How has your child tried to get out of cleaning their room? Whining, fit throwing, stubborn refusal, slow compliance….ahh, there are so many tactics that kids use to try getting out of this dreaded chore.
However, I think my child has come up with a new tactic that took me by surprise. It had me literally in a state of disbelief and shock.
It all started with me saying “I will be happy to turn on your show as soon as your room is cleaned up. Let me know when you’re ready.” Then I went to get a Kleenex in the bathroom right by his bedroom.
As I came out of the bathroom Corbin comes out of his room at the same time and shuts his door. “Well ok, closing the door doesn’t mean you’ve cleaned your room, but we’ll see where this is going,” I thought.
He proceeds to look at me with the biggest, most innocent eyes ever and say “Mom, I can’t clean my room…it’s locked.”
Silence. He’s still “innocently” looking at me. My mind is racing, but my mouth stays quiet (Hallelujah! Because what I really wanted to say was probably not nice and would have been reactive instead of proactive…blah, blah, blah. But good for me for being the calm adult
So instead of saying what I wanted to say, I calmly said “Well, that’s sad. But you still have to clean your room. How are you going to do that now?”
After his shocking look of horror, he asked if I could unlock it. (After consulting Daddy by phone at work I found out I needed a tiny flathead screwdriver. I then practiced on an open door to figure it out and felt confident I could open his door.) But to Corbin, I told him that I had a few things I needed to get done before I got to his door and that he could wait on the stairs while I did those things. Then I would be available to help.
Of course this was met with, again, a look of abject horror. After I completed my tasks (folding laundry and putting it all away) I opened his door, he cleaned his room, and we moved on with life.
He has not tried the door locking “trick” again, but oh my heavens I’m worried about what he’ll think of next. I think his teen years might be challenging…prayers please
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