Preschoolers and Housework

I really don't want to spend all my waking hours working at my paid job as well as my unpaid ones (home & family).  I need help caring for the house in order to have time to recharge my own batteries.  Sadly, the Kitchen Fairy was last seen with the Cabana Boy heading for the Seychelles Islands so that source of free help is no longer available. 

There is however one source of help available to me nearly 24/7.  She's got red hair and loves being with mommy all the time.  She loves to mop the kitchen floor and handwash dishes. She can scrub potatoes and carrots like a pro and loves to wipe down cupboards and baseboards.  Turtle is a Montessori kid so she's learning how to do dishes, wash windows and scrub tables at school.  However she's not always the most motivated helper so one can't always depend on her helping when one needs it the most.  Due to my work with small people, I'm getting quite good at identifying the "currency" each little one uses.  My Turtle is turning into quite the girly-girl, so the key to motivating her to help around the house was the word pretty.

The words "clean your room" were replaced with "make your room pretty".  We have gone from Turtle emptying her dresser drawers and closet on a daily basis to keeping it tidy with just a five minute rescue.  Making things pretty is a concept she can understand.  It sounds like playing!  Cleaning is something Mommy doesn't like to do and should be avoided at all costs.  But now when Mommy says "I'm going to make the kitchen look pretty," a little voice can be heard to say "I want to help!"  It is also motivating Mommy because making things pretty is a lot more fun than doing chores.  Reading design/home/crafty blogs is finally paying off because they are inspiring me to prettify my home  :D