Trash watch 2009

[Pooh's Pixie]

If I dare mention to my kids about something on the floor, I get the blank stare and then the, "It's not mine". I'm in for this one too. Good luck and stay strong.

My kids always do the "it's not mine" line too. My standard response is "Great, are we only picking up our own stuff around here now? That's great for me, I am OFF THE HOOK for all I do! Yay!" To which I get an eyeroll. But they usually then pick it up 'cause they are afraid I WILL ACTUALLY START PICKING UP ONLY MY OWN STUFF!!!!!!!

Good luck, OP, be strong. I immediately thought someone is going to kick it under an appliance too!

 

[KATHINOWA]

Good luck with this trash! We've had plenty of trash watches here so I'm curious to see how this works out.

I am still curious about the neighbors putting things in their window and hope that OP is doing ok and updates us.

 

[OK!]

Let's see if this works....

Yay! I was so hoping this would come complete with visual aids, just like Poo Watch 2006 did.

 

[okeydokey]

This should be good.

When I need my family to pick things up that have accumulated for a while, sometimes I gather them all up and pile them on their beds.

 

[mdrob214]

Lara--clearly the problem is that it is in front of the stove! I mean, who in your house even goes near the stove? Be strong and don't give in! You could decorate it with hearts for Valentine's Day.

 

[MNFootballMommy]

I'm in, too Lara. I say the next time one of the family is missing something, put it next to the paper. See if they notice it then...even if they do, they may only pick up the item they were looking for...

I tried this with DH once. The cup from the fast food restaurant had sat on the end table for three days when I mentioned (as he was packing for a business trip out of town) that the cup would still be there when he got back. It might be empty (I was afraid it would eventually leak), but I was putting it right back where he left it. It was gone when he left for the airport the next day...

 

[Aisling]

Checking in to see if anyone picked it up. This is hilarious! Maybe your family thinks you put it there for a reason and is afraid to move it! That's the excuse mine would give!

 

[momrek06]

Let's see if this works....

I'm in Lara!!!

I will say those floors are immaculate as well as the front of your stove and (is that) your dishwasher!!!

Counting the days...........TRASH WATCH 2009!!!!

 

[dementia412]

I've tried this... it doesn't work. My dh and kids are trash blind!

 

[Aisling]

I will say those floors are immaculate as well as the front of your stove and (is that) your dishwasher!!!

I suddenly have the urge to clean my kitchen floor!

 

[disneymom3]

You're my hero. Don't pick it up. Just decorate it for Christmas next year with a bow.

At my house they still would not notice it! And I would lose my mind before then. I have tried this trick with laundry. It is a battle I have never won. Someday I will give up hope but I might lose my mind before then.

Power Lara!!

 

[katlas&kids]

Good luck, Lara! I still haven't been able to get my kids to move their bookbags, even after they fall over them. and if they do, they can never find them again, even if they are 1 foot from where they dropped it originally!!

 

[Jenvenza]

Count me in!!! It would never get picked up by DH in my house, but my 16 month old would have found it by now and colored on it.

 

[Dodie]

OOOH! It's like the suitcase battle on Everybody Loves Raymond!!!!! Can't wait to see how it turns out. Thanks for the photo.

My DH wouldn't pick it up, but one of the dogs would have tried to eat it or the cat would have batted it further under the stove by now if this were my house.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

I'm in! This is so my house, too.

Once, dh pulled out the phone book to look up a number, then left it, open, on the kitchen counter. Never put it away. I was about to, then decided, why the heck should I put it away for him? Doesn't every adult know that when they finish using something, they should put it away? (Don't answer that, I know the answer is not what it should be! )

Anyway, that huge phone book sat on the kitchen counter for a couple of weeks, dh walked by it 100 times, and never put it away. Finally, I couldn't stand it any more and I put it away for the lazy slob.

 

[MemoryMakers2669]

Oh, me me!! I live that life as well. If I don't pick it up, clean it, throw it away, wash it...whatever, it does NOT get done..unless I get ugly!

 

[MushyMushy]

I think you're fighting a losing battle here, but I'll root for you.

I tried it once with an entire trash bag, in front of the back door but nobody ever took it out. How wrong is that?

 

[flying_babyb]

A whole bag? WOW!

 

[mickeyvixie]

LOL....I have the same problem but I refuse to pick up the nasty drawers and stiff socks left in the middle of the floor. I just "raise my voice" aka..yell

Just in case they dont notice this I would print the pic and progressively (sp?) make the photo bigger and much more harder to ignore. For example---a small 3x5 on the fridge, then maybe one a bit larger hanging from the bathroom mirror, so on and so forth ending with a treat of a really big and yummy sandwich with a heaping helpin' of photo paper(pun intended).

Make sure you date stamp them as proof.

 

[mickeyvixie]

I tried it once with an entire trash bag, in front of the back door but nobody ever took it out. How wrong is that?

Sounds like my house....I broke my in-house trashman of that habit real quick when the trash bag walked from the kitchen to the back porch, to the stairs, to the walk, to beside the car, to the front seat of the car over a span of a week. Now mind you the trash can was right near the driver's seat but it was the principle. I just toss them out on the porch steps now and rarely have to say a thing anymore. Think maybe he didnt like going to work smelling like week old trash?