Cleaning is always more fun when it is done together, and summer is still a fine time to get Spring cleaning done. Choose a major task in your house, and enlist your children’s help. Wash the windows, clean out a closet or an attic, wax the car or dig up a flower bed. Try to make the activity fun: play loud music, use trash cans as basketball goals, promise to sell stuff on Ebay!

NOTE: If your house is out of control, visit The Fly Lady at flylady.net. Her virtual nagging will help your whole family get your house back in order!

One of the books recommended by The Fly Lady is Get Your Act Together. It’s available at your local library or from Amazon.com. From Library Journal: “Maintaining that most organization manuals are written by the naturally efficient who can’t empathize with the born slob, Young and Jones tell their own stories of the overwhelming messes their households had become and of their recovery. The keys to their program are self-esteem, a buddy system, and 3 by 5 cards. Their methods are simple and easy to follow. The sisters leaven their practical advice with stories from their own lives, which provide sympathy and encouragement to the reader. No matter how much of a mess you’re in, theirs was just as bad (or worse)! A good system, presented with style and sympathy.”

Tags: children cleaning, chores, housecleaning