No this is not about actual fire because of or relating to the previous post about our superhuman 15 month old. This is about the new house rule.
It's backfired on me. I try, I really try to find real life type cause and effect ways to teach my kids. I try to take a problem that they are creating and make it be their problem instead of mine. Hence the new rule. It was going pretty well for awhile, then the holidays came and we slacked off (who wants to be mean on Christmas Eve, and really what kid CAN stay in bed on a night like that?). Now that the holiday season is coming to a close, save for Epiphany in a couple of days, I am trying once again to be more strict. So I am trying to enforce my new rule.
The problem is that they like it.
They like staying up and doing the dishes. Apparently, it's fun for them! They don't even mind cleaning up the house.
Now don't get me wrong, I love, love, love having my little slaves do the dishes for me, but I also want the little beans to get their sleep!
The whole point of the rule was that they would not like doing the dishes (like normal kids) and want to stay in bed more. Even the three year old was happily wheeling the entire high chair over for cleaning tonight! Even after cleaning though, they still have trouble staying in their beds.
How can I motivate them to want to sleep?
Any suggestions?
4 comments:
Children's Tylenol PM? Haha only kidding...or am I? ;)
i got nothin
I'm sorry. The little boy I raised, just sat on the floor and lined up little cars all day and then went peacefully to bed at night. I cannot offer one piece of advise for kids who LOVE to clean house:-)
It seems like I just get Per "figured out" and then he changes what he's doing or how he's doing it. I assume this is a universal thing with kids... maybe they just need some time for the feeling of "getting away with" staying up later by doing chores to wear off. Then maybe they'll realize that it's really not that fun and they'll want to go to bed. One further thought: Have you ever read the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books? There's a story called The I-Don't-Wanna-Go-To-Bedders...or something along those lines. I'm not advocating Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's methods, as some of them would probably end with a child/social services worker knocking on the door to have a serious talk, but maybe it could be used as a teaching tool with the kids? I dunno. Let me know if you want to borrow the book. I'll send it to you. Good luck!
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