Ask:
I am at the end of my rope with my kids and getting them to clean.
What age do you expect kids to clean their own room?
My older dd will be 4 next month. I have helped her clean her room plenty of times for her to know what stuff is and where it goes. The other day when I was sick and not able to chase them around the house they tore apart almost every room. Older dd's room was totally trashed. It has now been 2 days and she has spent a lot of time in her room and it's still not clean.
I am so frustrated and tired of yelling. Nothing is getting through to her. We have taken toys away, I have threatened to NOT take her to see Shrek, she can't play outside, she can't have freinds over. Nothing is working. We made the most progress today, only because I have helped her sperate toys and told her step by step what she needed to do. BUT I think she is too old for that every time she needs her room. I told her if she's not going to be a big girl and clean then we will treat her like a baby and she doesn't get to play outside or have friends over.
When she is suppose to be in her room cleaning she is getting into her drawers and pulling out all her clothes and changing her shirts and pants a million times a day.
I am so frustrated and most days I have no energy. (this morning sickness is killing me.) I have 7 months to get the girls into sharing a room, little dd in a toddler bed and potty trained and have them helping more around the house.
Little dd (age 2) did help me clean the toy closet today. We went through every toys one by one and she could tell me what bin it went in and she put it there.
I had to tell mil NO indoor toys for dd's b-day next month. I am tired of being the one to clean them up.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Answer:
At almost four i think they still need help cleaning up. That's just my experience though.
However if you really want them to help and they refuse....tell her anything on the floor will be taken away so she better get it picked up. Then if it's not done seriously remove all the toys that are not picked up and donate them to a homeless shelter or store them for awhile.
OR you could give an allowance for doing chores or some sort of sticker chart. After a week of keeping her room clean she could get a treat of some sort.
Answer:
I agree that at 4 she might need a little bit of help. My 3 1/2 year old son seems to get frustrated when there's a big mess (even though he's the one who made it!) and tends to need a little direction when cleaning up. For example, I'll tell him to put all this Star Wars toys back in the bin. When he finishes with that, he'll get another task, etc. Most of the time I will still go in and help him clean. Sometimes kids get overwhelmed when the task is too large and it can help to break the task up into pieces.
Also I don't know what your options are as far as controlling how many toys she has in their room, but my husband and I actually moved most of the toys out of my son's room and into the hallway (we have the wooden/plastic storage bin units from Ikea). The rule is that he can't take more than one bin at a time into his room (it doesn't always work perfectly, but we do have a lot fewer messes). At one point, he was emptying every single bin EVERY DAY during naptime and we would have a horrible time getting him to clean up. We also moved his dresser into his closet so that he would be less likely to take every piece of clothing out of his drawers which he was also doing every day.
I sympathize with you...especially since I know how much the morning sickness and fatigue can magnify the situation. My older son still fights having to clean up - it's in his nature I think, but he's making progress (threatening to take away a treat or toy can and does help too). My 19-month old, thankfully, usually thinks it's fun to clean up...I hope that never changes!
Good luck!
Answer:
So I took pictures of all the toys and how I have stuff seperated and organized. Don't look at the messes on the floor. We are still struggling to get stuff put away. I want honest opinions. Do we have too many toys? Is there too much in there rooms? In my eyes, I really don't think we have a ton. I have seen people with big 10x10 rooms full of just toys.
This is the toy closet. It is in the tv room right next to the et center. (if we had a basement that's where the step down would be. But the builder just makes it into a closet if you didn't get a basement)
I have the big stuff on the floor and all the little things seperated in to toy bins.
At the top of the stairs we have a loft. It has my computer desk, treadmill, and a tv in it. There are also a few of the girls toys in the loft. They have a small bookshelf full of books(It"s ususally ripped apart and they don't put books away)
And on the other wall in the loft the girls have a doll house and we also keep the Little People Castle next to it.
In little dd's room she has a couple crates I have stacked. One has books, the other has wooden puzzles and blocks. There is also a bin for the few stuffed animals that we kept. (I took a ton to the thrift store a few months back) She has a leap frog table and walk & ride in their too.
In older dd's room she has a small table with chairs by the window and a small shelf we use for the kitchen. We put all the play food and dishes their along with a cash register.
On the other wall in her room she has a couple shelves storage we got from Target. The light pink bin drawers are where the dress up clothes are suppose to go. The other shelf has a bin for My little Ponies, Soda Pop Girls, and their brushes. The lower bin is for baby stuff, clothes, food, bottles, etc. The she has her books on the top.
