Natural Consequences...

So in an attempt to let natural consequences (or somewhat natural) teach my son a lesson, we have been on strike from doing his laundry for the past - oh, about three weeks now. We typically do all the sorting, washing, drying, etc. And Camden gets to put his own clothes on hangers or fold them and put them away. We will hang up the clothes in his closet since some are too high for him. But we have been getting such attitude over the little amount of work he has to do and got tired of having to repeat our reminders to put up the clothes. We got to the point where we decided - you don't want to do it, well, you'll learn to realize how good you really have it.

We explained this nicely. No yelling or anything like that. He tried to say, no, I'll appreciate it and stop complaining. Ha. Yeah, you will... After week one, he actually (on his own!) decided it was time to wash a load. I helped him with measuring the detergent and explained how to set the washer. He remembered when to put the clothes in the dryer, but then they were there for the rest of the night. After a few days, I needed the dryer, so his now very wrinkled clothes went on the floor next to the laundry room. You would think this would convince him to put them away. Nope. They sat there in a pile for a few more days until he managed to get them. Since then his laundry basket has been overflowing! He is running out of jeans (most of the ones left are a little short and have holes in the knees...) and today he comes to me, Mom, I don't know where my black shorts are for my basketball game. I gently remind him, I wouldn't know where they are and that is his responsibility. He manages to find them but then admits that his room is now a mess b/c of the clothes...

It's very tempting at this point to just wash the clothes myself! But NO. I will not. I will be on strike until he decides to come to us on his own and let us know he appreciates our doing this work and will keep this in mind when it is time to do the little we typically ask of him - or until he decides to continue doing his own laundry. Wishful thinking, you say? Perhaps, but I can wait this sort of thing out. (I'm typically quite impatient, but not with this type of thing!) Until then, he might end up resorting to wear dirty, wrinkled clothes from his floor, but I refuse to be bothered by this. I'm just too nice of a mom. ;)