Failure

For the second time in less than a week, my boys have emptied an entire tube of toothpaste all over their toys, all over the walls, the carpet, their beds... And if it's not toothpaste they fill buckets or cups to dump all over their toys, beds, clean laundry, etc. I tried just locking their bathroom door, but then they have accidents. I finally thought to move their toothbrushes and toothpaste to the other bathroom, but what else can I do? How do I teach them? How can I teach them to respect their belongings? If I have them clean up the mess it takes forever, and they just end up spreading the mess. They don't care. They won't do it.
I feel like they don't respect anything. They don't respect me. They don't respect their belongings. They don't care about anything at all. I try to talk to them about making good choices and about consequences, but they don't care. Today they laughed the whole time they were supposedly cleaning the mess, and they laughed while they sat in time out. They laughed when I confiscated all of the toys that they had covered with toothpaste. They laugh at me when I try to teach them about making good choices. I'm obviously doing something wrong.

Comments

  1. M HiattMarch 14, 2015 at 6:25 AM

    That must have been very frustrating! I think respect is one of the most difficult things to teach children. Just remember that God gave those adorable boys to you for a reason. He loves them too, and is always willing to help. Hang in there!

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