This post was sponsored by Hefty® all opinions are my own
Messes happen. They are a normal part of life when you are raising tiny humans. But that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t get overwhelming at times.
I enjoyed the six-month period of life in which both of my kids were young enough to help me clean anything if I just told them they were “big helpers”. Sadly, long gone are the days that being a helper matters to the kids and we’ve had to find better ways to get the kids involved in helping out around the house.
One of the most successful ways I’ve gotten them involved is by assigning them random tasks.
I truly thought this would only work once, but to my delight it’s been something that we’ve been able to successfully pull off a few times now!
At the bare-bones this is just a list of chores to do that they pull out of a cup at random. But, there are a few things that make this method work where other methods we have tried have fallen flat.
Randomness – The fact that they never know WHAT task they are going to pull out of the cup keeps them coming back to see what they’ll get next. SOMETIMES they pull out a cleaning job, but other times it’s something fun, like spinning in circles or jumping jacks. Each child always wants to be the first to draw the silly tasks so they hurry through their jobs so they can pull a new paper faster.
Small jobs – Make sure each task you write down is small enough that the kids don’t get bored or discouraged. “Clean your room” is difficult and might feel unattainable to a kid. Try things like “put all dirty clothes in the hamper” and “straighten the books on your shelf” and even “pick up all the trash in your room and throw it away”. Smaller jobs will keep kids engaged in their work because they always feel like the job they are given is something they can do.
The right tools – Make sure your kids have all the tools they need to successfully clean up their messes. Knowing WHERE things go in their room is a huge part of the battle so they can successfully put things away. Make sure your trash bags are up to the job as well. We use Hefty® Ultra Strong™ trash bags because they can stand up to all the crazy messes the kids throw at them. The Hefty® Ultra Strong™ bags are tear resistant AND puncture resistant so I don’t have to worry about the kids busting through the bag and creating a bigger mess when they are trying to clean! Strong bags made for strong moms.
Speaking of strong moms, have you seen the hilarious commercials with John Cena sharing his Ultra Strong™ mom talking about how Hefty® bags are ultra-strong and provide ultra-savings? They also have an ARM & HAMMER™ patented odor neutralizer which means even the stinkiest smells the kids throw in there get taken care of! There is a huge variety of amazing scents to choose from for the bags too, which is really nice, especially in the kitchen!
Trash bag on a knob – When we’re doing a big cleaning of their rooms I will hang an empty Hefty® Ultra Strong™ trash bag on a door knob so they have easy access to the trash. When they get a task like “throw away 10 pieces of trash from your room” they don’t have to run back and forth from the kitchen trash. And trust me… 10 pieces of trash from a child’s room is not hard to do. There are so many half-colored pictures and broken kid’s meal toys in both of their rooms, it’s not rare that they’ll be able to at least fill a Hefty® trash bag up halfway. The break resistant grip drawstring makes sure that the bags don’t fall down in the trash can (but also holds up when you hang one on a door knob too!)
When you’ve give them the tools they need to succeed AND added in a bit of fun, tackling messes with the kids is suddenly much easier. In fact, Hefty® even offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee, if they don’t handle all your trash bag needs, you’ll get your money back!
This post is sponsored by Hefty®
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