Why do we clean the house?

[Nosy]

Help me articulate an answer to this question from my 5 year old. My reasons are 1) Mommy and Daddy feel more relaxed when the house is clean, 2) you enjoy playing more when a few toys are out instead of everything strewn all over the room. If I give answer 2, DS always insists that he likes it messy. I want to give some sort of explanation about how our family works as a unit so we all work together to make our lives more enjoyable, so cleaning is one way we work together to make our lives run more smoothly. Thoughts?

[sapphire_chan]

Does he have his own room, or an area you can toss toys back into, where he could experiment with being messy? Could you help him with making observations to support or reject his theory that he "likes it better messy"?

What are your standards of "clean" vs "messy"? Is he maybe saying he likes it "messy" because you're a bit too enthusiastic about putting things away as soon as he's not using them?

Anyway to answer your actual question, we tidy the house so we can find the things we want/need when we want/need them and so we have room to do so. We clean the house so that the things we want to use are nice to use and in their best condition. (Here's another fun learning experiment if you can get ahold of a pair of scissors that are ready for the trash, let him get them utterly grimy and then try to cut out paper snowflakes and then have him use a pair of clean and sharp scissors for the same project.)

It occurs to me I'm thinking of your ds as a very science-minded child.

[laohaire]

Funny, my 4 year old was asking me this exact same question today.

I didn't have any brilliant answers though. I have some vague answers in my head but haven't worked them out yet.

[philomom]

Keeping things clean is healthier for growing boys and girls.


-fewer bugs/flies
-less dust for asthma related illnesses
-fewer allergens help everyone breathe better
-it's pretty and helps us share our home with friends more

I'm sure you could add more to my list.

[artgoddess]

I get stressed and cranky when the house is a cluttered mess. My family knows this and understands this. Basically it comes down to "When mama's not happy, nobody is happy"

[ollyoxenfree]

Taking care of our home and our possessions is one way to take care of each other. Our home and our possessions shouldn't be more important than the people in our family, but if we take care of our things, we are demonstrating some of the respect and love that we feel for each other.

On a practical level, if our home is clean and organized, it helps us to find things, it makes life easier, it prevents hazards (if there is clutter on the stairs and near the doors, we may not be able to leave quickly and safely if there is an emergency), it eliminates stress, it's less expensive (how many times have I had to buy a replacement because I can't find the original - scissors, tape, pens...).

Good luck - my dd insists that she loves mess. She's 13 y.o., and there's little I can do about her room. I just expect that she contribute to keeping the rest of the house in order - and even then, it's an ongoing challenge, lol. She's also creative, extroverted, funny, happy and loving, so I wouldn't ever trade her for a neat freak.

[meemee]

words didnt work for my then 4 year old. so i let her experiment and she soon learnt why.

she learns best that way.

[crl]

My actual answer, "I refuse to live in a pig sty."

I've also explained that living in a clean house helps us stay healthy. This is generally true for everyone on some level, but since we all have dustmite allergies keeping things picked up so I can dust, vacuum and sweep is quite important for us.

Now that he's 6.5 I've had a bit of luck with the explanation that it is easier for him to find his things if they are put away properly.

Catherine

[elmh23]

"Because if we didn't clean the house, it would get to the point were we couldn't walk in the living room, couldn't eat because the kitchen would be covered in bugs, couldn't go potty without it feeling like we were in a gas station."

(The gas station bit is because we recently went on a trip and had to stop in a very small lil' town with one gas station that was VERY gross. Ever since then, dd really appreciates the cleanliness of our bathroom. )

[sunnmama]

Originally Posted by Nosy

our family works as a unit so we all work together to make our lives more enjoyable, so cleaning is one way we work together to make our lives run more smoothly.

Sounds perfect to me!

I don't think it is reasonable to expect a 5 yo to always share our motivations, and that is ok. Parents set the standard.

That said, a reason that motivates my 9 yo to clean is "so we can have friends over!"

[LynnS6]

Why?
-So the things we care about don't get broken or stepped on
-So we can find the things we want when we want them
-So that we can clean the dirt underneath the mess and keep everyone healthy
-So we can keep momma sane

[VisionaryMom]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

Anyway to answer your actual question, we tidy the house so we can find the things we want/need when we want/need them and so we have room to do so.

That's our typical reasoning. Actually I'm not neat by nature (DH is). I'm neat because I view being somewhat tidy as a necessity to make life run smoothly. I think that helps because I empathize with DC when they're complaining about cleaning. I always tell them that it's not my first choice of things to do either, but if we buckle down, we'll get it done more quickly.