Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/clean-your-room-now!/5016665/
�" Situation �"““You’re always a meanie!” yells Marcel to Angela’s retreating back as she stomps from his room.
Surrounded by piles of dirty socks; stray copies of Dr. Seuss; and a rainbow of uncapped markers Marcel sits in his room, serving out this latest time-out sentence.
The only movement likely to occur here will be Marcel flinging himself on his bed to cry; aiming an angry kick at a hapless Cat in the Hat; or his mom, Angela, threatening time-out extensions.
Have you ever seen your neighbor go through this kind of struggle? (I say ‘your neighbor’ because this wouldn’t happen in your house, right?) Well, just in case both you and your neighbor could benefit from some new strategies, read on.
�" Solution �"
What went wrong?
A command to “clean your room �" NOW!” has a few things going against it. First, it contains the unspoken message of misery �" that clear or suffer threat.
Or suffer sounds like this: Clean your room or you won’t �" “Get to go swimming”; ”Visit your friend Alice”; “Watch cartoons tonight” (or ever, if one is feeling really desperate). Or suffer can also sound like: Unless this mess gets cleared up in the next ten minutes ...