However, there is likely a campaign happening that you are not yet aware of, probably because it just started in my living room about five minutes ago. I call it the "I Clean Up After Myself" campaign. There will be no mud-slinging, and if there is, you have to wipe up whatever you throw, as soon as you throw it.
See, lately I have reached a breaking point. I. Cannot. Keep. Up. My house is in a constant state of disaster. It might have a bit to do with how exhausted I have been lately, dealing with Peanut and her recent Terrificness, I admit. I've said before that I am no Neat Freak. I am okay with the slightly disheveled design theme I have going. Three kids, two adults, and three pets all in 1,000 square feet - there's no way this place is staying photo-shoot worthy for any length of time.
However, when I can rarely see the kitchen counter, have bruises all over the bottoms of my feet from stepping on a bazillion lego parts, and have had to put the baby in gently-worn, unlaundered socks for the past two days.....something's gotta give. Today it was me, in the form of a blurry-eyed meltdown in the middle of what should be a kitchen but instead resembles a sad graveyard for cereal bowls, school papers, uneaten grilled cheese crusts, and God-only-knows what else.
We have tried chore-charts. They work for a while, but the funny thing about them is that you have to keep updating them, rotating chores from person to person, and adjusting them to whatever sports or extra-curricular activity interferes. Throw in a cold, unplanned over-time, or the impending Mayan-apocalypse, and things get off-kilter really quickly. So basically, they become a chore in and of themselves. And if I have a hard time getting the laundry done, adding the duty of the chore chart on top.....just doesn't work.
So, a light bulb. My kids have responded well to sticker charts in the past, but again, a sticker chart is generally just a glorified chore-chart, and we've established how horrible I am at those. But a basic, cover-the-whole-sheet with stickers you earn when you are caught doing a desired behavior? I think I can swing that. Basic behavior-modification tactic: reward the good, ignore the bad.
So here is our campaign sign:
Pretty simple, and not at all perfect. The kids and the adults will earn small stickers to cover first the letters then the white space when they are "caught" cleaning-up after themselves as they make the mess. No stickers for reminders or requests, only for taking initiative and responsibility for oneself. Extra stickers might be rewarded for taking on messes that aren't your own, such as cleaning up after the baby when she's gone on a Tasmanian-Devil style tour of all the play bins. Once the sheet is covered, we will go for ice cream.
Really, it sounds so simple, but anyone with children knows that theory and practice don't always go hand-in-hand when it comes to the art of parenting. Will it work long-term, successfully making new habits out of messes? I'll update later! And let me know if you want a position on the campaign team!
