Family clean-up day

[olderthandirt]

My girls are like any other teenagers - they really don't want to clean up any more than they have to. However, I started a family clean-up day several years ago and, believe it or not, they do enjoy it.

We do this at least twice per year, in the spring and then in the fall. Everyone must participate, unless they are working at a real job. We get up at 8 am, have breakfast together, and then tackle cleaning up the exterior of the property. In the spring, this entails raking the lawn, fertilizing the grass, spreading any grass seed we might need, cleaning the porch, etc.

We also manage to talk a lot on these days, which is good for all of us.

 

[Andersson]

No one really wants to clean but then again no one really wants to pay taxes, but we still do it! Our kids had to clean their rooms by each Friday of the week in order to have any weekend fun. They could tidy a little each day but the room had to be spotless by Friday when I got home from work.

 

[polamalu43]

What a great tradition! You are right, it's hard to get kids to want to clean. My kids help us with the outdoor chores every year too. It takes us more than a day though. The flower beds are killer at my house. They have to be mulched, weeded and taken care of each year. We also have a lot of trees and a lot of land. That means a lot of downed branches and leaves on the ground!

 

[John]

I am a bit obsessive compulsive when it comes to cleaning and organization. I have impromptu cleaning sessions whenever I see something that needs doing. My wife is good about making the kids put things away properly instead of putting them down. We do dishes as we cook and don't leave the kitchen until it's clean. We do have a cleaning lady come in once a week to do heavier chores.

 

[Timothy]

We have at least one family cleaning day per week, sometimes two. We tackle the inside of the house together, then move outside for yard work. About once a month we also tackle the car together.