GEARING UP FOR A FAMILY CLEANING AFFAIR

Let’s get real here. A clean, tidy home usually isn’t at the top of—okay, really even on—a kid’s list of priorities. Kids’ lack of enthusiasm for cleaning is understandable. Do you know anyone who turns cartwheels at the prospect of mopping the crusty kitchen floor or taking out the smelly garbage? Me neither.

But we grown-ups know that just because something doesn’t make our Top 10 List doesn’t mean we can chill out on it altogether. Some of life is just not fun.So what’s a clean-minded Mom or Dad to do when the playroom table needs a post-finger-painting wipe-down or the kitchen table has spaghetti splotches—and the culprit’s less than eager to pitch in?

Start by taking a deep breath, and wipe up the mess yourself—one last time.

If the kids are reluctant participants in your housecleaning routine, or if your requests to “pick up after yourself” are met with backtalk, dawdling, rolling eyes, or outright refusal, it’s time to wrest control of the asylum from the inmates. And delegate chores to them.

Sure, our Moms may have dusted and vacuumed every day (and without help from us). But we don’t have to! It’s a brave new world out there, and today’s Mom knows the score: The only way to hit a cleaning home run is to draft a cleaning team from a family of volunteers.

Better still, involving the family in housekeeping will cut down on the amount of time we spend cleaning and increase the time we spend with our families. What could be better? (Yeah, I know, having a live-in housekeeper. But this is not that kind of website.)

The Chore Conundrum Parents are all over the map on the issue of chores. At one extreme, parents post long chore lists that children must complete before any fun commences. Kids live here, too, they say, and they helped make the mess. We’re building responsible adults. Kids should earn their keep. There’s no free ride.

At the other extreme are parents who don’t expect kids to do anything at all around the house. Well, they explain, kids are so busy with activities. Kids are only kids once. It’s easier to do it than to nag them into doing it. Or (and this is my favorite): That’s what we have a maid for.

I take a moderate approach to chores. Even if you have a live-in housekeeper (not counting yourself), I believe that children should still do a reasonable amount of chores, based on their ages and homework loads. After all, keeping a house clean and running smoothly is the job of everyone who lives there—regardless of age and gender.

Here are a few of the reasons I think kids should have chores:

Chores give children a sense of responsibility that follows through into other areas of their lives, especially school. If kids don’t keep up with their belongings at home, they won’t be responsible for them at school, either.

1 Helping around the house teaches essential life skills. You won’t be there to do the laundry or scrub the toilet for your son when he’s in college, so he’d better learn to do it himself. As parents, preparing our kids for life is in our job description.

2 Housekeeping gives kids a sense of ownership. Kids like to have things that are just theirs. That includes their rooms. If Mom is always rearranging their drawers, how can their rooms truly be their own?

3 Helping to clean gives kids a sense of belonging. Kids like to help, under the right circumstances. And they like doing things with the rest of the family.

4 Keeping things neat instills a love of order. A child with chores will grow up liking things in place. That predisposition will carry over into adulthood.

5 Housekeeping gives kids a sense of pride of accomplishment. They’ll learn to love that feeling.

6 Giving children chores to do teaches them that no one is the family servant—not even Mom!

Those are just a few examples. There are many more. The point is: Take the time to bring up your child to be an independent, responsible adult. Yes, it’s often easier to do chores yourself. But if you’re interested in permanently turning down the volume in your home and cutting out the nagging, the negotiating, the drill-sergeant routine—or if you’re simply tired of being a martyr—you’ll be glad you chose housekeeping with kids. (And so will their future spouses.)

SPRING ORGANIZING PRIMER: TIPS FOR CULLING YOUR STUFF

Before you can organize anything—temporary or permanent—you’ll need to lighten up a bit on your belongings. The prime cause for disorganization is that you’ve got too much stuff.

You know what’s coming: You need to go through your stuff and toss what you don’t use, need, or want. And so will your kids, though that may seem hard at the onset.

Many of us have stuff we never use and don’t need. We even have stuff we don’t like. And so do our kids. Don’t be a pack rat. And don’t teach your kids to be rodent-like, either. If you don’t use it, get rid of it. And help your kids to do the same.

This is not a Saturday-morning project. Don’t plan on purging the entire house of a year or a decade’s worth of clutter in a single morning. Allot at least a half-day for each room.

Here’s what you do. Pick a day. Pick a room. Pile everything from the room in the middle of the floor. Look at each item individually and critically, just like you would in a store. Is this something you would buy? Is this something you would be happy for if someone gave it to you? If either answer is no, well, it needs to go.

You’re probably feeling a little overwhelmed right now. (And perhaps a bit trapped by all the stuff in the middle of the room.) When you’ve got so much stuff, it’s hard to even know where to begin!

