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Many parents and experts agree that chores are good for children – helping them get better grades and be more confident, responsible and organized as they grow older.  Cumming professional organizer, Dawn McCloskey of Ultra Organized, agrees with the experts but realizes that getting children to do chores can be a chore in itself!

Chores will always be a battle if everyone isn’t clear about the expectations.  Parents need to provide clear instructions on how tasks are to be completed.  Of course, making chores fun also helps.  McCloskey offers the following suggestions to make chores fun:

·        It’s no fun to clean up by yourself, so give your child 2-5 minutes of your time to “help each other” clean the bathroom, dust, or pick up toys.
·        Set time limits and do a little bit at a time, instead of spending hours cleaning.
·        Along the same lines, have a race of “beat the clock” and see how much can be picked up before the timer goes off or during a commercial break, before the show comes back on.
·        Allowing your child to choose their favorite chores will ensure the job gets done.  McCloskey has one child who loves cleaning the toilets, so guess what the child does well?
·        Play music or sing as the area is cleaned up.
·        What child doesn’t like to throw things?  Set the hamper across the room and let the child toss his clothes into the hamper.
·        For young children, teach him his colors by saying, “Pick up something blue.”  Help him with letter sounds by saying, “Find everything that starts with the same sound as the first letter in your name.”
·        Help children learn height order by having them arrange their books in a basket or on a shelf by height – largest to the left; smallest to the right.
·        Provide child-size cleaning tools.  (Contact McCloskey at dawn@ultraorganized.com for a website that has products that are specifically made for children.)  There are products for working in the yard, cleaning, cooking, sewing and woodworking, etc.  The products on this website are used in the Montessori classroom.
·        Rotating chores so that a child isn’t stuck doing the same chores will prevent boredom and arguments between siblings.
·        If rotating chores doesn’t work, let your children pick chores out of a hat each week.
·        Rewards work wonders.  One of McCloskey’s clients used a jar of coins as a reward for her pre-teen.  The tween started with $5 in coins at the beginning of the week.  If chores were not completed, a quarter was removed from the jar.  At the end of the week, the tween was given the jar of coins – she controlled how much she earned each week.

Regarding expectations…  Explain in advance what the consequences will be if chores are not completed and enforce the rules.  As with any habit, it will take several weeks before things become a routine and everyone is working together to maintain order in the house.  Teaching your child to put away things where they belong encourages good organization skills that will last a lifetime.

Additional suggestions for becoming organized and reducing clutter can be obtained by contacting Dawn McCloskey at 770-844-1049 or dawn@ultraorganized.com. 

Dawn McCloskey is a residential professional organizer and founder of Ultra Organized, LLC in Dawsonville, Georgia.  Ultra Organized helps busy families lead better lives by creating order from chaos.  McCloskey is a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers.  For more information, call 770-844-1049, email dawn@ultraorganized.com or visit www.ultraorganized.com.

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