The Great Sixty Minute Clean Up
While scanning through Pinterest posts, I came across several parenting pins. When I come across these little bits of parenting genius, I am most impressed by their simplicity. The best ideas are often common sense kinds of suggestions that never in a million years would ever cross my mind.
Having spent a week battling over homework, bedtime, tooth brushing, baths, television, and even snacking with my eight year old son, I was feeling like the least empowered parent ever. Reading the advice of these perfect Pinterest parents, I was determined to think of some little nugget of knowledge to share with the world. If I could find that gem of genius, I knew that my parenting inadequacies would fade in the brilliance of my creativity and problem solving abilities. I just had to think. ,As it turns out, I had to think a very long time, and after quite a bit of thinking, I realized that I don't have anything worthy of the term "brilliant", but I do have The Great Sixty Minute Cleanup, and now I will share it with you.
Before I continue, I must give credit where credit is due, to my sister, Lisa. She is one of those parenting powerhouses that we all strive to become. She has proven her superhuman abilities through the trials and tribulations of raising two near perfect children. I called her one day seeking some advice on how to deal with a huge problem, keeping the house clean without having to dedicate my life to it. Working full time outside of the home and having a long commute to boot, time is at a premium. Her solution? She had discovered the power of the kitchen timer in overcoming this all too familiar and commonly shared dilemma. On Saturday mornings, she would assemble her entire family along with the required cleaning supplies together into one room of the house. She would set the kitchen timer for twenty minutes, and everyone would break into a cleaning frenzy that would last until the timer signaled the cessation of the cleaning in that room. The family would then move to the next room, and the process would be repeated until all rooms in the house had been cleaned. I was amazed by her ingenuity and began to make plans of my own.
As my child was younger and my house was smaller, I knew that adaptations would need to be made. Hence The Great Sixty Minute Cleanup was birthed. With great expectations for cleanliness, I gathered my family together. My husband and son were about to learn of our grand new experiment. I would be setting the kitchen timer for exactly 60 minutes. During that sixty minutes we would each be assigned an area of the house to clean. My son would be responsible for his bedroom and the living room where his toys gravitate. My husband and I would divide and conquer the rest of the house. I am the best at putting stuff up and organizing. My husband is the king of surface cleaning, vacuuming, and chemicals.
I was giddy with anticipation. Would this really work? Would my floors be toy free? Would my child no longer be able to use the dust on the shelves as a modified Etch a Sketch? Could we actually work together as a family to clean up our home? I knew the key to my success was rooted in competition and music.
I told my son, that he would be responsible for selecting the music for our cleaning session. We pulled up the Direct TV music stations, and my boy went straight to the Salsa channel! I think the music is in his blood! Next I explained to my fellow cleaners that there was much more than cleaning at stake today. The person that worked the hardest and did the absolute best job of cleaning, would win control of the television for the night. Yes I did! As I am never in charge of the television, I would be missing out on nothing, but the big and little man were now going for one of the most coveted prizes in the household, the remote control. It was on!
The music was playing. Everyone was in their assigned positions. I set the timer to 60 minutes, and the first ever Sixty Minute Cleanup was underway. We all worked as quickly as we possibly could, sneaking peeks at the progress of our competitors There was dancing and lots of smack talk. Taunts were flying about who was watching what on television that night. The house was getting cleaned, and on top of everything else, we were having fun!
When the sixty minute timer screeched at us, we had all accomplished our assigned tasks, and we had completed more than three hours of cleaning in one hour. I was ecstatic because I had a clean house and a fun new family memory. My husband was happy because I was happy, and my son was happy because he won the right to wield the remote control for one whole evening.
We have now had many Great Sixty Minute Cleanups, and although the boys, especially the bigger one, groan every time I tell them that we will be having one, I think they both secretly enjoy the special time that it has become. We have cleaned for a trip to the local park. We have cleaned for a chance to stay up later on a weekend night. We have even cleaned for a special dinner at McDonalds. The prize is always changing, but amazingly, the winner is always the same. He keeps assuring me that one day that one day I will be the winner. Of course, I know that I already am.
