Weird ways of getting your kids to do stuff

[plantsitter]

Yesterday I discovered that if I tell dd1 (3, and generally doesn't listen to a word I say) to do anything in a 'Tree Fu Tom' way she will do it.

Yesterday we did 'Tree Fu Tidying' where I would boom 'find a block! Pick it up! Now put it in the box' like the weird rhythmic instructing Tree Fu Tom does and she just did it! I am sure it won't last long but I have (possibly over) used it to do Tree Fu getting dressed, Tree Fu getting in the bath and Tree Fu hairwash today with no complaints whatsoever! Bloody miracle.

Anyone else got any good ways of making their kids do stuff?

not me but my friend calls her DS batman to get him to do things

'I need batman to come and save the world from these toys before they all escape' type thing

asking my special super rhino baby to do stuff gets it done with a giggle (gecko)

by telling them that DH positively, absolutely does NOT want them to do it, and will be very worried/scared/horrified if they do. Works brilliantly for getting them to eat vegetables etc. (Daddy will be horrified if you eat that broccoli and get stronger/faster/taller than him...) DH hams it up with a lot of miming shock/horror/disbelief.

It is all a bit exhausting though, sometimes I just want to bark 'EAT IT AND BE QUIET!'

lol babs

they also like to beat the clock as it were

like, bet you cant put all those millions of toys away before I count to 20

counting slows appropriately

oh and offering them to be allowed to attack do if they do 'whatever' works well

disclaimer: they do playfighting and 'getting out of a 'headlock''

Yes I must say I did get a bit bored of the Tree Fu Tom voice by the end. But anything that takes some of the drama out of hairwash night has to be worth it.

I'm definitely going to try reverse psychology next!

attack dp not do...

I have no idea who tree fu tom is but what I'm imagining is very funny

I convinced DD2 that she was a tidy fairy, I'd be all "I wonder if the tidy fairy will come and tidy your books away before I finish washing up"

With DD3 I tell her I will fall down on the floor if she does x,y or Z

I also do the "You must not, what ever you do tidy your puzzle away"

Or "I bet you can't take your toys up stairs before I count to 50, no way, there is no way you can take them upstairs and put them where they live and shut the cupboard and your bedroom door and walk down the stairs nicely before I count to 50 - can't happen. Onnnnnnne, Twooooooooo"

It gets harder though, DD1 is 10 and it is "DD pick your coat up off the kitchen floor and hang it in the cupboard" "DD, pick your coat up and put it away" "3rd time lucky PICK YOUR COAT UP" "Put your coat away now" "If you don't put your coat away I woun't drive you all over town on Friday"

"No one does as I ask" - flings coat in cupboard.

Sigh

Trinity here is Tree Fu Tom.

The tidy fairy sounds great - think I'll try it when the Tree Fu magic wears off.

Reverse psychology every time- get dressed. No. Okay then I'll put your clothes on. Noooooooo. And she miraculously gets dressed without anoter word!

I time ds to do things! Let's see how quickly you can put on your shoes/coat etc. Go! Then pretend to look at my watch and make a random number up when he is done! Works every time

The only way DS will climb the 5(!!!) flights of stairs to our flat is if we make-believe. (He wants to be carries but he's too big now!) Only the same thing doesn't always work.

So some days we're baby cats, climbing upstairs on all fours. Sometimes we're pirates, running up the waterfall before the sharks nibble our toes.
Sometimes we're spidermen, doing big spidey-steps etc.

Oh, also DS (3.6) is very competitive atm. If I say I'm going to the toilet he sometimes rushes ahead of me to go first, which is very annoying if I'm desperate!

However I turned this round today, he was flat-out refusing to go the toilet before we left to go out today, so I announced I was going to go to the toilet first and he was in there like a flash! Not sure I should really encourage this competitive streak, but it did work!

DP got her to do loads of things today by being Captain Barnacles and saying 'Octonauts - put your shoes on!' or whatever.

I think we might watch too much telly...

I phrase things as "helping" or "another helpful job". Or a "challenge". 2.5 y.o. DS almost always rises to those. "Another helpful job! Another helpful job!"

I used to do 'can you do x by the time I've counted to 5' but then he stopped doing anything unless I counted.

My ds has eczema and hates putting cream on so I have taken to pretending to be megatron from transformers and I pretend I am trying to find out where bumblebee is so I can kidnap him and ds has to stay still and not tell while I attack him with the cream.

Works for cutting nails too!

Ds2 will only eat veg if he gets a huge cheer and high five after every mouthful!

When out and about during potty training, we used to go into every loo we could find 'to see what colour toilet paper ther have'. Never have public loos been so exciting :)

Ooh that's a good one, BloooCowWonders , I might try that!