Spring Cleaning might not top the list of fun activities that you can share with your children, but in fact, involving the entire family in a spring cleaning weekend is a great way to share memories, collaborate and get the house in order, all at the same time. Rather than waste a weekend watching television or going your separate ways, spend a weekend together as a family. Spring cleaning offers the opportunity for toddlers and teenagers to get involved in your home and provides chances for family bonding, too.

Divide up the workload
Put everyone in charge of a task—be it a room they are responsible for cleaning, a closet they need to sort through, or the regular chores like vacuuming or ironing. Young children can get involved with Swiffer dusters and mops, while older children can pitch in with sorting toys and clothes for Goodwill or Children's Aid. Be specific with kids about what you hope to accomplish. For instance, if your son's room is fairly organized, but filled with clutter, talk about the importance of purging and make him responsible for selecting a few items to donate to charity. Giving everyone a task can help make the workload more manageable.

Get outside and welcome spring, too
Don't confine all of your spring cleaning to the inside, either. Head out and weed the garden, cut the lawn, or plant some spring buds. One teenager handling the garden and another cleaning the living room strikes a great balance. Plus, if the sun comes out on the weekend, it isn't necessary to spend it all cooped up. You can still get the house in order without wasting it inside when the sun comes out.

Stop for snacks and take out
If you are going to spend the weekend cleaning, be sure to break it up with family treats and the opportunity to sit around the table with the ones you love. My family loves monkey bread, made from Pillsbury biscuits mixed with butter, sugar and cinnamon. Start the morning off with a family favorite and break for snacks throughout the day. Finish off with pizza or Chinese food, whatever quick, easy meal your family loves the best. Or stop and make chocolate fondue for dessert. Find photographs of mom and dad when they got married? Or a toy that you'd completely forgotten about from your childhood? Be sure to share with your family now!

Who said it was only a mother's job to keep a clean home? Or a father's job to cut the lawn and take out the trash. Times have changed now that both parents are in the workforce. Let's face it.....9-5 is not just a cute movie from the 80's...it's reality for most. It's time to get some help around the house....and kids....it's you!

Kids today have so much that they don't realize how fortunate they are. For most Mom's and Dad's, they want their kids to have everything they didn't have when they were kids. So it is not uncommon to see a 7 year old carrying around an Ipod and cellular phone. Call me crazy....but I recall carrying a couple of dimes to make a pay phone call back in the day. Times are a changing and our children now need to start helping more around the house. All those luxurious things cost money and Mom's are right there along with Dad's working long hard hours outside of the home.

Give your children a sense of responsibility. Trash, dishes, sweeping and dusting are not just a chore for Mom and Dad. For your 5 year old, it could be just praising him for picking up his toys when he is done playing with them....or putting his plate on the counter after dinner. Junior high aged children can start to help more by giving Mom a break and loading the dishwasher after meals. Take out the trash for Dad and pick up after the pets. Although you may get a few moans and groans, they will ultimately grow as individuals and know that they are expected to partake in these chores. These simple chores will only prepare your children for life on their own as adults. The more they understand that they have to work to have nice things, the better off they will be when they are on their own. As parents, we must teach our children to appreciate what they have and/or are given and sometimes it takes hard work to get those things. Let's not teach them to believe they come free. Responsibility with something as simple as a chore will do wonders for your children, and help you out as well.

Now go out and divide up the chores around the house as a family and give them praise for it! Hey, with the extra help, you just might have more time to spend together as a family....and that is more than anything in the world!

By Dee Calderon

As kids get older it is important for them to learn about responsibility. One of the easiest ways to teach kids about responsibility is to give them chores to complete. The purpose of the chores is not to provide parents with free labor, although that is a pleasant side effect, but instead it is to make kids feel like they are an important part of the family. As the parents of multiples you face a challenge, figuring out how to assign chores that will seem fair and that will provide each multiple with the opportunity to learn new skills and to develop their own interests.

Assigning Chores Option No. 1: Chore Rotation
You have a few options when it comes to assigning chores. The first option is to create a list of chores and to rotate who does what. When you first assign chores you need to be realistic about what your kids can handle, and the chores need to be age appropriate. For example, great starter chores for young kids can be putting their toys away, putting their clothes in the hamper and filling the dog's water and food dishes. As your multiples get older you can assign more complicated chores like folding clothes, taking out the garbage and doing the dishes. The rotation of chores option allows your multiples to try each chore out at least once.

Assigning Chores Option No. 2: Interest Based Assignments
After your multiples have tried out the various chores that are available in your household, you can ask each one which chores they like and which ones they don't like. Hopefully, their like/dislike lists will not overlap and you will be able to divvy up the chores based on what each multiple likes to do. This will not only make doing chores more enjoyable, but it will also encourage your multiples to develop individual interests. Another option that you have is to ask each of your multiples what they like to do and then find a chore that will allow them to explore that interest.

Assigning Chores Option No. 3: The Wheel of Chores
The third option that you have is to make the chore selection into a weekly game. At the beginning of each week have each multiple spin a wheel labeled with different chores, or have them draw a chore from a hat. This will make the assignment of chores fun and by putting a one week limit on the chore they are assigned, if they have a chore they don't like to do, they only have to do it for a week.