Reply #83: No. Do not do it. You are expecting children to behave as adults....

[Maddy McCall]

and to be self-motivated. That's not the way it is, though. Being a parent means having to stay on their tails to get them to do what they need to do.

Taking Christmas away is brutal. I would hate to be in your home on Christmas eve and morning.

Don't your kids get allowances? Or privileges? You'd do better to suspend those things until they are doing what they need to do.

You may see a table that needs to be dusted, but a 9-year-old kid doesnt' see that. Why not begin by making a chart that has weekly duties for each child delegated on it. Expecting them to just know what to do is unrealistic. And, you should remind them tonight of your threat, and tell them that tomorrow morning, the two weeks is over, and they know what the consequences are. I bet they'll clean their rooms.