Mom's Easter Egg Method to Getting Kids to Do Chores Is Brilliant Parenting

Each household usually has that one person who bears the brunt of all the chores/cleaning. In my experience, I've noticed that that person is usually mom.

I'm guilty of not doing as much as I could in my own house. I'm constantly forgetting to take out the trash. I can't remember the last time I actually cleaned the bathroom. I'll wash my own dishes usually, but that's not enough to make up for the fact that I leave my clothes all over the place.

Ever since we had kids I have been trying to do better at throwing away random stuff and not letting junk accumulate, but my wife is definitely the flag-bearer for the family when it comes to keeping everything clean and tidy. And that, often, gets to a person. One individual can't bear the burden of keeping an entire home clean for too long without snapping.

What I've learned is that little things here and there help. If you see something out of place, put it in its correct spot. Throw away any random trash and junk mail, take 20 seconds to clean your own dishes and cups when you're done using them and if you spot something in the fridge that's spoiled, then just toss it out.

But some people just get so in the habit of not doing anything around the house that any "extra" work is a foreign concept to them.

Something that mom Miranda Crimbring decided to fix in an innovative way.

She wanted to try and "prove a point" to her children (and unexpectedly, her husband as well) that they're not pulling their own weight when it comes to chores. So she decided to plant a piece of trash on the floor of the bathroom to see if anyone would go out of their way to pick it up and toss it in the garbage.

It's nothing crazy: just a shredded piece of paper that is clearly garbage. Most people would see that on the floor and throw it away. Heck, I'm a goody-two-shoes and usually pick up garbage off the ground when I'm outside to toss into a can if there's one nearby.

But Miranda has a surprise taped to the bottom of the trash: a $5 bill for anyone who was willing to pick it up. Now I don't know how kids think nowadays, but when I was little five bucks was a decent amount of money. I was basically the king of the bodega with five beans - that's a lotta candy, holy smokes.

She wrote on Facebook:

"Well, while trying to prove a point to my kids, we’ve just surpassed the 48hr mark of the “who will pick up the random piece of trash that they KNOW isn’t supposed to be there” challenge... Between the kids AND the husband, and MULTIPLE trips in and out of the bathroom, this little piece of heaven may just be in it for the long haul! 😂🤦🏽‍♀️
#easymoney #justdotherightthing #decorativefeature #stopthemadness 

After two days, no one picked up the trash and claimed the prize. But at least she was able to post about it, and her pictures ended up spreading like wildfire. Tons of other Facebook users nodded their heads in agreement. Others praised her originality in hopefully exciting her family to help out around the house some more.

There were plenty of other people who said they'd try the same exact thing in their own homes, while others extended joking offers to visit Miranda's house to help her out with her chores.

Miranda isn't the only mom to go to such out-of-the-box lengths to get her kids to do their chores. Some moms have started tossing their children's toys that are left on the floor into "Toy Jail".

Any parent here knows how frustrating and annoying it can be whenever their kids toss all of their figures and dolls and blocks and Lego pieces all over the ground. I've stepped on more Schleich dinosaurs than I care to list myself. And it hurts.

Repeat offender toys can only get out of jail under one condition: if their kid completes a chore. It's a win-win situation. Your kid gets to help out around the house and learn a valuable lesson. And if they're super stubborn for whatever reason, then you don't have to worry about stepping on another toy of theirs ever again.

Instagram user @daisyfirstaid_swlondon showed off her toy jail, complete with this clever rhyme scheme:

"You left it out. I picked it up. I have your stuff. You are out of luck. To get it back you must do a chore and again it is yours just like before."

Other parents built actual toy jails, probably so their kids could get a better visual of what their carelessness caused. The Hulk's in prison and it's YOUR fault Jimmy, are you going to man up and do what it takes to bail your pal out? He's looking right at you, do the right thing.

Some were a little less intimidating, but they all served the same purpose: teaching kids that they can't be leaving their junk all over the place for other people to deal with.

What do you think of these chore enforcement procedures? Would they work in your household? I think the toy jail's kinda cool, it's like a running cartoon plotline that my kids would get to participate in every day.