15 Minute Cleaning Routine

Okay, I know, we all hate cleaning!  However, I've realized that it's a chore that's never done and never stays done, so I might as well find ways to make it fun.  I know, fun and cleaning don't normally go together, but I'm going to try new things to make them. 

Although I have a great routine in place, I've noticed that I'm doing most of the work!!!  What can I do to have my kids join in the fun?  I decided to make cleaning a race...I don't know if it'll work or for how long...but what the heck, why not?  Here's the thing, my girls are still young enough to be tricked into playing games...LOL!

The object of the game is to get them excited about helping me clean. The rule is that everyone must participate.  The incentive (for me), is that I'm not doing all the cleaning by myself.  Hopefully, once they get into the routine, they'll learn how to clean up after themselves.  I know it'll probably take some tweaking to get it just right, but I'm sure either way, we'll have tons of fun.

Since their attention spans are short, I going to start with 5 minutes of cleaning in each room.  I figure with three of us cleaning, it's still a total of 15 minutes of cleaning.  If I get them to concentrate on three rooms a day, we'll each have cleaned for 15 minutes a day.  I'll be using my microwave timer for now, but I found this really cute (really expensive) timer that I'm sure will motivate them (if they each get to play with it).  I just ordered it and no, I don't normally spend so much on something so small, but an indulgence now and then helps jump start new projects.

                                     *image courtesy of Amazon