Many years ago I posted about the BOAT Bucket - The Bucket of Abandoned Things. (Yes, I know calling it a BOAT Bucket is redundant, bucket is mentioned twice ... but I'm the momma, so there.)

The BOAT Bucket is where things children have left laying around go at the end of the day. Items can be retrieved from the bucket for $.25 each (2 shoes = 2 items), and schoolwork and library books must be retrieved first.

The bucket has stuck around, a large Rubbermaid tub tucked high atop a cabinet, but it isn't used much anymore. Not due to lack of need, at all, instead it just kind of fell to the wayside over time.

Yesterday I told the kids though, that anything left out last night would be in the BOAT Bucket this morning. Momma is ready to stop tripping over shoes, Christmas gifts, and other things.

Last night I met Pinterest. My dear friend set me up ... with no warning whatsoever that I was entering an enormous brain tickling time sucker (I would love for you to follow me, but how do I tell you how to do that?). A short time later (ahem, a few hours ... maybe quite a few hours) I came across a link to this awesome blog post by Becki at Madsens Memories.

Her idea is similar to the BOAT Bucket ... a box to hold mislaid items in, requiring "payment" to get things back. Only instead of a quarter per item she charges a task like "dust living room" or "clean out van". There are a few silly tasks too, such as "Do 25 jumping jacks while singing, “I am a cleaning machine.”". Also included are a few free passes, or warnings. Her list is posted in the blog post.


Well, hello! Cleaning for their stuff? I love it when kids clean. Really, truly.


I copied Becki's list and made a few changes, adding and removing a few things here and there. I cut the tasks up and tossed them into a manilla envelope, which went into the BOAT Bucket with the assorted shoes and life jackets left laying around last night.


The kids got a kick out of it. They giggled as they reached in and pulled out their task tickets. One had to scrub the upstairs bathroom bathtub and organize the silverware drawer and another had to vacuum the family room and organize the upstairs bathroom cabinet. One lucky duck got a warning. One did opt to pay for his things, and was sweet enough to pay for another brother's shoes.


I really do love it when kids clean. I also love having all those little nagging jobs that aren't part of everyday cleaning, like organizing drawers and closets, get done. For me this is a WIN. Which should scare the children ... I warned them that as much as I love a clean house I'm going to be sure to put things in the bucket!


If you make a BOAT Bucket or Ransom Rubbage Bucket of your own I'd love to hear about it.


Back to Pinterest ... I'm fairly lost in it, what should I know to navigate my way around and make it work for me?