Anyway, with all of this our house slowly fell into disarray- to say the least. Finally on Monday night, the kids wanted to play on the computer after their showers and I told them they had to clean the basement/ playroom before they got screen time of any kind. Well true to their nature, everytime I send them to clean up they often get involved in playing with the toys, forgetting cleaning of any kind. In fact it is kind of what we do when we want them to go play we just ask them to clean and we don't see them for hours. One time recently I sent them upstairs to get dressed and two hours later they came down- not yet dressed.
So down they go at 6:30pm and I called them upstairs to go to bed at 7:45pm, and the basement was in fact worse than when I sent them down. I told them that they could not watch TV or play on the computer until they cleaned the basement. Now, let's be clear, when they get up in the morning they go straight to one or the other- sometimes they come in to say good morning, but not always. Marc and I, since we value sleep above all else, do not stop this habit and many times we are in bed until 9:30 or later- shhhh don't tell.
Just to make sure they got the message I hung these signs on the TV and computers:
Just so you know what we were dealing with here is a picture of the disaster (it actually got a little worse before it got better).
So Tuesday morning begins and Justin gets up first. He wanders around sort of aimlessly until Jessica wakes up and they head to the basement. Um, not to clean but to play. When I get home from teaching they head downstairs to clean, but alas they play. By late on Tuesday they are running out of room in the basement and come upstairs and set up a new game in the family room using the boxes that Grandma Sara mailed.
Miracle of miracles Tuesday ends and they did not play on the computer or watch TV at all and we were home all day. They played VERY NICELY with each with only one altercation.
So we go on to Wednesday. The rule is still in place. And Wednesday passes without any TV or Computer time as well. Mind you this system is not for the faint of heart. I know many of you would have a hard time with allowing a mess to stay there for days on end. Not me! My kids were playing amazingly nicely together, they were not zoned out in front of a screen, nor were they constantly asking for screen time because they knew I would say yes as soon as they cleaned.
Well by Thursday it was a little much for me. I was having a tough time getting to my computer without risking my safety. I finally made them put away the beads and a few other things. Finally by Thursday evening the cleaned everything. I told them they could each keep one toy out- Jessica = polly pockets and Justin = magnetix. Then they screen loaded (Marc's analogy = sort of like carbo loading before a big race).
That was my week- 3 days of the kids playing so nicely together, while I tried to keep my head above water with the photo class and proofing pics. I am home this week so hopefully more to blog about.
4 comments:
Wow! What a nice story! Amazing how it all happened, huh? Just the fact that they knew they could if they wanted to. Also, love Marc's phrase!
Laughing as I read this. Art is out of town for a few days, and he is the neat freak in the family. So, since I value personal time above much else, my house is a wreck. Like Deb's kids, mine have been playing together sooooo nicely, that I have allowed the mess to accumulate, and the kids to play uninterrupted, except for one incident...they took a ball point pen and drew all over their bodies to make themselves into monsters. So- I had to give up some alone time and give a bath...
Ok, so apparently our standards are different in terms of clean, because that basement looks like either of my kids rooms at any given time. I like what you consider "messy".
ah yes, but you are not trying to sell your house. you might get a call that says someone wants to walk through your house at any moment. and I don't want to clean up that mess.
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