My children are trying to kill me. I'm sure of it. Sunday... 5 days ago... I asked Emily and Greg to spend 15 minutes in the basement picking up toys. Just 15 minutes. That's all. Not a hard task, and not overwhelming either. That was 5 days ago.
The toys are EVERYWHERE. I can't even get to the "Christmas Closet" because of it. So today is the day... Greg gets on the bus and we're grabbing garbage bags. Everything that is not Mis en plase' is going into a garbage bag... to be hidden away. For a L..............O............N...........G time. Infact, we're not even going to tell them it's done. We're going to wait for them to ask where their things are. Hmmmm Where did you leave them?
Yesterday I asked her to clean up her room. It slowly becoming a Hazmat zone. I told her that we weren't going to her dance class until it was finished. I got wrapped up in getting Christmas cards done and did not check on her. She comes to me and says, "Can you come check my room? I did a lot". My reply (because I'm stupid) "I trust you." HA! Today, she has so much crap on her pretty coat hooks (purchased at the Milford Art Fair w/Melanie) that they are pulling out of the wall! Crap is everywhere.
I'm done. I'm so sick of being walked all over... Please send in your tips. I've reached the end of my rope....
Operators are standing by...
And just think......you are about to get a whole new supply of toys....it's Christmas!! First of all, kids don't clean or straighten up, except on a kid level. 25 years ago, my kids were "cleaning" this same way. I did lose part of my mind, which is eveident today! Kids will NEVER clean the way we adults are hoping for. It is part of the kid gene pool. The garbage bag trick has been around since time began. It works if you stick to it. If they don't notice the stuff is gone, well you know the answer.....Purple Heart. BUT....only if you give to PH with the stuff In the bags. As in, the kidlets never see it leaving!!!!
ReplyDeleteThat way they will be none the wiser, and you will gain back some of your sanity.
Then, there is always the informing of friends and relatives of which kind of gifts to buy the kids, if they want suggestions.
You can quickly tell them some of your thoughts. This might include things that have a maximum of 3 pieces to it. Or, instead of a lot of little things, maybe one appropriate larger gift....this doesn't mean large physically, just one that is more useful than one with a ton of pieces to it. You may have to give suggestions. There is hope at the end of this DARK tunnel. As the kids get older, they want big ticket items as opposed to things with a zillion parts to them.
If nothing works, rent a Bulldozer, and start scooping!!!
Remember, "kid" cleaning never works!! If you want it done to your liking, you will pretty much have to do it yourself. This way will show you how much stuff they really have and what you will need to do about it! If it looks overwhelming to you.......just imagine how it looks to them!!!
AND....most importantly, it's not their fault that they have sooooo much stuff!!
Great subject! Been there, done that. (still doing it) You will gain much satisfaction when your kids have kids and you can buy so much stuff for their houses that they can barely move!
I agree, but I must say that when I asked them to spend JUST 15 minutes down there, I didn't expect it to be immaculate. I knew that 15 minutes would just help take care of some of the stuff. This has worked many times in the past, but for some reason not this week. So, we took care of it. The toys are off limits for 1 month.
ReplyDeletePeriod.