After two weeks of attitude, entitlement, and not listening we had had enough. He was given one last opportunity to start. When he left for camp that day I cleaned out everything on his floor, desk and dresser. I took out 6 garbage bags full of toys, clothes, and trash from his room. And his shelves and closet were still completely full of other toys and books.
The deal to get them back: make room for your toys on the shelves, get rid of toys you don't play with, and keep the floor clean. He could earn a bag back anytime he was ready to commit to emptying it.
That was on Monday. He knew he had to pack for 6 weeks in California, and many of the things he wanted to pack, including his wallet with all of his birthday money in it were in one of the six bags.
Tuesday went by. No interest. But he packed his 2 suitcases for California. Wednesday he spent the night at a friends and came home exhausted.
Thursday, he was tired and exhausted from the little sleep he had gotten the night before and had no interest in the bags, except that he wanted certain things out of them. After a small melt down, he pulled it together. He completely unpacked one garbage bag and put everything away, threw out the garbage, and even made a bag of toys he could give to his friend Cody. Then he vacuumed his floor, and got another bag.
Then bag number 3, 4, 5, and 6. It was amazing what he accomplished after putting his mind to it.
I wish I had before and after pictures!
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