the phone thief

last night wes was going crazy looking for our phones. i just sat on the bed reading, knowing they would turn up eventually. his fear was that they were put into the trash or recycling bins we had just taken to the curb. he calls my phone...finally locating it in a brown paper bag, one addy brought home from school, that was covered in valentine's day stickers & filled with addy's valentine's. but once addy was home, amelia commandeered this bag for herself, carrying around all her prized possessions...which apparently include my phone ?? & a doll bottle & some more heart stickers & the single silly band adeline graciously gave her sister out the valentine packet from a friend at school.

so wes continues to frantically search for his phone. i continue to read, telling him it will turn up, just to ask the girls what they did with it in the morning. but still, he continues to look everywhere, calling his phone with my phone. finally, he gives up & climbs into bed half an hour late.

our early bird amelia wakes him up around 6 this morning with this message & gift: here's your phone daddy! *WHOP* (that is the sound of the phone hitting wes in the face...she later hit me in the face with a diaper, a wonderful wake up call, eh?). apparently amelia snagged wes' phone last night & smuggled it into bed with her, probably hidden in her bunny.

i can just picture amelia waking up to the vibrations of wes calling that phone last night & the very naughty & sly smiles, the giggles of pulling off this phone heist. what a kid.

***

so we are in the midst of a frustrating situation: teaching our kids to clean up after themselves. i know, doesn't everyone have this struggle? but it's not just that we want them to clean up when we tell them, we are trying to  get them cleaning up after themselves, after they're finished playing with matchbox cars: PUT THEM AWAY! after they're finished playing with the toy kitchen stuff: PUT IT ALL AWAY! when they're done playing dress up: PUT THE STUFF AWAY! 

you get it, we get it, they don't get it.

so a month ago we started in with the mantra of clean up after yourself. we have rewards for obeying (praise! & the knowledge that they can keep playing with this stuff), negative consequences for ignoring the given rule (that certain toy or set of toys are taken away for a week--or until we remember to get them out from the basement). now wes & i are realizing a few things 1: the girls have too many toys & books 2: they just play with something else when another toy is taken away, not usually missing the confiscated toy 3: don't bring on the consequence right before bed b/c that leads to much sobbing & tantrums from both children.

so now we have a set of instruction that both of us will follow. we will say something the first time we see the girls walking away from a mess, asking them if they will clean it up. if they say yes: praise! if they say no: time out to think about the toy being taken away. if after time out they decide not to clean it up, right then will the toy be taken away, down into the basement for a week.

i'm not sure if this is going to work. but i'm so tired of picking up small polly pockets pieces & puzzle pieces & kitchen set pieces & dress up clothes & matchbox cars & doll outfits/accessories & markers & crayons & sticker backs ETC ad nauseum. 

so yea, any tips or tricks you know works? i know all kids are different but we need help...b/c i'm thinking very soon if this doesn't improve our house will suddenly be void of all toys & wes will be standing in the doorway with a very long tax receipt from a donation center--where all the toys were taken. (it's funny that i'm the one who picks up the toys most often & deals with this situation all day, every day...but he's the one who's most frustrated to the point of wanting to get rid of the toys. *sigh* love him).

***

this weekend we will be planting spring bulbs! wes will soon start his wee seedlings of veggies. i really can't believe it's going to be 60 degrees here this weekend, as it was just hovering around zero (wind chill way below zero).