Ten to Tidy

Growing up, my family consisted of  my parents and my two younger brothers. I am the oldest, and for the 1st seven years of my life, I was also an only child. Life was wonderful! However, that all changed when my brother, Neil, was born just three months after my 7th birthday. That’s not to say my life was no longer wonderful. It was, but I was no longer an only child. After another seven years, at the age of 14, my brother, Sean, was born. According to psychologists, with a seven year age gap between each of my siblings, all of us would be considered an only child. Despite our 7-14 year age difference, we were still very close as siblings and we have memories that we reflect on, even as adults.

However, when it came time to have a family of our own, my husband and I hoped for a much smaller age gap between our children. After having three children in three years, I would say, we definitely accomplished our goal! With an infant girl and two toddler boys running around the house, my husband and I were suddenly catapulted into the wonderful world of parenting, and we couldn’t have been more thrilled. However, we weren’t fully prepared for the amount of equipment and gear that’s associated with each phase of childhood. Seemingly overnight, our beautiful home was transformed. Rather than the usual home decor, our living space was embellished  with all sorts of accessories for children, including:

3-4 walk & ride toys

3 car seats

2 high chairs, 

2 potty chairs, 

1 pack and play crib, 

1 stroller

a scattering of sippy cups,

random toys & 

piles of dried out wipes

Our home was beginning to show the effects of our family dynamic. As parents, we learned early on that life with little ones would glide along more smoothly, if our surroundings weren't so chaotic. 

Enter the Ten to Tidy game plan.  This was something I came up with to help us deal with the sea of clutter taking over our home. Some of the key features of Ten to Tidy include:

• Timing: Ten minutes is much more child-friendly, especially for little ones who can’t tell time. It's just the right amount of time before their attention spans start to wane, which often leads to frustration for both the parent and child.

• Wording: The word tidy naturally sounds more pleasant than the word cleaning, which can have a negative connotation, even with adults. 

• Mom Math: 1 parent + 2 toddlers = 30 minutes of tidying done in just 10 minutes! 

These key features quickly made Ten to Tidy a family favorite when it came to keeping up with our home. While our cleaning skills varied greatly from parent to toddler, the best part was working together as a family. There were tasks for every person and every skill level. 

This is how we implemented Ten to Tidy in our family… 

Each night, before our boys got ready for bed, we would do 

Ten to Tidy in the playroom. I would rally the troops before setting the timer, building up their enthusiasm. Our goal was to beat the timer, making tidying up more of a game than a chore. When we first adopted this game plan, our boys were 3 and under. They had no concept of time, yet they were giddy with excitement to get everything picked up before the timer went off. With three of us working together, more was accomplished in those ten minutes than if only one of us did all the work. Working side by side also allowed our boys to learn the right way to put their toys away. Through

Ten to Tidy, our children learned that keeping the house tidy isn’t an ‘us’ or ‘them’ responsibility. Everyone can, and should, contribute. 

From house work to yard work, this bite-sized solution to cleaning has followed us into every stage of parenting. Our children are now adults, yet they still rely on this cleaning strategy. While they’ve long outgrown their playroom, they are still putting Ten to Tidy to use in their lives. It was just a month or so ago that our daughter admitted her dorm room had been grossly neglected due busy weeks of juggling school and work. Her solution...Ten to Tidy. It was just the right amount of time to put her room back together before heading off to her next class. Our children have used this strategy to clean everything from cars to dorms from one end of the country to the other.

No matter the age or the space, Ten to Tidy is a great tool for tackling the areas of our lives that may need some extra attention, at least ten minutes worth.