For a while now Allie has had "unofficial" chores-- basically just cleaning up her toys and putting her books back in her little bookcase. The rule has been that if she wanted to do anything in the afternoon like watch cartoons, or even read books with Dad before bed, she needed to "do her jobs." And generally, she's been pretty amiable about complying, mainly because she didn't want to lose those privileges.
A couple weeks ago, for Family Home Evening, I gave a lesson on work, and specifically, the importance of work in the home, not that her nearly three-year-old mind understood a word of it. But as an activity at the end, we made a chore chart for her, drawing pictures of her chores as well as writing them out, and then allowing her to color it. We posted it in her room in a spot right above her pillow that she had chosen. And for about a week, all went well! She would put "her fancy pillow" on her bed every day (she still has a bed rail, so
making the bed really isn't an option), and cleaning up her toys and books almost seemed to become a habit. I should have known, though, that I was getting too comfortable in this routine-- a routine she was bound to break, or perhaps wreak havoc on.
Last Sunday, Allie decided enough was enough.
Time to see how serious Mom really is! she thought.
All afternoon I asked her to clean up her toys.
"No." It sounded so... polite, even. Just a very matter-of fact "no." I warned her all day that if she didn't do her jobs that Dad would not read books to her before bedtime. Well, bedtime came. I asked her if she wanted to clean up and read books, and to my surprise she said, "No books, Mama." What?!
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"No books."
All right. So, she went to bed. Next day and the day after brought the same battle. No jobs, no books. Wednesday came, and I knew it was "park day" with the girls at church. I warned her that if she didn't do her chores by the time I got out of the shower, that I'd call Tamara and tell her we wouldn't be coming. I expected to have to call Tamara... and I did. Allie did jack squat. That night I also wouldn't give her any milk, nor would I sing to her. Scriptures, prayers, bed-- that was it.
The next day Nikki was coming for a visit, and would bring her 18-month-old little girl Eden. Allie had to stay in her room for a portion of the visit, while Eden played in the living room, because she
still had done nothing. I was at a loss, trying to think of what other privileges I needed to take away, so I settled on the gym, since the Child Care at the gym is like heaven to her. So, no gym. And through losing all of these "loves" she really acted (and I do mean acted-- she a superb actress) like she didn't care.
Somehow, on Friday evening Kev was able to annoy her into cleaning up. He nagged, and nagged, and she whined and whined, but, heck, she did it. So, we praised her and praised her. She almost seemed rather pleased with herself.
I'm hoping that Allie has realized that we were totally serious in teaching that little princess to earn her keep. After all, Tuesday morning she woke up, cleaned up her toys, and asked to play computer games. Then this morning she put away the two books that had been lying on the floor when I mentioned we might go to the gym. So, we went to the park, too.
