The Monday Turnover Box

Are you tired of picking up after your kids? A toy by the door, a magazine carelessly thrown on the couch, a video game console’s controllers all over the coffee table, a jacket on the floor… The mess is only half the frustration — the other half is that it happens constantly.

Image credit: sindesign

What if you confiscated these items and allowed your children to retrieve them only on a particular day? Call it your “Monday Turnover Box.” The rule: Any item that isn’t picked up or put away after dinner will be placed in the box. Kids (maybe even Dad) can only retrieve these items only on Monday mornings. Pick a day that works for you.

This can help teach kids to help clean up the house and be more responsible with their belongings. Maybe when they find that they can’t live without their favorite toy or jacket, they’d pick up after themselves more. And a video game’s no fun if there aren’t any controllers to use, is it?