I am as guilty as the next parent when it comes to buying my kids everything they want. For my daughter it is brand name clothes and the world's supply of stuffed toys. For my son it is video games, movies, and books. Everyday their piles of stuff seem to grow and multiply like Gremlins. When is enough enough?
On Thursday morning, I reached my limit. After the fourth consecutive day of fighting with my daughter about her inability to find anything to wear and the treacherous condition of her bedroom, I snapped.
Tired of being screamed at. Tired of continuously being told "there is nothing to wear". Tired of tripping over blankets, garbage, toys, shoes, and dirty clothes. Tired of the stuff I've given her being uncared for and in constant disrepair.
This is what my daughter came home to:
Everything she owns that was strewn carelessly around her room is now in 1 of 8 garbage bags. The garbage is still where she left it and the clothes that don't meet her needs are still in the drawers. What happens from here is entirely up to her.
To reclaim her belongings, she must pick up the trash that still litters her room and vacuum. She must also go through her drawers and put the clothes she no longer wants into a bag to be donated. Then she can reclaim one bag at a time. Once she has gone through the contents of one bag and finds a place for each thing, she can reclaim the next bag.
She has until Sunday. Come bedtime on Sunday, what hasn't been reclaimed or put in it's place will be removed from her room - never to return again.
That means no more Justice jeans she left lying about, no more Osiris hightops, no more favorite blanket, no more J-14 magazines. I just hope that at some point, it sinks in. I'm at a loss for any other way to teach her how to take care of her things.