Having spent a week battling over homework, bedtime, tooth brushing, baths, television, and even snacking with my eight year old son, I was feeling like the least empowered parent ever. Reading the advice of these perfect Pinterest parents, I was determined to think of some little nugget of knowledge to share with the world. If I could find that gem of genius, I knew that my parenting inadequacies would fade in the brilliance of my creativity and problem solving abilities. I just had to think. ,As it turns out, I had to think a very long time, and after quite a bit of thinking, I realized that I don't have anything worthy of the term "brilliant", but I do have The Great Sixty Minute Cleanup, and now I will share it with you.
Before I continue, I must give credit where credit is due, to my sister, Lisa. She is one of those parenting powerhouses that we all strive to become. She has proven her superhuman abilities through the trials and tribulations of raising two near perfect children. I called her one day seeking some advice on how to deal with a huge problem, keeping the house clean without having to dedicate my life to it. Working full time outside of the home and having a long commute to boot, time is at a premium. Her solution? She had discovered the power of the kitchen timer in overcoming this all too familiar and commonly shared dilemma. On Saturday mornings, she would assemble her entire family along with the required cleaning supplies together into one room of the house. She would set the kitchen timer for twenty minutes, and everyone would break into a cleaning frenzy that would last until the timer signaled the cessation of the cleaning in that room. The family would then move to the next room, and the process would be repeated until all rooms in the house had been cleaned. I was amazed by her ingenuity and began to make plans of my own.
As my child was younger and my house was smaller, I knew that adaptations would need to be made. Hence The Great Sixty Minute Cleanup was birthed. With great expectations for cleanliness, I gathered my family together. My husband and son were about to learn of our grand new experiment. I would be setting the kitchen timer for exactly 60 minutes. During that sixty minutes we would each be assigned an area of the house to clean. My son would be responsible for his bedroom and the living room where his toys gravitate. My husband and I would divide and conquer the rest of the house. I am the best at putting stuff up and organizing. My husband is the king of surface cleaning, vacuuming, and chemicals.
I was giddy with anticipation. Would this really work? Would my floors be toy free? Would my child no longer be able to use the dust on the shelves as a modified Etch a Sketch? Could we actually work together as a family to clean up our home? I knew the key to my success was rooted in competition and music.
I told my son, that he would be responsible for selecting the music for our cleaning session. We pulled up the Direct TV music stations, and my boy went straight to the Salsa channel! I think the music is in his blood! Next I explained to my fellow cleaners that there was much more than cleaning at stake today. The person that worked the hardest and did the absolute best job of cleaning, would win control of the television for the night. Yes I did! As I am never in charge of the television, I would be missing out on nothing, but the big and little man were now going for one of the most coveted prizes in the household, the remote control. It was on!
The music was playing. Everyone was in their assigned positions. I set the timer to 60 minutes, and the first ever Sixty Minute Cleanup was underway. We all worked as quickly as we possibly could, sneaking peeks at the progress of our competitors There was dancing and lots of smack talk. Taunts were flying about who was watching what on television that night. The house was getting cleaned, and on top of everything else, we were having fun!
When the sixty minute timer screeched at us, we had all accomplished our assigned tasks, and we had completed more than three hours of cleaning in one hour. I was ecstatic because I had a clean house and a fun new family memory. My husband was happy because I was happy, and my son was happy because he won the right to wield the remote control for one whole evening.
We have now had many Great Sixty Minute Cleanups, and although the boys, especially the bigger one, groan every time I tell them that we will be having one, I think they both secretly enjoy the special time that it has become. We have cleaned for a trip to the local park. We have cleaned for a chance to stay up later on a weekend night. We have even cleaned for a special dinner at McDonalds. The prize is always changing, but amazingly, the winner is always the same. He keeps assuring me that one day that one day I will be the winner. Of course, I know that I already am.
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