The Joy of Cleaning Together: Our Family’s Saturday Routine

Hey mamas! My name is Dris and I’m a 38-year old corporate rockstar mother determined to master modern motherhood and be the ultimate superhero for my kids! When I’m not crushing it at work, you can catch me snapping, writing, filming, and connecting and empowering fellow mamas on this awesome adventure we call life. 

Welcome to our happy home, where our family thrives on teamwork and togetherness in everything we do. We believe that working and playing together makes life more enjoyable, even when it comes to cleaning! As parents, we strive to establish good habits and teach our children essential team-building skills that will benefit them as they prepare for back-to-school. That’s why our family motto is “teamwork makes the dream work”.  It’s a guiding principle we apply to all aspects of our lives, including our special cleaning Saturdays.

Even when our children were toddlers, they knew about the importance of cleanliness. As they grew older, we decided to set aside Saturdays as our designated cleaning day. Since my husband and I both work during the week, weekends were the perfect opportunity for our family to come together and make cleaning efficient and enjoyable. Leadership skills from our individual professions helped us to streamline the process and infuse fun.

Here are some valuable tips we’ve learned along the way that have transformed our cleaning routine into a fun bonding experience:

Tip #1: Print a Fun To-Do List for Each Family Member

Photo courtesy of Dris Wallace

To ensure everyone’s involvement, we create a list of chores tailored to each family member’s age and capabilities. We then print out these colorful and engaging To-Do Lists for our kids to use as guides. Our children have a blast crossing off completed tasks, and we make sure to add fun images and encouraging statements to entice them further. Cleaning can be exciting when it becomes a challenge! One of our favorite cleaning products are Clorox® Disinfecting Wipes, because they help us tackle 1000s of life’s messes. While our kids don’t use them, they definitely help us tackle the messes they make! My kids know we use them for everything and they seem to think that we have an endless supply. Lol. I always hear them say; “Oops I made a mess, time for a Clorox wipe!”

Tip #2: Create Family Rewards

Photo courtesy of Dris Wallace

We believe in recognizing and celebrating our accomplishments, no matter how small. To keep motivation high, we create a jar filled with family rewards suggested by each member. These rewards could be anything from a trip to the park, an afternoon at the swimming pool, or a cozy movie night. Initially, we randomly picked rewards, but we soon found that rewarding ourselves with a family pizza night and movie right after cleaning became a delightful tradition. Having something enjoyable to look forward to after our cleaning session keeps every family member engaged and motivated.

What I love about this reward system is that it mimics the reward systems that exist at my children’s schools. As we prepare for back-to-school, this will show them that with good actions and behavior comes fun rewards!

 Tip #3: Have Fun Learning While Cleaning 

Photo: Freepik

Our kids absolutely adore helping out with cleaning. Their enthusiasm is infectious as they gather our cleaning supplies, like the trusty Clorox® Disinfecting Mist and Disinfecting Wipes. It’s heartwarming to witness their curiosity blossom while learning valuable life skills like time management, teamwork, problem-solving and responsibility as part of our Cleaning Saturdays. Cleaning has become a delightful adventure for them to grow and learn, and the best part is, they will carry these skills with them into the real world, making school days even more successful and fun! It’s a parent’s win if you ask me!

 Tip #4: Music + Good Vibes

Photo: Freepik

Music is a universal joy that brings us together, and we embrace it even during cleaning sessions. Each family member gets a chance to share their favorite tunes by playing a lively game of rock, paper, scissors. Although sometimes there may be disappointment if someone’s choice doesn’t win, our kids understand the importance of taking turns. Once the music starts playing, we pump up the volume and energize each other as we dive into cleaning tasks with enthusiasm. 

Once the music gets selected we pump each other up by showing our best dance moves and once we are all hyped up we start the cleaning. We are a competitive little family and the dance moves keep getting sillier and sillier. The giggles make this mama’s heart happy!

All in all, cleaning has become an integral part of our family routine. By approaching it as a team effort, adding music for extra fun, and utilizing our favorite Clorox® products, we’ve turned a seemingly mundane task into a rewarding experience. Our Saturday cleaning routine has brought us closer as a family. It’s strengthened our team-building skills and allowed us to achieve a shared goal of maintaining a clean, inviting home. 

To explore more Clorox® products for your family cleaning needs, head over to Clorox.com. And let us know what other family cleaning tips you follow!