We have learned that asking Judy to go and clean something up is much less likely to work than inviting her to do it with us. If we encourage kids to cooperate with us in the early years and help them, they are more likely to be cooperative down the line when we ask them to do it on their own. I’ll often say, “I’m going to help you clean your playroom. Here is my stack of books, can you find all of the other books in the room and add them to my stack?” It works a lot better than ultimatums and asking 14 times. Some days Judy will go and clean things on her own, some days she’ll help alongside me, and others she’s not interested at all and I do it on my own. We just keep inviting her to cooperate, in an effort to keep it light and fun.