to put her ship back together.

When we got to the car, we all decided to put the spaceship back together and go with her so I used the re-build button (the door unlock button on my keyring) and completely rebuilt the space ship and we all went to space together.

So yeah, we play and have fun but we also get our chores done too. And maybe the playing makes it take longer but generally it's ok because at least we're having fun doing it.

 

[blessedmomof5]

You sound like a wonderful mother!!!! They are So Blessed to have you!

Sometimes people just get caught up with the meaningless stuff, making sure that wasn't happening to u!
Praise God He is Guiding your footsteps!!!

How old are your children? Not sure if i missed that part?
They sound wonderful!

 

[illudium_phosdex]

Faith, that is definitely how it feels here. I don't think it helps any that the kids and I are here all day so that means that there are 3 meals worth of dishes to do every day. I used to wash up the breakfast and lunch ones right after lunch (15 mins) and then the dinner ones right after dinner (another 15 mis) and then let them just air dry but our schedule has changed this year so that doesn't work out quite as well. I'm still doing them for the same amount of time. It's just all at once.

Emily, that's what I was thinking when I asked. I just didn't want to be a turkey about it, KWIM?

Thanks, Tink. It definitely helps to know that I'm not the only one.

Heh, Chelsea. That must be fun having all those people about.

Jane, that's what I'm thinking too. I tell both of them that one day they're going to have a home of their own and they don't want to live like slobs.

Aw thanks, Blessedmomof5. I know I'm not perfect but I do try. Oh, and my daughter is 10 1/2 and my son is 9 1/2.

 

[chelsea89]

It gets hectic when his aunts and cousins all show up together. 22-24 people in all 7 boys aged 1-9 and two girls 3months and 6 years old lol.

 

[Godsgirl79]

Ok, so my kids and I are generally the ones who do the house work. We have an hour each day after school and we start at our entryway and work our way around the house clockwise. Where ever we stop, we pick up there the next day and just continue in that fashion each day, Monday through Friday. In addition to that, I have about a half dozen chores that get done each day like washing the dishes, feeding the animals, wiping off the DR table, etc.... On Saturday we do a more deep cleaning for 2 hours which involves the dusting, wiping down door knobs, cleaning the bathroom mirror, etc...

This method generally keeps the house relatively strait. We wouldn't win any kind of Good Housekeeping seal or anything like that but it doesn't smell in here and you can walk through the house without having to worry about tripping over a toy or anything.

I've heard over and over that you shouldn't criticize a kid's attempts and that as they get older, they'll get better at doing things. Nor should you go back behind them and redo the job they've done for the same reason. Ok, I get that and I don't do it. I figure good enough is good enough. Plus, I really don't have time to go back over what they've done anyway. If I did, I'd just do it myself in the first place.

So what's the problem? My son, who is 9 1/2, is constantly trying to take shortcuts that just don't work or will do a halfway job. Like today I asked him to vacuum the LR. He made 3 or 4 passes over the carpet and then started getting the vacuum back together to put away. I went in there and it still looked really bad. I don't ask for perfect but I'd like to at least look like he tried and that's my deal. I don't think he really tried so I'm making him redo it.

What I want to know is, am I wrong? He looked really crestfallen when I told him that he needed to go back over it and do a better job. I even told him that I wasn't looking for an adult vacuuming job because I understand he's 9 but that I felt like what he gave me was a 3 year old playing with the vacuum job and that I knew he could do better than that. His pitiful face made me feel kind of guilty for making him redo it though. But that may have been what he was trying to accomplish in the first place.

That's a lot of cleaning. I doubt your son has the same conscientious about cleaning that you do. My son is the same way. I guess my suggestion is the same conclusion that I come to myself. Just make him do it over again until he does it right. You make him do that often enough he might learn to do it right the first time. You just have to teach him how to do it your way. And know that he doesn't care as much as you do and probably won't until he's older, if at all. Good luck.

 

[dessydell]

You are right but at 9 year age it is good to know about what is dirty and what is clean so nothing to worry about it. After sometimes children automatically understand himself mostly.