Agreed. Moving Out Can be Stressful
In a lot of cases, moving can be a somewhat fraught time for children. After all, this may be the first time that they’ve ever left the cosy familiarity of all they’ve ever known to go somewhere new. Well, it could be the first time since they left the womb, and you know how much crying and screaming that involved on their part. In a lot of cases, it can be a lot easier to get the kids to go and stay with Grandma or Uncle Jason for a few days while the process is going on. However, there are times that this might not be possible, particularly if Uncle Jason is coming to help you move house.
For slightly older children (I’m talking about those aged five and over), helping with the move and with the end of tenancy cleaning can be part of the leaving process and can help them come to terms with it. You can use the time spent packing and cleaning to talk about the new house that’s coming up and build excitement.
Of course, children, especially small ones, can’t do the best job in the world of cleaning and you have to be prepared for a few meltdowns and emotional moments at times. It might be wise to call in a professional end of tenancy cleaning company to make sure that everything is just the way it should be so that you get the deposit back from the landlord. But they can still help a bit, especially with a bit of encouragement and motivation. In the case of teenagers, the promise of pizza usually is sufficient.
We’ve come up with a few ideas that can help young children get motivated to help with the moving out cleaning and find the process fun. Who knows – perhaps your child might enjoy the process of cleaning so much and have such a happy memory of it that they might decide to become a professional cleaner one day!
Idea #1: Let Them Do Something They’re Not Usually Allowed To Do
Everything’s changed so this is where some of the rules can change as well, especially if “breaking the rules” will help you clean up. Perhaps you can get them to pull all the cushions off the sofa and couch to search for “buried treasure” down there (and suck all the mess up with the vacuum cleaner). Perhaps they can crawl right into the kitchen cupboards (again with a vacuum cleaner). Pouring water onto the kitchen floor so it can be scrubbed and mopped (if you give them the container to pour so things don’t get flooded) is also quite satisfying. Even eating a meal in an empty bedroom can have a fun rule-breaking feel to it.
Idea #2: Give Them Responsibility For Something
It’s easy to feel in the way and unimportant if you’re six years old and all the adults are busy focussing on other things while the only home you’ve known is in chaos. However, if one of those adults trusts you enough to have a job and be part of the process, you feel a bit more important and valued, even though things are still chaotic and unsettling. Dusting skirting boards is something that is probably easier for children to do than adults (they’re lower down), so this is a task you can delegate to a small child. A reasonably competent child sitting on the shoulders of an adult can also reach high things like ceiling fans and dust the top of them. This may also give them the thrill of doing something that they wouldn’t normally be allowed to do as well as feeling responsible and special.
Idea #3: Super Magic Cleaning Spray
Issue your child with a squirt bottle of “magic potion” or a water pistol with “super germ killer spray” (tailor to your child’s interest). They can use this to squirt the bathroom walls or the windows and the inside of the cupboards. Make super magic cleaning spray by mixing white vinegar with water plus a few drops of essential oil or even cheap fragrant oils (let your child choose the fragrance), then shake it up well. Super magic cleaning spray made from vinegar and water is safe for your child’s skin. It becomes even more fun in the bathroom if you’ve put down some baking soda paste on the tiles or around the taps or on the inside of the bath first, because it fizzes when the vinegar hits it.
Idea #4: The Human Floor Polisher
Once you’ve swept hard floors yourself and mopped them or possibly even polish them, it’s time to buff them up… with the human floor polisher. There are two ways to do this but both will require your child to wear old clothes. The first way is best done with small children. This involves your pre-schooler grabbing onto a long, sturdy stick (turn the broom upside down, possibly). An adult can then push them around and around on the floor and give them “rides” on that clear expanse of floor. Fun for the child, a little tiring for the adult and the floor really does get buffed. The second way is better for older children with good balance. This involves putting on ratty old socks and scooting about on the floor in them. Music helps set the mood for this. Note that you will have to get into the corners yourself to buff or dry them properly, as these tend to get missed.
Idea #5: The Dirty Rag Competition
If you’ve got more than one child, issue each of them with a set of cleaning rags. Then challenge them to see who can get their set of rags the dirtiest and blackest. Winner gets to pick the pizza flavour for that night. Taking the rags outside into the mud is cheating! Adding a touch of competition like this will see your children scrambling into all sorts of dark corners to find dirt and wipe it up to get their cleaning rags really filthy. Don’t blame me if the adults want to get in on the competition as well.
Idea #6: The Checklist
Checklists may be the way that professionals tackle end of tenancy cleaning but they’re just as good for small children as well. This is because lists work. Breaking a massive task like end of tenancy cleaning down into small individual jobs makes it less overwhelming, and also means that you can keep track of what has and hasn’t been done. Draw up this list with your child – and let him or her do some of the ticking off. Even if your child gets sick of the moving out cleaning before the job is over (this is quite likely to happen even if you try some of the tricks in this post – moving out cleaning is a big job!), he or she can be put in charge of the list and can do the job of ticking the boxes or crossing things off the list.
Idea #7: Audiobooks
Music is often a good way to make the process of cleaning a bit more enjoyable, but in the case of a long job, listening to a story can be even better. There are tons of audiobooks out there on Spotify and other apps such as Audible (even YouTube has some stories). Let your children choose a story they’d like to listen to while doing a task like scrubbing the bathroom grout with a toothbrush. Even if they can’t complete the task fully and it all gets too much, having a story to listen to may help keep your children entertained… and you’ll find yourself enjoying it while you clean as well!