Is your child’s room a mess? Do you struggle to get them to take you seriously when you ask them to clean up? Room cleanliness is a big concern for many parents and it’s one that I’m working on with my own kids as well. Whenever someone comes to me for help with a problem, I ask them who it is that will ultimately benefit from the behavior we want to see occur. Sometimes, we aren’t sure, but it’s important to understand what’s preventing a child from doing the task at hand. It’s usually either a problem with understanding the instructions or a lack of motivation. With cleaning rooms, quite often there’s a lack of motivation, as the cleanroom benefits the parent more than the child.

Kids aren’t always naturally motivated by having a room that’s neater or more hygienic, so you’ll need to find alternative sources of motivation. Using positive reinforcement techniques allows us to help motivate our kids without turning into someone they want to avoid or escape from. The key to getting kids to do things without having to nag or yell is making sure they have good experiences that make them think, “wow, I’m really glad I did this.” Figure out what motivates your children and start to build healthy routines to see results.

What’s Inside:

• The difference between positive and negative reinforcement
• Why using negative reinforcement can be counterproductive
• What to do if a task is too big for reinforcement to work

Mentioned In This Episode:

Just7Steps.com/workshop