Chores and Teaching Kids the Value of Money

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I attempted to Vogue, and then my dog took a crap. #reallife

Keeping our house clean with kids is such a cycle. It's clean. Then, it's dirty. It's dirty. Then, it's clean. Round and round we go like a merry-go-round. Just like the ride at the state fair, this cycle makes my head spin.

As a mom, I have a choice. I can play with the kids or clean the house. Sometimes, the house just needs cleaning, and sometimes the kids just need to be played with (who am I kidding, the kids always need to be played with). The tricky part is that when I'm taking care of one of those things the other gets neglected. The mom guilt of not playing with my kids versus the wife guilt of not having a clean home is a struggle.

That said, now that my son is four, he wants to help me more. It's great, and I love it. It helps him feel useful, and he really thrives on completing tasks, so I've started asking him for more help. 

The trick for my son is truly praising him when he completes a task I've requested. When he's done, I'll clap and cheer, "Good job son! You did it. Thank you so much! I'm so proud of you." I've always done this, ever since he was a baby, and it's helped teach him to listen, and feel loved and validated. 

I ask him to clean his room, and help clean up after himself during mealtimes. It's been a real game changer for both of us.

When I used to clean his room, I would sit there and organize. It would often feel overwhelming and create unnecessary stress. I'd sit there and say "This goes with this, and that goes with that. Why is this in the wrong basket?" Blah, blah, blah, you get it. It was so dumb.

I'd categorize things in an order that made sense to me, but not necessarily to him. I'd spend way too much time "organizing things", and just minutes later everything would be thrown about because he couldn't find what he was looking for. 

This new system of having him clean his own room has done wonders for both him and I. Now, he knows where everything is, and I have one less room to worry about. I do feel bad for him though because his little sister can be quite a destructive monkey. She'll leave him a disaster of a mess in minutes. Those times though, I'm more than willing to help, or offer up his sister's help... but we already know how that will go.

With this new system he's earning a little chore money. With his money he's also learning ways to be financially responsible. It's a win-win. He cleans. He learns the value of money and saving, and momma gets to play more.

Wish I would have picked up on this mom hack years ago. Cheers!