It’s Habit Forming – Part 2

You may remember the post I wrote a few weeks ago describing how I kidnapped my children’s clean clothes to teach them to put them away.

My good friend Kim read that post – and put it into practice. But I’m afraid it caused her son great discomfort.

He was so bummed about it – he sent me this email.

“Uhhh…. thanks Mrs. Shervheim, now my mom has all my stuff and I’ll have to have a fortune or do a LOT of jobs to get it back.  But at least I learned my lesson.”

I replied, “That’s great B – just wait till I tell her how I got my kids to make their beds!”

His response was a simple, but emphatic, “NOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

So of course – I couldn’t resist!

Sorry B.  I can just hear your mom laughing right now. I bet you can too! 🙂

Now Mr. B – you may ask me  (like my children did) what’s the big deal about making your bed – after all – you’re just going to climb back into it in a few hours – right?!

To me – it’s all about personal responsibility. It’s a daily discipline.

If you use something  – put it away. If you mess something up – you fix it. If you make something dirty – you clean it.

So – if you slept in a bed, you make it up again.

I guess you could call it character building.

That’s why this momma made a new rule: all beds must be made before school every morning.

So of course my kids asked, “What will happen if it isn’t?”

I just smiled and said, “You’ll see!”

It took a couple of weeks for one of the kids to slip up – but I was ready. I stripped the entire bed – right down to removing the pillow case – and left the pile of bedding on a heap on the floor.

My kids learned quickly that it was a lot faster to pull the sheets up and straighten the blankets right away – then it was to remake the entire bed.

So there you have it Mr. B.

I feel like I should apologize in advance for any pain and discomfort I might be causing you – but I won’t. You’re a smart kid – if my kids can learn this one – I know you can.

It’ll be good for you.

After all – your mom and I both know that we aren’t raising children – we’re raising adults.

Now get in there quick and make your bed before your Momma sees it!

Someday you’ll thank me.  😉

I’ve linked this post up with Works for Me Wednesday at We Are That Family.