at what age can kids clean up their messes? - Page 2

[pookel]

My 2.5yo helps clean up his own messes. The only drawback is that sometimes he makes messes just so he can clean them up.

I try not to blame him for making a mess (most are accidents anyway), but I do make a point of exclaiming, "oh no! that spilled! we'd better clean it up right away!" and then I will go get a rag and clean it up immediately, before doing anything else (like getting him more juice) to reinforce that it's an urgent problem and cleaning up is not optional. He's gone along with this pretty well.

[riversong]

Originally Posted by onemoremom

Yes, my 3 year old can take his dishes to the sink. Things that won't break he can reach well enough to toss over the edge(silverware, plastic), and everything else he can put on the counter next to the sink. We're still working on making it a habit, but he's perfectly capable.

Cool. She has tossed stuff into the sink before, so I think we just need to make it a habit after meals.

Originally Posted by elizawill

my children bring their dishes to the counter by the sink for me. they can reach the counter easily, and it's very helpful for me. i don't want them to load the dishwasher because i'm too OCD

Yeah, now that I think about it, I have a certain way that I like to put dishes in the dishwasher. If I give dd access to it, she'll start rearranging everything.

[thismama]

Originally Posted by mamatosaskia

Hi,

I take care of my 3 year old dd and one of her friends 2.5 days a week. The new thing is to take their water/milk/juice and pour it on the floor. My general response is to take the cup away and say "looks like you are done". However, lately I have been asking them to get down and help me clean up the mess. I think this seems reasonable, considering the age. What do you guys think? Sometimes it is met with great resistance, which totally infuriates me! I try to not let it show, but sometimes I get really tired of cleaning up after them all day.

Oh no no no no no. They need to Clean. It. Up. If they are pouring drinks on purpose? Damn. I'd be pissed, and I'd let them know. And they would only get drinks at the table until they could stop. And if they poured the drinks at the table, they would only get teeny tiny amounts of liquid until they could stop.

Alfie Kohn has some great ideas and all, but with all these dudes who write books, I wonder who is actually cleaning up the spilt juice, kwim? I'm betting it's mostly not them.

[woobysma]

Yep, my almost 3 yo can and does clean up after himself. How much he's expected to do depends on the kind of mess, of course, but he's capable of helping out quite a bit.
Wiping up spills is a little tricky. I ask him to help, but I wouldn't expect him to be able to get every last bit of it, yk? At his age, it's more of just teaching him that, if you spill something, you clean it up. I try not to make a battle out of it, though.

If he's pouring his drink on purpose, he's done with the drink, though.... end of story. Drinks are for drinking, playing with liquids and cups is for bath time or the back yard.

[artgoddess]

My son is 3.5 and has been cleaning up his own spills and mine for at least a year now. He enjoys running to the kitchen to grab a towel and wipe things up.

[Montessorimom8]

At Three? Yes they should be able to clean it up!!

[oliversmum2000]

if they are pouring their juice and milk on the floor on purpose i would be tempted to either give them cups with a lid or nothing but water until they stop doing this, and definitely make them part of the tidy up process.

i would explain that i do not like mess (hence the cups with non-drip lids) and i do not like to see things wasted - hence only water, plus mil and juice is a lot more sticky than water.

[oliversmum2000]

Originally Posted by RiverSky

I think 10 is a reasonable age.

I'm anti-child labor. Don't know why, I just am.

i would say let them clean up - but i am against mother-slave labour

[Avena]

Didn't have time to read all the post's as DD is making a mess right now!
But Dd who is 2, does clean up, I give her a towel or cloth and she does clean any messes she makes.Along with picking up things she get's out, like toys etc......Most of the time she does enjoy to pick up esp. if I say "ok before we go outside or do the next thing, we need to clean up in here 1st, she will .....then sometimes she get's in her 2 yr. old-ness and doesn't like it!

I have to make her help, if not it's crazy here....I'm amazed at how fast she can make a huge mess and it's hard to keep up with it all if we don't do this!

Best of luck!

[thismama]

Originally Posted by oliversmum2000

i would say let them clean up - but i am against mother-slave labour

Thank you.

[mama2mygirl]

Originally Posted by thismama

Oh no no no no no. They need to Clean. It. Up. If they are pouring drinks on purpose? Damn. I'd be pissed, and I'd let them know. And they would only get drinks at the table until they could stop. And if they poured the drinks at the table, they would only get teeny tiny amounts of liquid until they could stop.

Alfie Kohn has some great ideas and all, but with all these dudes who write books, I wonder who is actually cleaning up the spilt juice, kwim? I'm betting it's mostly not them.

When I read the original post my response, in my head, was "Oh, hell to the no."

[mama2mygirl]

Originally Posted by oliversmum2000

i would say let them clean up - but i am against mother-slave labour

oliversmum--you make me laugh!

[GuildJenn]

Originally Posted by akfirefly76

My DD is 18 months and the same way.
She actually gets upset when she makes a mess. (that doesn't stop her from dumping her food and drinks all over the place)

We get a towel for each of us if its liquid and she dabs away with me.
If its cereal, or grapes, or rice, or pasta... we just put the container between us and pick pieces up and put them back in the container.

She's actually been like this since she could move and pick things up. Maybe its because she's a capricorn. hee.

My 22 mo old is a Leo and he's the same. Actually he started going and getting the dish towel (hung where he can reach) at about 18 months, which is often how I knew he had spilled. I just always told him what I was doing. But I suspect that may go away soon if it's not reinforced.

For an older kid I'd do it with them a few times and then use the "oh! a spill! clean up rag is in the sink!" line with them. GL!

[thismama]

Originally Posted by mama2mygirl

When I read the original post my response, in my head, was "Oh, hell to the no."

I'm right beside ya!

[ChinaDoll]

My 3 and 5 year old are both expected to clean up messes, especially intentional ones. The unintentional ones we often clean together. I get supplies and just say, "let's clean up" and usually they help without any other prompting. I definitely wouldn't give juice or milk (or anything besides water) if intentional messes are continually made.

Of course, my kids also take their dishes to the sink, their dirty clothes to the hamper, their toys to the toybox, and even use the hand-held vacuum to clean messes in the living room. Most of the time this is all prompted by me, of course, I don't mean to imply that they do all the housework, or that they do it spontaneously every time, but yes we expect them to contribute to the maintenance of the household at the levels they are capable of!