How many times do you deal with the "not me" syndrome????

hi natgil, i am so tired of picking up after the invisable slobs that live amoung us. i can not longer tell when any of them are lying so i am going to asume they are always lying. when there is a mess outside are in one of the rooms i do not care who made it. i march them all together and no one can leave until it is clean. they can bicker and fight with themselves over who is responsible and who will clean it up. i just do not have the energy anymore. once and a while i will clean up someones room with a little warning "do it or i will" and when i am cleaning i will throw out what i deem trash and i have been known to hide the wii remotes!

Here is a parent that is all too familiar with this situation!! My kids are 14, 12, & 10 so I know exactly what you mean. When I say something like 'who did this' or 'who left that out' the response was always 'it wasn't me' or 'not me' or 'I don't know'. My response was/is always "I'm not asking who it WASN'T, I want to know who is WAS'. Usually the first one to deny it, did it. On the other hand, I have 2 nephews that live down the street, they are cousins not brothers, and they are 1 year apart. The other day I watched one of them open the window, then they both climbed up onto the back of the couch and had their faces in the window. I raised my voice and said something like 'who is climbing on the couch and hanging out the window?' The six year old turned, slid off the couch real quick, and pointed at the 7 year old and said 'He was'. No matter what the situation is, they blame the other one. If we say 'well I saw you' they say 'ya, but he did this...' So it's not only the 'I didn't do it' but it's also 'he did it'.