I get tired of having a messy house, but today I had enough. My kids are almost 10, almost 6 and almost 5. They are plenty old enough to be able to help.
I think with my health problems I have gotten lax with making them help. I am constantly asking them to pick up things.
For the last week all I have heard is I didn't do it or someone else was blamed. I think I have magic mess making elves at my house. This afternoon after asking for about 3 hours of help, I had a meltdown.
Every single toy in the house got taken away for a month. I know it sounds harsh but I have had enough of no one picking up. I am hoping they will listen about cleaning up after themselves.
I took every single thing they like away and locked it in closets. If they want anything to read or color they have to come and get it. If it doesn't get put away when they are done, they don't get to do it.
They were in shock. Hopefully they will think about taking care of their things from now on. I do have a clean house tonight though.
5 comments:
I missed so many posts in the last little bit! I think it's great that you took all the toys! Now they know you are serious! I have the same problem. It seems like any time I ask the kids to help they just whine and grumble. All I can think is, "Do I really ask you to do that much?" I almost don't want to ask them to help so I don't have to listen to the whining!
Sometimes it seems like it is easier just to do it yourself, but how will they ever learn if you don't make them do something?
I don't think that was harsh at all. I think sometime no matter who we are or how old we are we need to realize what is important. I think besides the fact that they will miss there stuff and want to do better. They hopefully will realize that you are important to. I did that to my daughter who is only four. She would never clean up or help. She loves her princess cloths and I took them away until she learned to clean her room for a week and even though she is pretty young She got the Idea. Now she understands and does do better. She knows that she needs to or she will have something taken away and now its story time and she hates that. She also hates to see me mad and wants me to be happy all the time.
Good for you! I had a friend once that went on strike. Her family learned REALLY quick!
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