Our ongoing struggle with clean up and play
Well, the girls have returned from grandma’s and with them came several new toys. Part of me wants to run away screaming “ahhh, no more toys. the toys are invading,” and other part is saying “oh cool, the girls really enjoy babies, mermaids and coloring.”
 While the amount of toys can be very overwhelming (storage, rotating) it is necessary to find some kind of organization and storage system that helps keep the chaos to a minnimum. I’m sure all the Mom’s are nodding their heads at that statement. the real problem is not the amount becuase we have the storage space, the real problem is helping the girls pick up the toys at the end of the day. Sure there is the “clean up” song and many games to play to create the clean up habit but honestly as a Mom, I am tired of helping clean up. Ahhh, that feels better. I said it, “I Karen, do not like helping my kids clean up.”
I firmly believe in allowing children the freedom to create their own play and in our household that means some items become play food, when really they once belonged to our art area. So, I am guessing you are seeing the problem. I am a Mom who encourages freedom but doesn’t want to help clean up, so what happens is the buttons from the art area become play food today, then parts in the block area and by Friday I can’t find the buttons anymore. I also believe in letting children leave projects to come back to at a later time. When is later do you ask? Well, that is the problem, I don’t give an amount of time, later is later.
So, I need to find balance, right? My belief about play is acceptable but there needs to be balance between freedom and chaos. My oldest is learning to read and she can write, so I am thinking of engaging her in the clean up process. I will ask her “when should we clean up?” Depending on her answer, we will make a chart that shows when it is time to clean up. I will also remind the girls that if they want to use the buttons, strings, wood pieces in the housekeeping area, that when it is time to clean up, they should return to objects back to the art area.
Of course I need to help my almost three year old with clean up as she is testing the whole idea of cleaning right now and without Mommy working with her, she won’t clean up. Oh and if you are familiar with a child who is almost 5, you know how they feel about everything being fair, so if I don’t help 3 yr old clean up, 5 yr old will feel I am being unfair. I can say we are learning how to clean as a family. The family that cleans together is much less likely to run into the night screaming when the child brings home yet another new toy.
Posted on July 10th, 2007 by karen
Filed under: Uncategorized