Saturday, July 5, 2008

Homemaking Tip o' the Day: The Mess-Up Monster

This is a tip I learned at a Relief Society Super Saturday during a class on TEACHING YOUR CHILDREN TO WORK given by a beautiful lady named Anne Pratt. Her suggestion was to tell the kids that in five minutes, the MESS-UP MONSTER was going to come and eat everything that was laying where it didn't belong.


This monster can be made of a box or laundry basket with a posterboard cut-out of a monster taped to the front, such as the one above. (I googled "monster art".) The toys, clothes or other items this monster "eats" (i.e. you swiftly going through the room depositing the items in the basket, preferably making monster noises) have to be put in storage for a week, a month, or longer, whatever you deem appropriate, or they have to be earned back by doing extra chores or giving up allowance. This idea has worked wonders for me. It's effective, fun and SCARY!

4 comments:

  1. CJ, The Purple DivaJuly 5, 2008 at 7:25 AM

    This is too CUTE! I am going to have to pass this along to my girls and nieces who are raising little ones! Grand idea. AGAIN, where were you when my kids were LITTLE!! :-)
    Although come to think of it, I got a teenager this might have to work on! I even have a monster wig I could put on! LOL

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  2. laurice.July 5, 2008 at 9:57 AM

    My mom did that with us growing up and it works!

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  3. KelliJuly 5, 2008 at 11:03 AM

    This is soooo going to happen here...

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  4. Amanda B.July 5, 2008 at 1:49 PM

    Love this idea! I need to implement it! Also, I love the pictures of your boys- sooooo adorable!

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