Re: Cleaning the kid's room
From: Sharon Villines (sharonsharonvillines.com)
Date: Sat, 8 Jun 2013 12:13:58 -0700 (PDT)
On Jun 7, 2013, at 1:05 PM, Fern Selzer <fernselzer [at] cruzio.com> wrote:

> \We are planning on discussing our policies about the kid's room and  
> the outdoor kid's area.  Some questions are:  Does it need to be  
> picked up and/or cleaned?  

If you don't clean it, no one will use it and if they do, they will abuse it 
even further. A disordered play area is about as useful and welcoming as a 
kitchen where no one cleans. Would that be acceptable?

The idea that a disordered dirty play area inspires creativity and 
self-organization in children was always absurd and I'm in wonder that anyone 
is still promoting it. (Not you yourself, but I'm sure other members of the 
community have made this assertion. They themselves would not be so organized 
as to ask the question of anyone who might know better.)

> If so, who should do it?  The CH cleaning  
> team works with the kids?  The parents work with the kids?  

Our CH cleaning people do the floors and toilets with the rest of the CH. They 
also pickup so they can clean the floors but I don't know how much they 
organize when picking up.

Parents or other caregivers are responsible for seeing that the room is 
returned to order as soon as they leave the room. Our kids room is geared to 
about 6 and under though kids as old as 10 play there with younger kids. It is 
really a little kids room so rarely are kids in there without an adult 
somewhere nearby.

We do have a point person who goes in weekly and straightens things up -- sorts 
all the toys and puts away the crayons, etc. Someone has to do this kind of 
deep organizing. How often depends on how often it is used. The best person 
we've had was a preschool teacher. She took pictures of the toys that belonged 
in each bin and attached it to the front. It was a bit too organized for some 
parents but it worked very well. Everyone knew where things went, whether they 
put them there or not. 

When kids wanted to play with the doll house they didn't have to go looking for 
all the furniture or assume we didn't have any and play with something else. 
The farm was interesting because they would see all the animals and farm 
machinery right by it.

When someone does the deep organizing, the room stays organized. When that 
drifts, chaos and destruction ensue. Parents don't understand where things go 
so they don't get put away. 

> Whoever it bothers should ask/help the kids to do it or do it themselves?

Is this the standard for the kitchen? Dining room? Workshop? Then why would it 
be the standard for the kid's room?

This would be guaranteed sink to the lowest common denominator.

> So, I'm wondering if any of you have written up group agreements on  
> this issue, or opinions, or relevant information.

We don't have written agreements but there isn't any disagreement about 
responsibilities. Some parents and grandparents are better at "noticing" that 
things haven't been picked up than others. Some point people have a clearer 
sense of organization than others.

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines, Washington DC
"Exhaustion is not about being tired, but about being disheartened."



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