L
LadyM
Guest
I've decided to pick one area of problem with difficult child a week and work on it. This week's project will be to get him into the routine of taking responsibility for cleaning up after himself.
He has a mindset that kids shouldn't have to do certain things and that is is mom and dad's job to do his "dirty work". My husband calls it "slobbing and gobbing" the way difficult child roams around the house throughout the day making messes.
It's very frustrating. I leave the house at 6:30a and don't come home until 5p to find difficult child (and dad as well sometimes) leaving messes for someone else to clean up.
As far as difficult child goes, here are some common daily events:
If we catch him doing something he isn't supposed to, the immediate justification is, "well, you didn't tell me" when we've told him a million times. We also get "it's not my fault!" or "kids don't have to do this, you're bad parents".
The other night he didn't tell us until 10pm that he had no clean sheets. We made him come downstairs and do his own wash (which did NOT go over well).
HELP! I can't stand living in this pig pen anymore!
He has a mindset that kids shouldn't have to do certain things and that is is mom and dad's job to do his "dirty work". My husband calls it "slobbing and gobbing" the way difficult child roams around the house throughout the day making messes.
It's very frustrating. I leave the house at 6:30a and don't come home until 5p to find difficult child (and dad as well sometimes) leaving messes for someone else to clean up.
As far as difficult child goes, here are some common daily events:
- Leave pee clothes and soggy towels in bathroom, bedroom, living room (towels only), etc.
- Get something to eat and leave the mess all ovver the kitchen table
- Get food out and not put it back properly (i.e. leaving the bread bag laying open, cereal boxes open, etc causing things to go stale.
- Eating in areas he is not supposed to (i.e. living room, bedroom)
- This is a BIG one--Not telling anyone that he has wet his bed and has used all of the clean sheets until late at night (his bedtime usually).
- Not taking off school clothes when he gets home or bringing his uniforms down to be washed causing dad and i to run all over looksing for them late at night.
- Bedroom is a general mess with clothes and peed sheets that weren't brought down for laundering.
- Comes home from school and leaves coat, hat, school papers, etc stewn across the living room.
- and much MUCH more
If we catch him doing something he isn't supposed to, the immediate justification is, "well, you didn't tell me" when we've told him a million times. We also get "it's not my fault!" or "kids don't have to do this, you're bad parents".
The other night he didn't tell us until 10pm that he had no clean sheets. We made him come downstairs and do his own wash (which did NOT go over well).
HELP! I can't stand living in this pig pen anymore!