Slowly but surely, go through everything in your home, piece by broken or frayed piece. If you decide to keep an item, great! Now put it away in its logical, convenient, accessible, and labeled place. If you decide you don’t need it, you have a few options: throw it away, sell it or give it away, hold on to it, or store it. Gather four boxes or trash bags, one for each option, and start sorting stuff into them.

1 Throw It Away Yuck. You hate it. It’s no good to anyone. How did it get here?

Here are some good rules to live by. If you haven’t used it, played with it, or worn it in six months; if it’s missing many of the essential pieces; or if it’s broken, it goes.

Once you have a pile of throw-aways, grab the kids, and go through the to-be-trashed stash, separating plastic, paper, glass, cardboard—whatever is recycled in your community. Then take each pile to its final resting place (at least as far as your family is concerned).

2 Sell It or Give It Away Yuck. You hate it. She hates it. But somebody might like it.

Decide whether you’re the garage sale type. If so, carefully pack up all the items you’d like to include in a future sale in plastic bins (transparent ones are better for remembering what’s there), boxes, or bags that you will, of course, label “Garage Sale.” If you prefer to donate the items, neatly fold or place them in bags or boxes, label them, and call the recipient to arrange pickup or drop-off. Stash them in your garage or basement in the mean time.

3 Hold On to It Hmmm. Forgot you had it. Everyone else did, too. You want it, but you haven’t used it in 10 years.

4 Store It Oh well, put it away for another year and think about it again. Find a more convenient place for it this time to increase the chances you might actually use it.

Take the time to figure out where each item should go—and put them there. You may move things a couple of times until you find a space that’s the right size for these items. In a bedroom, for example, you might try assign one drawer to stationery items; or one part of the closet shelf to games. Then you might move the games to under the bed where kids can reach them easier. It’s trial and error.

But take your time. The better you organize things, the easier it will be to stay organized. It took you a long time to get this messy, don’t expect to clean up your family’s act in one weekend.

For these items (and for those you want to place in long-term storage), the next step is a touch more complicated and a bit more work. If you want to do it right—not necessarily fast—that is. And having tried both ways, I’m here to tell you it’s just a lot easier for everyone in the house if you do it right the first time. Otherwise, you end up stuffing stuff in places you can’t remember and in ways you shouldn’t, such as putting heavy items on top of a box of extra glasses from the kitchen.

March Home Checklist

Love a well-run home? Spring is the season to get in the groove with the March Home Checklist below!

1 A clean, well-lighted place … Begins with clean light fixtures. Clean ceiling fixtures, lamps, sconces, anything that has a bulb.

2 And while you’re up there: Clean the fan blades.

3 Floorshow: Clean hardwood, tile, linoleum and other floor surfaces and seal. (Hire a professional for this.)

4 And while you’re at it: Call the pros in to clean your carpets, too.

5 Think small: Think small appliance. Think “clean the small appliance.” Tackle the toaster, the toaster oven, the microwave and show them who’s boss.

6 Office help: Get a jump on the taxman. Use this month to clean out your office drawers and files and surprise your accountant with all your receipts for a change.

7 Does not compute? Maybe it needs cleaning. Clean your computer, keyboard and mouse. And while you’re at it, tackle your fax machine, too.

8 Paper chase: Clean out all extra books, magazines, papers, etc. Recycle, resell or donate.

9 Goodbye till next year: Put away winter clothes, ski clothes, sweaters, etc

10 Presto chango: And the “coat closet” becomes the “sweater closet.” Clean out the entry closet to make room for the new season’s outerwear.

Cool New Family Travel Trips: Adventures by Disney

I’ve got to hand it to Disney. Those forward-thinking imagineers of dream family vacations-- who single-handedly reshaped the family cruise industry in 1998 - are poised to become the big cheese of family landlubber vacations in 2009.

Granted, many travelers understandably enjoy the inevitable travails that transform a getaway into an unforgettable adventure. After all, how else can we get ourselves quickly and thoroughly immersed in the pace, the people, the lifestyle of a new city or country than to simply dive in? Be it unfamiliar subway systems, eco-systems or culinary systems, it’s the grown-up way to embrace the challenge a new venue represents and simply go with the local flow.

Yeah, just give that a go with a 2-year-old. A 9-year-old. Or, (heaven help us) an opinionated teenager who knows better than us that if it looks or smells unfamiliar, it must be uncool to do or eat. By the time we convince them of the contrary reality, it’s time to go home. It’s enough to convince any parent that vacation dreams and present cash are better saved for another time.

Enter Adventures by Disney, which has been shaking up the guided family travel market since its launch in 2005. Much like Disney Cruise Lilne’s carefully “predator netted” private Bahamian island and squeaky clean Caribbean tour operators gave a boatload of parents the chance to exhale on vacation, Adventures by Disney is providing a similar safety net for land-exploring parents who aren’t quit ready to clip their world-traveling wings. And want the pre-screened world view it seems only Disney can deliver.

