Cleaning can be put on the back burner when you’re a parent, that’s for sure. Between kids, work, meals and school, housework can become, quite literally, impossible. If you find yourself furiously cleaning for company or your kids’ play dates, then you could probably use some house cleaning tips.

The easiest thing to do is to include your kids in the duties. You can also make it part of their routine so that you do not always have to do everything alone or everything all at once. Accomplishing small tasks throughout the day is so much easier than tackling the whole house on one particular day. Make a cleaning schedule that you can stick to. Use these tips to make it manageable and to get your kids willingly involved.

1) Make a reward chart that displays the schedule and put it where all of the family members can see it.

2) Make the schedule specific. For example, throw a load of laundry in and start the washer before school. Load the dryer after school. Fold and put away dry clothes before brushing your teeth at night. For each task completed, put a star or other sticker in the column next to the kid’s name that successfully completed the task.

3) Have a reward system in place. This can be extremely effective if you have more than one child. Once they begin competing, you may see your house start to stay in order as if a magic cleaning fairy had moved right in.

4) Make the rewards equivalent to the job being done. A simple guideline is to make each task deserving of a star for every five minutes that it should take. Sweeping and mopping a medium sized kitchen might be worth three stars, but vacuuming an entire level of the house might be worth six.

5) If you see family members being reluctant to do certain jobs, then make those jobs worth extra rewards. Let’s say that the bathtub really needs to be scrubbed or all of your ceiling fans need dusting. Make it a special “Weekly Challenge” where whoever volunteers to do it gets a special prize. Money can be a big motivator here for older kids. Or, if there is something big that they’re working towards, like a new cell phone or MP3 player, then you can tell them that they can earn it by completing four Weekly Challenges.

6) A good reward system needs to be tailored to the people in your home, based on their capabilities and motivations. A two year old may love to wipe down cabinets and baseboards for a popsicle, and a teenager may mow the lawn for a later curfew on Saturday night. Even grown-ups can be motivated. Repairing doors, fixing leaky faucets, dusting picture frames and cleaning windows can be rewarded with a massage, a night out with friends, or a round of golf.

Rewards that make your children feel special will give you time together. You can offer a special lunch out with Mom for simple chores like hanging their clothes on their baby hangers. Infant hangers make it easy for little kids to accomplish what is normally a grown-up task. Let you child choose the restaurant that you may all go to. Or order the family’s favorite pizza to celebrate everyone doing all of their chores for the week. You’ll be bonding and basking in the glory of your clean house before you know it!

About the Author: Kurt Adams is on the staff of Only Kids Hangers, a leading provider of baby hangers. The right infant hangers keep baby clothers organized and wooden baby hangers are great for retail stores. For more information, please visit www.onlykidshangers.com.

Routines can be really beneficial when you have a toddler in the house. They help toddlers and parents to more effectively deal with stress. You may have routines for bath time, dinner time, getting dressed, or bed time. Working routines into your day or week can help your toddler’s world more predictable and can actually make them healthier.

If you are interested in the health benefits of routines, start with hand washing, bathing, and brushing teeth. These are things that need to be done regularly, so defining the time when they should be done will help you and your toddler remember to keep it up. Once the routine is established, it is very likely that your toddler will remind you when you forget!

It is easy and fun to remember if you make up a rhyme or song when it’s time to perform a routine chore. Toddlers are more receptive to performing tasks if they know what’s coming. Learning a rhyme gets them excited to practice what they know. For example, when you’re child is washing their hands, have them sing their ABC’s to ensure that they wash them long enough. Or, if you’re in a hurry, have them repeat, “Wash them quick so we don’t get sick.”

Setting up routines around eating, sleeping and playing will help your child know when it’s time to sleep. The human body can adapt to sleeping and eating schedules, and trigger hunger or tiredness. This can be really helpful for parents and toddlers. People that aren’t on an eating schedule tend to graze and snack more between meals. They get into the habit of always eating and jeopardize their health. Having your toddler go to sleep at the same time every night will ensure that they are getting the most recuperative sleep that is essential for their growth and development. Sleep schedules help prepare children for school as well.

