Of course it's no biggie if there is only one child, especially if he is very young or much older. But with two (or more) under 5 and with a passion for small Lego pieces, it is a totally different ball game.
Having to deal with the daily mess lying around the house can really drive me nuts sometimes. It used to be so much easier to get the boys to clean up their toys when it was just the big pieces of Lego or other toys like cars.
Then about 18 months ago, when they started playing with the minute pieces meant for ages 6 to 12, and E mixed up all the 10 sets on purpose to encourage creative inventions, the nightmares began.
Despite having a big mat to dump the thousands of pieces onto, the boys always manage to kick, drop and throw the pieces all over the house. When it comes to cleaning up, they protest, procrastinate and point fingers at each other. Then the tears. Urghh!!
What started out as gentle persuasion, coaxing, explanation and clean-up games, eventually turned into a series of bribes, shouting, threats and even disciplinary actions. Nothing works! Not consistently anyway. Restricting them to playing in just one room doesn't work either.
So for some sanity, I have learnt to close one eye at first, then both. For as long as I can endure the mess. The boys don't mind tiptoeing around the living room and seem quite good at avoiding stepping onto the small pieces. But the mess is still such an eyesore to me. And at the end of the day, someone still has to do the clean-up! Argh!
7 comments:
Sigh, I also have similar problems... but I'm lucky as Kimi still using Duplo pieces only. But the Playmobil ones are like as you said, driving me nuts!!!
Can I pls know how u store the Lego pieces? Been wanting to ask you for the longest time!! Haha!
Do you keep them in their original boxes or 1 large plastic box or ???
Hi Tona, my boys are playing with the big sets for age 5 to 12 now, which consist of pieces as small as 0.5cm wide to larger pieces of odd shapes. As we mix up all the 10+ sets that we have, we just use a huge plastic box from IKEA that comes with a lid to store most of the pieces. The real tiny ones go into a small container. We don't keep the original boxes anymore.
Dear DG, I can absolutely understand your frustration though I have yet to kept away such small Lego pieces yet. Just thinking if those toy vacuum cleaner might work to suck up the Lego pieces. Or a specialize small broom and dustpan solely for keeping the Lego pieces. Wonder if duty roster might work...you probably have tried?
How about a week or two acting indifferent and see if there is any change in behaviour, you take the pain to "enjoy" the task, the boys sense something different from mummy; no reminders, no treats, no threats, they discover their intrinsic motivation to clean up. Short term pain long term gain...:P
I am actually keen to find out what works! Hope you'll find the solution soon.
Am I not glad Nicole doesnt fancy Lego?..We have quite a few sets at home but she hardly casts her eyes on them...nonetheless, the house is still in a constant mess :(
HI Vegepiglet, thanks for the wonderful suggestions. I have not tried toy vacuum cleaner or dedicated broom/dustpan because we don't own them. I am not keen to sweep up the tiny pieces too as they may go missing easily.
I think my boys will rejoice if mummy appears to 'enjoy' the cleaning-up! They will celebrate! I can almost hear M say to me 'oh mama, since you are having fun, you can do ALL the clean-up from now on, because we LOVE you!' haha.
What has worked most often is to work on their sense of empathy. On days when it is effective, M will happily pick up every piece and tells me when it is done that he is doing to help me, so I don't have so many things to do. On days when it doesn't work, I wait for my hubby to come home. :P
Contentedmom, :) You've two kids, so there's bound to be similar challenges, even though the toys may be different.
Oh I like that..."when it doesn't work, I wait for hubby to come home"
= )
I can be quite a militant, so any toys that are left on the floor after I say to clean up and kept can't be played with for x number of days = )mean mummy! I know = )
What to do... no helper as well.
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