Getting Kids To Hang Up Coats

Dear Katie & Kelly: For the life of me I can’t get my kids to hang up their coats after school. I have a small standing coat rack near the back door but it’s often ignored and coats end up on the floor or on chairs.

Signed: Exasperated in Edmund

Dear Exasperated: Make sure the coat rack isn’t overwhelmed with coats. If it is, it’s your job — or whomever is the house manager — to keep it regularly clear of excess coats. It’s also easiest to get kids to hang up their coats and put their bags away when they have their own cubby or locker like they do at school versus a communal coat rack. It also takes a A LOT of reminders before it’ll become habit. While we’re always tempted to nag our kids regardless of your personality type, the best trick we ever learned as moms is if you’re light hearted about reminding kids to hang up their coats, or scolding them when you discover a coat on the floor, they tend to listen and take action more than when we’re nasty about it.

All our best: K & K