apPARENT win

A follow up to this post. 

As a parent, I consider this a WIN.

Also, I've been hearing things like, "Thanks for making my bed every day, it's nice to come home to my room all organized when I have a lot of homework to do." and "I've noticed you do laundry just about very day now.  I like it better this way; there may be clothes to put away more frequently, but there's less at once.  Plus I always know I have clean socks." 
--These are direct quotes, from boys young men of the teenage persuasion!

My cup runneth over.

Encouragement

How do you get your children to behave? 

I find that leaving little notes filled with words of affirmation go a long way.

Punishing your child for doing something wrong gives them the same amount of attention as praising them for doing something right.  Most parents are well versed in disciplining wrong behavior, but do you encourage them to continue their good behavior when you recognize it?  What it all boils down to is receiving attention, in any form.  I challenge you to pay attention to the good as much as the bad, focus on building them up with encouraging words every time you notice them behaving the way you want them to behave.  Don't get me wrong, punishment is necessary to correct bad behavior, so don't allow it to continue, just pay closer mind to the positive actions and be sure to let them know you noticed.   

You may be surprised at how far that takes you!

Not Cool, Bro

I'm not very good at routine. 

Well, let me amend that statement to, I'm not very good at routinely being routine. 
I start strong and fizzle fast.  My longest routine has probably lasted 3 months. But I am no quitter!  I began yet another routine 3 weeks ago and have stuck to it whole heartedly, so far.  One of the items on this routine is to wash/dry/separate/distribute one load of laundry each weekday --you know, to keep up with Mt. Washmore.  My part ends with leaving a neatly stacked pile (eliminates the need for ironing) of clean, dry clothes belonging to the individuals who live here on their respective beds for them to properly put away.  This is not difficult nor is it time consuming.  Yet, this morning while making my rounds, I found this in one of my four son's rooms (who can guess which one?).

As you can see, there are merely two clean shirts that he was expected to hang and put away, but instead he chose to toss them into a bundled mess in a corner.

Since this is a new routine for all of us -and I'm fully aware of how often those change- I will give the boy grace.  This time.

How would you handle this situation?

If the same or in a similar way as I've chosen to, what would you do if it happens again? 

Also, I should let you know that I am a believer in giving those who can, a chance to learn from other's mistakes, so my intentions are to make an example out of this incident and not accept it from anyone else in the future -or for as long as I keep up with this routine ;-)