Subliminal control

I'm playing a funny trick on my teenagers at the moment. Well, I think it's funny anyway, and they don't have a clue.

It all started when I was raking through the Queenager's closet. It looks like she has a lot of clothes but many of them are about three or four years old, and teenage girls grow quite a bit over that duration. So, after culling the teeny tiny stuff, I re-hung everything else, tops and shirts on the top hanging rod and jackets and jeans on the bottom. Next morning, she came down to breakfast wearing the shirt that I'd placed at the very front. Most of the time she wears jeans and whatever top is clean (jeans have to be skin tight and ragged, if at all possible -she's no slouch.) However, I didn't realise just how "unbothered" she really is.

I then turned my attention to the man-child, who also wears whatever he can find - whether it's clean or not. Sure enough, the t-shirt that I placed on the top in his drawer was the one he came down in the next morning.  I've been having a nice little game this week and they are indeed wearing the first thing that comes to hand.

Question is - how can I turn this subliminal control to my advantage? I need ideas about how to

- get them to eat their vegetables
- pick their dirty clothes off the floor
- hang up their coats when they come in
- not borrow my stuff without asking
- put my stuff back when they've finished with it
- use their inside voices

...and so on.

Just think how different life would be......
.

Expat Mum