Gone are the days when we could enjoy a nicely arranged, clutter-free house for longer than an hour.

No matter how often (okay, okay, it isn't really that often) we tidy up, our son manages to turn the whole whose upside down in a few minutes. We've set up a tent where we can "hide" his toys, an area where he can set up his toys and yet, his cars, books and what-have-yous still manage to invade our living room, our kitchen, our bedroom and even our bathroom.

I have to admit that most of the fault lies in us, the parents. We've been amiss in slowly teaching our 2 year old how to clean-up after himself. I know that it is possible. I have seen him voluntarily pick up toys at the kindergarten, so he should be able to do it here. That is, if we make it a point to teach him the same at home.

Today, we will start.

Should your little tornado be the same as my son, here are a few tips which might help us slowly start teaching our kids to be tidy:

Sutton has some tips which just makes me want to thump my head and say, "now why didn't I think of that?!"

Make tidying up fun by singing a song. Here are a Tidy up Transitions from Dr. Jean Feldman.

Goodluck to us!