When my children were younger (and when there were fewer of them) I would take charge of tidying most of their toys, books and assorted things myself. I would enlist their help, but I would do the bulk of the work myself, all the while directing them as to what they needed to do each step of the way.
This worked just fine for a while, but when we added to the mix a few more children and responsibilities associated with a wide range of ages, my old method of keeping the house tidy became obsolete very quickly. A houseful of children has the potential to destroy any hint of neatness in every, single room in less than five minutes, especially if there is a toddler involved! When we reached this stage, I poured my heart out to the Lord, and He showed me that I could give my children areas of the house which they could be responsible for. Once this illuminating idea dawned on me, I was able to quickly come up with a tidying routine, giving each of my children over the age of four a set of “Tidy Spaces,” areas which they responsible for keeping free of toys, books and such.
Each child has an upstairs and a downstairs tidy space. They are responsible to clean up their tidy spaces several times a day: before breakfast, before lunch, before bedtime, and whenever else I or Michael deems it necessary. I only need to give reminders throughout the day that “it’s time to do tidy spaces,” and this simple reminder is infinitely easier than calling out a 10-minute list of commands several times a day, reassessing the needs and duties each time. One daughter tidies the children’s bathroom and living room. A son tidies the hallways and steps. A younger daughter tidies any toys in my bedroom and the kitchen. These rooms do not get extremely messy, but each usually contains at least a few toys or books that have been dropped on the floor. Each child will clean up messes that their siblings have caused in their tidy spaces, but they don’t complain because they know that other people are cleaning up after them, too!
While the children are busy with their tidy spaces, I sometimes help them with a particularly messy room, but usually I take the opportunity to tackle some tidy spaces of my own. My desk and kitchen counter tend to be hot spots for my messes!
