Cleaning House Month One {Update}

A few weeks ago I shared how we were using Cleaning House by Kay Wills Wyma to rid our family of a sense of entitlement.  This is going to be a long process and I plan on taking this one month at a time for the next twelve months.  Lets see if I can stick with it!

For the first month we have been working on simply making beds and keeping our bedrooms tidy.  When I say 'we' I am also referring to my husband and myself.  Sad to say it, but our bedroom was also a source of major clutter, it seemed that our bedroom would often become the dumping ground for anything that we just didn't have a place for.

The plan was that our kids would earn a quarter a day for the entire month for making their beds and picking up their rooms.  Each child has their own jar of 30 quarters, and each morning I would walk around and check their bedrooms.  There was no warning, except for the first day when I informed them that this check would take place about 8:15 every morning.

I am so happy to say that at the end of this month (August), there were very few quarters lost!!  Elijah our 10 year old, lost only 2 quarters for the whole month.  Noah, who is 7, also only lost 2 quarters.  Zach, who is a young 4, only lost 5 quarters.

They each got into their routine and would immediately get up, make their beds, get dressed and then make sure their rooms were picked up.  What I love about this method was that each child knew what was expected and didn't get upset about loosing quarters because they understood from the get go what was expected.  I had explained to them there would be no second chances, and no warnings given when the room checks would take place.  This went for Saturday and Sundays as well, not just the weekdays.

I am excited to see the big difference in their rooms and their attitudes towards keeping tidy rooms.  Honestly, I wasn't going to do this with my 4 year old (he just turned 4 in the middle of August), because I didn't think he could handle it.  With only about a week of training he was able to make his bed on his own.  I realize that 'making a bed' could mean different things to different people, so let me clarify what we determine is a 'made bed', for us it means pulling their covers up and straightening any stuffed animals that are on their bed.  Since the 7 and 4 year old share a room and have bunk beds, its a bit more difficult to make the beds.  They each only have a comforter on their beds, I don't have time to mess with flat sheets!  It also allows for a simplified bed making process.

Here are the before and after photos taken of their rooms.

I did not give a warning that I would be taking photos for the after picture.  Not sure you can tell from the picture or not, but Noah's bed is a bit untidy at this moment.  He will be cleaning that up soon.  I do feel a bit bad for him, he's a child that loves his things and doesn't want anyone *ahem* little brother, messing with his stuff.  So he crams all of his worldly possessions into his bed.

This month we will be tackling kitchen patrol.  Each child, not sure yet we will include Zach in this, will be responsible for planning, shopping and preparing a meal.  I'll let you know how this turns out at the end of September!