A Motivational Tool

I was just wondering if I'm the only cruel mother out there who uses scare tactics to get her kids to clean their rooms. You see, I know first-hand that my kids are scared to death of the vacuum cleaner. Not scared of the noise or of being physically harmed (although an injury has occurred in the past), but scared that I might take the cleaner and suck up a little piece of some cherished toy that they could never do without and send it into a dusty oblivion. That's an absolute nightmare to them! So, knowing how much they detest this possibility, I announce to them that I'm about to go vacuum their room, and you wouldn't believe how quickly they jump up from whatever they are doing and dash to go clean their room. Every little-bitty piece of every toy will be cleaned off the floor before I can lug the vacuum out of the closet and drag it down the hall. It works like a charm!

So, fess up. Anyone else?