by Elle W.
Member since:
December 17, 2006

I finally got mad and took away my kids stuff!

May 28, 2007 09:02 PM EDT
views: 58 | comments: 19

My kids will not take care of there stuff. They wont clean it up and they treat their books really bad, like ripping them and coloring in them. So today I took away the books and the stuff animals because they are the biggest mess. All over the floor!

I feel bad but they dont even care.  

Would you do this?

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Comments: 19

marilyn l. May 28, 2007, 9:06pm EDT
Good for you! Just stick to your guns. They think you are fooling and will give in eventually, DON'T. I am proud of you!
Bridget ♥ May 28, 2007, 9:06pm EDT
Absolutely - we do this too! And it works!
Elle W. May 28, 2007, 9:08pm EDT
The kids dont even care. my mother in law thinks i am being mean and horrible but shes not the one always yelling for the kids to pick up there stuff. And they never do!
Elle W. May 28, 2007, 9:09pm EDT
thank you marilyn! i hope it works bridget!
Amy B. May 28, 2007, 9:15pm EDT
My parents used to do it to us, and we quickly learned to either take care of our things or do without.
Tiffany G. May 28, 2007, 10:13pm EDT
Oh they will care! Just wait for them to realize they are gone! They will want to play with them and you will have to say nope not this time and remind them of how they treated them before! Then pick a day for them to get them back.. and remind them of what it was like without them.. and let them have a second chance! They will eventually want them back! MY daughter is 7 and we go through this quite a bit with different things but it seems to always work!
Rebecca ~*Meow*~ B. May 28, 2007, 10:17pm EDT
I think you did the right thing.
My mom had a technique that was great.
She would clean out everything from underneath my bed and all on the floor and put it in a pile. Tell me I had one hour to put awya the things I wanted to keep and the rest went in the trash.
She put out a timer, too!
And man did it work.
She was serious.
It took me a couple times of that to get the hang of keeping my room clean.
Aubrey :) May 28, 2007, 10:40pm EDT
I have done the same thing. They will care eventually. If you at least took away the toys that really matter the most. We always take my son's playstation away or his games for punishment and he always cares. I don't think there is anything wrong with it.
Shari F. May 28, 2007, 10:58pm EDT
Good luck! I hope it works for you!
Shawnee G. May 29, 2007, 4:38am EDT
What I did to break the book ruining cycle with my oldest... I took the book she was mistreating away, and chose one of her toys that she liked as well. They both went put in a box in the garage. After she stopped being bad about her books and mistreating her toys, I gave the whole box back to her, I think it took about 6 months.
Patricia I. May 29, 2007, 5:46am EDT
I also think you did a good thing, but if they start behaving they could slowly earn the things back.
Lisa Frost May 29, 2007, 11:42am EDT
You did do the right thing. I agree that you have to teach responsibility for ones actions. That is something sadly lacking in many areas of society today. Until they can take care of the things they are given, they don't need to have them. Slowly give them back as they show responsibility. Stick to your guns like the other said, because it takes time and being consistant! TAke Care!
kim simcock May 29, 2007, 1:32pm EDT
It worked for me, now the children take more care of their stuff, though as mum you do tend to feel worse than them about it!!!!!
I took all my kids toys away too. I gave it all away on Freecycle(tm) within the week so I couldn't give it back even if i caved in and wanted to. They just got given more crap to string all over their floor. *sigh* I hope your results are better than mine.
capeach -. Jun 12, 2007, 2:13pm EDT
I wouldn't give all of the toys back on the same day... I'd have them earn them back one at a time for good behavior.
julie (I want your coke codes) Aug 6, 2007, 10:37pm EDT
at first they wont care but then when they cant find nothing to play with they will get the point. And yes we do that here to if they push me to far! So Mommy Power to ya! Stay strong make them earn them back
Marie L. Aug 8, 2007, 3:08pm EDT
Yes, I have done this and then made them earn them back -- and it does work if you stick to your guns and they learn you mean it -- that they really do need to take care fo their stuff.
I would so do this and I'm sure I've done something similiar before. I'd go with the earning back idea and make sure they take care of that stuff they earn back.
Birdee F. Oct 27, 2007, 1:53am EDT
I have actually threatened to throw away the toys they don't pick up...I have never done it, but my boy picks them up LOL. He thinks I would actually do it. I would probably just put the toys away somewhere.

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