Had to take away my girls' AG's!!!!

[gubbymj]

I went upstairs to their rooms yesterday and almost had a heart-attack!! There were toys EVERY WHERE!!!!!

(Here I thought they cleaned everything, well according to dh they did, so I gave them their MCM gift BEFORE I went upstairs to check...)

ANYWAY--2 hours later, their rooms still weren't clean, so I had to take away Haley's dolls...Ashley #5, Marisol, Brunette Bitty Twins...then Jenna's...Sophie #21, Felicity, Blond Bitty & Blond Bitty Twins.

Pained me to do so, and they cried, but I had to do it. Sooooo after that, boy did that light a fire under their butts!

They were finally done cleaning, to my satisfaction, at about 8:45pm. But I still made the dollies spend the night on the couch.

Am I a horrible Mom??? Please tell me there are other Mom's out there that would do the same???

They did get to take them back upstairs this morning...I just want to teach them that those AG dolls should be cherished and taken care of, not just laid around their rooms!!!

;o)
Mary Jo

[stacird]

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only Mom that does this. It's hard to do something like that, especially when DD's friends have Mom's that don't give consequences. Don't beat yourself up over it. They get over it and after this, probably there won't have to be a next time. They don't like their girls sitting on the couch either.

Stacird

[smwoodsie2004]

You did do the right thing, they should know what a clean room is and they should know better, at least i would expect my dd to do so, I have bought things and told her that she doesn't get them until xyz are done to MY sastifaction & beleive me I don't expect much, I am happy to have them thrown in bins and just off of the floor, I have made dd stay up until something was done, even woke her up to finish something she said she did or was suppose to do, she has even spent the day in her room until it was clean, it takes maybe 20 minutes to throw it all in the bins, so she doesn't get to eat(she uses that to get out of her room, like every 10 minutes, i'm hungry) so I don't think you were wrong, when i was little, it was physical punishment, so I think you sending the message that when you want something you have to work for it & even we do, we all have responsibilities. I told her she couldn't play until she took the garbage out (her only true earning chore) & she stalls on that. So what you did was perfectly okay in my book.

[chikorita1999]

You did the right thing, it teaches them that dolls are very precious and not to thrown around. My mom would have done the same for me as well. Don't worry, you are instilling great values in your kids! [img]graemlins/rose.gif[/img]

[robin0850]

Yes, you did the right thing. Not just about learning to take care of their dolls, but also they learned that you mean what you say.

Next time, that "Oh, she's just saying that, we don't really have to do it" attitude will succumb to the "We'd better hurry and get this done, remember what happened LAST time!" attitude.

Even at MCM prices, these dolls are expensive--the least your DD's could do is to keep their room neat, and take good care of their dolls.

Being a good mom isn't always fun. [img]graemlins/rose.gif[/img]

[jlogemann17]

I'll agree- you did the right thing when you discovered what happened. I might have actually been a little tougher on them. I'm assuming they lied to you or your DH when they said their rooms were clean (I'm guessing DH didn't check- or does he not understand your standard of clean?) The lie would have postponed them getting their dolls even longer in my house. So if your girls have the bad sense to comlain about what you did- let them know they got off easy! You gave them plenty of time to get their rooms cleaned- you had to have a consequence to them not doing it.

Jo

<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ July 18, 2006 11:34 AM: Message edited by: mykidsloveAG ]</font>

[Bean Bunny]

Aww. Don't feel bad. You did the right thing.

I work with kids a lot, even if I don't have my own, and the one thing I cannot handle is when they lie to me. So tell them they're lucky I'm not their mom. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

I bet the dolls were glad to be up off the floor. You could even use that as a threat next time. ("Oh, Felicity's on the floor again? I bet she'd *much* rather be on the couch like last time.")

[raindrops]

You did do the right thing. Don't worry, it'll create a habit of cleanliness that will last them a lifetime.

If it helps any, my kids each have a steamer trunk at the end of their bed. That's where all of their toys live (art supplies, board games, and puzzles have a closet in the schoolroom, and I also keep things like the microscope, globe, model skeleton, and science equipment in there, plus sports equipment lives in the garage). They hold more than you would think, but it also helps the kids (and parents!) to learn to appreciate what we do have and not to accumulate too much.

[Jeanette M.]

I have a saying tacked up on my fridge that reads "We are free to make our own choices, but we are not free to choose the consequences for the choices we make." That's pretty much how Jack and I raised our kids, and I think the whole choice and accountability thing is one of the best things any person can ever learn. Way to go, Mary Jo! [img]graemlins/rose.gif[/img]

[auri]

You are doing your kids an enormous favor by teaching them that the choices they make have consequences. I can think of very few lessons as important as that one. Good job!