Tidying Up!

[maisiemog]

Why does it have to be such a battle????


Every day I end up in a battle of wills with all the kids about tidying up! Tonight the whole of my downstairs looks like a bomb has gone off! And none of them are tidying up!

The kids are aged 4-9 so its not like they are ok young to be doing it! And what's making m crosser is the fact that its My Dd who is the laziest! How come I have more patience with other people's kids than my own???

Any tips to help? I'm considering threatening them with not being allowed to play if they don't tidy up!

[shortstuff]

when do you get them to tidy up? mine tidy up at snack and lunch/dinner time so they want their food. If it is for home time we make a game of it and see who can put the most away nicely and gently and the one who achieves it gets to choose an activity the next day.

[jackie 7]

We tidy up several times a day. French I am the wicked witch telling each child what toy to put away. One really refused to put anything away so I said if you don't tidy toys then you will only play with the toy in you'd hand. He thought this was funny and didn't have to put away all the boxes he had tipped out. His face was a picture when he realised all he had was one toy. He really helped tidy the next time.

[AliceK]

We have very regular tidy up times but at the very least always before meals / snacks. To be honest they are all very good at doing it when asked, even my 2yr olds, but like you my DD (5) is so lazy. she will happily sit and let everyone else do it, or walk around with 1 thing in her hand pretending to be tidying until it's all done. I once witnessed her in the school playground at break time and the teacher asked them to all tidy up and she went and sat down and didn't do anything. She was shocked when I mentioned it to her after school as she had no idea I had been watching her.

xxxxx

[Bumble Beez]

Hmmm...we do a few tidy ups through the day so evenings are never too bad. However I find with the ones who don't want to help out...I say 'I'm gonna close my eyes and count to ten and you'll get a sticker for each toy you've put away...' Ready, set, go...all toys tidy within minutes lol!
I also have more patience with other people's children than my own...

Sarah x

[Tealady]

My daughters teacher plays "Mission Impossible" at tidy up time. They have to get it done by the time the music is finished so it's kind of a race. If yours are between 4-9 that might be worth a try.

[Bumble Beez]

My daughters teacher plays "Mission Impossible" at tidy up time. They have to get it done by the time the music is finished so it's kind of a race. If yours are between 4-9 that might be worth a try.

I like that...gonna half inch it and try tomorrow ;)

Sarah x

[Kirstylob]

I like the mission impossible idea to!

[kellib]

We tidy up a few times during the day too (mealtimes etc) I have three LO's who love tidying up so are a great help and another 2 who hate it. One of them loves it when I say 'don't you dare tidy that toy away etc' turn round for a second and he's tidied it up :laughing: Another more headstrong girl told me that she doesn't need to tidy as her Mum does it all for her (Mum doesn't btw!), she soon cottoned on that it's different rules in my house and while she still moans about tidying she does do it with minimum fuss.

[bunyip]

I find it depends on the ages of the children. I'm stricter with the older ones, for whom I have a top-shelf "quarantine" area where anything goes for a while if they refuse to tidy up. I also use 'collective responsibility' because then the peer pressure kicks in: if one refuses to help, the others all lean on the one the make sure they pull their weight.

I'm less strict with the littlies, and am happy if they at least 'help' - even if that means just putting 1 or 2 small items away. I usually end up doing a 'sweep' of the room every 1/2 hour or so and putting away things which have been abandoned. They're actually very good at tidying as part of a routine (eg. meal times) or activity (eg. paint/craft).

The worst thing I find is the end-of-day stand-offs when parents feel the need to demonstrate how wonderful their lo is by making them tidy. I hate this bit. The child just wants mum's attention after a day without her. I just want to see them off happily, then tidy myself, sure in the fact that I've got all the right bits in the right boxes and all the sucked toys duly wiped down. Instead, I have crying children, cross mums and jumbled up jigsaws still dripping with saliva and snot.

I have so far resisted the urge to scream "just take your child and go" but it's maybe only a matter of time..................................:p

[funemnx]

"but I didn't play with that!" :rolleyes:

Especially the 4 & 5 year olds. Sometimes we play a game with a timer - sometimes I just bribe them with the sugar free lolly's bought for the purpose :blush:

[donna porter]

Mine have to tidy up before they have games console/tv time. My eldest son is pretty good at tidying up. He's 8 and always desperate to play Xbox. The younger ones are easily distracted so need a bit of encouragement. There are 5 kids in my house (18mths - 8years) so u can imagine the chaos!! Lol

[blue bear]

We tidy up before food and each child volunteers/gets allocated an area to tidy. Once tidied at evening snack what ever they get out has to be put away before they get something else out.
Might seem a bit strange but try pretending your dd is just a regular mindee, it always worked for me. More patience and less reactive.