Kids Can Clean Their Own Rooms - No, Really!

Sometimes we forget how literal kids are. The sweeping parental order from on high CLEAN YOUR ROOM needs to be broken down into steps in order to make sense to them, and if your tween or teen is anything like mine, a printed list might help. (A lot.)

Try printing out How To Clean a Kid's Room in 15 Minutes from About.com.

In this short, numbered article, author Sarah Aguirre starts with Step One: Grab Your Supplies. She then links to a list of cleaning supplies; however, I'd just skip this step and provide your child with some heavy-duty wipes or paper towels and a bottle of vinegar.

• Step Two: Put all dirty clothing in a hamper.
• Three: Put all trash in trash can.
• Four: Make the bed. (smoothing is acceptable)
• Five: Pick up and fold or hang clean clothes.
• Six: put all toys in appropriate container or closet.
• Seven: put all items that don't belong in the room in a container or basket.
• Eight: Vacuum.

When a To Do list is easy to follow and very specific, there's a better chance of it being followed.

Of course, I'd like to add a step: shovel out everything from under your bed. . .

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