Mrs. Clean Jean's Housekeeping with Kids: Family Pickup Lines (and Household Routines) That Work with Less Work from You

by Tara Aronson

Got Kids?
Get Mrs. Clean Jean's Housekeeping with Kids!

From staying sane while sharing a bathroom (whether with teens or with toddlers in the throes of toilet training) to getting the kids to pitch in on laundry day (and keep the darks separate!), Mrs. Clean Jeans brings a wealth of tried-and-true tactics to the rescue. Her motto is "You didn't make this mess all by yourself, so why should you have to clean it up?" So she's figured out all the ingenious ways to get your kids to help you do the chores--or even do them all by themselves!

Mrs. Clean Jeans starts with strategies, including involving the whole family, letting kids pick their favorite chores, having a set chore time so everybody's working together, and keeping chores reasonable, plus, of course, giving suitable rewards for jobs well done. Then she takes readers room by room, showing how to create kid-friendly storage, make sure things get picked up, avoid fights and confusion, and see to it that everything gets done--including the dishes.

Packed with firsthand tips from the author's years of cleaning with three kids (now ages 3 through 13), Mrs. Clean Jeans' Housekeeping with Kids is the ultimate household help book

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Home Economics

288 pages, Paperback

First published March 24, 2004

Reviews

[Kristina Seleshanko · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. I was expecting more ideas for motivating kids to clean. There are just the old standards here - none of which work with my kids. The vast majority of this book is devoted to cleaning various parts of the house, with thoughts on which tasks are co-host for kids of various ages. There's really nothing new here, either.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book about three years ago, and told myself I'd read it again every few years as the kids grow, so that I could see what new things they're capable of doing and learning about housekeeping and keeping the home clean. It's pretty thorough, and goes a bit further than I would actually use, but it is good for ideas. A clean home with kids is not hopeless.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the first chapter about motivating children to clean especially helpful. The rest of the chapters focused on organizing the home, room by room, in a family-friendly way. A good book to reference if a particular room lacks efficiency.

[Kym · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author has some good ideas, but unless you live in a mcmansion, it's going to be hard to put many of these ideas into practice. I'm still reading though...