The other day I sat down with my kids and explained that I was tired of them leaving their stuff all over the house. I told them the next day I was going to start collecting their stuff that I find laying around and put it all in a garbage bag. At the end of the day they would have to buy back the items from me with the money they have earned from their jobs at the cost of .25 an item.
They were all on board, each thinking that they rarely leave stuff around. It is the other brothers, of course who can't put their stuff away. I'm pretty confident what I had told them left their heads before they were out of the room.
Imagine their amazement when I gathered them all together the next evening and showed them the bulging bag of stuff. Their eyes just about popped out of their heads.
One by one I started pulling items out of the bag. At first their jaws dropped in disbelief. Every boy had a load of stuff I had collected. I could tell some of them were deciding if they should argue their case to me. Those that tried were shot down before they finished their first sentence.
After the disbelief period, to my amusement I began to see worried looks on their faces as they began counting in their heads and on their fingers the amount of money they now owed me. The dreams of buying boxes of Legos and buckets of candy were slowly disappearing. I just sat there and smirked.
This is what I found
3 pairs of flip flops
1 pair of shoes
2 pairs of socks
2 Wii remotes
2 Wii nun chucks
PlayStation 2
Playstation 2 remotes
hat
jacket
Soccer gloves
2 piano books
2 piano bags
popcorn bowl
remains of a microwave popcorn bag
After I distributed the stuff out, I looked at them and said. "Let this be a warning to you. Tomorrow I won't be so nice." The worried looks suddenly disappeared as they scampered off to put their stuff away.
We will see how day 2 goes. And trust me, the niceness is gone.
6 comments:
You probably shouldn't make them buy the piano lesson books back. They may decide to quit lessons instead.
I can't wait until the next post. Did the pick up thing work??????
My kids wouldn't want anything back. It is always someone else that did it.
I have seriously thought about doing this. I'm excited to see if they actually shell out the cash. Maybe I'll just start hoarding it all and see if they notice.
Wow, I hope it works for you. My kids probably wouldn't care very much and I'd have a huge collection of stuff.
Great idea! I do something similar. I point to the clock and I say, "When the long one is over here, I am going to clean up x by putting it in the garbage. If you would like to clean it up before then, feel free." From Love and Logic.
Think of all the legos and candy YOU will be able to buy soon!
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