Getting your kids to clean up their bedrooms can be an exhausting challenge. Many kids will do just about anything to avoid cleaning up including whining, dawdling, getting distracted or trying to distract you, and outright refusal. In order to help you overcome and eventually avoid having this battle, here are some great tips:

Set a good example
Kids are far more responsive to what we do than what we say. Because of this, it is crucial to lead by example.

Respect their space
Children are more likely to want to keep their space tidy and organized if it feels like their own. Give them control over how the space looks and where things are kept.

Define cleanliness
You can tell your kids to clean up until you are blue in the face but it is never going to get done if you don’t tell them exactly what they need to do. Make a checklist to help them learn all of the steps involved in getting their room up to your standards of clean and don’t forget to include:

• Making the bed
• Put laundry in the hamper
• Putting away clean clothes
• All toys and sports equipment off the floor and in its place
• Dusting and Vacuuming

Do chores together
Armchair supervision is often less effective than active participation. Set aside a specific amount of time to work together getting their room spic and span and, once they have learned how to perform all of the necessary tasks, use the time to catch up on how their schoolwork is going and what is going on with their friends.

Set reasonable standards
Keep your expectations reasonable. Show them how to do something and then make them do it themselves or they will never learn. Proper cleaning up is essential to prevent illness and injury so establish strict rules about garbage, dirty dishes, laundry, broken glass, and scattered toys.

For more tips on cleaning and organizing, contact Take Time Home Cleaning & Lifestyle Services at 204-770-7103.

The best order of operation is: De-clutter, Reorganize, Spring Clean. We’re going to look at the most efficient way to de-clutter your home. Follow each step as listed:

1. Find 4 boxes and label:

a) Toss it—items that are damaged, broken and not worth giving away

b) Sell or Give Away—seldom or never used but often have an emotional attachment; be hard on yourself and ask
“when did I last use it?” This can be the most difficult part of the entire project

c) Store It—useful and needed items but used infrequently

d) Put Away—used often; must have a designated place.

Work your way through each room depositing items appropriately into the boxes. To stay organized, finish one room before starting another. The feeling of accomplishment will energize you to continue on to the next room. Remember to include closets, cabinets, and storage areas. This may take a day or several depending on the circumstances.

2. Toss, Sell, Store and Put Away

When you’re finished, you can dispose of the Toss it items, put the Store It and Put Away items in their designated homes. Now…on to the difficult part.

We advise our clients to keep the Sell or Give Away box in the garage or basement for one week giving you time to accept or reject the idea of being without those “emotional” items. If you just can’t part with an item then you should retrieve it and find a place for it in your home. But…be hard on yourself.

Garage sales or charities are typical ways for dealing with the items in this category.

Take Time Home Cleaning & Lifestyle Services offers De-cluttering, Reorganizing and Spring Cleaning by experienced and certified professionals. For more information call our office at 204-770-7103 or send us an estimate request.

In Answer to a Question we got last week…

Last week one of our clients said “I’ve gone through four other cleaning companies before I found you. What do you do to get my house so clean?”

First, we start by working in a Top to Bottom, Left to Right, Back to Front system. Starting at the top working our way to the bottom, one wall at a time always paying attention to the details. This ensures we are getting absolutely everything down to the baseboards.  Then we work our way into the room, cleaning and dusting all furniture and floors. We also use terrific enviro friendly products. We can also use the client’s products if requested.

In the case of cleaning floors, we use the hands and knees method instead of just mopping to ensure we are cleaning corner to corner, getting in all the little nooks and crannies and making sure to clean marks off baseboards.

Our main focus while cleaning your home is meticulous attention to detail and quality control. All cleaners are quality checked on an ongoing basis.

We have a 100% Customer Satisfaction Policy because we stand behind our work. If for any reason the Cleaning Technicians accidently missed something, just give us a call within 24 hours of the clean, and we will correct the problem.