Two gross posts in a row! You guys are never gonna want to visit me here again! One of Becka's jobs is to do the dishes. She puts it off and only does one load a day, etc until it ends up like this. A huge, icky mess. I can't cook anything, because I can't get to the sink, we have no bowls or utensils. The counter is half covered with dirty dishes because the sink is full. My question is: how far do I let the mess get in order to prove to her that she needs to do the dishes until the sink is clear every day? She thinks she should just unload and load once a day. Even then, she is sloppy about it. Only loading a few utensils, not filling the dishwasher up completely, etc. I am tempted to start making her do them all by hand so that she will (hopefully) begin to appreciate the dishwasher. I can't stand the way it is in there right now and it has taken all my willpower not to just do the dishes myself. Part of me wants to just tell her that she can't do ANYTHING (eat, homework, TV, YW, sleep, etc) until all the dishes are done. I know exactly how that will go. She'll yell and fight and stomp and bang dishes and slosh water everywhere and treat everyone around her badly until they are finally finished. Anyone have any ideas for me? I've given her extra chores, taken away privileges, begged, threatened, pleaded ignored. Help!!
5 comments:
Dishes everywhere or a cranky teenager? That's a hard one! Maybe you could tell her she has to change the blow out diapers till ALL the dishes are done. :)
Good luck...I'm so not looking forward to the teenage years.
I have been reading the book Parenting with Love and Logic and it is really helping me. So how about saying "You are welcome to eat with us as soon as the dishes are done," or "I would be happy to take you to soccer practice as soon as the dishes are done" etc.(Said nicely and refusing to rise to any bait she gives.) This makes it HER problem, not yours. Let me know how it goes!
Forgot to say-hang in there and sending some hugs and what few remanents of sanity I have your way! :)
whatever you do I hope you stay strong and consistant with punshiments...this is hard! I am glad I dont have teens yet...haha! soon enough though!
another thought....maybe if the dishes were stacked on the side it wouldn't look so overwhelming to her.
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