Talk me off the ledge...or not?

[MamaMolly]

I'm so over sorting out my DD's stuff in the playroom. I put photos on all the bins, it is REALLY simple to see what goes where. But my girls are big believers in pulling everything out and leaving it. I've tried confiscating almost everything, I've tried ignoring piles of crap, and I'm just at the point of letting them fill the bins any which way. If they can't find stuff then they can't find it. WHAT.EVER.

Am I just totally lazy or what?

[Globetrotter]

It takes time to get them trained, and the sooner you start the better so I wouldn't go back to the old system. I know it's a huge pain, but could you put away stuff with them to train them? maybe sing a clean up song as you do it to make it a game? figure out what goes where as they put it away.

How old are they?

What incentive would work for them? Have you tried a rewards chart?

[crl]

My solution to that situation has always been less toys.

Catherine

[123LuckyMom]

We don't have a playroom, so it's REALLY important that toys get put away, and I have enough on my plate! Our rule is that DS gets one reminder to clean up. If he ignores the reminder, anything not put away belongs to me to do with as I see fit. Sometimes the toys get confiscated until two days after DS wants to play with them again, and sometimes they get donated or lent/given to another family.