Get Your Child to Clean With a Laser Pointer
Small children are very similar to cats – they are zealous in their simple activities. (And they’ll always play toilet if the opportunity presents itself, but that’s a different story.) If you’re a parent, why not make their natural tendencies work for the greater good?
Reddit user Manodactyl was tired of forcing his two- and four-year-old daughters to clean up, “screaming and running, pointing at every single item on the floor.” Sounds familiar? One day he remembered how fun it was to drive a laser pointer around the house and watch the children chase the red dot, pretending to be a beetle.
So he came up with a new plan. He explains on the parenting Reddit community :
I went and caught the bug, sat down on the sofa and made them chase the bug around the living room. Every time the “bug” hid under something on the floor, it had to be lifted and removed. If they did not remember where something had gone, the “bug” ran up and showed them.
I raised the entire living room so I wouldn’t get up off the couch, scream or make someone cry. I will mark this as a victory! The “error” can appear much more often when it is time to clean up.
Fun! A word of caution if you want to try this at home: only use a Class 1 laser that is considered safe . And never point this thing in the eyes of a child.
I love difficult things, especially housework. It’s best to have a whole arsenal of options – you never know when your child will stop, look at the error, figure it out and say, “Hey, wait a minute …”
“I just asked the children to take the room, and I didn’t even lift a finger” | Reddit