So that is all we have. I really don't think it's alot for 2 girls. I just wish they could clean it up.
Answer:
Originally Posted by austing
So I took pictures of all the toys and how I have stuff seperated and organized. Don't look at the messes on the floor. We are still struggling to get stuff put away. I want honest opinions. Do we have too many toys? Is there too much in there rooms? In my eyes, I really don't think we have a ton. I have seen people with big 10x10 rooms full of just toys.
This is the toy closet. It is in the tv room right next to the et center. (if we had a basement that's where the step down would be. But the builder just makes it into a closet if you didn't get a basement)
I have the big stuff on the floor and all the little things seperated in to toy bins.
At the top of the stairs we have a loft. It has my computer desk, treadmill, and a tv in it. There are also a few of the girls toys in the loft. They have a small bookshelf full of books(It"s ususally ripped apart and they don't put books away)
And on the other wall in the loft the girls have a doll house and we also keep the Little People Castle next to it.
In little dd's room she has a couple crates I have stacked. One has books, the other has wooden puzzles and blocks. There is also a bin for the few stuffed animals that we kept. (I took a ton to the thrift store a few months back) She has a leap frog table and walk & ride in their too.
In older dd's room she has a small table with chairs by the window and a small shelf we use for the kitchen. We put all the play food and dishes their along with a cash register.
On the other wall in her room she has a couple shelves storage we got from Target. The light pink bin drawers are where the dress up clothes are suppose to go. The other shelf has a bin for My little Ponies, Soda Pop Girls, and their brushes. The lower bin is for baby stuff, clothes, food, bottles, etc. The she has her books on the top.
So that is all we have. I really don't think it's alot for 2 girls. I just wish they could clean it up.
I think it is a fair amount of two for to girls. I have wanted to get one of those shelves with the colored plastic bins in them, but I wasnt sure if it was a smart purchase. I think that you have everything ever well organized. If I were to post pictures of what my older boy's bedroom and playroom looked like, I would scare a lot of people.
Answer:
OMG!! Do not come to my house! Your house looks great! Hey you have a toy closet & I seriously wish that we had one. I definitely do not think that you have a lot of toys. You should see what we have. You already have good organization for them also. I agree that @ 4 they still need some help cleaning up. They need more direction. With my 5 1/2 dd we have a chore chart for her. For each chore that she completes each day she gets a check mark. For each check mark that she receives she gets .25 cents. At the end of the week she receives her money & at the end of the month she can buy something special with it. See if that will help your oldest get motivated. My ds is 2 & you pretty up have to clean up for him. Now he will help clean up his toys some but then he gets distracted & stops or pulls them out to play with again. It kind of is a little too much for them to process at this young age.
Answer:
We jsut bought a 4 bin cubby and baskets for my daughters room, in addition to the pastel toy bins that you have pictured. She puts her "precious" stuff on top and then each basket is for something * barbies *dress up *Little pony *school supplies.. It's working great if that's what she wants she just takes the basket down. Clean up is a snap..
Answer:
Okay I have the SAME problem and my girls are 7 and 5!!! They drive me batty!!!
I think at 4, you can be proactive with her. It may take a little while though. I would suggest standing over her and making sure when she is DONE playing, she picks it up. That will prevent bigger messes. Offer a reward or a prize each time she cleans up or cleans up without being told. How about a sticker reward chart??
Answer:
My daughter is 4 years old, and she is expected to clean her room and can do it just about on her own, with a little direction. We do have some times when she throws a fit about doing it, but I tell her she can clean up and take care of her toys or I will give them away to kids who will....
We also do stickers on reward charts.
Answer:
Luke just turned 3, and to help him be able to keep his room clean, I do a switch out every week. I only give him about 10 toys, and a few books, and I switch to different ones everyweek. I put the others in a tub and hide them in the back of my closet. Its easy for him to pick up and put away a few toys, and he doesn't get bored with them, because he gets different ones evey week. When it gets easy for him to keep the toys picked up, I give him another one. Maybe by the time hes 20 he will be able to keep them all picked up!
My husband suggested this at first, and I thought it was awful mean. But when I tried it, Luke wasn't upset at all. He acctually plays more in his room with his toys, maybe he feels more in control or something, without the mountain of toys overwhelming him? But anyway, it works great for us.