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Has anyone managed to solve the problem of a child (or 2) with zero respect for anything they own?

2 replies

Titsalinabumsquash · 08/02/2015 15:46

I am after some ideas or solutions to my 2 older children's behaviour because I am at the end of my tether. I have taken 5 minutes away from their bedroom before I explode!

They are 8 and 10 (10 year old is very immature and we're fighting for an assessment due to widely suspected asd)

They share a medium sized bedroom and have a bunk bed with a lot of built in storage and a chest of drawers each plus a wooden shelf with some plastic crates for craft bits.

They are spoilt. Blush I know this, I made a very conscious effort last Christmas to cut right back on their number of gifts and I did, they got a main gift from us (a heavily restricted hudl tablet each) and then a Father Christmas gift from their lists (a Pokemon game for the DS) apart from that it was a small stocking with some nick nacks and sweets in.

They don't get pocket money, because DS1 has a life limiting health condition they get a lot of gifts from postpals and from our community support team.
As a family we are lucky to have an Xbox, Sky tv, unlimited access to films. We live in an area where there is nowhere for them to play outside without getting told off by the locals for kicking a ball and there are no parks or green playing areas within walking distance so they're incredibly limited to what they can do outside the house without constant adult supervision.

The problem is their complete disregard for anything they or anyone else owns, over the past few days I've enquired into the where abouts of several items they have been given only to be met with a lazy shrug and an 'I dunno' reply.
Only small things like a watch that MIL saved up to get them each for birthdays, stationary that I've bought over and over for them to do homework, there are 10 DS game cases in their room and maybe 2 at most have games in them.
DS2 has completely lost his DS somewhere (again) and all games/books etc from their room are scattered far and wide, packs of cards missing large chunks of them, games have been opened, tossed in a corner before the next one suffering the same fate.

I have just got 3 bin bags of broken and destroyed bits from the bedroom and none of the lost things have been found and DS1 is having a tantrum in there.
He has been asked to sort his clothes drawers out after finding dirty pants and trousers chucked in there and everything chucked in whichever drawer he got too first.

They have never got away with not pitching in and helping with this sort of stuff but it seems they just don't learn.
They don't have a lot of responsibilities in the house p, they're asked once a week (Saturday morning) to both tidy the bedroom, they ha e a CD player to listen to music to make it more fun.

The only thing they ever want to do is stare at a screen of some kind, I can take their allocated tablet and DS time away. It will result in them sitting on the sofa, moaning and groaning, claiming they've got nothing to do.

If they get sent outside, they spend every few minutes knocking the door asking if it's time to come back in.

I make sure they have plenty of time at the park and they get taken to a. Huge soft play facility by our community team once a week.

I'm not sure how to progress with this, I need to get it through to them that they cannot treat stuff like this!

Just for the full picture, the boys are from a previous relationship, they see their father separately but he is a very much as and when he can be bothered parent.
They live at home with me, DP, and we have a DS3 (2) and a baby DD due soon.
DS1 spends a lot of time in hospital, both boys have a support worker at school to deal with different behavioural issues.
They are at a school that is from where we previously lived 15/20 minutes away, dS1 has lots of friends, DS2 is struggling but the school are working closely with him/us on it.
I can't get them into the local school as it's very over subscribed and they don't want to move anyway, there are a handful of children around here but they don't really get on well together, they spend a lot of time in one boys house playing COD or GTA5 both of which I won't let mine play because it's an 18 certificate.

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
fizzycolagurlie · 09/02/2015 03:38

I would place a ban on all screens until some progress is made with their room. Replace time spent on xbox, tv and iPad with chores. They can dust, mop, wipe a sink, tidy up some books, put the bins out - whatever. One chore per day and at the end of the first week they get a reward - some time on a screen. Make it a new routine. Good luck.

babybouncer · 09/02/2015 08:03

It sounds like you're dealing with a lot! You obviously know something needs to change and unfortunately I don't think it is going to be easy, so you'll have to pick a moment you feel especially strong.

First, you need to reduce their toys - pack up the things they don't use so much and either get rid of them or put them in the loft or under your bed or anywhere they can't see them. We are so much better at looking after things when breaking/losing them means we genuinely lose out. You could allow them to 'earn' more toys, but don't just hand them back.

Second, tackle the screen time. Limit how long they can have and stick to it. Again, you could have a system to earn more (but make this relatively hard work because you don't want them to be able to earn five hours each day!).

Thirdly, you may want to invest in earplugs... They will moan and whine and complain of being bored, of the system being unfair etc.

It is both that simple and that difficult.

Good luck!

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