Toy Jail

Max's "Train Track Skull"

There's a new sheriff in town, and he's layin' down the law.

We've been getting fed up with our kids' lazy cleaning at the end of the day, and we were having trouble figuring out a good consequence for not picking up their toys. One day, Paul had a stroke of genius and invented "Toy Jail". Every night before bed, the boys have five minutes to clean up all of their toys in the living room. At the end of that time, Paul sweeps the room and picks up anything remaining out of place. These toys are banished to jail until they are earned back by Max or Lucian.

How do they earn a toy back? Well here's the best part! They earn stars on a chart for doing nice things for each other, listening well, and generally being good and helpful kids. When they earn ten stars, they are allowed to rescue a toy. So this gives them incentive to climb in the car a little more quickly, put on their shoes after being asked only once, and maybe try to share their train set with their brother even if they don't really want to. I'm not saying they've changed overnight, but I have noticed that they're maybe just a little bit more aware of the consequences of their actions.

And they sure do clean a lot faster than they used to.