I asked my 3 children to clean their room over an hour ago. It still isn't done. I have taken away their tv privlages till it is clean. And it doesn't seem to be bothering them. No matter how nice I ask or if I yell they play with the toys instead of picking them up.
2006-10-16 08:36:36 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Family & Relationships ➔ Family
ages 4,3,and 2
2006-10-16 16:06:13 · update #1
well, you need to be consistent and you don´t need to yell. What is that they like? Do they have a place they love going to? Well if they do, tell them that you guys are going to have a contest, that the one that cleans his room will get a prize for example the one that cleans it will get to go a movie or will get a toy that he wants, and if they clean you have to give them the prize. You have to motivate them to do it, if they don´t then take away something that really matters to the for exmaple take away the toys and say you will give them back once they have cleaned there room. the important thing is to be cnsistent, if you tell them you will take away the toy do it. And if you tell them they´ll get a prize give it to them.
2006-10-16 09:25:24 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well, you don't say how old your kids are. If they are under age 6, you need to help them and just get in there with them picking up. But if they are over 6....no problem.... You go in there with a large trash bag and you say, "You have 30 minutes to clean up this room. Whatever is on the floor in 30 minutes will be put into this bag and you will not see it again for a very, very long time." Then do it. Go in, pick up the things on the floor and put them into the trash bag (the kids will cry and scream). Be firm. Remove the bag and take it somewhere where they can't see it (the attic, the cellar, the trunk of your car). When they calm down, tell them you will allow them to remove two items from the bag, every week that they keep their room neat. If the room is a mess again, get another bag. Keep at it. Eventually, they'll learn you mean business and they will keep a neater room in order to keep their most beloved possession. What they don't re-claim in a few months, you may as well give to charity. They didn't care about those things, anyway. Good luck. It worked for me.
2006-10-16 15:57:32 · answer #2 · answered by Wiser1 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Watch the Nanny programs.
You need to take away what really matters to them. One idea is that you give them an hour to pick up and whatever is left out on the floor you take away. They will most likely test you on this. The best thing is to never back down onwhat you say you will do. also don't make the punishment so bad that you go nuts.
Have three clothing baskets or boxes and at the end of an hour, pick up the toys and hide them away until they start taking care of picking up. It might be five days of them leaving stuff out. Eventually they won't have any toys to play with.
Another thing that I learned when my kids were young is that if they have too many toys they tend to dump them and move on to another group of toys and dump them too. What i did was with things like legos and small parts those toys were up on the shelf where they couldn't reach. If they wanted the legos, their floor had to be clear of toys, when they were done it had to be picked up.
Another problem with having too many toys is that the job of picking up it Way too big of a job for a kid. It might be good to rotate toys so that there isn't such a mess. Kids can truely, like us, get overwhelmed with a task and they just give up.
Another good thing is positive rewards. A kid seems to always get negative engery from parents becasue that is how it is. Work on positive things . Praise is good. How about making up a pick up room poster. When they do it they get a star or a sticker. When they get 7 stickers they get a reward of some kind. Go to the dollor store and grab a bunch of little toys, books, etc and maybe throw in some little pieces of candy.
I wish you the best of luck
2006-10-16 15:48:15 · answer #3 · answered by clcalifornia 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Dear Stephie,
If your children are ages 4,3 and 2 I would suggest that you keep it very very simple.
I have 2 grown children and 5 grandchildren now. Why my son was growing up I don't think I handled the cleaning up very well so I cleaned up "my act" when my daughter (9 years younger) was growing up. I didn't have much trouble with her. Starting at the time when my daughter would ask me for a treat of some kind I simply said she could have the cookie as soon as her toys were picked up. I did not offer her a bribe to do it but simply waited until she asked.
I think the 4 year old can handle simple cleaning up but the attention span for your 2 and 3 year old is extremely limited. Don't send them to their room to clean on their own. You have to be involved and say "We are going to clean this area". As they get older you can introduce some competition between them and say you are going to give 1 cookie to the one who finishes their cleaning first.
At ages 4, 3 and 2 limit limit limit the television watching.
Have you read John Rosemond's column on parenting? I enjoy his advice immensely even though I am no longer raising children.
2006-10-18 09:43:39 · answer #4 · answered by JOYfilled - Romans 8:28 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ok. I have 5 little brothers.... it really depends on the ages.. my mom gives them a chance to clean their rooms and if it don't get done in the amount of time she gives them, then they get a "lick" every 5 min they are over the time limit.... (not really ) but to scare them... and if they don't clean their room clean it for them...but they won't like the way you clean it for them...by cleaning, it means throwing it (toys) away... and then they won't have anything to keep their room a mess with... and if they have a problem with it, maybe that will teach them to keep a clean room....
2006-10-16 15:45:53 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Time out. You put them in a corner, you make them stare at a wall and they are not allowed to move or get up for 5 minutes. If they do, it's spanking time.
You can also tell them they won't have dinner and that they have to stay in their rooms until tomorrow morning.
I hope you're a firm and strong parent and not one of those "let's talk about it" kind. You tell them what you want done and you make them do it. Otherwise, you'll be raising some really a-hole children and we already have enough of those.
2006-10-16 15:41:18 · answer #6 · answered by Dr. Kat 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
go in there bag up everything that is not in its place and "toss it" (even if you just act like it and put it up somewhere they don't know). take away tvs, computers, everything electronic. It will work maybe not the first time but by the time you clean out there room once or twice they will do as you ask.
2006-10-16 16:23:05 · answer #7 · answered by Stacy B 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's right. They need to be spanked and know that you mean business. I'm not talking child abuse, that's much different, where you are tying to harm them out of anger. Simply paddle them a good hard smack on the butt. That will get their attention. Every child needs real disciple from the ones they love or they'll think they don't have to obey anything, and you'll have future jailbirds on your hands, or even worse.
2006-10-16 15:42:59 · answer #8 · answered by Matt B 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Offer some sort of reinforcement, like I will take you out for ice cream but not until the room is clean. Something they can look forward to. If then they don't listen, then smack 'em! Some good ol' punishment will do the trick!
2006-10-16 15:39:37 · answer #9 · answered by Meagan 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You only ASK once!!!
See that's the problem................. no @ss beatings anymore!!!! I do not condone violence, but once fear is un-instilled in children, your doomed, and doing an injustice to society, as a whole. The kids of today are spoiled and totally out of control.
Just wait, it's going to get much worse!!!!!
Mr Happy
:o)
2006-10-16 15:44:07 · answer #10 · answered by hagtagg 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