The Art of Dust-Busting and Memory-Making

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,

for children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.

I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep – Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Yes, to my sorrow, my babies have grown up before my eyes. Looking back at their early childhood, I’m happy to say, I never  let “cleaning and scrubbing” interfere with a chance to rock, play and create wonderful memories with one or two or four of my babies. Truthfully, I didn’t let “cleaning and scrubbing” interfere with much, child-related or not.

But as the years have flown by, I must admit that the cobwebs did not “quiet down” and the dust did not “go to sleep.” In fact, at some point during my kids’ elementary school years, I realized that somebody needed to clean the house. Somebody needed to pick up the Legos, wipe the grape jelly off the wall and clean the dog’s nose prints off the patio door. The dust and the cobwebs were the least of our problems.

Realizing that I was probably earning high marks in Memory Making and failing miserably at Housekeeping 101, I found the answer. And it, my neat-freak, memory-making, fellow-parenting friends, was the solution to our problem.

It started as a way to get my kids to help me pick up our very messy house. It ended with a clean if not spotless house and four kids - ages six, seven, eight and nine - begging “When can we play the Cleaning Game again?”

Here’s how it works:

On little slips of paper, write down all the jobs that need to be done.

*Wipe down the baseboards

*Make the bed

*Scrub the crayon off the wall

*Load the dishwasher

*Organize the art bins

*Disinfect the toilet

*Sweep the kitchen floor

*Fold one load of laundry

Break down the bigger jobs into smaller jobs that can be accomplished in three minutes or less. For example, if there is a sink full of dishes, you might break it down into three different jobs. On one piece of paper you might write LOAD ALL DIRTY CUPS AND GLASSES INTO THE DISHWASHER. On another slip of paper you could write LOAD ALL PLATES AND BOWLS INTO THE DISHWASHER. Or WASH ALL POTS AND PANS. Instead of CLEAN THE BASEBOARDS, you might write CLEAN THE BASEBOARDS IN THE GUEST BATHROOM.

If it’s a challenging job, add the words PICK A PARTNER TO HELP to the slip. Or add PICK TWO PARNTERS.

To make it more fun and exciting, add slips that say things like TAKE A BREAK THIS ROUND or GOOD FOR ONE FREE YOGURT or CHOOSE TONIGHT’S DINNER. Fun stuff.

Put all the slips of paper into a hat and let each kid choose one. There will be lots of groans as one chooses LOAD AND START WASHING MACHINE, but cheers as another chooses TAKE A THREE MINUTE NAP.

Time each round of jobs for three minutes. Everyone starts at the same time and everyone stops at the same time. If the job didn’t get completed in three minutes, then the kid has to complete the job in the next round before going on to a new job.

There are lots of upsides to The Cleaning Game. It’s creative. It’s fast. It’s challenging. It shows your kids that fun can be found in the most mundane tasks. Even cleaning the toilet.

And yes, the downside is that it won’t all be perfect. The windows might have streaks and the bedspread might be crooked. And, as was the case at our house, your kids might actually fold and put away a whole basket of dirty laundry.

But really, if your kids are game, the good will outweigh the bad. You will make memories, your house will be (sort of) clean and you won’t miss a minute of time with your kids.  Together, you will be immersed in the cleaning and the scrubbing and the dust and the cobwebs.

That basket of dirty clothes my kids mistakenly put away? They did it in less than three minutes. I’m not going to complain

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