It’s hard to argue with the results of this latest Disney adventure in travel re-tooling: 2009 brings eight new itineraries to the Adventures by Disney itinerary menu. And much like Disney’s sister ships, the Magic and the Wonder caused the entire cruise industry to re-think and re-tool both their itineraries and their ship designs, Adventures by Disney is redefining what it means to offer a truly family-friend vacation.

It’s Really A Small World, After All

The new destinations feature some of the most exotic and remote locales in the world - including an African safari, an expedition to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands and Alaska.

“Where ever we go, two specially trained Adventure Guides, along with a host of local experts, allow families to see, hear touch and taste the history and cultures of destinations around the globe and in our own backyard,” says Ed Baklor, senior vice president, Adventures by Disney. “In 2009, we will continue to be innovators in the family and group travel business. By offering 23 destinations, we are giving our guests the opportunity to enjoy authentic experiences and magical moments only Disney could create in more places than ever before.”

Eight New Itineraries for 2009

New for 2009 are:

1 Alpine Magic Italy and Switzerland: Stress, Zermatt and Lake Lucerene

2 Beantown & The Big Apple Boston, Newport, RI and New York City

3 Bella Italia Central Italy: Sorrento and Florence

4 Gateway to the Galapagos Ecuador and Galapagos Islands

5 Golden Path to Yosemite Lake Tahoe, Yosemite National Park and San Francisco

6 Rocky Trails and Mountie Tales Montana and Alberta, Canada: Glacier National Park and Banff National Park

7 Safari to South Africa South Africa: Cape Town, The Garden Route and Kapama Game Reserve

8 Taming the Last Frontier Alaska: Fairbanks, Denali National Park and Kenai Peninsula

The Disney Difference

When traveling with Adventures by Disney, guides lead families from Prague to Paris, Yellowstone to Costa Rica, the ruins of Pompeii to the ruins of Machu Picchu, the Great Barrier Reef to the Great Wall of China with the single goal of ensuring a hassle-free holiday, Baklor says.

“Expert storytelling and excellent guest service are hallmarks of the Disney experience,” he says. “Every Adventures by Disney itinerary is developed with families in mind. Kids become Junior Adventurers and enjoy activities and surprises just for them.

“Whether the groups are riding camels in the Australian outback or whale-watching in Alaska; learning archery in Germany or kayaking under the Pont du Gard in France; getting to know exotic animals in Ecuador or taking a jeep ride through the African bush, there is something of interest for everyone in the family.”

For more information about Adventures by Disney, visit www.AdventuresbyDisney.com , or call (877) 728-7282, or contact your travel agent.

Create a Brighter, More Organized Bathroom

Start the process by cleaning out the one major area in the bathroom that was designed specifically for toiletry storage - the medicine cabinet. Get rid of expired medications as well as any toiletries you’ve had for longer than two years, including shampoos, lotions and makeup,and soap. Besides creating more space, clearing out your cabinets will minimize health risks, as bacteria and fungi can contaminate lotions and cosmetics over time.

The busy bathroom is the place to take advantage of the many tools and gadgets designed to organize your home’s tight spaces. By design, most bathrooms leave little room for major improvement in terms of storage. But there are plenty of things you do to make the most of these cramped quarters.

If you’ve cleaned everything possible out of your cabinet and you still can’t control the clutter, consider installing a second wall-mounted medicine cabinet. Or you can hang a shower caddy over the showerhead to keep shampoo, shaving cream, soap and razors within easy reach but somewhat out of eyesight.

Another space-maximizing device: a system of coated-wire rollout baskets, which can be used to expand the storage capacity of under-the-sink cabinet space. If your bathroom has no storage space there, mount a small coated-wire grid on the wall and hang personal appliances such as hair dryers and curling irons from it with S-hooks. You’ll find these grids and rollout baskets at retailers that sell bath, kitchen or closet storage accessories.

Take advantage of the empty space above the toilet by adding a small cabinet or shelves to hold extra linens or toiletries. Freestanding over-the-commode shelves can maximize this space right up to the ceiling. But be careful what you display here; small items that fall into the bowl are no fun to retrieve.

You can also place your deodorant, perfume, hair dryer, and hairbrushes in the clear plastic pockets of a back-of-the-door shoe holder; this will keep these frequently used items from taking up counter space but within easy reach.

Since running out of toilet paper is something we’d all like to avoid, store at least one spare roll in the bathroom rather than in the linen closet. Hide the extra roll in a simple covered basket with the lid slightly ajar. It remains discreetly hidden, yet you, your family, or a guest can grab it in a moment of need.