Since We’re three weeks into summer vacation and into the New World Order (I talk about it a few entries back, I don’t know how to link to it.) I thought it would be good to take a moment and reflect on how well, or how poorly it is going.
I think it is going well. The kids have stopped complaining about the amount of stuff they have to get done in the mornings and they’re getting it done fairly quickly. Not a single item belonging to Link or Kiki has ended up in jail, and most of the time I don’t even have to remind them to pick up. Big success there.
Unfortunately the Jail box is filling up with Gleek’s toys. I’ll say “Uh oh, your barbie is going to jail if you don’t put her away.” Gleek will respond with no distress whatsoever “I want her to go to jail.” She has yet to want something out of jail enough to do an actual chore. There have been a couple of occasions where she has scrambled to put a special toy away, but mostly she’s content, happy almost, to see them imprisoned. I think this means she has too many toys. I figure I’ll stick to the system, eventually we’ll get down to the toys she really cares about and she’ll keep them picked up.
Or she’ll start playing with everyone else’s toys.
Hmm. This could be a serious problem. Already a major source of contention is when Gleek sneaks into the room belonging to Link and Kiki and “borrows” things sans permission.
I’m not going to borrow trouble. In the spirit of saving energy (or maybe just flat out denial) I’m going to Wait And See.
Gleek and jail
While Sandra was carrying Gleek’s horsies to jail, and I looked down at her with concern. “Your toys are going to jail, honey.”
She put on an impish grin, and told me conspiratorially “I can just go sneak them.”
“You mean you can go take your toys out of jail without Mommy knowing?” I said.
Gleek nodded, grinning.
I’m going to stand waaaaay over here.
–Howard
Re: Gleek and jail
She may THINK she’s going to go sneak them. But they’re in a box on the 7 foot high shelf in my closet. There is no way she’s . . . Um. . . I’m going to go check.
brb.
Re: Gleek and jail
Parent with seven-foot high shelf, kid looking to get out of doing chores and not get punished.
I know what side I’m betting on…
Re: Gleek and jail
So I wanna hear what happened! Was it a bluff?
Re: Gleek and jail
The jailbreak was being planned by a three-year-old. She thought about it for all of thirty seconds, and then allowed herself to be distracted by something else.
–Howard
Re: Gleek and jail
I love this idea, I never came across putting things in jail before, I might have to steal it from you *g*
Re: Gleek and jail
You can’t steal it. I freely give it to anyone who can find it useful. 🙂
I win!
Today Gleek did three chores to retrieve three toys from jail. And she definitely didn’t want them to go back into jail. I suspect I’ll be getting lots of extra chores from Gleek for awhile because she doesn’t quite seem to grasp the concept of “a little work now saves work later” yet. We’ll see.
New World Order link
In case anyone’s curious it’s here:-
http://www.livejournal.com/users/sandratayler/6085.html?nc=13
Helpfully yours.. 🙂
Mitchy
Re: Gleek and jail
It’s good to be a two parent household. 🙂
Re: I win!
Good Luck. Goose is 9 and still hasn’t grasped the concept. and I have been working on it for 5 years now.
Re: I win!
Just out of nosiness, what kind of chores are you giving Gleek? Considering her age, they’re not going to be TOO onerous 🙂
Have you yet run into the situation of Gleek leaving out a toy that she’s borrowed – without asking, of course – from Link & Kiki’s room?
Gleek chores
Typical Gleek-sized chores are: Pick up the 6 or 7 books scattered in the front room or wipe off the table. Her chores are pretty small. Kiki and Link get chores that are larger, but not much larger. The point is not to get lots of extra work done, but to give them just enough extra work so they can “repay” the extra work I did in picking up after them.
If Gleek sneaks a toy and leaves it out, I require her to pick it up and put it back. In fact if I catch her with it at all, I make her put it back. The inconvenience theoretically helps her think things through before sneaking toys.