Picking up Toys

I just spent 2 hours with the kids cleaning up toys and straightening up. We have been quite busy lately and we were a bit behind. I can tell that even though they are hardly adept at any sort of cleaning and organizing, they do appreciate an open space to play, in their own way.

On my part so much energy is spent ignoring the mess that it is a huge relief to have it "less messy'. I feel like I have the space to think now. We still have clutter. We LIVE here. We cook, play, learn and do projects.

I use Love and Logic to get my children to help. OK, the little one doesn't exactly "help" but he is easily redirected and we make it fun. My 4 year old knows I mean it when I say "Only kids that help clean up get to have a say on what stays and what goes. If I do it all by myself I may put it all away in a box for a while." She seemed unfazed when I did that the first time, saying "I don't really want to play with my toys anyway", but she has helped EVERY SINGLE TIME since then. I'm not saying I'm an awesome parent or that she's an awesome child, just that Love and Logic just works. We have been using L&L for over 2 years now so the kids are "trained" but it really doesn't take long to implement logical consequences.

It is hard to disappoint your child when they expect to get their way, but it is so worth it in the long run when they start expecting you to set boundaries and don't challenge them as often.