I tried the garbage bag thing with my kids. They just thought, great, mom's cleaning my room for me. They said "It's our job to make the messes and mom's job to clean it up." Kids know parents can't let them have no clothes or things that they need. And they are resourceful enough to find or make things to play with. They probably think they will be getting all new stuff if the old stuff is removed.

Blondz, how did they deal with or respond to your feelings? Were they able to accept and validate, or did they want you to change your perceptions and feelings to match what they thought was better?