TOY JAIL (aka how Pinterest changed my life)

Some days, my kids are very helpful cleaning up.  This month had not yet had any of those days.

Me:  "Paige, help clean up."
P:  "No thanks!"

It's cute she thought she had a choice.

 

I didn't nag (just politely asked her to help 17 times), and did it myself.  When I got to the playroom, my time wasted invested on Pinterest finally became useful.  I grabbed a big box, wrote TOY JAIL on the side, and filled it with all the toys on the floor.  Check out the original toy jail here!

M:  "Hey girls!  Your toys are in jail!  You have to do chores to earn them back."
P:  "Mommy, you can't just make things up.  Toy jail isn't a real thing, so don't say it is!"
M:  "It's a real thing now!"

I continued on with my tidying, adding toys to the box (perhaps a little gleefully, because this idea really is genius).  Paige pouted and whined, and blamed her sister, and then, miraculously, she started tidying!  And she did it quickly!  The fear of more toys being put in jail actually motivated her.  She tidied her playroom, she cleaned the toilet, she swept the floor, and she earned 1 toy back for each job.  And as she got the toys back, she put them away where they belonged! 

Needless to say (which is a silly phrase, since everyone knows I'm going to say it anyway), the toy jail is going to find a permanent place in our house.  It will be upgraded from a cardboard box to something much more awesome.  And I will likely make it a time-consuming project, because I have once again entered study mode, so will need productive procrastination methods.  I wonder if I could make it using pallets?  Obviously I must spend hours on Pinterest finding out.

My plan is to also use the Toy Jail as a way to purge.  Once toys have been in there a certain length of time (like a week or two), with no desire to bail them out, they will be donated.  Clever, huh?

So, there you have it folks.  Definitive proof that Pinterest really can change your life!

*This post is in no way sponsored by Pinterest.  If Pinterest wants to sponsor any posts, I would happily discuss it with them, even though I'm not sure exactly how that would work.  And since I tend to lack in the follow-through department, I doubt a sponsorship would ever happen.  I hope my two followers aren't disappointed.