Make housework child’s play with helping hands

Earlier this year, the Canadian Well-Being Index found that Canadians are feeling increasingly pressed for time. Not surprisingly, women – who typically handle the majority of housework and childcare duties – are feeling the crunch more than men. Are you looking to find a little more time? Get the kids involved with helping out around the house.
The younger the kids, the more help and supervision they’ll need, but you’ll be forming good habits that will help them to understand that everyone is responsible for contributing to the household. 

Take a toy out, put another away. Teaching kids to clean up as they go along will help to keep play areas tidy. Bins for different types of toys will help children remember where things go and help them learn that when there is a place for everything, it’s easy to keep things in place. Little hands can be sticky, so adults should be sure to wipe bins down with a product like Mr. Clean with Febreze Freshness Disinfectant Liquid Cleaner every week to keep them clean and kill 99.9 per cent of bacteria.  Always read and follow label for disinfecting instructions.

Sort it out. Make sorting the laundry a game. Separating light and dark clothing can help children identify colours and patterns. They can also help to put clean laundry away, delivering t-shirts and socks to their siblings and placing their own clothing back in the appropriate drawers.

It’s a wash. Fill the sink with a grease-cutting, great smelling dishwashing liquid like Dawn Plus with Baking Soda Alternative and let the kids wash their own dishes. Be sure to supervise as they wash breakable items and never place sharp objects directly into the sink where you might cut yourself reaching for them under the dish water.

Take a load off. Let the kids help to load the dishwasher. When it’s ready to go, throw in a Cascade All-in-One Action Pac. Even if those dirty dishes have been sitting overnight, Cascade – now phosphate free – will get them clean. (NC)