kristac
08-05-2009, 07:57 PM
DS is 4.5 and lately getting him to pick up his toys is like pulling teeth. He CAN NOT FOCUS. :bouncy: He will pick up one item and then go do a headstand on the couch. I then refocus him and he picks up another toy- but this time he has to pretend he is a crane complete with sound effects- no wait- now he must go get the toy crane (that was put away) and use that on every individual toy. More head standing. Then he finds a toy he wants to play with in one of the bins where he was putting things away. Refocus. Now he decided he wants to use a basket to pick up all the toys so he finds a full one and dumps it out.... ARG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We've tried putting the toys he doesn't pick up in X time in time out. It doesn't seem to help motivate him. Yesterday I tried a smiley chart- for each room (3 total) he cleans he gets a smiley. When he gets 10 smileys he gets a reward. He blew raspberries at me when I explained the new system. I persisted. After much redirecting and me doing more then half the work he earned 3 smiley faces yesterday.
Today- not so much. I was upstairs gathering things to go to the pool and he dumped EVERY toy in the downstairs out into two piles to block the doorway to keep the dog in the room. EVERY TOY. I made him clean it up before we left for the pool (again I ended up doing most of it). It took over an hour.
This evening before dinner I asked him to pick up again- mind you it was not bad because we had only been home from the pool for 2 hours. It was a nightmare. He just would not focus or cooperate. Finally the only thing left out was a pile of blocks. I asked him to clean them up while I went into the kitchen to get ready for dinner. Instead of putting the blocks in the bin he scattered (threw) them all over the floor. I was so exasperated I (calmly)sent him to his room until daddy got home (10 minutes).
HELP!
ETA: last year his preschool teacher said that he was the "best cleaner upper" in the class- so he CAN do it, just not at home. :(
We've tried putting the toys he doesn't pick up in X time in time out. It doesn't seem to help motivate him. Yesterday I tried a smiley chart- for each room (3 total) he cleans he gets a smiley. When he gets 10 smileys he gets a reward. He blew raspberries at me when I explained the new system. I persisted. After much redirecting and me doing more then half the work he earned 3 smiley faces yesterday.
Today- not so much. I was upstairs gathering things to go to the pool and he dumped EVERY toy in the downstairs out into two piles to block the doorway to keep the dog in the room. EVERY TOY. I made him clean it up before we left for the pool (again I ended up doing most of it). It took over an hour.
This evening before dinner I asked him to pick up again- mind you it was not bad because we had only been home from the pool for 2 hours. It was a nightmare. He just would not focus or cooperate. Finally the only thing left out was a pile of blocks. I asked him to clean them up while I went into the kitchen to get ready for dinner. Instead of putting the blocks in the bin he scattered (threw) them all over the floor. I was so exasperated I (calmly)sent him to his room until daddy got home (10 minutes).
HELP!
ETA: last year his preschool teacher said that he was the "best cleaner upper" in the class- so he CAN do it, just not at home. :(