Clean Your Room!

One of the most challenging chores for Chloe is cleaning her room. It's not that she doesn't have the ability to do it. She just gets sidetracked and would prefer to do something else. And who wants to be the parent that is always yelling at their kids? So last night I tried a trick I think I got from my mom. After waiting 5 minutes for Chloe to pick up her first item, I went and got a huge garbage bag. With wide eyes, Chloe said, "That's a trash bag!" "Yep. If you don't want to pick up your toys, we're just going to throw them in the trash." I was amazed at how quickly her room was orderly! I've heard other people say they will give their child's toys to kids that have no toys. But that doesn't work for us. When Chloe was first learning to share, we thought we would teach her God's laws of sowing and reaping at the same time. We taught her that when she gives, she always gets more because God blesses us when we have a giving heart. So now, the idea of giving her toys to other kids would indicate that she is getting more toys in return! We went through each toy/crayon/color book and and decided if she wanted to keep it or throw it away. I let her decide what she kept. That was hard at first because we have quite a bit of money invested in these "smart kid" toys. Why would she want to throw away books to her Leap Pad? But whatever. No, I did not actually throw away her toys that were put in the sack. They are in the extra closet waiting to be given to another child. But the visual aide of the trash bag helped motivate my little one's wandering mind!!!