I have written a letter to my daughter that I will leave for her tomorrow…tell me what you think…is this a sane approach? Do you think my 10 year old will listen?
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Dear S*****:
Today, I’d like you do these things:
Check in with Dad and find out if he has anything he’d like you to do.
Do whatever he asks for.
Get yourself a drink and find some music you want to listen to (at most take about 10 minutes to do that…)
Find our kitchen timer.
Set the kitchen timer for 20 minutes and start cleaning your room. After 20 minutes, you’ll stop, set the timer for 10 minutes, and run the timer for 10 minutes while you take a break. Then, after the 10 minute break, reset the timer for 20 minutes, and start cleaning for another 20 minutes…then a 10 minute break…then 20 minutes cleaning. Somewhere you feel appropriate among all those work spurts, have some lunch. Maybe do one or two of the 20/10s (as the blog I read calls it) in the afternoon. You don’t have to be completely done with everything but I’d like to see some progress on your room today.
If you wonder…where do I start with my first 20/10…think this way…
First, grab that garbage bag in your room and find all the absolute junk/garbage…the stuff you KNOW is garbage and toss it in (like crumpled paper, plastic from bags and packages, ripped up stuff).
Next, find your hamper and start tossing dirty clothes in it
That should be your first 20 minutes alone…you may not be done with the clothes …if you aren’t…still take the break and then start up where you left off after the break…(same rule applies through all of this)…
Next thing to do is make your bed…this will give you somewhere flat to work and somewhere comfy to take your breaks on.
Then…find your card boxes and get all your Pokemon and Magic cards picked up. Don’t worry about sorting now…just get that together and in boxes. Put the boxes on that bottom shelf of the book case.
Next, find all your books and shelve them. Clear out any “stuff” on the shelves and get your books and games in order on the shelves.
Then, clear up your desk and set up your laptop. Find some of your pens and pencils to put in the pencil cup there and get your stuff in order for school a bit. (We’ll worry about the whiteboard and some of the other stuff later…just clearing things will help a lot.)
All while you are doing this…work for 20 minutes then take a break for 10…during your break, go to the bathroom if you need to, get more to drink, change your music, sit on the bed and admire the work you’re accomplishing.
This is a way to stop the really horrid “marathon” cleaning sessions we usually have. I’m really tired of being grumpy (and I’m sure you’re tired of it too). Trust me, I’ll be very proud of you if I see some progress on your room…and I think you’ll be even more proud of YOURSELF when you see what YOU can accomplish.
UfYH: The Next Generation!
