I sent my kids up to put on their pjs while I finished feeding Cam. It was a mere 7 minutes and I walked up to this: DISASTER!!!!
STRATEGY A: I calmly told the kids that they were not to come into my room in the morning before they pick up their room. I would have had them clean right then, but I was angry and it was late. I decided they could sleep in their mess and work tomorrow. The kids woke up and played and made an even bigger mess (if you can believe it could get any bigger).
STRATEGY B: I went in and now it was time to get ready for school. I got their clothes together for school and told them they would return to their room at 4 pm (when Luke got home) and stay there until the room is returned to its cleaned state.
The Blow by Blow: This was NOT too much to ask of these two kids. They made the mess in 7 minutes! They only have 3 places to put things: books on bookshelves, toys in his/her bins, and clothing in hamper. They CAN do this.
Well, I did it! I even passed on a late afternoon play date for Luke in order to follow through with my plan. Luke came home. We went through his backpack. I set a timer for 30 minutes and sent them upstairs. My plan was to come up every 30 minutes to assess and most likely reset the timer. I was bound and determined to have this done my way without my help. I even planned dinner to be served in their jail cell. LOL! I took a camera and Luke freaked out because he was embarrassed to have his mess documented (all part of the plan...imagine my sinister laugh). I told him cleaning it up and keeping it clean would make him proud and we could document that too!
You can imagine my surprise when only 27 minutes had elapsed and Carys yelled, "Mom, our room is almost clean!"
The Final Count: SCORE 1 for MOM!!!!
They did a great job in 30 minutes! I don't know what was better, the knowledge that I followed through and succeeded or the fact that they were proud of their work and happy they did it! YES!
4 comments:
I love this. I think it's so funny that Luke didn't want a picture of the mess. Good mom job!
Funny how different kids can be. Hayden is my biggest helper--he is the best cleaner. At night time when I put the girls to bed, he will clean the downstairs and upstairs play room and his bedroom and Sydney's bedroom perfectly! He knows that if he does this he gets to play Super Mario for a little bit though :) But he is super thorough and cleans up just as well as I do. Sydney is my stinker about cleaning up, and i used to use the excuse that she was too little, but now that she will be 3 in a few more months I am being tougher on her--she can do it, but is spoiled cause Hayden always picks up for her! Good for you for not giving in!
Wow, go Mom! That's awesome. Must feel good.
Aww, way to go mommy!!
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