i was discussing this sort of thing w/ my MIL recently and she said there were some books she had when the boys were young that explained things to kids that adults often tell them to do w/out giving them explicit instructions. so i thought about it and decided to write my own. i mean, really, if i expect shane to clean his room, i ought to tell him HOW i want him to clean it, so he knows what i expect. so i wrote them out. keep in mind, these are 9 year old instructions. they would have to be adjusted accordingly. i actually don’t expect him to do much less than i would expect of myself. (bummer for him!)
How to clean your room:
- strip your bed.
- put all dirty clothes in the laundry basket
- put all clean clothes in the closet or dresser
- put all shoes in the rack on the door.
- pick up everything off the floor and put it on your bed to sort.
- start by throwing away anything that’s trash.
- return anything that doesn’t belong in your room to where it does belong.
- put anything remaining on your bed away
- dresser: put away or throw away anything that doesn’t belong; run yellow duster over lamp and dresser surface.
- desk: put away or throw away anything that doesn’t belong; run yellow duster over surface and computer.
- shelves: put away or throw away anything that doesn’t belong, straighten up books/toys.
- under your bed: remove anything that doesn’t belong and put/throw it away.
- behind your door: put/throw away anything that is there.
- closet: make sure all clothes are on hangers and the floor is clean.
- pick clean sheets to put on your bed.
- empty garbage can
- vacuum floor.
- return vacuum and duster to their homes.
I might have to print this off for future reference... somehow I'm pretty sure we'll be having those same conversations here in a few years.
ReplyDeleteA great reminder that we need to set clear, explicit expectations for our kids!
So...I have printed off these directions. Not to give to my son as he has my genes and is a neat/tidy freak...TG! (very proud ;D) BUT for the girls! Thanks Rachel...and good luck with this. I told my David about this and he laughed and said 'good luck with that one...it'll never work'
ReplyDeleteWe will see huh?!?! SMILES!
A couple questions, does he have to remake his bed, because it doesn't say so. And do your duster and vacuum really have a home?
ReplyDeletehaha! yes they have a home! the duster lives under the bathroom counter in the 'cleaning supplies bin' and the vacuum must be docked (behind a livingroom chair) so it will charge. that's it's home. ;) no, shane doesn't have to remake his bed. dave is the bed maker in our family. shane's bed is a bunk bed and the way the mattresses fit into the frame it is VERY hard to get the sheets on. i can barely do it... which is how dave wound up w/ the job. it's the bed his dad made for him and his brother when they were kids. i figure he's been making that bed a good share of his life, so he's got lots of experience!
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