Am I really asking too much?
Where the heck did I go wrong, and how in the world do I fix it?
My kids are slobs. Bona fide slobs - and it's all my fault.
I grew up in a messy house. Clutter, and dirt, and more clutter on top of the dirt and mess. I don't want my kids to grow up that way. It's been a real challenge to overcome the slob in me, and it still peeks out more often than I'd like.
I taught my children to pick up after themselves. They don't. I'm sick of having to constantly be on them to clean because they don't. You'd think they'd get it, but again, they don't! Example - I picked up fast food for dinner because we're rearranging rooms and I didn't want to cook (nor do I ever want to cook). Not one kid threw their wrapper away. Of course, with getting ready for church, feeding the baby, and eating my own food, I didn't notice until they were gone. Is it really that hard to walk 10 feet to the garbage can and throw a little piece of paper away? I guess so.
I don't know how to fix the problem. It's beyond me. It's on a scale way bigger than food wrappers and not clearing places from the table. Them not cleaning up after themselves is the biggest "make mama mad" thing we have going on. It happens daily. I'm sick of yelling. I'm sick of reminding. I'm sick of having anything nice for them to ruin. Nothing I've done or tried has done any good, so why bother?
I know it's NOT because there's so many of them. I have friends with more kids than we have that don't have pig sty houses, and they don't spend all day cleaning like we sometimes do either. How do I get them to put things AWAY!?!? Everything does have a place, as I know that's the first thing to making sure putting things away is easy. But towels and dirty clothes, and toys, and shoes still end up under the bed, couch, in the closet, stuffed under the dresser.
Eric isn't much better. He cleans by moving things off the floor, and on to any available surface. It's almost as if it's too hard for them to try to think where something belongs, so they'll just put it anywhere. We don't even have that much stuff. Really, I promise! My 7 kids all together have less clothes and toys than individual kids I know (hmm hmm - Kim).
It's frustrating. It makes me want to farm them all out to military school. Of course, my luck would be that they would learn how to make perfect hospital corners on their beds, and how to fold their shirts into perfect 6" squares, and ignore it all to stuff things under the bed again.
Anyone got a bulldozer I can borrow?
My kids are slobs. Bona fide slobs - and it's all my fault.
I grew up in a messy house. Clutter, and dirt, and more clutter on top of the dirt and mess. I don't want my kids to grow up that way. It's been a real challenge to overcome the slob in me, and it still peeks out more often than I'd like.
I taught my children to pick up after themselves. They don't. I'm sick of having to constantly be on them to clean because they don't. You'd think they'd get it, but again, they don't! Example - I picked up fast food for dinner because we're rearranging rooms and I didn't want to cook (nor do I ever want to cook). Not one kid threw their wrapper away. Of course, with getting ready for church, feeding the baby, and eating my own food, I didn't notice until they were gone. Is it really that hard to walk 10 feet to the garbage can and throw a little piece of paper away? I guess so.
I don't know how to fix the problem. It's beyond me. It's on a scale way bigger than food wrappers and not clearing places from the table. Them not cleaning up after themselves is the biggest "make mama mad" thing we have going on. It happens daily. I'm sick of yelling. I'm sick of reminding. I'm sick of having anything nice for them to ruin. Nothing I've done or tried has done any good, so why bother?
I know it's NOT because there's so many of them. I have friends with more kids than we have that don't have pig sty houses, and they don't spend all day cleaning like we sometimes do either. How do I get them to put things AWAY!?!? Everything does have a place, as I know that's the first thing to making sure putting things away is easy. But towels and dirty clothes, and toys, and shoes still end up under the bed, couch, in the closet, stuffed under the dresser.
Eric isn't much better. He cleans by moving things off the floor, and on to any available surface. It's almost as if it's too hard for them to try to think where something belongs, so they'll just put it anywhere. We don't even have that much stuff. Really, I promise! My 7 kids all together have less clothes and toys than individual kids I know (hmm hmm - Kim).
It's frustrating. It makes me want to farm them all out to military school. Of course, my luck would be that they would learn how to make perfect hospital corners on their beds, and how to fold their shirts into perfect 6" squares, and ignore it all to stuff things under the bed again.
Anyone got a bulldozer I can borrow?
Comments
Can I borrow your bulldozer when it gets sent over to you?