There is so much work that goes into keeping a home. Especially if a family really lives in their home like we do. As in, we homeschool, which means our house is rarely empty. The kitchen is used at least 3 times a day to make a meal. My kids are creative, so there’s that sort of (productive) clutter as well. There are books and blankets, piano books and guitars, puzzles and projects, legos and dolls, all part of this home in which we really live our lives. With all that living, there can be a fair amount of pick up as well as cleaning the house with kids.
And here’s the thing for me. If I’m really honest, I don’t want to spend my day cleaning and tidying my house. I personally have so many other things on my interest list. But there is a certain satisfaction and need for clean and organized surroundings to clear up the mind and heart for possibility.
So what is the balance? And how can we, as the managers of our home, inspire help from our kiddos without 1. taking all their time away from what is important to them (I’m sure they can relate to my feelings above!) and 2. turning work into a fight or a power of wills between the mama and the children?
For me, the answer is building the relationship while we work together. Why? Especially because it is often easier to do it alone?
Here are a couple of reasons:
- Relationship with my kids is so very important and impacts so much of what we do. Anytime I can use to build a relationship while being productive elevates the experience for me.
- It is so important for our kids to learn how to work! And hard work learned in one area (in this case, keeping a home) can translate into other areas of hard work (like tackling multiplication). It’s a muscle worth strengthening, and it’s easier to strengthen this muscle when a loving mentor is nearby, encouraging and teaching and helping them be successful.
Cleaning the house with our kids can actually be used for relationship building. That feels like a win-win to me.
The trick is, of course, coming with the right attitude to work ourselves. We can’t possibly build relationships while cleaning the house with our kids if we aren’t in the right frame of mind to do so. For me, personally, I make sure that building the relationship is at the top of my reasons while I work, and this helps me come at it with the right attitude.
At the end of the day, a clean house is important and our kids are even more so. I guess my point is to never let the monotony of cleaning the house get in the way of building a solid relationship with your kids. It is an investment worth making.
To go deeper into the how and why, over on my youtube channel, I shared four videos about topics related to this: how to teach your kids how to clean, why I choose family work instead of chore lists, plus ideas for what family work can look like in your home, and even a video all about the purpose of a clean house (spoiler alert: it is not to impress the visitors).
I’ve also put all of those videos into a playlist:
I invite you to watch. I’d love to hear what you would add to this conversation!