airing the dirty laundry part 2

Well, the kids came back this week and we reminded them of our house rules: bed made before breakfast and all clothes in the laundry room- not the floor!

It's been a little rough-- socks in the family room, pj's left on the floor, clothes on the floor of the laundry room.

Yesterday, H made her bed the best I have ever seen it, so as a reward, I stuck a sticker on a  3x3 colored piece of paper and laid it on her pillow. When she got home from school, she brought me the paper and asked why it was on her bed. I told her, "Your bed looked so nice today. You really put some effort into it." She smiled at me, smiled at her paper and walked back to her room.

Today, after the kids were at school, I did another bed/room check and surprise! Both beds were made and actually looked made, not just tossed!

And, the pj's that are normally flung to the floor were flung to the bed... that's progress, my friends!

B normally leaves pillows on the floor and just throws his comforter over a crumpled sheet, but today, he actually made his bed well! I think he was motivated by H getting a reward and him not yesterday. Whatever! Now I know that pieces of paper with stickers are motivating, maybe I'll let them collect them during the week and trade them in for a prize at the end of our week together! It might be a small thing, but I'm claiming a victory this week!