Wanda is a new "Toy Fairy" that has entered our lives. She has been somewhat of a God-send. Devin had been giving us a hard time with picking up his toys recently, and after reading an article in Parents magazine about a woman who tried something of this sort and was successful with her similar aged child, I decided to try this approach.
I told Devin that if he didn't pick up his toys, 'Wanda' might come and get them and give them to girls and boys who had no toys. He immediately began to pick up his toys and got a little nervous. "Hurry Mommy! We don't want Wanda to find my toys!" (I told him we had to hide them.) At first I felt a little bit guilty for lying to him, but then I thought about it...he has been dragging this out, making me nag him, etc. If this makes him move it, then so be it! Guilt-be-gone!
I tried it again that night when Erick was home. Erick got into it and really liked Wanda once he saw how well this new strategy worked! He even text messaged Wanda when Devin wasn't cleaning up! That got Devin moving!
Bottom line...maybe we aren't the best, most honest parents...we do the whole Santa Claus/Easter Bunny thing, I am sure we will do the Tooth Fairy thing too, why not Wanda the Toy Fairy if it helps make clean up a little easier???
2 comments:
LOL. Sounds like a good approach to me. Three-year-olds are crazy. Wanda sounds like a reasonable approach in my book.
Might have to try that one.....
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