In a perfect world any mess or spill that occurs in our home magically cleans itself back up. Hey it doesn't hurt to dream right? The next best thing might be a family cleaning center. Instead of keeping cleaners under cabinets and towels in drawers, check out how this family has enabled their children to better clean up after themselves.
Nicole, aka The Sleepy Time Gal, set up a great station loaded with kid-friendly (eco-friendly/homemade) cleaners that are perfect for cleaning up quick spill and messes and she made a set of pretty cleaning rags and the kids are able to help themselves and take some responsibility for helping keep things tidy.
Check out The Sleepy Time Gal for a tutorial on making your own cleaning rags and setting up a station just like hers. Liberate your family from under the counter cleaners and see if you can make cleaning up after yourself a trend in your home.
(Images:The Sleepy Time Gal)
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I admire her initiative. But this sort of seems like telling your kids, "let's play the game where we see who can be quiet the longest.' Nice for mom, but not all that engaging for the kid.
I disagree...when kids can engage and feel a part of things, they will often embrace it. I feel truly inspired by Nicole's ideas, and her efforts to make things possible for her children to join in. My kids beg me to let them scrub the bathroom with me, but I never let them because of the harsh chemicals I am using. With Nicole's ideas, I could easily make a transition in our home that will allow them to help. I can't wait. :) Thank you for posting this! :)
All my son wants to do is be involved in the things my wife and I do. Normally, when it comes to cleaning, he is excluded because of his abilities or the danger of the chemicals used. Recently we have started involving him in as many of these things as possible and he could not be happier. He gets so proud when he has cleaned up a mess he made. Kids want to do what you do and make you proud doing them. This is an absolutely wonderful idea.
We have a small pile of rags that are on the lowest shelf in the linen closet just for our little guy. When he spills something (or more often than not just wants to help), we can tell him to go get a rag from the closet. We've done it since he was about 2 years old (he's 3 now). At this point when he spills something we don't even have to say anything - he goes straight to the closet and gets a towel. We always help him but, at 3 years old, he knows he's responsible for cleaning up after himself.