Seriously, forever.
But I'm not quite sure what to do about it, at this point. I just don't know what my next move is.
See, I can yell and I can scream, but that doesn't really get the toys off the floor. More than that, it doesn't help instill the habit of picking up after one's self.
I have looked up different options when it comes to this issue. We have a Toy Room, a room dedicated to toys. All toys belong in that room. All I ask is that once a week, on Monday, the toys are picked up and off the floor so that I can vacuum and get all the pet hair and dirt out of the rug. For some reason, this is always the last place the boys choose to play.
Some time ago I decided to pick up al the toys that were left out on the floor and place them in a place the boys couldn't play with them. The High Shelf. Which, in reality, is actually the uninsulated closet we keep the suitcases and the off-season clothing in. But it has a lock on the door, which is what matters.
To get the toys back, the boys need to have clean floors the next week, the following Monday, so that I can vacuum. Then I'll take everything down for them.
The problem is, the boys don't care. Oh, they put up a fuss when I take the big yellow truck left on the stairs and put it in the closet, but it is soon forgotten. There are plenty of other toys. And every Monday, instead of the corrected behavior, I get more toys on the floor.
Today I ran into a problem because the closet is just about full. But there are still many many more toys that can be left out.
I'm starting to think that a week is just too long, and that I need to shorten the time period so the boys won't forget about the toys in the closet before I ask them to clean up again.
But that will require me to get after them to clean up more than once a week, and to tell the truth, it's torture. I hate standing there in a room the boys insist is clean, that has a pile of pokemon cards in the middle of the rug, and a small backback in the corner, and stuffed animals leaking off the windowsill, and books peaking out from under the bed...
On the other hand, I can always give everything away and we can start all over. This sounds better to me every day.
2 comments:
I know from my sister that when the toys become too large in number to keep them neatly, she puts many of them in a garbage bag and gives them away. It might not be a bad idea to do the same thing or at least make the boys think you are going to do it. If they don't want to lose the toys they will pick up after themselves, but if they don't care then you have reduced the mess. It sounds like a win win situation to me. Just some food for thought.
My sister used to warn twice & then throw out. Last time I saw my nephew's place it was neat! I won't say it didn't cause a lot of crying & perhaps some trauma, but it seems to have worked.
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