“If you don’t show you care, you don’t care,” is a statement I will use around the house if I see their things being mistreated. My kids have a habit of just dropping things on the floor. Then, they step on them and leave them just laying around. I’m trying to break this habit with them. I will use the phrase above to have the opportunity to take things away. I have talked about the Saturday bin. The object may go to the Saturday bin. At times it’s really bad, I’ll say we’re giving something away to kids that don’t have as much. I’ll also use it to get rid of some of their drawings or coloring pages. They’ll color and then throw it on the floor. It’s not the masterpieces that I want to keep – just your basic coloring page. I will simply say, “I’m sorry. You don’t seem to care about this because it’s just thrown on the floor.” It’s a great way for me to rid the house of some of the clutter. I am trying to encourage them to treat their things with more care. I really have been convicted that we do not need as much. Our kids can accumulate too many things. Things do not bring satisfaction. Therefore, this is a great way to teach them that if something is special then they need to find a way to care for it properly. Other things we can give away to kids that might value it more.
Value is a really hard concept these days, when the kids have so much to choose from!
You have great ideas, keep up the good work, love your blog!
Thank you for all your ideas!!!!