Long Overdue

Last week the kiddo lost all his toys because of his bad attitude and unwillingness to clean up his messes. I started taking everything out of his room one day and night because he was refusing to pick up his toys. He was warned that the next day he would lose all of his toys if he continued to ignore my instructions to pick up his toys. Keep in mind that it would have taken him, literally, 10 minutes to pick up. There wasn't much but he was just being stubborn and didn't realize he has met his match for stubbornness. He didn't come by it accidentally after all. So while he was in school, the hubs helped me put the rest of his toys in the room that will eventually will be the baby's room. (Thank goodness we had the spare room.) Anyway, I went ahead and cleaned up the few clothes and other random things and the hubs vacuumed so he could start with a clean slate. We weren't mad at him when we picked him up...he'd already been punished. I was done stressing about it. When he got home, he walked into his room, was quiet for a minute or so, and then came out to inform me (very calmly) that I had "forgotten" some toys. I had left them in there for him to occupy himself but went in with two grocery bags and cleaned off his shelves once he reminded us about the leftovers. So now he had zero toys. Since then he has actually been much calmer most of the time and has kept his clothes and books put away. He has been able to "earn" some toys of his choosing back by following a few rules. We came up with the rules together so he knows what they are. This may sound harsh for an almost 5 year old but these "rules" are things he is supposed to be doing anyway, like doing what we ask, brushing teeth, getting dressed, and staying in bed once he is there. If he doesn't do it, he doesn't get in trouble but he also doesn't get a star. This all came about because I was tired of the yelling and stressing and still not getting any results. So now we are trying positive reinforcement to see if that works. Whether it works or not it still makes for a more peaceful household and that is something this preggo mama needs.

One of the things I have worked on during this time was a project I started about 4 years ago that has traveled with us from state to state and still never finished itself ;). The kiddo really enjoyed helping me finish it and deciding where to put it. It was a very simple project which makes it even more confusing for me to figure out what in the hell took me so long! Here's a picture to show this simple project. Now for the kicker - I had bought and painted the letters red and blue 4 years ago. All I had to do was glue the ribbon on (which I had already bought) and hang them on the wall (with nails we already had). Yep, that's all! After completing it and hanging them, the kiddo is thrilled and that's all that really matters!