OMG, I am so at my wits end with my kids (especially Hannah!!) and cleaning up!!! Getting the days toys cleaned up and put away is like pulling teeth!! I feel like all I do is nag, and yell, and yell, and nag and it does no good!! I've tried taking toys away from weeks on end (did nothing), I've tried going right to bed with no story, rocking (yes, Hannah still loves getting rocked for a few minutes) - basically going to bed without passing "Go". I've even tried a stiker chart with 3 other behaviors to work on. They didn't get a single day worth of stickers in 12 days!!!

To those of you who have older kids (mine are 6 and 5) can you give my any pointers before I kill them?!?! (j/k of course!!)

Thanks!!

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I'm trying to think what my sisters do...but I seem to recall stories like yours from all houses! Try not to kill them

Marianne

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Terrified, mortified, petrified, stupefied... by you!
--"A Beautiful Mind"

I don't have older kids but I did work in daycare and kindergarten for awhile and it really is like pulling teeth!! The thing I always noticed that made a difference when they're still relatively young (obviously this would not work with teenagers hehe) was to sing a song (do you know the clean up song?) and do it with them. Don't do it all by yourself, but as long as they're helping, you can help them too! HTH! Good luck!!!!!

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The crazy thing is that they clean up so well at preschool!! Hannah's been known to sing the clean up song, but not do any clean up. A lot of times I'm unable to help them as I'm doing final dinner prep or putting excess food away, etc while they're cleaning up.

I keep telling myself that this is just a stage, but sheesh! This has been going on forever!!! She's never been much of a cleaner-upper, even since the very beginning.

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Sorry Bev, mine are basically the same way! Drew gets stickers at school almost every time she goes for helping clean up but at home it IS like pulling teeth! Dh insituted a 10 minute clean-up rule at the end of the day or whenever we feel like a quick clean up is needed. All we say is "10 minute clean-up" and whatever toys are left we put in the garage for a week! They do pretty good with this but they have had some toys go away.

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I don't post here that often...but I have a 8 and 7 yr old.

If they don't clean it up after they've been told to several times, etc..I take that toy away.

Say it's clean up time...They have X amount of time to clean up. After that given time if it's not done then I get to take those toys away. I put them somewhere they can't get to and they don't get them for a week...

It works well because they don't want their toys taken away.

Same with their rooms. They have an hour on Saturdays' to clean it up. If it's not done when I go and check those toys are mine.

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