WebParenTips - The Online Parenting Newsletter vol.5 no.4, Apr 2004 

                      SPRING CLEANING

Remember how our mothers scrubbed and polished the house
from top to bottom when spring rolled around?

 Most of us are too busy to even think about spring cleaning
 but if you areabout to embark on a cleaning spree I have
 some suggestions for you.

1) Involve the children. Even the young ones can sort through
toys and decide what gets thrown out. Older children can dust
and sweep and vacuum. Parents often tell me the kids get in
the way and are more work than help. But even if the task takes
you a few minutes longer you are providing your children with
two vitally important bits of parenting. First, you are acting as
a role model so they watch what grownups do to clean up the
place. Second, you are giving them an important task and
taking them seriously so they can proudly feel, "Hey, I count
around here!"

2) Sure getting the cobwebs off the chandeliers is important,
but what most families today need is a massive DE-CLUTTERING.
Clutter and noise are what stress me out and I'm sure I am not
alone. Use this time to look at what is cluttering every room.
Ask yourself about each piece of clutter: Do we really need this?
Is there a place we can put this other than the living room floor?
Is it time to toss it or give it away?

3) If you are like me the best cleaning you can do is to SIMPLIFY
your life. Think about every task you do at home. What can be
left out? What can be done less often? More efficiently? What
can you ask or pay someone else to do? The time you save by
sweeping such tasks out of your life can be spent with the kids.


Happy Parenting,
Marilyn Heins, M.D.


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Dr. Marilyn Heins is a Tucson pediatrician, parenting
columnist for the Arizona Daily Star, author of the book,
ParenTips, as well as a mother, stepmother and grandmother.

She is available for workshops and lectures to groups of
parents, teachers, and grandparents. See:

Dr. Heins' Lectures
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