Advertisements
DH and I are going through our homestudy with the intent to adopt 1 or 2 children from the public system. We've been talking a bit about what our house rules will be and what we expect the kids to help out with so, of course, the subject of housecleaning came up.We currently have people come and clean our house every 2 weeks. It's the one big luxury that we allow ourselves. The cleaners clean the showers, bathtubs, mop the floors, wash the windows, and dust. I wondered out loud if we should stop having the cleaners come so that our kids will learn from us how to clean, etc. But then we both thought that having the kids keep their own rooms clean and pitch in on the in-between weeks would be fine.I admit, we both want to keep the cleaners but are we on the right track? Is it okay to use a cleaning person or does it set a bad example?
Like
Share
Personally, I'd keep the cleaning service. Not only does it help keep the house clean, it frees up your time to spend with the kids. Especially in the early months/1st year, it's critical to spend as much time as possible with them and bond/attach.
You can still have rules for keeping their rooms clean and help out when asked etc. Besides, even with a cleaning service, you have to pick up for them. So they will learn that they have to do things and pick up after themselves.
You can have daily chores like setting the table, feeding pets, loading/unloading the dishwasher, take out trash etc. as the cleaning service doesn't do that stuff, right?
And another thing, teaching them to clean isn't going to be a priority in the beginning. The bonding, getting used to you, a new home, new school, schedule etc. is all going to be overwhelming enough. There is plenty of time to add in the teaching of how to dust etc., kwim?
:)
Advertisements
Oh good, I feel reassured now :)I know that teaching them to clean isn't a big priority in the beginning, I just want to be sure that we're consistent. Your points about all of the things that the cleaning service doesn't do are right on!We're going from 0 kids to (hopefully) 2 kids so I sometimes feel like we're joining a club and don't know the rules yet. I'm sure I'll have a lot more questions in the future.BTW, what does "kwim" mean?
I agree with keeping the service for the big icky jobs. DH's grandma had a service when they were stationed in Italy because it was expected that the service people support the economy. She had someone come in to help with the marble floors, etc. BUT, she was VERY adamant thought, for example when she told her son to clean his room and put his laundry away, and he said "the maid will get it"...that there was NO "maid" service at their house and that children would still be expected to clean up after themselves. I think this, like other things, is all in how you approach it. Certainly you want kids to learn to be responsible for themselves.