Am I asking 2 much

[2princesses1prince]

of my 4 year old's to put toys away in there play room and bedroom????

[bunkx]

nope i get my 18month old and 3yr old to put there toys away dd1 has been doing it since around 2, but i do help a little

[WorkingClassMum]

It's not too much to ask them to do it, so long as you realise that you will need to ask them to do it - repeatedly.

They won't remember, at 4, to just simply do it (any more than we as adults always remember to not drink drive or speed, or any of the million things we get asked to do repeatedly like use a black pen on ATO doc's).

At they wont really care about clean/tidy - they will eventually remember to do it, but it takes years of training

[crazymuma]

Definetly not.

By age 4 my son didn't even need to be asked to clean his room - he knew it had to be done.

My 2 year old even gets sent to clean her room.

If they didn't clean up the toys I would take a garbage bag in and throw anything on the floor into it - only had to do that 2 times :D

[RmumR]

not at all. my 2.9year old is asked to put away her toys every lunchtime before afternoon nap and before bedtime each evening.
she is also aksed to take her dirty clothes into the laundry basket, put her shoes by the front door and 'help' make her bed each day.

[Bubs'n'Roses]

No way.
My 4 year old knows to clean up her toys. Otherwise we just throw them in the spare room and she earns them back.

[Penthesilea]

You could limit the number of toys (pack the others away in the shed or somewhere), make packing up toys part of the routine, and if they don't do it, pack the toys away for a month or two or six until they can pack them away themselves.

Sometimes it could be because they just have too many toys. Do they use them all?

[becca29]

No, it's not too much to ask. I 'help' my 15month old to clean up after we've finished playing and it's part of the game. He also loves to pull everything out of the washing basket, but once he's finished making his little nest it's time to sort em' and put them back in the basket. I try to make it a 'fun' experience for him and I let him do his own sorting. When I am doing the dishes I let him play with whatever is on 'his' shelf in the cupboard. He takes everything out and then puts it back in how he wants. When I do the clothes washing he gets to put stuff in the washing machine and he gets to put stuff in the dryer - I give him lots of 'praise' for doing such a good job and for helping mummy. We haven't hit the stage where it's no longer 'fun' but a 'chore' - so this probably doesn't help you any as I guess there's a huge difference between being 1-and-a-half and being 4. Have you tried a rewards system?

[2princesses1prince]

thanks everyone.

I didn't think I was asking 2 much. I have twin 4 year old dd's. One of them will make every attempt to keep her room clean, the other one i normally have to repeatedly ask her to do it (it still never gets done until I do it because she reckons it is to hard)

I keep telling them if they put things away when they have finished it wouldn't be so bad.

They have no problem packing away the outside toys. It is just the play room that we have the biggest drama with.

I know that there 2.5 year old brother does make alot of mess aswell, but he is also made to help pack away. Him on his own he will do it, but the girls won't budge unless I physically get out there and sit there directing them.

Consequences now I am confiscating things from them if they don't do there jobs.

I have a reward chart system, but that still doesn't work.

Any suggestions

[Penthesilea]

Do you really call them princesses?

You could tell them that real princesses live a life of obligation, doing their duty, need to have impeccable manners, and have to do what the queen (you) says.

[2princesses1prince]

in daddy's eyes they are princess and monkey

in my eyes they are my beautiful girls that just know how to really push my buttons.

I am going to go back to the reward chart and see how we go

[KatiesMum]

my DD (almost 4) will sometimes pack things away of her own accord ... but I often have to remind her/ask her (sometimes repeatedly).

The rule is that at night time if she hasnt packed it away before bed, then I will pack it 'right away' .... and I put it (or a part of it if its big) up on the bar where she can see it, but cant play with it for a set period (usually till Saturday).

Seems to work for us.

[beauandtiasmummy]

Ive been gettin my son to clean up since around 1. he is now 3 and normally does it even though i have to help. Sometimes he is fine doing it, sometimes there are tantrums but he doesnt move until it is all done before he goes to bed. If he runs away i bring him back to finish the job. Once its clean i usually let him watch some tv before bed but if he refuses to clean its straight into bed with no books or toys, so he knows its a punishment

[2princesses1prince]

well a better day was hard today. They realised i was serious about the punishment and actually started to settle down and tidy up. I have also put them back on there calming medication (they are over anxious) and that seems to have helped aswell.

Fingers crossed that future days keep improving