Teaching them to respect their belongings

I am so sick of markers with the caps off and broken crayons, that's the main problem here. I'm sick of toys all over the place and having to yell to get them to put them away. I can't always stand over them to get them to put the caps on the markers and I don't know why the heck their crayons keep breaking. I'm about to throw every GD toy in this house away. Should I just not replace the markers and crayons? Can you tell my nerves are a bit frayed today?

 

OK, first of all BREEEEEEATHE!!!!

I used to and still just keep an empty shoe box on the table and they were told to throw in all their markers, caps, broken crayons into it when they were done. THEN they could sort through them putting caps back on etc. It doesn't look like TOO much to do for their little eyes kwim? And it can be fun.

No ifs, ands or buts. If you want them to do it, take charge.

Seriously, the whole "No more toys out till the ones's you're done with are put away" does work (worked here anyway), so give it a try if you like. It will take a while, but they'll get it eventually. Also a general clean up (while singing the clean up song) at the end of the day is a good way to go. It may not be perfect, but at least the mess lessens.

 

I don't replace the markers and crayons (but other people keep giving us more!) I say, well you don't have this anymore because you let the cap off and it dried out. I do remind them when they are using the whiteboard that they have to check and make sure the caps are on tight when they are finished. They seem to finally be getting it so you might still have a year of frustration ahead of you .

BTW there is a neat craft with broken up crayon bits. Grate the small pices. hav your girls arange the grated crayon on a piece of wax paper, top eith another piece and iron. These can be various shapes to make holiday ornaments (hearts, flowers, balls at christmas time).

 

Right now we're down to about 5 orange and 3 purple crayons because they've been broken or chewed on. I know, gross. DD loves to chew the paper off and then gnaw on them....that's how we lost a good 5 last week. I should have known that the quiet was a huge red flag!

Anyway, I keep markers in a separate container that can only be used when I'm around. Then, they go away. Crayons are generally the same way, but I can be more relaxed. What I tell them is that we don't get new crayons every time that one breaks and they just don't have "all" of the colors to play with. I just won't buy new ones every darn week. Oh, we still use the thicker washables, too. I find that the regular skinny ones break a lot easier.

 

Throw the toys away. Seriously. I only did it once, after telling me that I would throw away every toy that wasn't picked up. Oh man, the tears that flowed that day. But I've never had to do it again. They know I'm not kidding.

I also threw away all the candy/treats because they would sneak in the morning and eat TONS of it - and hide the wrappers under their beds. After catching them one morning, I calmly explained that candy is a treat and not for breakfast. Since they couldn't follow those rules, we wouldn't have any in the house. I made them help me throw is all away.

I am a mean mom. :diablo: :lol:

 

I'm with Cathy on this one. If I find markers without lids, they go in the trash. We started that when they were 2 and I've yet to have problems again and they are 5 now. It's nice because they keep markers in a bag by their little table with coloring books and blank paper and can color anytime they want.

Something that has worked with clean-up is giving them fair warning about how long they have to clean-up. After that time, all the toys that don't get picked up get to go to time-out for a week. I've had to do that with Legos before.

I've also reminded them with the playroom that they need to keep it picked up. If they don't, I'll clean it with a trash bag or a Goodwill bag. If they start complaining of boredom, I make them go pick one toy each that needs to go to Goodwill or their cousins because they obviously aren't playing with it anymore if they are bored.

It sounds mean, but we've only had to do things once or twice and the kids have become cleaning enthusiasts.

Marissa

 

With the markers and stuff, I remind them to put caps on, etc., but I also throw away markers that have dried out because no one put the caps back on. And when I throw them out, I make sure the girls know I'm doing it. I did the same thing when they did an "art project" that involved making puddles of glue and then drawing in it with their markers. (I actually didn't realize this would ruin the markers, or I might have warned them.)

The annoying thing is that they don't seem to care. They're just like, "Oh, whatever, guess those markers are gone now."

 

QUOTE
The annoying thing is that they don't seem to care. They're just like, "Oh, whatever, guess those markers are gone now."

Same here! They cared maybe the first couple times, but now they will be all "Mommy, this marker is dried out! Can I throw it away?" They would care if I threw away a prized toy, but not markers or crayons, because I guess there's just an endless supply of them.
Anne, I like your box idea, it would at least keep them off the floor and somewhat organized until all the caps can be put back on.
I do try the "clean up this before moving on to that" but then when I say "OK, if you are done with the blocks, put them away." I get these major protests of Nooooo! I'm not doooone! Whatever, I'm not saying you can never play with the blocks again, just pick them up! I also can't stand when they just dump something out and don't really play with it.

 

My house was also like this and I was soo frustrated because all this $$ in toys and there they sit broken and what not.. I donated most, and did the swap where i kept half in the attic and rotated, which is great its like new toys agian.!!
4 the crayons, when there junk there junk ..

 

QUOTE(Snittens @ Apr 28 2009, 01:07 AM) [snapback]1290829[/snapback]
Same here! They cared maybe the first couple times, but now they will be all "Mommy, this marker is dried out! Can I throw it away?" They would care if I threw away a prized toy, but not markers or crayons, because I guess there's just an endless supply of them.

Maybe you could say you just aren't buying any more markers or crayons until their birthday (or some other date)? I told them I wasn't buying any more markers, and now when they complain there's no yellow (or whatever), I remind them that it got dried out.

It still doesn't seem to bother them much, but maybe that's a good thing -- it's not like I want them to have a fit about it. Worst case, we run out of markers. If they don't care, then that's just one less thing for me to keep track of.