How to keep a house somewhat clean with a 5 year old? Help!

[beaujolais]

How to keep a house somewhat clean with a 5 year old? Help!

I have a very energetic 5 year old son. Adore him to no end but the house is mess from the dear little one (and I'm not talking about really high standards of neat here). We both work full time. I'm a low energy person due to fibromyalgia problems. I also have a very physical job. I can keep up with the dishes, laundry, homework, but that is about it. I have a big pile of many various papers (all are not simple tosses - things that need to be addressed, called on, etc.). Also, if things do get in order (a little) my son likes to "rearrange" - you know, move things around and leave them wherever (all the time) (yes, I ask him not to). I do have someone come in every three months to do basic cleaning.

Weekends his Dad does a lot of things with him and I really have to rest a lot as I'm (very) not well from the fibro.

Any ideas?

Oh, and at what age (of the child), about, does this get easier?

Thanks so much. Sonoma

 

[hawaiianorangetree]

Re: How to keep a house somewhat clean with a 5 year old? H

Well, my house sounds very much like yours except my daughter is 10, not 5!

I feel like with the 3 of us in the house but with only one person cleaning, it is a losing battle. We both work full time too and I never feel like I can get on top of things on my own so I delegate, delegate, delegate. My daughter has a list of stuff to do around the house that is her responsibility.

I think if you can give your son small jobs around the house that he is responsible for he will be helping with the cleaning and also less likely to mess things up when he begins to appreciate how hard it is to keep things tidy. Things like keeping his room clean and toys from around the house packed away every day when he has finished using them. Buy some big plastic storage boxes with lids so he can throw everything in and pop the lid on, it will create an instant change.

I am a bit of a paper piler myself and it drives my husband crazy. To try and help with the paper clutter that seems to grow in the blink of an eye I do this... Junk mail/local paper, they don't even get into the house, because if they do, they are likely to lay around for a few weeks before they finally make it to the bin, so i look at them outside and put them straight in to the outside bin.

For Bills/letters/ stuff that needs to be dealt with, I have 2 of those folders with the plastic sleeves in them. One for bills and one for other stuff. As soon as I open the bills they are put in their spot in the folder and the envlopes etc are thrown out. All the folders I have are kept in a magazine rack altogether on the shelf and if i need to locate something, I instantly know where it is.

Pretty storage boxes are a great way to hide clutter as well. We have a box for all electrical stuff, one for photos and photo albums etc etc

Do you have a dishwasher? I used to find that after cooking dinner and doing the dishes I was too tired to do anything else. Now we have a dishwasher and everyone is responsible for stacking their own dishes and I am able to spend some time doing other chores instead of the dishes. It is also my daughters job to unstack it every time it is clean.

As far as the actual cleaning goes, I am still working on that one.

 

[steph72276]

Re: How to keep a house somewhat clean with a 5 year old? H

I was a kindergarten teacher, so this came naturally to me when I had a child, because with 18 kids you have to have some sort of system or the room would be a total mess. I have a 6 year old son, so I totally understand how things could get out of order really easily. My "system" is that I never let him get out more than one activity at a time. For example, if he's playing with play dough, he has to put it all away before he can get out paper and paint. And at the end of the night before bed, he has to make sure everything of his is picked up and put away. I do give him an allowance ($1 a week) if he's helpful and does some things around the house like cleans up his toys, feeds the dog, and helps to recycle. I don't think 5 is too early at all to expect some help in picking up after himself, he needs to get into the habit now! As far as your other household chores, maybe make some sort of chart of things that have to be done (there may be one on Real Simple's website) and do maybe 1 or 2 things a night to spread everything out. Sorry about your illness.

 

[stone-cold11]

Re: How to keep a house somewhat clean with a 5 year old? H

Still single but my mum trained me and my elder sis to do house work since I was 3 as she was a working mum. Things like making beds, folding clean clothes, sweeping floors, taking care of our younger sis etc... Paid by the cents for the tasks done and different difficulties and how well done the chores were. As we get older, chores get more difficult and we get paid less, lumping chores together like cooking a meal, cleaning the entire house instead of just sweeping the floor, mopping the floor... By 8 years old, totally free labor, it becomes our responsibility by then... :p

 

[Maisie]

Re: How to keep a house somewhat clean with a 5 year old? H

Still single but my mum trained me and my elder sis to do house work since I was 3 as she was a working mum. Things like making beds, folding clean clothes, sweeping floors, taking care of our younger sis etc... Paid by the cents for the tasks done and different difficulties and how well done the chores were. As we get older, chores get more difficult and we get paid less, lumping chores together like cooking a meal, cleaning the entire house instead of just sweeping the floor, mopping the floor... By 8 years old, totally free labor, it becomes our responsibility by then... :p

Whoever you marry will be eternally grateful to your mum for training you!!

 

[beaujolais]

Re: How to keep a house somewhat clean with a 5 year old? H

H. Orange Tree - OK, you are my hero. You've got this all figured out. I'm going to do what you do. Fantastic. Thanks so very much for the long and well thought out post. I realize and appreciate the time and energy you put into it.

FL Steph - A kindergarten teacher and a 6 year old son - so you've had lots and lots of practice at this. A system, as said by H. Orange Tree too, got it. And also great input on a way to start to teach him the value of money and clean, which is something I wanted to implement. Thanks so very much for helping, your time & energy, and for the well wishes with the fibro, hard road it is.

Stone Cold - Smart, smart Mum you have ! Thanks so much !

I'm going to go write notes on what you all said.

Maise - agree, ha, ha.