ORDER OR CHAOS?
Why children don’t like to put away their items?
Why do they tend to leave everything lying around?
Because mess is more comforting than order!
It’s more fun to have a room full of toys!
It is an expression of their imagination
Mess also reflects their freedom, independence and creativity
We have all tried various methods with our children of different ages, some have worked and others have not.
Here are our experiences of what we think works best in different situations.
To begin, clear rules about food and space must be established.
For example:
- food is only allowed in the kitchen and in the dining room,
- explain the difference between common spaces and the child’s private space.
Value or reward the child’s efforts.
Children need to be taught how to organize themselves. This is a real learning process. Encouragement and help make tidying up faster and more efficient. As time goes on, parents will do less and the child does more by himself.
Establish regular routines from an early age. At least once a week, repeat instructions often, and do things sequentially, step by step, one type of tidying at a time.
Teach the child to put away a toy, a piece of clothing or an object before taking out the next one.
Provide boxes or baskets, colored or patterned labels, located in strategic places, easy to use.
When tidying up, use playful elements such as timing, music to set the pace, etc.
For young children, our toolbox contains songs and rhymes that will motivate them.
Use the 2 minutes rule.
Any task that takes less than 2 minutes should be undertaken immediately. Simply because you would waste too much time planning it for later or rereading it again and again each time you consult your to-do list.
Apply the 5S rule
The term « 5S » comes from 5 Japanese words: Seiri (storage), Seiton (tidying), Seiso (cleaning), Seiketsu (order), Shitsuke (thoroughness)
If you ask your child to vacuum, they may be more likely to tidy up their space.
When there is too much mess, set a deadline by which the space must be clean. If they fail to meet the deadline, place all items in a large garbage bag and take away everything (without throwing it in the garbage).
Ask your child to always leave a passageway between their bedroom door and their bed.
On day set aside for cleaning, ask your child to tidy their space or at least to pick up what is on the floor. If they fail to do that, no one will clean their space!
I was sometimes so frustrated that I ended up tidying my daughter’s room, picking up everything that was on the floor and making piles of papers and notebooks on the desk. This always ended badly because she couldn’t find anything. There was method in her mess, known only to her!
