In the previous part of this article we discussed the importance of cleaning and how it can contribute to strain in your family. As stated before, market research shows that at least 25% of all families tend to experience personal issues with this task.
You may think fighting over cleaning chores absurd, but the reality is that they make an important part of every family’s life. Cleaning your home is required on a daily basis, and if you cannot agree on how to address it with every member of the family, then you are likely to get in trouble.
Thankfully, the previously outlined strategies for coping with household work as a family can help prevent this. Talking about chores with everyone at home and setting up standards can indeed prevent a lot of stress. Educating young ones on the importance of cleaning has the potential to help them become responsible adults. Additionally, some division of labour can also yield positive results.
Following are three more strategies that can help you organise housework at home without introducing any strain among family members:
- Have everyone do a quick clean – one of the best ways to address cleaning problems is to clean them quickly. Let’s take for example the bathroom. Everyone brushes their teeth and will have a morning and evening cleaning routine here. Sometimes toothpaste may end up on the sink or sometimes hairspray may be spurted on the mirror. Instead of leaving this to linger (and ultimately become much tougher to handle), establish a rule for everyone to clean immediately. When these minor issues are being taken care of, make sure you thank everyone for staying on top of them. Housework will now feel a lot more streamlined and less demanding. This rule is easy enough to follow, as long as everyone knows how to deal with the mess. It shouldn’t be too difficult to teach your children just how to wipe a stain on the sink or the mirror. It is not rocket science and everyone can easily pick up the right skills.
- Teach people how to clean – use your cleaning knowledge and invest a little time to teach other family members how to clean. This goes a long way in acquiring helpers for the cause, as knowing how to address tasks makes all the difference. You cannot really expect people to keep your home clean if they don’t know how. Sure, some tasks are easy enough and require no special knowledge but there are some specialised tasks that require skill and know-how. Do frequent educational sessions, especially with your children. They are the ones that lack skills the most, so you need to show them and teach them. Start with simple enough tasks and gradually show them more complex chores. One day they will need to address them on their own and having the knowledge will be invaluable.
- Special attitude towards children – children can be included in the cleaning effort, and in fact they should be. Many experts believe that young ones can be taught responsibility through cleaning and that they pick up a lot of useful skills in the process. However, you must do it right. Initially go with easy to do chores, especially if they are very young. They are not born professional cleaners after all. The best way to introduce them to cleaning is through games. Do light contests, role playing or anything else your children love while integrating cleaning chores. For instance, you can run a contest on who can collect the most toys off the floor, or you can don your cleaning attire and pretend you are superheroes, or you can just play some music and have fun while dusting and de-cluttering around. As long as they are engaged in the activity in a fun way, they will be willing to participate. Don’t introduce them to difficult chores until they are older. Teach them the basics and reward their efforts. That is a sure way to maintain their interest.
These 3 strategies can help your family avoid any unpleasant quarrels over housework. What is more, they will strengthen the bond in your family and make all of you more resilient to turmoil. Invest time to develop and implement these strategies. You will reap the rewards later on.
