Anyone BTDT cleaning offices/churches with your kids?

[heart'sjoy]

Just looking for advice and or experiences anyone would want to share.

 

We might look at 3 hours a week cleaning a building as a family.

[Mom22ns]

My grandmother cleaned the church she attended every week for 40+ years. She raised two of my cousins and had 2 others that stayed for years at a time, so she always had 2+ kids with her. My perspective on this is from the kids point, not the adults, but here it goes:

 

When we visited and it was cleaning day, we all went and we all helped. Very small children did things like dust pews and pickup toys in nurseries. Older children vacuumed and cleaned blackboards (now days it would be white boards). Everyone had jobs and what they were varied, but we all helped. No one ever thought to complain or shirk, it was what we did. Older and younger kids frequently teamed up and it was sort of fun.

 

Children to young to help at all could be worn. I think it is a good family project.

[Dobela]

How old are the kid? A friend of mine does it with sometimes 4 kids in tow under the age of 6. Our church is fairly large though and takes much longer to clean than 3 hours. Sometimes it is very difficult to do with the kids, sometimes not. Recently she and her dh have been taking turns - he works by himself while she has the kids, and vice versa. It takes a bit longer, but not too much. She was also able to coordinate cleaning times with children's activity times. If the kids were in Mother's Day Out, the church would allow her to clean during that time as long as it was ready for the next services or scheduled event.

[Truscifi]

Not with that situation in particular, but ds8 does go with me to a small dog rescue. He helps get the dogs out for their outside time, helps put them up, helps with poop patrol in the yard, etc. I pay him a few dollars for each day he helps. When the little one arrives, he'll go too, though obviously it will be a while before he's ready to help. ;)

[Mommy Grommy]

I did this as a kid! My mom, sister, and I cleaned our church (as volunteers) and an office (for pay). It was great for me because I got paid a little and the office was actually a visual design studio, which was awesome. I will admit that I spent my extra time (after cleaning the bathrooms, etc. of course :D) looking through the design magazines/catalogs on the bookshelf. It was inspiring!

[godsaggie]

I cleaned our church a few years back...sometimes I would have my kids with me. My oldest would help me (she was about 6) and the little one would sit in a portable swing I would take with me. It worked really well for us. The only reason that I stopped cleaning was that I was also the church secretary and felt that doing both was too much.

[heart'sjoy]

training in work ethics.

Our kids are 12,10,8.

[jewellsmommy]

I think it is a wonderful life lesson for children. We are not always cleaning, but serving in one way or another. Dd has been there every step of the way and feels a great deal of ownership in the church. Ds is just starting to get this. They both help clean up after the Lord's Supper. They help clean the fellowship hall etc.