Making Chores Fun - Cleaning A Bedroom

There were chores when I was young that I hated, unlike going shopping which was something that was over before I knew it (seriously shopping never took long when I was young) there was the what seemed like daily "TIDY YOUR ROOM" growl from my mother.

She actually gave up when I was about 14 asking me to tidy my room and it is a long running joke that when I changed religion aged 17 that I had found God in the mess that was my bedroom. I understand now what my mum went through every time she looked into my bedroom and saw the tip that was my room and I am determined that it won't be the same for me... if I can make tidying up fun!

Thanks to generous family members, Christmas gifts, birthday gifts, toys to review, one of the problems that we have is that Top Ender and Big Boy have too much stuff. Even when their bedrooms are perfectly tidy they look cluttered and messy because of the sheer amount. We will quite regularly go through clothes, toys, books and take it to Charity shops or offer it to other people we know. 

I think it is important that the children are taught how to sort through their things to find things that they can give to others as this way they will hopefully understand when they are older and won't be hoarders like me!

So we have come up with a way to keep everything tidy and fun thanks to Flylady. That's right we are Flybabies in this house. We have created a list of area's in all of our rooms and then for a few minutes each day we tackle that area.

This is Top Ender's list and as you can see it isn't overwhelming but it does cover her whole room over a week. The great thing about this is that because I know what area she is going to be doing I can hide treats in the area she is cleaning, so she might end up with a new pack of stickers, or a new pencil which if she cleans the right area I know she will find.

I must admit that this doesn't mean that the days of me going into Top Ender's room and walking straight back out to get the bin bags are over, but I think with time it might be!