Sunday, February 15, 2009

Toy Control

I've done a few posts about how we control toy levels in the house and the criteria for toys comming into the house - but there is another part of toy wrangling that needs a little tweaking here.

I walked into the bedroom last night to put the kids to bed after they "cleaned" there room. Notice those little "" marks? They mean that they weren't cleaning. They were pretending they were cleaning, but they weren't. Billy was sitting on a pile of books reading a book, Erin was standing in the middle of the room with a toy in her hand "deciding" where to put it - apparently she'd been doing that for the whole twenty minutes she'd been in there. The toy actually has a place where it lives, but apparently she forgot that. I had specifically told her to pick up the tea set that was strewn accross the rug, but she forgot that too. Yes, she is that vague, she inherited it from me!

So in the interests of Mummy's sanity, there is a new rule. Anything on the floor when I put everyone to bed, gets put in THE BOX (cue appropriate scary music). If I go in and there is nothing on the floor, they each get to choose something from the box.

I figure if they end up with NO toys in their room, they won't be able to make a mess! Obviously, we have not been consistant with tidying up and now we are reaping the consequences. We will do a big tidy up today to remind them what tidy looks like, then they will be responsible for their own stuff. I don't do nagging, I forget to do it and it all falls apart anyway. I can do consequences!

I'll let you know how it goes.

4 comments:

Momma Bug said...

I like that one Jess.
Wow, I am bushed today. We had a lovely restful day with reading, resting, playing, sorting stuff that needed sorting. All I need now is a soak in a tub (unfortunately there's no tub available for my soak, but I AM thankful for the shower - that will do tonight!)
AJ is out of town, and I miss miss miss him!
We are expecting another little one and that has given me the usual first trimester tiredness and punk feeling. Thankfully I don't get terrible morning sickness!
I haven't had a chance to announce to my folks yet, so haven't advertised on my blog ;-)
I knew YOU'D rejoice with me, and relate too;-)
I hope all is going well with that new little Anna. No matter how wonderful and beautiful the transition, there are still difficult moments. I know.
Have a wonderful day my friend! (cause it IS day there right?)

Love,
Analene

Jess said...

Oh WOW! I am so thrilled for you Analene :D Another precious little one! I remember the first trimester feelings, I found I had to take a 20 minute kip every afternoon in an arm chair in order not to fall asleep in my dinner! Take care lovey, your body is working hard to help create a new little person.

I am a little bushed today too, I gave the kids room a through sort out to demonstrate what TIDY is as well as the normal day-to-day stuff after going to bed FAR too late and spending the whole day out yesterday! I have a to-do list as long as my arm but I need to take 20 minutes out or I won't make the end of the day.

God Bless!

Jess

Anonymous said...

sort of like the leaf rake and black garbage bag ... only tweaked and refined to make it workable :)

Jess said...

Yes Mum, and plus I really will turf the toys rather than keep them in the top of the wardrobe for a few months before giving them back LOL