After movie night, when it was long past bedtime (a half hour) and I said we had to turn off the DVD--we were watching tv episodes, not an actual movie--Sabrina tossed her remaining popcorn across the living room. As a consequence, I made her clean it up. I offered, repeatedly, to help her, but she wouldn't let me help. The independent nature of a 4 year old. "It's my mess; I'll clean it up!" She got it all cleaned up and back in the bowl, and she said she was going to throw it in the garbage. Instead, she took it into the kitchen and dumped it on the floor.
Natural consequences --> you make a mess, you clean it up.
So what happens when you enjoy cleaning up the mess, and it keeps you up later?
The popcorn is still on the floor. I'll clean it up after Sabrina is asleep. Next time, no popcorn.
Yeah, when natural consequences are fun, you have to step in. Sometimes, 'natural' means 'enforced by parent', ya know?
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