Hank the Hamper

I am sick and tired of getting after the girls about cleaning up their toys. I feel like I spend the entire day, following behind them, cleaning up toys as they go. They move from one toy to another and pretty soon, you can't even SEE the floor in the toy room. SO, I was talking to a good friend of mine back in CO and she told me about Hank. He is a hamper that comes out at night and eats all the toys that are left laying on the floor. So, when I first told the girls about him, they kinda freaked out alittle bit. They started frantically cleaning their play room (yeah-- it's working) But what Mya did next made me fall to the floor laughing. She got this terrified look in her eye, slammed the door shut to the playroom and held it shut! She just said, "I'm gonna hold the door shut so Hank can't get in. You guys keep cleaning!" Wasn't that so sweet of her :) Then she said, "I'm just gonna hide these!" as she threw toys under a blanket. (If Hank can't see them, he won't eat them, right?)
So, later that night, Hank came to visit. Aleah's response, "Are you kidding me mom? That's just a hamper. He's not real!" Man-- I can't fool her, can I? Needless to say, it kinda freaked the girls out that this "Hamper Monster" is going to eat their toys, but it got them to clean up and keep their toys off the ground. Yeah!!!
As of this morning, "Shank" (that's what Mya calls him) is hungry cause he didn't get to eat any toys last night. So, we are going to try to see how long we can keep him hungry. Wish us luck!!!