Day #176 Tip – 10 Second Clean Up

The ten second clean up is something I’ve been doing recently with my kids. I don’t know if your kids have the same problem, but my kids tend to just drop things when they decide they don’t want them anymore. It doesn’t matter where they are, it is released and left. Drives me crazy. We’re trying to work on it around here. Not just dropping it would be the first step. The picture above is everything I found in the dining room/kitchen at the end of the day today. Now, that area is not too huge. This is ridiculous. I didn’t do it before bed today (obviously), but my strategy this week has been a 10 second clean up. When the girls are close to the kitchen I will suddenly say, “You have 10 seconds to pick up whatever you can in this kitchen. The rest goes in the Saturday bin.” I then start counting. You should see them rush around and pick everything up. After it is picked up, I have them put it away immediately. Everything else goes to the Saturday bin. We are also adopting the clutter remedy I saw my sister had. So, after the 10 second clean up, I can decide if the things they picked up need to be put away immediately or go in their individual bins. The 10 seconds is fabulous. I have never seen them scurry so quickly to clean up. I have only been using it in the dining room and kitchen so far because I’ve determined there is no need for all of their toys in the kitchen.