Following weekly and monthly routines will help you keep up with things that are hard to get done when you’re a parent. It could be something like checking milestones at the beginning of each month so that you know what to work on with your toddler. You could go through old mail once a month. Anything that needs doing can be worked into a routine. These rituals help you to stay organized and help to lower your stress.

Laundry is a routine that toddlers love to assist with. It is fun and educational for toddlers to help sort laundry. You can sort one week by type of clothing. For example, one pile will be pants, one pile will be socks, etc. You can sort by color, or by whose clothes they are. Toddlers also love to throw clothes into the washer, turn it on, and add the detergent. You can make “driving the warm laundry” part of the routine, and let your toddler play in the basket while you fold. Toddlers can help to hang laundry. Get them their own infant hangers or children’s hangers so that they can easily manipulate their clothes onto the hanger. Baby hangers make it easy to teach your child that laundry can be fun and part of the routine.

About the Author: Kurt Adams is on the staff of Only Kids Hangers, a leading provider of infant hangers. The right baby hangers, like wooden baby hangers and children’s coat hangers, keep baby clothers organized and children’s hangers are great for retail stores.

Cleaning can be put on the back burner when you’re a parent, that’s for sure. Between kids, work, meals and school, housework can become, quite literally, impossible. If you find yourself furiously cleaning for company or your kids’ play dates, then you could probably use some house cleaning tips.

The easiest thing to do is to include your kids in the duties. You can also make it part of their routine so that you do not always have to do everything alone or everything all at once. Accomplishing small tasks throughout the day is so much easier than tackling the whole house on one particular day. Make a cleaning schedule that you can stick to. Use these tips to make it manageable and to get your kids willingly involved.

1) Make a reward chart that displays the schedule and put it where all of the family members can see it.

2) Make the schedule specific. For example, throw a load of laundry in and start the washer before school. Load the dryer after school. Fold and put away dry clothes before brushing your teeth at night. For each task completed, put a star or other sticker in the column next to the kid’s name that successfully completed the task.

3) Have a reward system in place. This can be extremely effective if you have more than one child. Once they begin competing, you may see your house start to stay in order as if a magic cleaning fairy had moved right in.

4) Make the rewards equivalent to the job being done. A simple guideline is to make each task deserving of a star for every five minutes that it should take. Sweeping and mopping a medium sized kitchen might be worth three stars, but vacuuming an entire level of the house might be worth six.

5) If you see family members being reluctant to do certain jobs, then make those jobs worth extra rewards. Let’s say that the bathtub really needs to be scrubbed or all of your ceiling fans need dusting. Make it a special “Weekly Challenge” where whoever volunteers to do it gets a special prize. Money can be a big motivator here for older kids. Or, if there is something big that they’re working towards, like a new cell phone or MP3 player, then you can tell them that they can earn it by completing four Weekly Challenges.

6) A good reward system needs to be tailored to the people in your home, based on their capabilities and motivations. A two year old may love to wipe down cabinets and baseboards for a popsicle, and a teenager may mow the lawn for a later curfew on Saturday night. Even grown-ups can be motivated. Repairing doors, fixing leaky faucets, dusting picture frames and cleaning windows can be rewarded with a massage, a night out with friends, or a round of golf.

Rewards that make your children feel special will give you time together. You can offer a special lunch out with Mom for simple chores like hanging their clothes on their baby hangers. Infant hangers make it easy for little kids to accomplish what is normally a grown-up task. Let you child choose the restaurant that you may all go to. Or order the family’s favorite pizza to celebrate everyone doing all of their chores for the week. You’ll be bonding and basking in the glory of your clean house before you know it!

About the Author: Kurt Adams is on the staff of Only Kids Hangers, a leading provider of baby hangers. The right infant hangers keep baby clothers organized and wooden baby hangers are great for retail stores. For more information, please visit www.onlykidshangers.com.