Assigning your kids tasks to help to clean the house not only keeps the children occupied while you are busy, but it also gives them a sense of responsibility.
While children are still young they will enjoy the chance to get involved in helping around the house. As they get older you may face some resistance, but teaching them from a young age will help to teach them that everyone in the household should make a contribution to clean the house.
Chores should be age appropriate and you may find that a reward system is a good way to keep children motivated and ensure they complete their tasks when they’re supposed to. A sticker chart can be a great way for smaller children to check off each chore that they complete and earn points along the way. They could collect points and save up towards a day at the park, a trip to the cinema or even their favourite meal.
As children reach their teens, it may become more difficult to motivate them to complete their household task but just remember not to get involved in an argument. Simply keep reminding them of their chore until it’s done.
Children aged two to three can help to clean the house by picking up their toys and books, helping to make their bed and feeding any pets they might have. At this age they will be very enthusiastic about helping and this should be encouraged (and enjoyed – it won’t last!). Remember that you should always supervise children at this age when they are helping out.
At ages four and five, children will still be very keen to help and mimic your behaviour. Tasks such as setting and clearing the table at meal times, dusting and helping to put shopping away are all easy jobs for young kids to help with.
From ages six to eight your children may become less excited to help clean the house and will want more independence. This is an ideal time to encourage them to keep their bedrooms clean and tidy by hanging clothes up, sorting them for washing, making their bed, looking after pets and vacuuming bedrooms.
From nine upwards, the kids can help with many more aspects when cleaning the house. They can start to help with the washing up, cleaning the bathroom and cooking too. Try keeping a rota for the whole family and get everyone to pick their favourite task that they alone can be responsible for.
As well as teaching your children more responsibility, encouraging them to help around the house will give the whole family more time to spend doing fun things. Remind them of this if you face any resistance and you’ll be on to a winner.
For more tips to clean the house check back next week.
A handful of new franchisees are being set up for failure by a few rogue franchisors who are more concerned with growing their bank account than growing their business.
That’s the warning from franchise guru Freddie Rayner, author of Your Franchise Success (www.freefranchisebook.co.uk).
He is warning against a small number of franchisors who will sell somebody a franchise – regardless of whether it’s the right kind of franchise for them.
Freddie owns Time For You, the UKs largest cleaning franchise with more than 200 franchisees.
He warned: “If you are talked into buying a franchise that you don’t believe in, you will struggle to make it work for you.
“Not everyone is suited to every opportunity. That’s what makes franchising so exciting with hundreds of different opportunities available.
“But there are some people out there who are just concerned about money rather than getting the right match between you and them. You need to know what to look out for.
“If you’re thinking about buying a franchise go about it in the same way that you would go about starting a new business; talk to other franchisees, research the market and make sure it’s right for you.”
He added: “Starting a business is one of the biggest decisions you can make – it’s your entire livelihood. Don’t go into it blind.”
Freddie has built his hugely successful franchise in just 8 years by selecting the right franchisees rather than just anyone who can pay.
He says: “Warning bells should ring if a franchisor seems to care more about their profits than the details of the business.
“Ask the right questions and know what to look out for and you will be sure that you have come to the right decision. If it you feel uneasy, look elsewhere.
“You would also do well to ensure they are a member of the British Franchise Association and adhere to its codes.”
Set up in 1997, Time For You now has over 200 franchisees and is continuing to grow rapidly due to the intensive induction programme and continued support to all franchisees.
Freddie has been hailed as a franchise guru because of his success and has recently written a book, ‘Your Franchise Success: How to Make It Happen’.
The book is written with potential franchisees in mind and advises them of everything they should consider before handing over their money.
You can still get a free copy at www.freefranchisebook.co.uk.
Storage around the home can be just as much a problem for someone living in a four bedroom house as it is for someone living in a one bedroom flat. There just never seems to be enough space to keep everything. We have some clever home housekeeping tips to help you on your way to an uncluttered home.
Paperwork can be a bit of a tricky thing to store. It’s difficult to know how long to keep your receipts, bank statements and bills for and there are no official guidelines on this. As a rule, if you have receipts for things that you have worn or used for a month or so, and these things haven’t yet fallen apart, it’s a safe bet to say that you can throw these receipts away. With bank statements it is a safe bet to keep between three and six months of records. This way, if you need to produce them for any reason you’ll avoid having to pay the bank to re-issue them.
A great home housekeeping tip is to buy a storage file for paperwork to save your drawers bulging, and to also save time when you need to find any of this paperwork in the future. For any paperwork that you need to throw away, make sure to shred it first!
The spare room is somewhere that everyone uses as a dumping ground for clothes waiting to be ironed, the old exercise equipment and many other things you just don’t know what to do with. It never looks tidy and just recall the panic that you had last time someone wanted to come and stay with you.
A good home housekeeping rule is to treat the spare room as a show room and avoid dumping things in there at all costs. Make it look as perfect as possible for the prospect of an unexpected visitor and use clever storage techniques to hide away the junk.
If you haven’t used the exercise equipment in over a year you probably won’t. Give it away or failing that, hide it in the loft or garage. As for the piles of clothes, sort them out as you did with your wardrobe and give away any that you won’t wear again. Buy some pretty baskets with lids to store your ironing in and all of the mess should stay out of sight!
For more home housekeeping secrets, come back next week.