The Gunny Bag Buffet
On Tuesdays, I usually go to institute (and then blog about it), but this week they were cleaning the carpets in the building so institute was cancelled. I puttered around the house doing laundry and stuff, and then looked at the boys room, which had once again reached the point where it looked like a tornado had passed through and it was difficult to find the carpet, and came up with the idea of a Gunny Bag Buffet, thinking that if there really were gunny bag "monsters" who enjoyed eating leftover toys, they would have a blast in my boys' room. I came up with the menu, and posted it on the boys' bedroom door so they would see it when they got home from school. It served as a warning, so they could put away anything they cared about that evening. (They understood the warning, and tried a couple ways to get out of it, like moving the sign to Hannah's door, and crossing out the "Free" and writing "Payment: everything you ate before.")
Yesterday, I returned home from dropping them off at school and went to their room. Peter had carefully stowed his monkey collection (I think he has twelve monkeys now) on his bed, where he insists they belong. Anything else they wanted to preserve was supposed to be hidden from view in their boxes or in the closet. Besides the monkeys being picked up off the floor, I couldn't tell that anything else had changed from the day before. So, I spent the next several hours playing hostess for the Gunny Bag Buffet. I sorted out the clutter for them - dirty clothes in the hamper, similar toys grouped together (LEGOs in one pile, puppets in another, etc.), and trash in the trash can. Then the gunny bags were invited in, and they feasted. When the piles were gone, and the carpet had been vacuumed (licked?) clean, I changed the sheets on the beds and rearranged the furniture to give the room a fresh look.
When the boys returned home from school, they went into their room, and were excited and thrilled to see the new arrangement. They decided to swap beds, and spent the next while playing in their room, enjoying the clear space. There were no concerns about the piles and piles of toys that were missing. There was no boredom from having nothing to do.
So, I'm left wondering: what am I teaching my children in regards to Gunny Bag? Is the message I'm giving them that if their room gets dirty enough, I will clean it up for them? I'd like to think that Gunny Bag makes it easier for them to clean their rooms, because they have less to take care of. I'd like to think that it teaches them to take care of the things that they value, so they don't lose them, just as Peter made sure his monkeys were all on his bed, so they wouldn't get "eaten". I'd like to think that I'm helping my children learn to appreciate a clean room, because every time Gunny Bag visits, they enjoy the clear space to play, as opposed to the floor where they can't even walk without stepping on things, (and frequently breaking things in the process). I wonder how much of the stuff the Gunny Bags ate will be missed, and if the boys would be willing to do extra chores (like washing walls) to get them back.
Yesterday, I returned home from dropping them off at school and went to their room. Peter had carefully stowed his monkey collection (I think he has twelve monkeys now) on his bed, where he insists they belong. Anything else they wanted to preserve was supposed to be hidden from view in their boxes or in the closet. Besides the monkeys being picked up off the floor, I couldn't tell that anything else had changed from the day before. So, I spent the next several hours playing hostess for the Gunny Bag Buffet. I sorted out the clutter for them - dirty clothes in the hamper, similar toys grouped together (LEGOs in one pile, puppets in another, etc.), and trash in the trash can. Then the gunny bags were invited in, and they feasted. When the piles were gone, and the carpet had been vacuumed (licked?) clean, I changed the sheets on the beds and rearranged the furniture to give the room a fresh look. When the boys returned home from school, they went into their room, and were excited and thrilled to see the new arrangement. They decided to swap beds, and spent the next while playing in their room, enjoying the clear space. There were no concerns about the piles and piles of toys that were missing. There was no boredom from having nothing to do.
So, I'm left wondering: what am I teaching my children in regards to Gunny Bag? Is the message I'm giving them that if their room gets dirty enough, I will clean it up for them? I'd like to think that Gunny Bag makes it easier for them to clean their rooms, because they have less to take care of. I'd like to think that it teaches them to take care of the things that they value, so they don't lose them, just as Peter made sure his monkeys were all on his bed, so they wouldn't get "eaten". I'd like to think that I'm helping my children learn to appreciate a clean room, because every time Gunny Bag visits, they enjoy the clear space to play, as opposed to the floor where they can't even walk without stepping on things, (and frequently breaking things in the process). I wonder how much of the stuff the Gunny Bags ate will be missed, and if the boys would be willing to do extra chores (like washing walls) to get them back.
I do the same thing, and find that my kids are usually quite happy as well after it's done. I think seeing the mountains of toys is just truly overwhelming to them. I have also wondered if it's teaching them a good thing when I do it. I believe it is though, especially if you DO take out the extra toys and throw away the trash etc. What makes it worth it to me, is that when I ask them now if they want "me" to clean their room for them, they adamantly tell me, no, we'll clean it up- and they do! They know that if I clean it up for them, I tend to throw away papers and things that look like trash to me, and might end up throwing away treasured items. It is a lot of work (hours as you say), but I've only had to do it a few times, and now they are a lot better at keeping their rooms clean. (It really may take a couple times though, to show them that you are serious….) Good luck-- and good job!!! =)
ReplyDeleteWe have gunny bag as well. Ammon gets upset whenever I even sing the song cause he thinks gunny bag is definitely going to come if it gets sung. :) I've taken a closets worth of toys from them stacked to the ceiling, and for them to get anything back they have to have a clean play room, or if that's already clean, they have to do some other chore of my choosing to earn back a single pre-determined item. It works well. If they aren't sad by an items disappearance all the better, because it's one less thing that gets stepped on that they won't care to get back any time soon, if at all. Sometimes there's just too much stuff available to make messes with.
ReplyDelete