{Pick it up Before I Do if You Want to Keep it}

When I was a kid my grandma used to go through the house and anything laying around (that we weren't coming right back to obviously) was thrown into a garbage bag. Depending on what it was she would either throw it away, give it to Goodwill, or just put it up until we earned it back. So that is what I do with my kids. Mainly the older ones but I've done it to Little Boy too more than once. I'm not your maid. I'm your mother. And if your stuff doesn't mean enough to you to keep it off my floor and put where it goes, then you obviously don't want it bad enough.

I have recently implemented the "chore for an item" rule. If I have to pick up whatever you're leaving around, it goes up (usually in my room) and you can do a chore to earn it back. I keep it in there a couple days. If you don't 1. ask about it or 2. just decide not to do the chore, it goes in the garbage or to Goodwill whichever I see fit to send it to. There's no second chances. There's nothing I won't get rid of (except electronics of course, those will just stay in my room until you do the chore). If you make the choice to not earn it back, that's on you not me. And that's it. If it means something to you, you'll get your ass up and do what you need to to earn it back.

The Teenager decided to test this a couple months ago by leaving her iphone charger on the bathroom floor. I picked it up and told her that if she wanted it back she could do the dishes for it. She laughed and said it was her ex boyfriends so she didn't care and I could do as I wanted with it. She had another charger that she brought with her to use. Fast forward to now and she asks me where the charger is because it wasn't hers it was her mothers. I got rid of it. I wasn't kidding and I don't make exceptions just because she's not here full time. She was pretty pissed about it, as was her mom. D said it was the Teenagers problem though because she could have gotten it back within 10min. (I asked her to do the dishes to earn it back) and she refused. She was pissed, I didn't care. And I still don't. Of course he later went and got her one of those universal cheap things you pick up in line at Wal-greens because her phone and her ipad both went dead. But she went a whole day all kinds of pissed off about it. I bet she doesn't leave her charger lay around again. Of course, the backpack and video game she left in the living room tonight were a test for me also, I warned her and I told her it's the only warning I'll be delivering. Next time I'll pick it up myself and she'll have to earn it back.

I know I'm not the only mother out there that gets tired of having to tell people to pick up their stuff. My house isn't super clean and the table is always piled with stuff, but I can leave whatever I want lay around because it's my house and I clean it. When they have their own places they can do as they please with their stuff and live in filth if they want to lol.

It's not happening in my house.