I am so tired of picking up the same toys in my house day after day. Now, I realize that my children are young (5, 3 and 1) but picking up their toys after a day of playing is not too much to expect of them. We often make it a family affair to clean up the toy room (otherwise known as the-bomb-hit-it room). Honestly though, how many times can you pick up the same toys without getting a little disgusted with it all. You know that Febreeze ad where the lady picks up all the toys and then sprays the carpet? She turns her back on the toy box for just a moment and when she turns back around all the toys have jumped back out and are laying on the ground. Yep, that is how I feel.

So, I decided to give the older two kids 15 minutes to clean up their toys without help figuring that is enough time for them to make a solid start, if not finish, the clean up. Let me tell you that for 5 night straight not one toy was picked up. On the sixth night I pulled out a trash bag and started loading it up. My 5 year old asked, “Mama, what are you doing?” My response was, “Since you two dont seem to care about these toys we will give them away to someone who will.” Thus we started teaching our children about community service.

Read more Teaching Our Children about Community Service