Are you constantly trying to get your kids to clean up after themselves? How can you instill a principle of decluttering in your kids? Do you want to create a collective family home where everyone takes part in cleaning not as a punishment but as a habit of accountability?

In this podcast episode, I am so excited to have Star Hansen back again, and this time we are talking about kids. Grab your pen and paper because we are talking about how to get your kids organized.

Meet Star Hansen

Star Hansen is a Certified Professional Organizer (CPO©) and Clutter Whisperer on a mission to help you banish your personal Clutter Monster, take control of your stuff, and create a life you’re truly proud of.

Star looks at the deeper meaning of your stuff to help you figure out WHY you feel overwhelmed by your clutter in the first place.

Star’s best-selling book, “Why the F*#@ Am I Still Not Organized?”, has inspired countless individuals to tackle their clutter head-on and find lasting solutions. She has appeared on over 30 TV shows, given a TEDx talk, and shared her fitted sheet folding secrets with Oprah & her fans. Her unique methodology has helped thousands of people get (and stay!) organized when nothing else worked.

Connect with Star Hansen on her website. Find her on LinkedIn and Youtube. Listen to her Podcast Here.

Summary

• Be a role model
• Educate and invest in your kids
• Reward the effort, not the outcome
• Be present and supportive of needs

Be a role model

We have to start top down. It starts with you. They are going to model everything you do. You leave your shoes out? They’re going to leave their shoes out because you set the tone. So first, it’s about being a role model. (Star Hansen)

With kids, especially when they are still young, it’s very much money-see, monkey-do. They will follow your lead.

So, if you want to instill change in your children when it comes to keeping tidy, you yourself need to be on your game.

This isn’t about looking great on the outside to impress your neighbors with your tidy kids, but more about creating a family – a community space – where people take responsibility for their mess and contribute to maintaining a home together.

Educate and invest in your kids

Think back to your childhood. Did anyone ever sit you down and show you how to fold a sheet, scrub a toilet, or make the bed?

Even though these things happen often in your household, it helps to intentionally show your child how it’s done so that they can actively learn the right way, or the best way to do it.

You know what you did wrong but you were never taught to do it right. You were just expected to automatically do it. (Star Hansen)

This is also a great way for you to slow your life down for a moment to sit with your child and show them the right way to do something around the house. You also empower them in this way as well, because they are more likely to do it when they know how to.

Reward the effort, not the outcome

Your kids may not have the same motor skills that you do, especially when they are young, so their effort is not going to produce the same outcomes as yours.

Encourage their efforts instead of the outcome because the more that they put in the effort, the more that the outcome will increase and improve over time.

One of the biggest things that will help the kids too is to normalize them being included in the chores. I don’t care if they’re a year and a half, if they’re toddling around, if you are cleaning the house, give them something so that they can do it with you. Let them experience being part of family life. (Star Hansen)

You can change the narrative from cleaning as a punishment to cleaning as being part of the family collective experience where everyone puts in the effort to enjoy a cleaner, happier home as the outcome.

Be present and supportive of needs

Organizing can be a healing art when the person’s needs are put at the center.

When kids are taught how to organize around what makes sense for them while still keeping the family in mind, they won’t feel isolated or shunned for cleaning and tidying their space in a different way.

Books Mentioned:

Star Hansen – Why the F*#@ Am I Still Not Organized?: Stop Struggling with Clutter Once and for All

Useful Links:

• Join our FaceBook Page – Empowered and Unapologetic
• Take the Marriage Predictor quiz!
• Follow me on Instagram
• Check out the new website! https://veronicacisneros.org/
• Outside The Norm Counseling – 951 395 3288 Call to schedule an appointment today!
• Star’s Website: https://starhansen.com/
• Star’sPodcast: www.starhansen.com/podcast
• Star’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/starhansen/
• Star’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/starhansen

Meet Veronica Cisneros

Hello, my name is Veronica Cisneros, I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Marriage Coach, Course Creator, Retreat Host, Mother of 3, married for 23 years, host of the Empowered and Unapologetic podcast, and owner of a group private practice called Outside The Norm Counseling.

A lot of couples struggle with setting aside intentional time to connect and communicate. They yearn for meaningful conversations that don’t lead to arguments.

1 month away from divorce, I realized I had to do something different. For years I had compromised myself to meet the needs of my husband and my child, I lost myself and was about to lose my marriage. After years of personal growth and self-reflection, I not only reclaimed my identity, and celebrated 23 years of marriage but also helped hundreds of couples transform their marriage from feeling like roommates to experiencing a deeper love.

I am on a mission to help couples reignite the fire by providing them with the skills to have the relationship they deserve.

Whether you listen to the podcast, join the free Facebook community, or do the Workshop,  you’re in the right place. Let’s do this together!

Thanks for listening!

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